10/30/2026
Rearview: Ive been at this for 27 years. I have seen Rescue as a Cause adapt to an ever-changing world for more than two and half decades. Charities, of which Rescue is a loose coalition thereof, tend to oscillate between reaction to a crisis, and chasing proactive policy to prevent the next one.
The direct need for charitable intervention swells when a society is in crisis. It is when that society is, by and large, settled, that those of us organizing charitable response take the breather to anticipate, plan for and avoid the next one. In respect to Animal Welfare, economic rumbling or deterioration tends to affect jobs, housing and expendable income. Luxuries are sacrificed when even the necessities are scarce or difficult to obtain.
Pet ownership is a luxury.
In times of plenty, I have seen adoption rates increase; donor support of Rescue increase, awareness of the Cause becomes in vogue; and being able to point to your pup and say “he’s a Rescue’ becomes a point of pride eclipsing the implied snobbishness of pointing to your purebred poodle.
During these heady times, Rescue orgs lobby for animal rights legislation; make facility improvements, and increase community outreach programs…all designed to make the inevitable wave of NEED perhaps more a ripple and less a battering ram. There was a wide ranging expansion in Rescue organizations, smaller splinter groups proliferated, filling gaps left by the broad reach of the larger groups as those larger groups moved from grassroots trench-based revolution to become corporations unable to see the individual need that built them to begin with.. Larger groups grew extremely wealthy, awash in donor dollars, mastering the capitalist tradition of obscene ceo salaries and stock or real estate investment; taking dollars out of Rescue and parking it in hedge funds. The earlier parts of this century, even this decade allowed for this dereliction, this lost Cause.
Paraphrasing an old adage, times of plenty lead to complacency and greed, complacency and greed lead to times of need.
A gasping, emaciated economy with rampant job loss, housing and food insecurity has led to enormous percentages of those celebrated covid puppy adoptions being returned, given up, surrendered, abandoned or neglected. Rescues are trapped between the vice grip of literal bodies pressing against the front door clawing to get in…
…and a constricted, impacted, and coagulated population that squeezes out the adoption exit a few at a time because the costs of pet ownership and vet care have escalated so much as to price many owners out of the market; a phenomenon simultaneously causing surrenders and stifling adoptions. And suddenly, terribly predictably, in the face of a crisis they did not create, all those rescues that celebrated their No-kill status and patted themselves on the backs, all suddenly begin to question if they can quietly shift the moral line for euthanasia?
UCC has, like so many others, struggled against this backdrop. Where we once adopted out 400 dogs in a year, our numbers have declined to a projection barely reaching 100 in 2026. Our budget once supporting staff, all those dogs, a dog park, a weekly clinic, training support and dog control programs, once buoyed by those adoptions and the active and inspired donors supporting us, has dropped from $500k to about $120k supporting what programs that two very tired people that started this place with a dream 9 years ago still have the ability to provide.
We have maintained a (smaller) adoption population, and the corresponding adoptions. We have maintained a boarding program, primarily in support of our alumni, to give them a familiar place with familiar people while their families travel. We have maintained a weekly vaccine clinic. We have continued to provide dog control services to three towns; and we have continued to provide aggression evaluation programs to private owners, rescues and larger shelters as they struggle with weighty behavioral questions.
All that, while they may seem like reduced accomplishments, it is in fact amazing considering the headwinds.
Jamie and I have always been aware of how far we can push ourselves. What has been less certain is how far was can push all of you. How many hours can we work, how many days? It’s been 3288 since we opened.
3288 days…..9 years.
The two of us have gotten up out of bed every day for 3288 days, provided care for up to of 60 dogs daily for 9 years.
3288 sunrises and sunsets; an unrelenting battle of society’s abuse and neglect of homeless companion animals. There have been no other perks. There is no salary, our compensation is limited to a meal a day and a roof over our heads. Dinner arrives only after the day had been done and every dog under our roof has been fed. Two people. Unrelenting need, no days off, so there have been no vacations, no days to sleep in late or tend to our personal needs.
Personal savings? None.
New reliable cars? No. used jalopies only.
Nice clothes? I personally own 2 laundry loads of clothing and 2 pairs of shoes. Adam has less, and even for that it was years before I broke his habit of shopping for himself at Salvation Army or Goodwill.
Sick? Cant call out.
Just not feeling it and need a mental health day? Cant call out.
Snow storm? Ice Storm? Flood? Power outage? Covid? Cant call out.
Dinner with friends? Can't make it.
Friends? Do we have any left, or has everyone become just someone we knew, once?
Family wedding? Not happening.
Tangible effective support system? Non-existent.
That has been our determined reality. And saving some, how ever many we can, has been on balance, worth it.
So as we peer toward next year; and those days that are barreling towards us, whats next?
I’ll begin to detail the (many) plans with the next post. For today, I am announcing the beginning of our holiday fundraising drive. It is this period every year during which we begin to plan and budget for the facility repairs and improvements, set the stage for program adjustments and generally budget our projected and expected time, energy and finances…and it is during the quiet winter months that we lay the groundwork for those plans There is 8 weeks remaining in 2026. We are setting a donation goal of $1k per week, or $8k before year’s end. We have achieved as much in past years. You have achieved as much in past years. We (currently) have no gimmicks to offer, no matching challenges, no gift baskets, no gala dinners, no prizes. Just two people doing what they’ve always done- devoting every dollar to the Cause we have made our lives.
Donations can be sent via venmo, (6184)
PayPal.me/UlsterCountyCanines
Or checks to UCC, PO box 98 Saugerties NY 12477
Video of Betty, adoptable 2 year old female anxiously in need of a gentle soul to lead her through a terrifying world. Adoption application at ulstercountycanines.com. Her time at UCC: 178 days
