Border Collie Rescue, Australia
Mission Statement

The aims of BCRA:

• To educate people to make an appropriate choice of pet dog.
• To help people who feel they need to surrender a border collie.
• To help people who are looking for a border collie.
• To help border collie owners who require assistance with their  border collie
• To help the reputation of the border collie breed
• And most importantly, to help the individual border collies.

Why especially Border Collies?
Border collies have received a lot of publicity recently, especially with the success of 'Babe', and they excel in the obedience and agility rings. They are easy to praise, being intelligent, sensitive, quick, active, agile and very trainable. They are very cute as puppies, and grow into attractive and distinctive dogs.

The aspect of a border collie that is less easily impressed upon people is that it is a purpose-bred working dog, and so generally needs something to do. If you're already an owner you may well have had the experience yourself that if your border(s) don't have something to do they will make up an activity for themselves. This is usually something undesirable, like digging up the yard, but may be potentially disastrous, like herding children. The very qualities that can make them so endearing can also make them hard to control. A new border collie owner needs to understand the responsibility they take on with one of these dogs.

Why do we need Rescue?
When a border collie takes up residence in a household ill-informed or unable to provide what is needed for the development of a well-behaved dog, they usually end up being a dog that is 'too much to handle' - a problem dog.

These dogs get resold, given away, surrendered to animal shelters and even dumped. There is a small chance that their new home will understand their needs better than the first, but they may not even find a new home. These are not just the dogs who have temperament problems, they can simply be uncontrolled. But the fact is that of the many thousands of dogs known to be destroyed in Australia each year there are purebred border collies who went that way for the lack of someone to seek them out an appropriate home.

If you or someone you know has a problem border, perhaps we can offer some advice. A poorly behaved border collie is unlikely to 'grow out of the behaviour'. They usually need to be taught how they ought to behave. If in doubt, ask us - it doesn't cost anything to ask

Can you help us?
At present we are seeking interest from anyone who might be prepared to contribute in any small way. Any help, however small, is welcome.
We are always in need of spare crates, pens, dog food, bedding, bowls, etc. Monetary donations are, of course, always welcome too!

The operation of rescue groups in America, UK and Europe demonstrate that any assistance, from providing moral support to fostering or assisting with transport of a dog, does help immensely.

Offers of help of all sorts are welcome.