Afghan Hound Club of America Rescue

What is Afghan Hound Rescue?

The Afghan Hound Club of America's National Rescue Program provides support, coordination and financial assistance to a national network of volunteers. The goal is to ensure that veterinary care, including spaying and neutering, temperament evaluations, foster placement and loving permanent homes are provided to homeless Afghan Hounds.

Each year Afghan Hounds with serious medical conditions enter our program. A special Needs Fund was established to assist the Afghan Hounds that are rescued with extreme medical problems. The Special Needs Fund has given sight to an Afghan Hound who was blind, mobility to an Afghan Hound in need of sophisticated surgery and emergency medical care for the seriously ill.

AHCA Rescue website.

Regional Afghan Hound Clubs help find good homes for Afghan Hounds they rescue in their areas. Persons interested in taking an Afghan Hound Rescue into their home should contact either the AHCA Rescue (see email address above) or the local Club in their home state or the state nearest them (See Regional Club Section of this web site for contact information).

Please remember acquiring an Afghan Hound is a lifetime commitment.

How you can help with Afghan Hound Rescue?

Each year, many Afghans need to find new homes for a variety of reasons. Many are found stray, others are seized by animal control due to neglect or abuse. Others need to be placed because their owners are ill or have died, or their owners have lost their homes. Many more are given up because their owners are moving, because of divorce, or for reasons that boil down to a lack of commitment by their owners.

When an Afghan Hound becomes homeless for any of these reasons, and does not have a breeder ready and willing to take care of and "rehome" that dog, they become "rescues."

For many rescued Afghan Hounds, breeder information is unknown, as is typically the case for stray Afghan Hounds and many shelter dogs. Others have exchanged hands so many times that breeder information has been lost.

In the case of dogs whose owners have died, families are often uncertain where the dogs came from and cannot locate paperwork. Other dogs placed were originally purchased in pet stores, or were adopted directly from shelters or where bred by "back yard breeders" who are either known to be disreputable and/or refuse to take their dogs back. On occasion, a known breeder will not take responsibility for their dogs, leaving the work, care and cost to the rescuers.

There are specific steps we can take as breeders, as owners of pet Afghan Hounds and as rescuers which will help decrease the number of dogs who become homeless or need to be rescued:

• Tattoo and/or microchip your dogs before they are sold/placed (and register the tattoo).
• As rescuers, check for tattoos/microchips, as shelters frequently do not do so.
• Keep a strong (non choke) collar on your dog, with ID tags and current information.
• Spay/Neuter all pet and rescued Afghan Hounds.
• Screen homes carefully; ask for, and check references, do a home visit (if you are placing a dog long distance, ask for help from someone in that area).
• As breeders, don't sell pet Afghans with a contract to breed and give a puppy back.
• As rescuers, don't take an owner's word that the dog's breeder will not take the dog back; contact the breeder directly.
• As owners, we should have clear and accessible instructions on who to contact and what to do with our animals in the event of our death.