How to Start a Pit Bull Rescue in Los Angeles

Buy or lease a property where the rescued pit bulls will be kept. Before purchasing or leasing a property, contact the city or county zoning department to make sure that a rescue is allowed to operate on the property. If leasing the property, make sure the lease states in writing that a pit bull rescue can be run on the property. It is a wise to get a long term lease to avoid having to move at a later date. Properties that allow rescues, much less pit bull rescues are hard to come by.

Purchase liability insurance for the pit bull rescue. Liability insurance for a rescue is a legal requirement in some areas. Even when not a legal requirement, it is highly recommended for all animal rescues. Obtaining liability insurance for pit bull rescues can be difficult.

Set up living quarters for the pit bulls. Living quarters should be secure to prevent escape and provide shelter and protection from heat and cold. Some pit bulls can not be housed with other dogs because of animal aggression. Pit bulls are wonderful people dogs, but some of them are animal aggressive and need to be housed alone. So take in to account that separate housing areas will be needed. Check with the local animal control to find out minimum housing requirements for dogs in your area. Usually minimum housing size requirements for animals are not enough to keep the animal happy. It is a good idea to make the housing at least twice the size of the required minimum. The more space you can give the animals the better for their happiness and health.

Arrange for who is going to be the caretaker of the rescued animals. If you are going to rely on volunteers, realize that it takes time to find trustworthy volunteers. Some rescues do background checks on volunteers that will be working on with the animals unsupervised to make sure that they do not have a history of animal abuse. Not only will dogs need to be provided with food and water, their housing area needs to be cleaned and they need to be given quality attention and playtime.

Arrange for veterinary care. Veterinary care is expensive. Make sure to have a savings fund to help care for the pit bulls. Even if you are a non profit, donations are hard to come by. Having a savings fund is the best protection.

Once you have your rescue set up, you are ready to take in pit bulls that need homes. Unfortunately, finding pit bulls that are in need of homes, is all to easy. The pound, the newspaper and online classifieds are all filled with pit bulls that need homes. There will be many pit bulls that need homes. Finding pit bulls for your rescue is the easy part. Finding homes to adopt them out to, is the hard part. Don't take in more dogs than you can handle financially, space wise and time wise. With each pit bull that you take in, realize that they may be with you for a very long time or even forever.

Adopting out pit bulls is challenging. There always seems to be more animals needing homes, than homes to take them. When adopting out pit bulls, it is important to find good homes for them. Do a home check on potential adopters and ask them questions to determine if they will provide a good home. Home checks and questionnaires also help to make sure the dog and home will be a suitable match. Make sure that the potential adopters are allowed to keep pit bulls. If they are renters make sure they have permission to have a pit bull. If they are homeowners, make sure they have homeowners insurance that allows pit bulls. Keep in touch with adopters to make sure that everything is working out okay. Many rescues require the adopters to sign a contract with the rescue. These contracts often specify that the rescue has the right to check up on the welfare of the pit bull and remove them from an unsuitable living situation. Keep an open door policy with adopters, allowing them to come to you for advice on the pit bulls. Ideally the adopters and the rescue are on the same team. Both looking to help the dogs and be rewarded with the love of a pit bull.