PLEASE READ THIS ENTIRE PAGE BEFORE YOU EMAIL US, AND WHEN YOU EMAIL US, PLEASE KEEP IT SHORT! We do not have time to read hundreds of pages of emails every day; give us a brief description of your situation and we will ask you questions if we need to know more. This doesn't mean we don't care, and this isn't God's way of telling you that it's OK to kill your dog (Philip). It's our way of telling you we get more email than we can handle and the only way we can respond to everyone is if you show each other the respect to allow us enough time to read everyone's messages, not just yours. Thanks for understanding.

We are currently accepting aquatic turtles for permanent placement at the Sanctuary. To place a red eared slider or other aquatic turtle with us, please email Steve or call 360-320-OLYMPIC/(360) 320-6596. Other reptiles may be accepted on a case by case basis. Be advised that if you must ship the animal, it will be at your expense; we can provide you with information on how to safely ship reptiles, however we prefer that you deliver the animal in person or arrange for us to pick it up locally. Donations of terrariums and other reptile supplies are appreciated.

Dogs

If there is a chance that you will be having a tearful, gut-wrenching family discussion about giving up your dog and deciding that you just can't do it, please have that discussion before you contact us.

Rescues, shelters, and individuals: you must commit to not killing the dog in question in order for us to accept the animal. Our job is to help you save your dog, not to save your dog from you. If the dog is not in your care and you are acting on its behalf to remove it from a dangerous situation, that's a different story, but if it is your dog, you need to commit to saving it. We may also ask you to put it in writing.

Space is extremely limited and we have a waiting list for dogs and wolf-dogs. The waiting list is long -- there are a lot of animals ahead of yours. There is absolutely nothing we can do to make space magically appear for your animal; even in the event of an unforeseen, major donation, it will likely be months before we can take another dog. We're sorry about that. If you want us to save your dog, you're going to have to play a bigger role than you may have hoped, and find an intermediate solution for the animal's housing and care until we have something available. We know that there are often reasons that a dog needs to be removed from its current situation as soon as possible, but that still doesn't make our property bigger or put more money into our operating budget. Other things that do not make our property bigger or put more money into our operating budget include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Deadlines
• Crying
• Threatening to kill the dog if we say no
• Offering to transport the dog yourself
• Demanding a space for your animal as if we owe it to you
• Having children
• Assuming that your case is special and we'll make an exception
• Sending multiple emails and leaving multiple voice mails

We want to help you, but we're a very small organization that receives a disproportionate number of placement requests because so few organizations do this kind of work. We wish there were more. We're working toward that goal. We need more time. Thanks for understanding.

If you would still like to be put on the waiting list, please read on.

Olympic Animal Sanctuary provides a permanent home to non-adoptable dogs, which we define as the following:

• Dogs that have been declared dangerous or vicious in a court of law or by a law enforcement agent in charge of animal control
• Dogs that have bitten people, usually on multiple occasions, resulting in serious injury requiring medical treatment
• Dogs that have killed or seriously injured other dogs or companion animals
• Pit bulls and other dogs that have been used for illegal dog fighting
• Hunting dogs that have been trained to kill prey
• Retired guard dogs and attack dogs
• Wolf-dogs and coyote/dog hybrids
• Feral or pariah dogs that can not be readily handled due to wild behavior or extreme fear of human beings
• Dogs which may be considered non-adoptable due to breed bans and restrictions or disproportionate representation of the breed in area animal shelters (lowest priority)

As a general rule, we do not accept:

• Puppies*
• Unwanted dogs with no serious behavioral issues
• Dogs that are non-adoptable solely due to their age or health problems

*Some puppies have extreme behavioral issues due to genetics or mental defects, and may be accepted.

We accept dogs according to a number of factors; being at the top of the waiting list does not guarantee that your dog will be the next to be accepted into the Sanctuary. For example, if a space becomes available for a dog that gets along with other dogs and your dog does not, your dog will have to wait longer. Urgent cases where lives are at stake may take precedence. We regret that we cannot say yes to everyone with no waiting, but in the interest of being responsible caregivers to the dogs we already have, we have to limit our intake.

It is expected that while your dog is wait-listed, you will continue to search for other placement options. You may believe that you have exhausted every possibility, but there may be other options you haven't thought of, or facilities with a less obvious Internet presence that you haven't discovered yet. Keep looking. We can't possibly be the only people doing this kind of work. Do not think that because you are on our waiting list, you can stop searching; the only way space becomes available is if one of our dogs dies or if we are able to add on to our facility -- our dogs are healthy and we're not undertaking any major construction in the near future.

In the meantime, if you are an individual and your dog will be staying in your home, you need to adopt a few policies to ensure that the animal is kept safely and additional incidents are averted. For dogs that fight with or kill other animals, separate the dog from all other animals and keep two locked doors or gates between them at all times. For dogs that bite people, the dog must not have access to anyone that s/he might bite; keep two locked doors or gates between the dog and any resident of or visitor to your home that the dog could injure, muzzle the dog on outings, and keep outings to a minimum. For all dogs with biting, fighting, or killing incidents in their histories, we strongly recommend keeping the dogs away from children. If the dog will be outside, make sure your yard cannot be escaped. A fence tall enough that the dog can not jump or climb over it is essential. The fence should be constructed of a heavy, wire mesh; wood fences can be chewed. We recommend 9-gauge chain link, or better yet, this; we use the 2096-3 fence, which is eight feet tall with three-inch spaces between the vertical wires. We also have a six-foot wood fence outside of that, and our fence is topped with 45-degree top arms strung with high tensile wire. Gates must lock securely, preferably with two lock mechanisms, in case one fails. Around the perimeter of your fenceline, lay down fencing mesh along the ground and use wire or 'pig rings' to attach it to your existing fence every foot; this 'apron' will prevent your dog from digging out. You can bury the mesh or stake it tightly to the ground and allow your grass to grow through it, embedding it in place. Alternatively, you can dig a trench at least three feet deep and fill it with concrete. Take this seriously, and you won't have regrets later. Also be advised that we make no guarantees that if you follow our recommendations, your dog will not still manage to escape, bite someone, or injure or kill another animal. It is your responsibility to ensure that this does not happen.

When the time comes for us to take your dog, you will have certain, financial responsibilities; if money is tight, start putting some away now. You will be responsible for transporting the animal, either by doing the actual transport or by paying someone to do it for you. We may be able to do transport, but be aware that we will be driving a diesel truck that gets about fifteen miles to the gallon - do the math, and figure in hotel rooms ($40-100/night), oil changes every 5,000 miles ($150), and wear and tear on the vehicle ($0.15 per mile). We will charge you $.50/mile, which means we will still lose money on the transport; sometimes we can cut your cost by taking two or three dogs at a time and splitting the charge between clients, but not always. You can send the dog via air cargo or as a checked bag with a ticketed airline passenger; animals now fly in a climate controlled, pressurized area of the baggage hold, which is much better than the way things used to be, but remember that the dog will be loaded on and off the plane and transported around the terminal by baggage handlers, not animal caregivers; while we've never had any terrible experiences with air transport, it is not unheard of for animals to escape, to be injured, or to suffer from exposure to extreme weather while they sit on the runway. Most airlines require that the temperatures at the departure airport, the arrival airport, and any connecting airports be within a certain range in order for animals to fly; the temperature range narrows for brachycephalic (snub-nosed) breeds. They may also bump an animal to a later flight if there is more baggage than usual or if there are additional animals on board; most airlines have a limit on the number of dogs or cats they will allow on one flight. Do your research; Delta has the best reputation when it comes to shipping live animals, but in our experience they are adequate, not exceptional.

If you are still interested, please continue:

It is important that you accurately represent your situation. Making up wild stories about how "aggressive" your dog is will not improve its chances of being accepted for placement; neither will telling us that the dog has no issues and is completely harmless. We're very good at figuring out the truth, and you'll only end up being caught in your lie - that doesn't mean we won't take the dog, it just means we'll think you're an idiot. You also need to be honest about any health issues the dog has; we will not turn a dog away because of health issues, but if we don't find out about your dog's arthritis or hip displasia until we arrive to transport the animal, we're going to be really angry, especially if the dog is not healthy enough to travel.

We recognize that for some people, this is a very difficult decision, and you truly have an unworkable situation, but for others of you, you simply don't want the dog anymore, no shelter will take it, and you'll sleep a little better at night knowing that you didn't kill your dog when it became inconvenient. Please don't try to entice us by telling us how wonderful the dog is, or how much money it is worth - if it was so wonderful, you'd be keeping it, and if it was so valuable, you'd be able to sell it. You have a dog that no one wants, or at least no one with any moral fiber, and that's why you're looking to us for help. We don't care what color your dog's nose is, how pretty it is, or about its AKC papers - in fact, if you give us the papers, we'll throw them in the trash; all we care about is the dog's quality of life. Rescue groups: if the dog has "potential" or "could be a great dog, if..." you should probably find someone to rehabilitate the dog for adoption; we're interested in helping the dogs with no potential and no future outside of a sanctuary. The dog that the dog-lovers hate is the dog we're interested in saving. Also, we'd appreciate it if you didn't try to force us into making a quick decision by saying the dog has 24 hours to live - if that's really true, you should have contacted us sooner. We can't arrange a rescue in 24 hours; someday we hope to offer that kind of rapid response, but unless it's a local rescue, we can't do it at this time, especially now that we have a waiting list. We want to help you if we can, and we can help you better if you're straightforward and don't try to manipulate us; it only wastes our time and yours, and makes us not want to deal with you.

We are not here to save your marriage. We receive many calls and emails from people who believe that they will be saved from divorce if we take their dogs. If your marriage is on the verge of ending because of a dog, there's probably nothing we can do to save it, and frankly, it may not be worth saving. In most cases we'd rather you got the divorce and one or the other of you kept the dog. It's not that we want your marriage to fail, but not being personally invested, your relationship is not especially interesting to us. Likewise, if you have a new boyfriend/girlfriend who doesn't get along with your dog, consider keeping the dog and getting rid of the boyfriend/girlfriend; you're far more likely to come to resent him or her than you are to resent your dog. If that's not acceptable, get counseling - just don't try to get it from us. It's not our job.

Unless you are abusive, neglectful, or keep such a chaotic household that your dog is miserable or in danger, our preference is for you to keep your dog. Oftentimes a very simple change in your behavior or routine can make a seemingly impossible dog situation quite manageable: move the dog to a quiet corner of the house when you have company over; divide your back yard in two so that your feuding dogs can share the yard without fighting; keep your dogs separated when you're not there to supervise; feed the dogs in their crates so they can't fight over food; get a new pool cleaner that your dog doesn't want to kill; tell your kids if they stop teasing the dog he might stop biting them. Most of our interspecies problems are not as severe as we make them out to be; if we can make it work here with dozens of hard case dogs at the same facility, chances are you can find a feasible solution in your home.

Many people turn to trainers and behaviorists to help them with their dog issues. This can be very helpful, but be aware that many dog trainers and behaviorists are, for lack of a better word, hacks. Please avoid anyone who uses the "Dog Whisperer" style of behavior modification; dominance techniques that use intimidation and positive punishment are dangerous and ineffective over the long term. They make good TV, but they do not make happy dogs. Trainers and behaviorists may have little or no formal background in psychology or animal behavior, and in our experience, many of them have very little education at all. Would you go to a therapist who only had a high school education? Don't think that because it's a dog, its problems are less complicated and easier to fix - if it were that easy, you could fix them yourself after a few hours on the Internet. Animal behavior issues are often more difficult to deal with than human ones because the animals are unable to communicate as effectively with us. Do plenty of research and get recommendations. Also be wary of behaviorists that are quick to prescribe Prozac or other medications; these may provide some temporary relief, but they are not long term solutions.

One of the most common reasons we end up taking dogs is that they have been ruined with punishment-based conditioning; positive punishment is the use of pain, discomfort, or psychological trauma to prevent an animal from repeating a particular behavior. Hitting, choking, shocking, throwing your keys, spraying water, scolding, screaming, or doing anything the dog dislikes in an effort to control the animal is wholly inappropriate. Dominance techniques like forcing a dog onto its back or mounting the animal are also inappropriate and dangerous. If you are using these techniques, you need look no further than your bathroom mirror for the cause of your dog's behavior problems. Try reward-based techniques. Do some research. Buy some books. Hire a legitimate behaviorist. Maybe we won't need to take your dog if you stop terrorizing the poor animal.

If you still think you have a situation that is beyond help and requires your dog to be institutionalized, there are a few more things you need to know about us. First, we are not so eager to take custody of your dog that we're going to spend countless hours defending our facility and our program to you. Either we offer a better living situation for your dog or we don't; you need to ask yourself two questions: 1) Is this the best available option? and 2) Is this a better fate than death? We'll be happy to answer your questions, within reason, but at some point you're going to have to either trust us or look elsewhere. Remember, you can always keep the dog yourself, and we'd be happy if you would.

Here is some general information about our facility and what we do, that will hopefully answer most of your questions.

Olympic Animal Sanctuary is located in the city of Forks, Washington, in Clallam County, on the Olympic Peninsula. It is in a temperate rain forest, where we receive around 120 inches of rain per year. Temperatures are fairly mild, with summer highs typically around 70 degrees and winter lows around 30.

Our facility is under ongoing construction; we currently have about 4,000 square feet of usable indoor space and a half acre of outdoor space. The indoor area is being expanded to accommodate more animals as the funding becomes available. The outdoor area is completed. The facility is fully functional, but due to its unfinished state, it is fairly unattractive; if we thought this bothered the dogs, we would make aesthetic improvements, but we prefer to put our money into more important projects.

The dogs exercise outside in shifts, in compatible play groups of three or four animals. The groups are kept small for safety reasons, although most of the dogs could be kept in larger groups without incident. In some cases, dogs exercise singly, or socialize only under supervision, based on their histories. The yards are landscaped with young trees; one section contains a pond for dogs that enjoy swimming, and another section contains a tall hill that allows the dogs to look over the fence and watch over the neighborhood. A third section is planted with fast-growing trees and will provide heavy cover as the trees mature, for dogs that have difficulty feeling safe in open spaces. The outdoor play areas provide access to the indoors if the dogs wish to escape inclement weather. For their safety, the dogs do not go outside on especially rainy or windy days; an indoor play area is available for such occasions.

The dogs are brought inside at night and sleep in rooms ranging from around 100 to 150 square feet, about the size of an average child's bedroom. Each room is constructed primarily of concrete. Currently, the dogs are housed in rooms with sliding glass doors; these rooms were originally built to house reptiles, but we ended up needing the space more for dogs; we plan to remove the glass doors and replace them with welded wire panels. Some of the dogs also sleep in metal-frame kennels. We use straw for bedding; we've found this preferable to beds that need to be washed and that can be destroyed.

When we can, we take dogs for walks in Olympic National Forest or to one of our local beaches. These outings may be limited by time, schedules, weather, hunting seasons, and an individual dog's ability to safely participate. We rarely take the dogs on walks in the neighborhood, as the narrow roads and lack of sidewalks, the high number of loose dogs, and the behavioral tendencies of many of the dogs in our care make the activity inadvisable.

It is our goal to relocate in 2010; we hope to remain in Clallam County, so long as new animal ordinances do not make this impossible. Our hope is to purchase a minimum of 20 acres; this will allow all of the dogs to remain outside for the entire day if they wish, and it also provides us ample space to create a fenced trail around the property where dogs can be walked on or off leash. While this move will increase our space, it will only minimally increase our capacity.

Our goal for all of our dogs is that they have a high quality of life, which means ample socialization with their own species, plenty of human companionship, optimum nutrition, and regular veterinary care.

We are not dog trainers; we do not teach tricks or seek to manipulate behavior for our own gratification or convenience. Instead, we provide dogs with a routine that works for them, we teach them the basic behaviors they need to be safe, and we let them be dogs; we adjust our own behavior to better suit them, not the other way around. When it is necessary to directly address a behavioral issue, we approach each animal as an individual, meaning we do not have any one method for addressing behavior. Because the issues we deal with are almost without exception a result of the animals' fears of perceived threats, we attempt to determine with each animal what it sees as a danger, and we craft a plan to either remove the eliciting stimulus from the dog's daily routine, or to alter the dog's perception of that stimulus. We accomplish this gradually, gently, and seek lasting results, not quick fixes. We utilize multiple psychological models and theories, including classical and operant conditioning and the theories of Carl Rogers, to name a few.

We feed a homemade, raw diet, which we believe, based on research and experience, to be the healthiest available source of nutrition for our dogs. We spare no expense in veterinary care; we have spent thousands of dollars on dental surgeries, cancer treatments, and other procedures that many organizations would have considered extravagant and simply killed the dogs.

We are not rolling in money, but we are stable and not going anywhere. While we cannot guarantee that we will be around forever, we are growing as an organization, both in terms of impact and revenue, and we expect to continue to do so.

In our current location, the only legal requirements for our operation are that our dogs be licensed, and that we maintain special permits for dogs that have been declared legally dangerous. We are not required to have a kennel license or to be inspected by an animal control officer. The City of Forks does not have an animal control officer; we work closely with the police department and the Friends of Forks Animals to pick up that slack. Please do not ask us to supply you with permits that we are not required to have. Special note to law enforcement officers: we're happy to work with you, just as we do with our local police and county sheriff's department, but don't be pushy - we work with you, not for you.

When your dog is transferred to us it becomes our sole responsibility, and as long as you have been forthright in informing us of the dog's history and tendencies, we are solely liable for any damage or injury the dog causes. We are not lawyers and cannot give you legal advice, so if you are uncertain about your liability, consult an attorney. We are covered by a $500,000 liability insurance policy, and have other assurances in place to protect the Sanctuary from a variety of calamities. We cannot foresee every possible tragedy that could befall us, but we attempt to recognize and avert the most likely scenarios. In the event that we are forced to close, due to an unforeseen chain of events, every attempt will be made to find placement for the dogs, preferably in the social groups to which they have become accustomed.

We do allow some visits, but because of the sensitive nature of many of the dogs, we will not guarantee you access to every area of the facility, and there will be animals that you do not see. The negative impact of a change in the routine can last for weeks, and it is important that we keep things as close to the regular schedule as possible; for this reason, visits may be limited, or even canceled with little or no notice. Unannounced visits are not allowed under any circumstances; if you feel you need to make an unannounced visit, believing that by catching us off guard you will see things as they really are, you can find someone else to take your dog - remember that we are doing you a favor, and we'd rather you kept your dog or found alternative placement. Please, don't push it; making us angry won't help you or your dog.

We are currently not accredited by the American Sanctuary Association or the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries; this is not because we have failed to pass inspection, but because we have not yet applied for accreditation. We would like to complete more construction on our facility before applying; in the meantime, we try to operate by the standards set forth by those organizations, and maintain working relationships with longer established, accredited organizations.

If some of this seems harsh, we hope it doesn't offend you, but after countless requests for help, we've found that most people are not very cooperative, especially given the considerations they're asking of us. Remember that we don't work for you, and we're under no obligation to do what you want us to do. We want to help if we can, and we'll want to help even more if you're honest and reasonable. If, after reading all of this, you would still like our help, please email Steve or call (360) 320-OLYMPIC/(360) 320-6596; email is usually answered on the same day, while phone calls may take a few days to be returned. Once in contact with us, we may give you a cellular number to call; if we do, call that number instead, but please do not give it to anyone else.

Thanks for taking the time to read this page, and we wish you the best of luck with your dog.

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