About Whippet Rescue
Please take a moment to read these FAQs, they ought to answer many of the questions you may have about Whippet Rescue.
Where do Rescue Whippets come from?
Rescue Whippets come from shelters and other rescue groups, as strays, or most often released to Rescue by the owner. Our mission is to place these whippets in good permanent homes. The vast majority of whippet breeders are the epitome of responsible, and will take back any of their dogs who need rehoming at any time during their life, so consequently true rescues are extremely rare in our breed. WRAP does not operate a kennel and any rescue whippets are fostered by our rescuers & volunteers in private homes for evaluation and rehab if needed.
I am interested in adopting a rescue whippet from WRAP. What do I need to do?
If you wish to adopt a Whippet and you live in the U.S, please fill out an application form. After receiving your application, it will be forwarded to the WRAP Rescue Rep closest to you & you will be placed on our waiting list. We will contact you if a possible match comes into our program. Please note that a completed application on-file & a home check is required in order to adopt a whippet from WRAP.
I am interested in becoming a volunteer with WRAP? What do I need to do?
If you would like to become a volunteer or serve as a foster home for WRAP, please visit whippet-rescue.org/volunteer-application/ to request a Volunteer Application.
How long will it take to get a rescue whippet from WRAP?
This is the 64 thousand dollar question, and the answer is that probably there will be a wait (oftentimes significant) for a rescue whippet. Whippets are lucky in that they are a breed whose caretakers are for the most part very responsible and concerned for their well-being. There are usually only a handful (less than 10 normally, often less than five) of whippets in rescue in the whole country at any given time, and usually only a few whippets are placed in Northern California in a year. There may often be a wait of up to several months for a whippet to come into Rescue locally, and often a wait of many months for the "perfect" dog matching your criteria to arrive. Things can change in a minute in Rescue and you never know when your perfect companion may arrive, however!
The "average" rescue whippet seems to be a middle-aged male. Whippet puppies are extremely rare in rescue, so your wait for a six-month old parti-color female may be several years, if one ever comes in to our rescue program. In order to be more quickly matched with a dog, you may wish to consider broadening your adoption requirements to include older (over 6 years of age) whippets, in order to find a companion in a more timely fashion. Older whippets are vital and perky, and in our breed lives of up to 16 years are not uncommon, so a senior whippet has a lot of life left in them!
I sent in an application months ago! Shouldn't your whippets be available to the person who has been waiting the longest?
We take many factors into consideration when choosing the right 'forever home' for our rescue whippets. Sometimes the right home has been on our applicants list for many months, sometimes for just a short time. Adopting a rescue whippet is not a first-come-first-serve proposition. We want every home for a rescue whippet to be their forever home, and the whippet always has the final say!
What do you do for the whippets while they are in foster care?
All Rescue Whippets will be spayed or neutered, and will be vet checked and up to date on shots. All will be current on recommended vet care for their age. They will be evaluated for temperament and house/crate training in order to choose the perfect forever home for them. Some dogs require very little in the way of vetting and evaluation, some needs lots of time and vet care, so the amount of time each whippet stays in foster care can vary quite a bit.
What are Rescue Whippet like?
Rescue Whippets are just like other whippets. Most whippets seem to like other dogs. They are not always good with cats and other small pets. Some rescue whippets may have other issues, due to hardships before they came into Rescue, but most are very sweet, lovable, trainable dogs that just need some time and TLC to become that wonderful dog that anyone would dream of owning. Some dogs come to us with their whole life documented and their family and background known to us, and others come to us as complete unknowns, from shelters or as strays. Each rescue whippet is different, but they all have one thing in common - they are whippets, and therefore most wonderful dogs!
What is required to adopt a Rescue Whippet?
We require a completed rescue application on-file in order to be considered as an adoptive home.
WRAP Adoption Application
There is always a home check and interview required before any adoption is completed. All Whippets from Rescue are required to be 'house dogs'. NO yard-only dogs. Whippets must have access to some part of the house, or they may jump fences. A dog door and a securely fenced yard are recommended. Apartments may be acceptable depending on the owner, their landlord, and the rescue whippet in question.
There is an adoption contract. There is an adoption fee charged for a Rescue Whippet. The adoption fee helps to defray our expenses for each rescue, which may include spaying/neutering, vaccination, and other medical and basic needs. The rescue Whippet may never be sold or given away by their adopter. WRAP will take the dog back at any time if the adopter cannot keep it and in fact, this is a stipulation of our adoption contract.
We strongly recommend the purchase of a crate. This is the easiest way to house-train a new dog. This does not mean that they should be left in a crate for all day, day after day.
Why do you charge an adoption fee for these dogs? I mean, they are unwanted, so shouldn't they be free?
The very reasonable Adoption Fee is charged for each Rescue Whippet in order to defray the expenses associated with vet care for each dog. Most of our dogs come to us needing some amount of vet care, and individual expenses per animal can range anywhere from nothing (very rarely!) to thousands of dollars (for those poor guys who have come out of a shelter and have needed extensive dentals, bloodwork, altering, etc.). We charge the Adoption Fee in order to at least attempt to cover some of those expenses, some of the time. Rescue Whippets are NOT Throw-Away dogs and the Adoption Fee 'purchase price' reflects a very small part of the value these dogs have.
I have a whippet that I can no longer keep. Can you help me?
If you must give up your purebred whippet and you would like them to enter our program, please contact us at https://whippet-rescue.org/surrender-a-whippet/ and we will promptly get back to you. Please note that we will often ask for photos and will always ask you questions about where your whippet came from (ie: where you purchased or adopted them from). WRAP only places purebred Whippets.
A NOTE ON WHIPPET MIXES: WRAP Whippet Rescue's mission is to rescue and rehome purebred whippets. The vast majority of our potential adopters are only interested in adopting purebred whippets, with the looks and traits that are predictable to our breed. The reality is that the vast majority of dogs who are listed as 'whippet mixes' by shelters and other rescue organizations most often do not have a drop of whippet blood in them (this does not mean that they are not perfectly wonderful dogs, but long legs and being fast does not a whippet make, and our mission is to rescue and rehome purebred whippets...) Here is a link to the WRAP page on "whippet mixes" that says it all, with really excellent photo descriptions too - http://whippet-rescue.org/whippet-or-not/
We are limited in both our financial resources and available foster homes. Due to these factors, we will not be able to take a mixed breed into our system.
Northern California Rescue Contact
- Please contact our Northern California representative, Guin Borstel, at [email protected].
Other Rescue Resources
** These groups adopt out sighthounds & sighthound mixes in Northern California. Galgos & Podencos and Middle-Eastern Saluki mixes are often on the smaller end of the spectrum, large whippet-sized. **
Greyhound Friends For Life [GFFL]
Save A Galgo [SAGE]