Established groups experience enough success stories to keep them going through tough times. They have an army of volunteers and their Web sites draw scores of visitors. Homewardboundgoldens.org receives 10 to 15 online adoption applications a week. Others, like Gary Sawyer, go it alone. Sawyer, easy to spot in his cowboy hat and boots, visits shelters and keeps an inventory of dogs he thinks he can place.
Dogs only have a limited amount of time at the shelters until they have to be put down.
The foster home shortage forces most rescue groups to turn down requests for help. Random calls to area rescue groups found nearly all were full and unable to take new pets. Sacramento County's Gray says shelters try to cooperate but eventually stop calling the unresponsive groups. Mike Jones says Homeward Bound never turns down a Golden Retriever, rescuing dogs from Bakersfield to Redding. Mike Love, who runs Central Valley Collie and Sheltie Rescue, and his wife have found new homes for 619 dogs since 1992.