Golden Bond Rescue finds new homes for dogs

(MARCH 3, 2023) Golden Bond Rescue is an organization of volunteers. They want to help abandoned and homeless dogs. (Abandoned means their owner left them behind.) Specifically, they want to help retrievers.  

Jennifer Bondley started the organization in 1990. She didn't see any other groups in the area that helped golden retrievers. She started by taking care of one golden retriever with an ear infection. He got better, and she found him a new home. She put an ad in the newspaper to find more homes for dogs, and she found new homes for 14 dogs. Then she took care of 44 more dogs the next year.

Golden Bond Rescue finds homes for retrievers that need a place to live. Sometimes people give their dogs to the organization because they are moving. Sometimes they do not have enough money. Sometimes they don't know how to take care of the dogs properly. The organization also rescues some dogs from puppy mills (businesses that raise dogs to sell for profit) or even the business of dog meat in Asia. Since 1991, the organization has found new homes for over 3,500 dogs.

Jill Groves is co-president of the organization. She told PDX Today that dogs aren't always like they are on TV or in the movies. She says, “They shed. You gotta be prepared to have a lot of hair around. They’re very loving, can be slobbery, and are likely going to be energetic." 

The organization receives many kinds of dogs. Some of the dogs were not treated well before. Some of them have behavior problems. Some of them need special medical care. Many of them need to be trained. “Rescue dogs are rescue dogs for a reason,” Groves says. “A lot of people get these dogs as puppies and they give them no training, and when they get bigger, they’re like 2-year-olds with knives.” All of the dogs need lots of love, attention, and patience to adjust to their new home, and Golden Bond Rescue helps to make that happen.