POLAND, Ind. (WTHI) – Joyce Deckard has been rescuing dogs for more than 20 years.
She’s the founder and director of Our Lil Bit of Heaven Animal Rescue and Sanctuary, a canine-specific facility in Owen County. There, Deckard and her small staff work around the clock, caring for the sanctuary that normally ranges to more than 100 dogs.
“We take a lot of the hard cases and dogs that most won’t pull or won’t take in, bigger dogs, behavioral problems, bully breeds,” she said.
The population also includes dogs with medical issues and old age.
“No one wants to adopt a senior dog, they don’t want to go through that end of life process too soon,” she said, “We don’t want them dying here, we want them to know a home.”
The rescue’s Forever Foster Program is new to Indiana. A one of a kind program, it focuses on the unwanted and overlooked dogs (seniors, dogs with medical/physical disabilities), giving them a chance at forever at no cost to you.
“They still have to go through the whole process like an adopter would. They have to be approved, we still do home visits, we still require fenced in yards,” Deckard said, “They bring the dog into their home, they love the dog, they take care of it and nurture it and we pay for everything.”
The shelter pays for all of the dog’s needs such as vet visits, food and other necessities. All that is required of you is love and nurturing.
“It’s taking a dog that no one would even look at or inquire about,” Deckard said, “They see their picture and they’re like ‘no’, but then you get that dog into a forever foster home and they find out how fantastic they are.”
Deckard says the program’s goal is to also help surrounding shelters with overcrowding issues. As animals get fostered out, Deckard says it frees up space in their rescue, allowing more room for other shelters to move their older and overlooked animals to them.
“If we can pull these animals out of the municipal shelters that do have to euthanize for space, those dogs are right up there with the pitbulls that are going to be euthanized first because they know they’re not going to find them homes and that just doesn’t sit well with the heart,” she said, “So if we can pull them, we can create space for them and we lower their euthanasia rate because those dogs are coming to us.”
Since the program’s start one year ago, the rescue has been able to foster out 22 of its dogs, seven have been adopted by their Forever Foster families.
“It just makes your heart swell to the point of wanting to explode, it’s amazing,” she said, “It’s a win-win, it’s a win for the dog and a win for the people.”
Right now, Deckard says about 50-55 dogs are eligible for the program. Originally it only applied to senior dogs and dogs with medical/physical disabilities. Recently, they have started to add bully breeds into the mix as well.
“Unfortunately they (bully breeds) have a bad rep and people don’t want to adopt them,” she said, “I would place any one of the ones we have, they’re wonderful dogs. To get them into homes, whether they’re five years old or ten years old, we’re putting them into the Forever Foster also because that’s the whole thing… homes.”
Deckard says she’s looking forward to the program growing even more. She hopes people just take a minute to consider the program and understand the impact it truly has.
“You’re going to pay the bills whether they’re here or whether they’re in a home. Why not do it with them in a home for the ones that people are going to overlook and not even get that chance,” she said, “I hope they give it some thought about joining the program, about giving back to these dogs, giving them a home and knowing that’s just what they have to do… They have to love them.”
Our Lil Bit of Heaven Animal Rescue and Sanctuary is in need of not only Forever Foster homes, but regular foster homes for the other dogs as well as volunteers. If you’re interested, you can visit their website or email ownedbycaninesandloveit@yahoo.com for further information.
