We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ashley Jacobs. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ashley below.
Hi Ashley, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
Finding my purpose was the result of wanting something good to come from a difficult loss.
As an animal lover, I’ve always wanted to do my part to make a difference in the lives of animals in need. For a long time, this contribution consisted of fostering and volunteering my time to help animal shelters and rescues.
When Diamond, my soul dog, passed away in 2020, her loss was a tough one to come to terms with. Not only had Diamond been by my side through many of life’s highs and lows, but she had also been an incredible foster sister to many dogs we fostered over the years. She loved everyone she met, whether they had two legs or four.
While I had considered starting a rescue before Diamond crossed the rainbow bridge, her passing was the catalyst that pushed me forward toward actually starting a rescue. Since she had made a difference in many lives during her time on earth, it only seemed fitting that I start a rescue in her honor. I decided to call it Diamond’s Friends Pet Rescue so that more dogs could continue to be one of Diamond’s friends even though she was no longer with us.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
One of my primary focuses is doing my part to try to help solve the pet overpopulation crisis our country is facing. There are currently more animals looking for homes than there are homes looking for animals, which means we are seeing increased euthanasia rates in animal shelters. Amazing, loving, adoptable dogs and cats are dying in shelters right now because there are simply too many of them in need of families. It’s devastating.
Diamond’s Friends Pet Rescue is one of my main efforts to help make a difference. Diamond’s Friends is a small, foster-based, no-kill dog rescue focused on creating quality matches between dogs that need homes and homes that are looking for dogs. We may not rescue as many dogs as some of the larger organizations, but we are dedicated to making sure we place dogs in homes that fit what that particular dog needs/has to offer to ensure each placement lasts a lifetime. We also do everything we can to provide post-adoption support to ensure success once a dog is adopted, and our adopters know they can reach out to us whenever they need help, whether it’s one day after adoption or ten years after adoption. We’ve spent a lot of time refining our adoption process, and I’m thrilled to say that we’ve had no dogs bounce back to us in almost a year and a half!
My experiences running Diamond’s Friends has also resulted in me putting efforts into education initiatives that can help alleviate the pet overpopulation issue. This includes education on responsible pet ownership, spay/neuter, how to ensure you don’t buy a dog from a backyard breeder, and why it’s so important to consider adopting a dog vs. going to any type of breeder. Education is a critical aspect of solving this problem. It’s also my hope that as more people start to better understand what’s happening in animal welfare, the odds may increase that animal welfare advocates will have more success in pushing through legislation that can make meaningful, lasting change.
I always joke that rescue doesn’t pay the bills, and the reality is that I don’t get paid to run Diamond’s Friends. Every dollar donated to Diamond’s Friends goes to the dogs we rescue, which means I also work in addition to running the rescue. My “regular” job consists of consulting, and I offer services like editing, writing, fundraising, virtual assistance, and more to clients in both the for-profit and non-profit sectors.
Running a rescue while working is not for the faint of heart! It’s a balancing act, and I don’t have much free time. That said, it’s 100% worth it when I get to see one of our rescue dogs end up in an incredible home.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
The three most important qualities that have impacted my journey so far include being able to set boundaries, being willing to take chances, and being willing to learn.
In terms of being able to set boundaries, that’s likely the most critical quality I think someone in rescue needs to have. There are an obscene amount of animals in need, and when the euthanasia lists are hitting your inbox every day, it can be hard to say “no” to taking just one more animal. Sadly, this inability to set boundaries and ensure your organization is not stretched too thin is something I’m seeing more and more rescues struggle with. I know more than a few fantastic rescues that have shut down in the last couple of years because they took too many animals and didn’t have the resources to accommodate them all. When the need is so great, it’s hard to say “no.” But, for the sake of your rescue’s longevity and being able to save animals well into the future, setting boundaries around what you can reasonably do is critical.
When it comes to taking chances, I’ve often found that the dogs I’ve been most hesitant to help ended up being the most worthwhile. It can be scary to pull a dog from a shelter because you never quite know the extent of the medical or behavioral support they will need, and there have been dogs I haven’t taken out of fear. But for the ones that I did take a chance on, including ones that I knew would need substantial medical care or behavioral rehabilitation, the journey with those dogs was so rewarding and fulfilling (albeit difficult). Plus, getting to see them living incredible lives that they wouldn’t have gotten to live had I said “no” to them just makes it that much more worthwhile.
Being willing to learn is the other critical skill that has been impactful during my rescue journey. There are countless ways this comes into play, whether it’s learning why other rescues (or shelters) work the way they do, learning why people feel the way they do about rescues and shelters, learning how to do admin tasks for rescue, learning how to make better adoption matches, learning the best way to reach people, and more. There’s so much that goes into rescue and so many different aspects to it. When you are running a rescue, you have to be willing to learn as much as you can and be open to learning from other people.
All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?
Rescue comes with many challenges, but I’d say the biggest obstacle we are facing right now is finding committed adopters. An endless supply of dogs available for adoption in shelters and rescues paired with a high number of backyard breeders selling puppies under the guise of adoption or rehoming makes it challenging to find the perfect match for our adoptable pups. There’s just too much supply and not enough demand.
One of the things we are trying to do to overcome this problem is putting effort into education on why adoption is important, how to make sure the dog you bring into your home is the right match for your home, why it’s critical not to get a dog from a backyard breeder, how to know when you are dealing with a backyard breeder, and how to be a responsible pet owner. We hope that with increased education efforts, we can help people make more informed decisions about bringing a dog into their home and potentially get more dogs adopted.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.diamondsfriends.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/diamondsfriendspetrescue/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DiamondsFriendsPetRescue
