Approximately 15 years ago, Housatonic Cairn Terrier Club joined with the Cairn Terrier Club of America in setting up a nationwide  rescue network  of the CTCA, which included all of the regional clubs around the country.  Over these many years HCTC has been extremely active in helping to take in and rehome those Cairns, who, through no fault of their own, needed  new homes.   

There are countless reasons for Cairns needing to be rescued, such as owners moving and can’t take the dog,  all the way up to the owner dying or going into a nursing home, and noone in the family can take it, and everything in between you can think of.  We get them from shelters and owners, and if they come in without veterinarian’s records, we get them vetted out, checked for parasites, vaccinated, neutered/spayed, and treated for any illness or other problem we find. If there is a biting history we attempt to discover the reason; sometimes the owner will not tell us this problem, which makes it difficult for us once we have the dog.

Even though we, as Cairn Terrier lovers, cannot understand people giving up their Cairn, or, worse yet, turning it loose in the street, it does happen, and we feel very strongly as breeders, exhibitors, or pet owners that we all should help with rescue. Occasionally we find that the dog came from a breeder in either our club or the CTCA and we contact them immediately to see if they can take the dog back and rehome it. The needed help can be in transporting a dog from one place to another, fostering it for a short period of time in order to evaluate the dogs and decide where would be the best “forever” home, donations of money to assist in paying the veterinarian’s bills incurred, and many others contributions. 

If you can help, or would like more information, please contact Susan DeWitt at happicairn@optonline.net or by phone at 203-846-3345.

Information on the national club's rescue program can be found at  http://www.cairnterrier.org/rescue/