Translation of Gundog Rescue CACI's Crowdfunding Mission Statement
Please think about donating to this wonderful birddog rescue:
Let’s talk about bird dogs
Bred
to find and flush birds in the wild, these beautiful hunting dogs are also
known as gundogs, named after the weapon hunters carry. There are different types
of birddogs aka gundogs depending on their separate tasks hunting in the field.
Setters
are named after the way they crouch down or “set” as they let the hunter know
they’ve found a bird.
Pointers
will literally point in the direction of game with their bent front paw.
Birddogs
are working dogs, partnering with hunters to find and shoot game. Yet so many of
these intelligent creatures are brought to the pound with excuses like: he’s
too old to hunt now; she’s useless, she’s injured; he wasn’t birdy enough; I
can’t afford the upkeep until the next bird hunting season.
Many of the
dogs have not been properly trained and get lost when they are let loose in the
field and expected to perform based on breed-specific expectations. Most haven’t
been micro-chipped, so owners can’t be contacted once they end up in the pound.
If they don’t come to look for their dog, the gundogs end up being put down.
Faithful
companions waiting to be picked up by their owners…
Japanese
birddogs have little socialization as puppies and are often shy of strangers. Once
they get lost, this makes them hard to find and rescue. Even when they are
finally found, some are so weak and malnourished they can’t be saved. The irony
is that gundogs are by nature faithful and bond strongly with their owners: a
well-trained birddog will heed owner commands perfectly in the field.
Gundog Rescue
CACI is one of only a few birddog specific rescues in Japan, partly due to the
image of hunting dogs as being hard to train as household pets. Our mission is
to rescue and rehome these intelligent and beautiful dogs.
The
hunting season starts in November. There’s an immediate surge in the number of
lost or abandoned dogs deemed “unfit” for the field. A few irresponsible hunters
are making a bad name for the sport, and responsible hunters in Japan are aghast
at the fate of these faithful companions.
Last year we were just able to
keep the rescue afloat with the profits from the calendar and the sale of charity
goods along with individual contributions. This year we have our backs to the
wall with debts of over US$50,000: we need to find a way to keep the rescue
running. So we have set up this project, with the hope in our hearts that we will
be able to keep on saving birddogs, one beautiful life at a time. And that our
work will help break this seasonal flood of gundog abandonment and make waves
of change in birddog lives- we need your help!
Update
February 5th 2020: Thanks to your overwhelming response from the get
go, we have been able to reach our second goal. It’s not over yet! We still need
and welcome your support. You are making such a difference, warming hearts and
minds and making this rescue mission possible. Thank you so much!
We
have set the next goal at 10million Japanese yen (approximately US$90,000). The
funds you are donating will be used as indicated below:
-
CACI Shelter: repair and maintenance of ageing facilities
-
Purchase and repair of large size dog crates.
-
Fixing the shelter doors - some newly rescued pups panic and
things can get broken as they try to escape. Right now we are using multiple
layers of plastic sheeting over the doors.
-
Subfloor work to fix dangerously sagging and soft shelter floors
-
Funds for emergency and routine veterinary care (as the hunting
season ends soon, a huge influx of often sick, injured or ageing birddogs mean vet
bills stack up rapidly)
Help CACI help birddogs here in Japan: we need your support! Your
generous donations are making such a difference. Please join in this wave of
love.
Birddogs
abandoned by the owner they trusted
Thank you for reading our crowdfunding page.
I’m the Gundog Rescue CACI CEO, Rie Kaneko. Our birddog rescue is located in
Ichikawa City, Chiba Prefecture, just north of Tokyo. CACI keeps the rescued pointers
and setters in a safe shelter during the vetting and retraining process while
they are being matched with forever families and a loving home.
The story of our rescue began with my stepping
in to help pups from a hoarding situation in Sanbanse in Ichikawa City. In 1993
I set up a volunteer dog rescue organization named Companion Animal Club
Ichikawa (CACI for short). At that time we weren’t breed specific, but during
my work in our local area I came across a particularly dire and prevalent issue…
I realized the numbers of abandoned birddogs landing
in the pound in Chiba Prefecture were far higher than anywhere else in Japan.
Birddogs were misguidedly believed to be unsuitable as household pets, so there
were hardly any breed-specific rescues and their fate was sealed. Soon after
being abandoned they were being put down in the pound. I watched this tragedy unfold
so many times before my eyes.
Faced with this brutal reality, the idea came
to me to prioritize saving these unlucky dogs with a lower chance of surviving death
in the pound, and above all to somehow stop bird dogs being treated like
disposable objects.
Without raising awareness in society, without talking
about training and ownership responsibility, nothing was going to change. So we
switched course to become a breed-specific birddog rescue.
In 2008 we reinvented ourselves, and Gundog
Rescue CACI came into being. To date I’ve been involved in canine rescue for about
30 years of my life, and right now I’m working with our team of about 40
volunteers.
CACI rescue statistics
▶︎23 dogs in 2020 (17 currently at the
shelter, one with a volunteer foster and 5 placed with partner rescue organizations)
We do our best to comply with special requests for rescue
in collaboration with the authorities, even if the dog is not a gundog.
▶︎Grand total of rescued dogs：1,090 (Some of the pups crossed the rainbow bridge in our
care)
▶︎Grand total of adopted dogs：1,050
How to help birddogs become the perfect pet
By nature, birddogs are warm, people friendly
creatures who like to be spoiled. In cultures where dogs live as companion
animals together with their human families, they have lots of opportunities for
healthy socialization and learning good canine citizen manners.
However, in Japan most birddogs live a life
in outside cages, separated from the home environment. They often lack proper socialization,
may have developed compulsive alarm barking issues, and have often not been
trained to walk politely on a leash.
These
are dogs that have been bred to hunt, and the hunting instinct stays with them
all their lives. But the good news is that a well-organized training program
can help these intelligent animals with the ability to react quickly to the
slightest movement and the savvy to navigate mountainous terrain to become great
household pets.
Retraining
Our task is to help the dog widen its focus from one
single hunter to embrace family members and become a good canine citizen. Sadly
since birddogs need ample and regular exercise, not so many families step up to
take them in. But although it’s no mean feat, our positive reinforcement training
results show that a birddog can indeed rehabilitate as a warm furry beloved family
friend.
Retraining in Action
The most important thing about retraining a
rescued birddog is to nurture effective communication. The stronger the hunting
instinct, the more important it is to get the dog to calm down and work with
its human. Once a pattern of awareness and interaction has been established,
things can get going.
First up, gundogs need to be crate trained
and toilet trained (to use potty pads). They learn basic manners like “sit”, “wait”
and “down”, how to walk politely on a leash, and how to “heel”. Encouraging the
dog to repeat positive behavior and reinforcing with rewards such as treats, we
slowly but surely build up good canine habits.
Vetting Fees
Unfortunately, almost none of the rescued
birddogs are in good health when they come in to the CACI program. Often they
are heartworm positive, malnourished and emaciated, with matted fur or hair
loss. Bitches often have mammary tumors or are suffering from pyometra (a life-threatening
womb infection). It breaks your heart to see them in such a sorry state.
The first step to rehabilitation is to have a
thorough vet examination.
Vetting fees pile up as the dogs need not
only spaying or neutering, vaccinations and heart worm meds. Some dogs have a
pre-existing condition and need regular meds, or are injured and need urgent surgery.
The average cost of rescuing one birddog
is JPY150,000, approximately US$1350.
We simply cannot ask adopting families to pay
this amount. We’d be out of families looking to take on a rescue in no time.
Our motto is to find happiness for birddogs
in all stages of life and health. When the dogs find their forever family, we
ask the new family to pay basic vetting fees and spay/neuter costs up front. The remaining rescue costs are covered by CACI funds. As already mentioned, rescue vetting fees rack up fast and it
can feel like you’re chasing a moving target.
End of the Road? Financial Straits.
The annual operating expenses of CACI
Gundog Rescue are approximately 9 million Japanese yen, or just over US$80,000.
Monthly breakdown:
Fixed costs: Shelter Rent JPY300,000/US$2700;
Water rates JPY20,000/US$180; Electricity Utilities JPY40,000/US$360; Kibble
JPY90,000/US$800; Training JPY80,000/US$700
Monthly Total Fixed costs:
JPY530,000/US$4800
Variable costs: Vetting Fees JPY150,000/US$1350;
Extras (transport costs, potty pads, bleach, towels, blankets, waste disposal
etc.) JPY70,000/US$600
Monthly Total Variable costs:
JPY220,000/US$2000
Monthly Total Operating Costs: JPY750,000/US$6800
To date we have been funding the rescue
based on sales of the calendar, Tshirts and individual donations. However the escalating
variables together with the rise in rent due to the consumption tax hike meant
we kept getting further and further behind. As CEO I kept adding personal funds
to keep us afloat, but this is unsustainable longterm. We’ve been forced to cut
back on the number of dogs we can rescue to try and make funds meet.
That’s
where you come in: join in the crowdfunding and help us save more of these unique
and precious animals. Your donation will give a birddog a new lease on life,
and help us to continue to help them find a loving forever family! Your funds make a difference
every step of their new path, from a warm shelter and nourishing kibble to expert
vetting and training. Please give generously and open your heart to birddog love!
Reaching our first goal: 2million JPyen/US$18,500
dollars
Hunting is seasonal-Birddog rescue is
ongoing
By law, the Japanese hunting season runs
from November 15th through to February 15th (depending on
the area it can run longer, from mid-October to mid-March). Each year at the
end of the season the rate of birddog abandonment rises. It’s an ongoing
problem.
We continue to rescue these dogs even though
we have debts of 1.8millionJPY/US$16600. The monthly financial reports are
available in Japanese at the CACI homepage.
▼Monthly
Financial Report
Under current circumstances we not only
have difficulty running the shelter, but we will be forced to give up taking in
new rescues come February. If we manage to reach this goal, we will be enabled
to move forward taking rescued gundogs into our care.
Reaching our second goal: 6million JPY/US$55,500
dollars
Even after paying 2millionJPY/ US$18,500 in
vetting fees from the sales of our 2020 calendar, we are still behind. With
these funds we can settle our vetting debts of 3.8millionJPY/US$35,000, incurred
by rescuing birddogs needing complex surgery or with unexpected urgent care
issues. We can also begin to fix up the ageing shelter facilities. Every cent
counts.
We can begin to upgrade the rescue environment
for efficiency and ease of use. Help us to help give these birddogs a bright
future.
A forever home: Life with a birddog
Rescue adopter story- the Tachikawa family
in Kanagawa Prefecture
Our family has had dogs for a long time, so
I wanted to give back and adopt a rescue. That’s when I discovered CACI.
We adopted our two furbabies, a setter and
a pointer, and they’ve been with us eleven years now. The name gundog is kind
of forbidding, but actually they have an ability to self-regulate, acute and focused
in the field, mellow and affectionate in the home. So outdoors they are high
energy and playful companions, and indoors they walk by you gracefully wagging
their tails, always close by. I can’t imagine life without them.
I didn’t know much about the abandoned gundog
issue until we adopted them. I was shocked when I learned they get put down
because they supposedly won’t hunt, even when they make such perfect and adorable
pets. I really want to support CACI in rescuing these dogs in any way I can. I’m
really hoping that not only can we make good on our crowdfunding mission
financially, but also that through this campaign many more people will become
aware of the plight of abandoned birddogs and open their hearts and homes to rescue
them.
All working dogs, whether guide dogs,
search and rescue, or birddogs, give their all for humans. Birddogs, too, deserve
a happy and fulfilled life: help give them a future.
We at Gundogrescue CACI have a dream. Someday,
there will be a world where no gundogs are abandoned.
The current situation, relying on
volunteers and donations to rescue birddogs, is not a viable longterm solution.
We want to address the root cause and think about making changes in society to
the way the issue of birddog abandonment is approached.
To help birddogs, we want to raise awareness
in collaboration with public authorities, hunting organizations and other
rescues. We want to broaden the focus of our activities from not only saving
abandoned birddogs, but to include helping owners who are unable to keep their
birddogs.
Hunters who are getting to old and frail to
hunt…
No use in the field any more…
The birddog was more trouble than I
bargained for…
We want to get ahead of the issue, at some
point in the future be able to provide some kind of lifeline.
Until then, we will work together as one, forever
families, birddog lovers, dog-loving hunters, canine rescues, to save the lives
we can.
And raise awareness, so that we get closer
to the society of our dreams, where birddogs can live a rich and fulfilled
life. Please join the campaign, cheering for Gundogrescue CACI with your generous
donations, spread the word, share the love, so that we can make this dream come
true!
To those who donate, our heartfelt
gratitude
Your generous donations will go in full to rescuing birddogs: you
are making a difference. That’s why in return you get reports detailing how the
money has been spent saving gundog lives, rather than thank-you gifts.
Gundogrescue CACI CEO Rie Kaneko
I began rescuing dogs after helping out with a hoarding situation in 1993,
and since then I just keep going. As the leader of CACI, I’m out there striving
to make a difference every day for birddogs.
Chiba Prefecture Animal Protection Center Registered Volunteer
Ibaraki Prefecture Animal Protection Center Registered Volunteer
Type 2 Licensed Animal Handling Business CEO
Animal Processing Plant Permit Holder
▶︎Twitter
: ID @RescueCaci
▶︎Instagram
:
▶︎LINE：ID @646cghpv
▶︎Adoption
https://centro387.sakura.ne.jp/MildWans/index.php
Profile
GUNDOG RESCUE CACI A volunteer birddog rescue (mainly setters
and pointers) with a rescue shelter located in Ichikawa City, Chiba Prefecture,
just north of Tokyo. CACI stands for Companion Animal Club Ichikawa, the name
of the original non-breed specific canine rescue.
Join in the Crowdfunding Project:Types of Donation
Return/Rewards
3000JPY Supporter
You get:
A heartfelt thank-you email
Your individual/group/company name gets a mention
as a sponsor in the official blog/Facebook page (Please apply if desired)
*You can also join the campaign mixing and
matching different types of donations or even clicking the same type multiple
times to get the total sum you wish to provide.
No. of Users … Number available: No limits Mailed:
April 2020
5000JPY Goods Supporter CACI Original
Calender 2021
You get:
A copy of the 2021 CACI Original Calendar
sent with our gratitude.
A heartfelt thank-you email
Your individual/group/company name gets a mention
as a sponsor in the official blog/Facebook page (Please apply if desired)
*You can also join the campaign mixing and
matching different types of donations or even clicking the same type multiple
times to get the total sum you wish to provide.
No. of Users … Number available: No limits Mailed:
December 2020
Please note that the calendar is only available for a Japan address.
10,000JPY Cheerleader: Give the dog a home!
A loving family for abandoned birddogs!
We are able to make full and effective use
of your donation with your cost-cutting approach to rewards. Thank you.
You get:
A PDF copy of the CACI report detailing how
your donations together are helping rescue birddogs.
A heartfelt thank-you email
Your individual/group/company name gets a mention
as a sponsor in the official blog/Facebook page. (Please apply if desired)
*You can also join the campaign mixing and
matching different types of donations or even clicking the same type multiple
times to get the total sum you wish to provide.
No. of Users … Number available: No limits Mailed:
December 2020
10,000JPY Goods Cheerleader CACI Original
T-shirt
You get:
A white CACI original T-shirt (Available Sizes
below)
S) Chest 49cm/19.2”; Length 66cm/26”
M) Chest 52cm/20.5”; Length 70cm/27.5”
L) Chest 55cm/21.6”; Length 74cm/29”
XL) Chest 58cm/22.8”; Length 78cm/30.7”
A heartfelt thank-you email
Your individual/group/company name gets a mention
as a sponsor in the official blog/Facebook page (Please apply if desired)
*You can also join the campaign mixing and
matching different types of donations or even clicking the same type multiple
times to get the total sum you wish to provide.
No. of Users … Number available: No limits Mailed:
December 2020
Please note that the T-shirt is only available for a Japan address.
13,000JPY Goods Cheerleader CACI Original
T-shirt & 2021 Calendar
You get:
A copy of the 2021 CACI Original Calendar
sent with our gratitude.
A white CACI original T-shirt (Available Sizes
below)
S) Chest 49cm/19.2”; Length 66cm/26”
M) Chest 52cm/20.5”; Length 70cm/27.5”
L) Chest 55cm/21.6”; Length 74cm/29”
XL) Chest 58cm/22.8”; Length 78cm/30.7”
A PDF copy of the CACI report detailing how
your donations together are helping rescue birddogs.
A heartfelt thank-you email
Your individual/group/company name gets a mention
as a sponsor in the official blog/Facebook page (Please apply if desired)
*You can also join the campaign mixing and
matching different types of donations or even clicking the same type multiple
times to get the total sum you wish to provide.
No. of Users … Number available: No limits Mailed:
December 2020
Please note that the calendar and T-shirt are only available for a Japan address.
30,000JPY Mobiliser: Give the dog a home! A
loving family for abandoned birddogs!
We are able to make full and effective use
of your donation with your cost-cutting approach to rewards. Thank you.
You get:
A PDF copy of the CACI report detailing how
your donations together are helping rescue birddogs.
A heartfelt thank-you email
Your individual/group/company name gets a mention
as a sponsor in the official blog/Facebook page. (Please apply if desired)
*You can also join the campaign mixing and
matching different types of donations or even clicking the same type multiple
times to get the total sum you wish to provide.
No. of Users … Number available: No limits Mailed:
December 2020
50,000JPY Power Mobiliser: Give the dog a
home! A loving family for abandoned birddogs!
We are able to make full and effective use
of your donation with your cost-cutting approach to rewards. Thank you.
You get:
A PDF copy of the CACI report detailing how
your donations together are helping rescue birddogs.
A heartfelt thank-you email
Your individual/group/company name gets a mention
as a sponsor in the official blog/Facebook page. (Please apply if desired)
*You can also join the campaign mixing and
matching different types of donations or even clicking the same type multiple
times to get the total sum you wish to provide.
No. of Users … Number available: No limits Mailed:
December 2020
100,000JPY Champion Mobiliser: Give the dog
a home! A loving family for abandoned birddogs!
We are able to make full and effective use
of your donation with your cost-cutting approach to rewards. Thank you.
You get:
A PDF copy of the CACI report detailing how
your donations together are helping rescue birddogs.
A heartfelt thank-you email
Your individual/group/company name gets a mention
as a sponsor in the official blog/Facebook page. (Please apply if desired)
*You can also join the campaign mixing and
matching different types of donations or even clicking the same type multiple
times to get the total sum you wish to provide.
No. of Users … Number available: No limits Mailed:
December 2020
Overseas donations: how to enter your
address
Please fill out the Japanese form as
detailed below to register successfully:
Enter your Zip Code: Please type 000-0000
Enter the Prefecture you live in: Choose
one at random
City/Town: Type in the letter a (no caps).
Street name etc.: Type in the letter a (no
caps)
Enter your Surname: Type in your family
name.
Enter your First Name: Type in your first
name.
Enter your Telephone Number: Please type 000-0000-0000
We are sorry for the inconvenience and
thank you very much for your patience with the system.
※If you have chosen to have your name mentioned as a sponsor in the
official hp and blog, please be aware of the legal restrictions listed in the
terms of service (Japanese only) （https://readyfor.jp/terms_of_service#appendix）
