Red Hook Dog Rescue is a 501c3 nonprofit group dedicated to helping the special needs animals in NYC. Red Hook Dog Rescue is run by Harriet Zucker, a certified dog trainer who strongly believes in positive reinforcement based training. We believe that it is important to teach animals what to do rather than what not to do. When dogs are properly trained they are more successful in their homes and happier too! Our mission at Red Hook Dog Rescue is too rescue well, rather than rescue big. We are personally involved in the entire process, from behavior evaluations, training, fostering to adoptions; we accompany the animals we take into our care along their journey. We believe that all animals deserve a chance and we do not give up on our animals regardless of their limitations. Red Hook Dog Rescue is a special needs dog rescue, we typically take animals with limitations such as deafness, blindness, behavioral issues, and of course seniors! We make sure our animals receive the best veterinary care and training so that when they come to you they are the best they can be.
Red Hook Dog Rescue focuses on saving special needs dogs from the kill shelters of NYC, not because of what we can do for them, but because what they teach us. Dogs that are blind, deaf or have a physical impairment are in no way "limited" by what humankind considers a handicap. In fact, many shelters do not realize a dog is deaf or blind, because the dog copes so well with their surroundings. Red Hook is run by a certified trainer, who believes in personally visiting and evaluating every dog before taking it in to rescue, and not sending animals to the first available home, but to the best home. As such, Red Hook has one of the lowest rates of return adoptions of any rescue. Red Hook will always be a small rescue, with under 20 dogs available at any given time. We wish to focus on rescuing well, not rescuing big.