Above & Beyond English Setter Rescue: (1) Saving English setters from confinement, abusive, dangerous, or cruel situations. (2) Committed to “life” saving decisions for English setters at risk of euthanasia regardless of age or condition. (3) Passionate people bound by a common mission to save, rehabilitate, and re-home English setters in need. (4) To educate the public about the English setter breed, care and training. Above & Beyond English Setter Rescue (A&BESR) is a 501(c) (3) non-profit charitable organization committed to saving English Setters. Since 2004, our efforts enabled over 1,500 homeless setters to find their way into loving forever homes. Our adopted dogs reside in 49 of our 50 states, DC, and Canada. There are A&B foster homes in every geographic region of the country. The setters rescued by A&B are often found in shelters, as strays, no longer wanted because they do not hunt, or turned in by families who are no longer able to care for their setter. Once in rescue, our foster homes work with each dog to determine temperament, personality, and best type of home situation for their foster’s needs. All dogs receive basic vetting: spay/neuter, vaccines, and parasite testing /treatment. Many rescued setters have significant medical needs which require advanced medical care for heartworm disease, tumors, untreated breaks or fractures, etc. A&BESR provides for all medical care. Once restored to health, our setters are available for adoption. Over the years, our intake, fostering, and adoption policies have evolved as the rescue has grown. One guiding principle has never changed “We are deeply committed to saving English setters.” Rescue means different things to different people. When A&BESR discovers there is/are English setter(s) within hours of being killed we do our best to commit immediately, regardless of whether a foster home is available. We will temporarily board a setter to save his or her life. Many setters in these urgent or life and death situations are young adults or moms with pups too young to wean. Without an immediate commitment many die a cruel and painful death. The volunteers of A&BESR are passionate about and believe in what we do. A&BESR invites you to join us in continuing our mission to save English setters in need.
The first step in fostering for or adopting from A & B is to fill out our on-line application. Please ensure that you complete ALL sections of the application. Providing as much detail as possible is very helpful. Please contact your Veterinarian's office & give them permission to speak with us regarding current/past care provided to your pets. **Note that you are applying for approval from the Rescue to foster or adopt, NOT for a specific dog. Your Application is received and screened for completion, then assigned to an Application Team Member. Our team member will then contact your veterinary references to confirm your information. If proper care has not been provided, applications can be denied at this step. This includes the use of HEARTWORM PREVENTION. Next, a volunteer will call you to conduct a short phone interview. This helps us get to know you better & understand what you are looking for in a dog. If all goes well, a home visit will be scheduled by our Home Visit Coordinator at a mutually beneficial time for applicant and home visit volunteer. Currently, we are performing a Virtual Home Visit (VHV), asking you to complete an on-line form & upload pictures, so we can get a sense of where the dog will live. The Applications Team & Board reviews all of this information and approves or denies the applicant, usually within 2 days of completed VHV. Again, if you are approved, this means you are approved to foster for & adopt from our rescue, not approved to adopt a specific dog. The entire application process can take 2-3 weeks. We are an entirely volunteer run organization, so please be patient with us. We aim to expedite foster applications, as this is always our greatest need. Once approved to adopt, an applicant will be notified & an Adoption Buddy will be assigned. Your buddy will work with you until the right setter is matched. The foster home knows their foster the best and makes the decision as to who will adopt their foster dog. It may take up to 2 weeks after approval to be assigned a Buddy. At that point, you and your buddy will talk about what you are looking for & available dogs will be discussed. If no current dogs are a good fit, the expectation is that YOU will continue to monitor our website & reconnect with your Buddy when you see a dog that interests you. If the dog's bio and your adoption profile indicate a good match, the Buddy will facilitate communication with the Foster. Approved fosters will be contacted by our Foster Home Coordinator to learn more and help find the foster dog that best meets their needs.