The mission of the Virginia Maltese Rescue is to educate and inform the public about responsible companion animal ownership, the link between domestic violence, child abuse and animal abuse, the importance of early training and behavior evaluation for companion animals, the necessity to spay and neuter pets to prevent pet overpopulation which leads to abandonment, cruelty and euthanasia and that pet ownership is a lifetime commitment. The rescue will assist Maltese owners, who, for any reason, can no longer provide a home for their dog. When animals can no longer be kept by their owners, many owners are reluctant to take their animal to a shelter. They contact a rescue for their breed and ask them to place the animal in a new home. Often if dogs have been placed in shelters the shelter will contact us to do a better job of placing the dogs.
Most pure breeds have rescues.
The dogs available through a rescue are usually adult dogs who need new homes usually because of some unforseen problem with their owners,such as death, moving, divorce, expanding family etc. When you contact a rescue, unlike a shelter,you are usually contacting a person' s private home. Be aware of this and realize that you may be calling during the person's dinner, children's bath or bedtime, or during some other private home issue. You are NOT calling a shelter office. There are no shelter visiting hours.