Rescue · Memphis / Bartlett, TN

Golden Rule Pets

The full guideRescue

Report, capture and transport. You are never obligated to catch a dog.

Report a stray

Photograph him from the car and keep driving — you never have to catch him. A photo with the location still attached is enough to start a rescue. The form is on the home page.

Report a strayThirty seconds · from the driver's seat
Injured, aggressive, or in the road right now? Call Memphis Animal Services at 901-636-1416, then file the report.

How to approach a stray

You are never obligated to catch a dog. Reporting one from inside your car is a complete, useful act. But if you're going to get out, get out knowing this.

Stay in the vehicle if he is

  • Injured, bleeding, or dragging a limb
  • Stiff and still, growling, or showing teeth
  • Cornered against a fence, a wall, or a car
  • Guarding food, a carcass, or puppies
  • Standing in a live traffic lane
  • Running with two or more other dogs
Any of those: call Memphis Animal Services at 901-636-1416, then file a report so we can track him too. They have poles, traps, and training you don't.

If you do get out

  1. Park past him, hazards on. Never chase. A frightened dog that bolts into traffic is the single most common way this ends badly.
  2. Get low. Crouch, or sit sideways on the curb. Standing over a dog reads as a threat in dog language — you look enormous to him.
  3. Don't stare. Look at the ground past his shoulder. Yawn, or lick your lips. He knows those signals mean “I'm no danger,” even if you feel ridiculous doing them.
  4. Throw food away from you, not at him. Cheese, jerky, a gas-station burger — anything that smells loud. Let him eat it, then toss the next piece slightly closer to you.
  5. Let him close the distance. Every step you take toward him costs you three of his. Sit still and wait him out. This is the part that takes patience, and it's the part that works.
  6. Slip the lead over his head. Never reach over the head of a strange dog and never grab for a collar. That is exactly where most bites happen.
  7. Load him in a crate or the footwell. Not a loose back seat. A panicking dog in a moving car is dangerous for both of you.
If he won't come, leave. That isn't a failure.

Drop the rest of the food, note the exact spot, and file the report. A dog who has trusted a feeding station for three days will walk into a humane trap on day five. Chasing him on day one only teaches him this block isn't safe — and pushes him into the next county, where nobody is looking for him.

What happens next: six stages

Every dog moves through six stages. The stages are the product. The map, the records, the paperwork — all of it exists to move one dog one stage to the right.

Stage 1MinutesSightedYour report reaches the team. Reports of the same dog become one case.Duplicates are joined by hand
Stage 2NextClaimedA volunteer takes the case and calls the reporter back.As soon as someone is free
Stage 3Day 1IntakeChip scan, photos, weight, temperament read. The record opens here and never closes.Record created
Stage 43–7 daysOwner holdPosted to lost-and-found, registries contacted, legal stray hold runs before anything else.Locked by law
Stage 5VariesPlacedFoster, co-foster, adopt, or co-adopt — whichever the dog and the household can actually sustain.One of four · the four ways home
Stage 6ForeverAlumniCheck-ins at 3, 30, and 90 days. The record stays open for life, and so does the door back.Never closed

Transport

Every rescued dog needs rides: from where he was found to the vet, to a foster, and finally home. Volunteer drivers cover those legs one at a time, an hour or two each.

Can you drive a leg now and then? Sign up on the team page and choose the Driver role. Training comes first, so you'll know exactly what to do before your first run.

Join as a driverTeam page · onboarding first

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