BHRR ON TWITTER!

2010 - 2013 BHRR BOD:

Founder: G. Boers
Co-Founder: S. Boers
President: G. Boers
Director: B. Cole
Secretary/Treasurer: M. Leung

**BHRR has a HUGE need for more wonderful Foster Homes & Volunteers in Eastern Ontario. NO more than 2+ hours drive from us**
**BHRR welcomes food donations.
**BHRR is in urgent need of comforters/duvets(all sizes).
A $55.00 PayPal, Cash, Email Transfer to gwen@birchhaven.org or check/MO/Bank Draft donation can buy food to feed 10 Giant Breeds for 3 days. 

*NSF Checks will be charged a $25.00 fee

Rescue Statistics to Date:
Operating since 1996
# of Years in Rescue: 14.5
Animals Placed: 306
# of Failed Adoptions: 3 - June 2006 - less than 24 hours after 2 Danes were adopted; January 2007 two weeks after placement and the same GD in August 2007 after 5 weeks WHO was then adopted successfully in December of 2009
# of Animals BHRR has had to pull out of adoptive homes: 0
Adoption Success Rate: 99% (We had a 100% success rate for over 10 years until June of 2006)

BLOAT:
In working with Giant Breeds; we are often asked how many bloats/torsions we have had. In 14 years of operating BHRR Inc. and in 23 years of owning Giant Breeds; we have had 5. They were all Great Danes, three males, two females with three (1m, 2f) being just shy of 9 years of age; one(1 m) being just shy of 8 years and the other one(1 m) was approx. 3.5 years. Three were Rescues and two were from highly reputable/quality Breeders. Two of the Great Danes(our own) were in our own home at the time of the bloat/tort and they bloated within one week of each other(Maggi & Dragon). One Male & One Female survived and one Male/one Female (both just shy of 9 did not) as BHRR’s McGee( had DCM) plus he & BLK’s Maggi had some of the worst cases of tort that many Vets had ever seen. The other male(just shy of 8); Grayson Danes Dragon did not make it due to a very poor vascular system.

HEART CONDITIONS:
Stats to be posted soon

OBSTRUCTIONS:
We have had 4 obstructions in the 14 years we have been operating. One female less than two years old(2006) and one male; 4.5 years of age(2007) & same male again who obstructed in February of 2008 as in his first surgery 8″ of his intestine had to be removed(5.5 years). The other obstruction was a Doberman; 2.5+ years of age that was surrendered to BHRR in 2010 with the obstruction(flip flop). 4″ of his intestine had to be removed. The female tragically was not able to be saved for she also had a cirrhotic liver, abnormal spleen and necrotic bowel (unrelated) to the obstruction.

SEIZURES:
Stats to be posted soon

WOBBLERS:
2 - One Male Great Dane just over 1 and one female Great Dane over 3. Both had many other medical complications and death for both was due to Cancer.

2009 BHRR Bills

2008 BHRR Vet Bills
2007 BHRR Vet Bills
2006 BHRR Vet Bills
2005 BHRR Vet Bills

• After much discussion over the past couple of years about where our vision with BHRR will take us within the next 5 years; BHRR is finally becoming incorporated in the fall of 2009 with the obtaining of our business # and from there; THANKS to the wonderful kindness of K. Cooper of Carters Professional Corporation - Barristers, Solicitors and Trade-mark Agents; amazing friend plus supporter of BHRR; her company is going to take on BHRR`s cause and as part of one of the classes she teaches; we are going to be their `guinea pig` for the filing for our official Charity Status. We will need to pay for the incorporation title search $55.00 plus G.S.T. and for the filing of the paperwork to CRA $250.00 plus G.S.T. yet that is so much more manageable than what we were looking at in fees before the offer of assistance from K. Cooper. In October; I will be attending one of her Monday classes and answering their questions and then will meet with K. Cooper in regards to the paperwork details and hopefully, by the end of 2010 as BHRR heads into our 15th year of operation; we will have our Charity number and be more than a registered non-profit organization!
  *As of January 27th, 2010; BHRR received word from the CRA that we are now incorporated BIN#83040 1469 RC0001(effective November 27th, 2009) and now to move forward on our Charity status paperwork!*
  

• KNOW Who You Are Adopting From:
  Just as every Breeder is not reputable/quality and created equal, NOT every group that calls themselves a ‘rescue’ is either. Watch for ‘red’ flags and as much as you are answering their questions and going through their adoption application process; they should be answering yours. Are they fully vetting including administering vaccines, doing heartworm testing, putting the dog(s) on heartworm preventative, de-worming, treating for fleas, altering(unless there is a medical reason why not), micochipping, doing the necessary bw including Thyroid, X-rays if needed etc.? Do you get the opportunity to see the place plus meet/know the people from the rescue where your possible new adoptive addition is coming from? BHRR hosts regular Open Houses as it is SO important to us for people to see what we do, meet us and how we operate in addition to meeting the animals plus to meet others that are current Volunteers/Adopters of BHRR. Is the Rescue giving you full disclosure on all animals and giving you very detailed vet records plus are these animals formally temperament tested / evaluated, are they going through any obedience before adoption(one of the top reasons why dogs are sent to Rescue is due to lack of obedience, especially the Giants). Do they have reasonable adoption fees or are they charging exorbients amount of monies or are they giving away dogs for free? Charging a nominal adoption fee discourages disreputes from getting their hands on a dog to sell to labs or as ‘bait’ usage and the funds are re-invested back into the program to assist the next one in need. Do they take their Dogs back if an adoption does not work out? Do they reinforce their ‘contract’ if needed? Are they there as a 24/7 resource for as long as you have one of their dogs?
• l have found it necessary to have to stress that we operate out of our home and those of our foster homes and therefore do not have ‘business’ hours as a shelter or pound would. Please respect that we are entitled to privacy and the same level of family intimate time as other people. If you are not an approved BHRR adoptive/foster/home (having completed the application, reference checks plus hv and if all found in order and advised that you are approved); you are not permitted on the property. Those that have been approved are sent an invitation to set up a mutually convenient animal visit time including lunch/dinner if the meeting is at our home as opposed to being at one of our fosters. People found in violation could be charged with trespassing along with any other charges if warranted. Our policies, processes plus procedures are clearly indicated on both of our websites and our property is monitored for any activity. Due to a past theft of Danes; we are in a ‘lock’ down mode and are taking all precautions as advised by legal. We are also not appreciative of people researching to find out our ‘home/family’ number and trying to reach us that way. We have a Rescue number and as is clearly indicated on that message system, calls can take up to 5 business days to return. We will not consider/proceed with applications that contact us on our home line.
• *Note: Due to the high volume of individuals seeking advice / suggestions / recommendations on behavioural and training situations, I will no longer be able to provide this as a free service. I spend close to 25% of my day responding to queries about food, training, medical and behavioural issues from the general public. Starting immediately, these services will be subject to a mutually agreed upon nominal donation to Birch Haven through PayPal (before any services are rendered & as always there is no guarantee that should you not wish to become a full client; that anything metered out will be warranted to be effective and I continue to assume no liability on said information given under the circumstances), ensuring that by my efforts in helping you, in turn it also benefits the dogs in our BHRR program. Adopters of BHRR animals will continue to receive this service free of charge.
• Our Rescue have been chosen as the recipient to receive the proceeds of the AJC’s Calendar sales for 2006.
  http://pups-n-stuff.com and then click on “2006 Charity Calendars” on the right hand side. THEY are on sale until July of 2006!
  YOUR EMAIL VOTE HELPED US TO WIN!(Click here for details!) - As of today we have not yet received a check from AJC!
  *We were told in an email that this check would be sent out the week of February 7th, 2007. The latest update was that they ‘thought’ they had sent a check already? AND that a check would be received by end the week of March 23rd, 2007 which never happened. We strongly urge and recommend to anyone that bought calendars to support our Rescue to contact them to express their own feelings that funds that were to be directed to our Rescue has not happened to date, if they ever are going to be responsible and honour their commitment. This has been a very upsetting, terrible and frustrating experience. We are disgusted that a business would do such a thing in keeping funds meant to help animals in need. The former BHRR Volunteer who has been in touch with them has indicated that she has not heard from them either and that all emails to them are being ignored.*