Rescue Chocolate is “The Sweetest Way to Save a Life”

By Julia Williams

I loved the taste of rich, dark chocolate long before studies confirmed that eating a few squares a day can provide numerous health benefits. When I learned that chocolate might actually be good for me, I quit fighting the craving (I was losing the battle anyway!). Now that I’ve discovered there is a chocolate bar that donates 100% of their net profits to animal rescue organizations around the country, I fear my consumption is about to skyrocket. But it’s okay…the way I see it, there are far worse things than eating chocolate and helping animals at the same time!

Sarah Gross founded Rescue Chocolate in January 2010 as a way to raise funds for animal shelters and rescue groups, while also educating the public on issues facing homeless pets. Every month, the Brooklyn-based company picks a different animal rescue organization to help.

Rescue Chocolate’s melt-in-your-mouth dark chocolate candy bars, truffles and hearts are 100% vegan and certified kosher. Their products are handcrafted in the finest Belgian tradition with high quality ingredients and no artificial preservatives. Gross works with executive chef Jean Francois Bonnet at the Tumbador chocolate factory to make the divine dark chocolate creations.

Rescue Chocolate Products

The names and the packaging of each flavor of Rescue Chocolate shed light on a different aspect of the pet overpopulation epidemic.

“Pick Me! Pepper” is a sweet and spicy dark chocolate bar created to highlight the advantages of adopting pets from animal shelters.

“Foster-rific Peppermint” is a minty dark chocolate bar with crunchy cacao nibs, created to encourage people to provide foster care for shelter animals that are waiting for their forever homes.

“Peanut Butter Pit Bull” is a crispy peanut butter and luscious dark chocolate bar, created to counter the negative public image of the pit bull breed.

“The Fix” is a pure, rich dark chocolate bar highlighting the importance of spaying and neutering.

“Mission Feral Fig” is a chewy-crunchy combo of figs, cranberries, almonds, cinnamon and other spices, created to bring awareness of feral cat colonies and the importance of Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) programs.

“Wild at Heart” dark chocolate hearts are filled with zingy RASPBERRY ganache.

“Bow Wow Bon Bons” (truffles) come in four unique flavors: Peanut Butter and Jelly, Cinnamon, Salted Peanut and Dark 70%.

Rescue Chocolate History

When longtime dog lover Sarah Gross met a forlorn pit bull named Mocha who desperately needed a forever home, it was love at first touch. Sarah “felt an instant, profound connection” to the dog, and so she adopted her on the spot. One morning before taking Mocha out for their morning walk, Sarah polished off her breakfast of choice, a dark chocolate bar. Fueled by the feel-good endorphins of the chocolate, Sarah had an idea. She could combine her two loves – chocolate and animals – by developing a scrumptious new dark chocolate line, selling it, and donating the profits to animals in need.

Sarah had some experience in the industry, working part-time at a raw chocolate company where she had developed a best-selling flavor. “I knew what tasted good,” she said. “The idea for Rescue Chocolate was almost fully formed before Mocha and I returned from our walk.” Now, Rescue Chocolate is carried by a number of retail outlets across the U.S., including in New York, Chicago, Dallas, Portland, Seattle and San Diego. The chocolate is also sold online through the Rescue Chocolate website and other online food retailers. Those who don’t want to shop online can print out the order form and mail it in.

Rescue organizations and shelters can also benefit by selling the chocolates directly. When they sell the chocolate, they not only get to use all of the net profits from the sales for their programs, but they raise awareness on important homeless pet issues too.

Disclaimer: CANIDAE Natural Pet Foods has no affiliation with Rescue Chocolate. Also, please remember that all chocolate products are for humans only, as chocolate toxicity can cause serious health problems for our pets. 

Read more articles by Julia Williams

Pilots N Paws: Pilots Saving Shelter Pets

By Linda Cole

Nonprofit organizations across the country help pets in a variety of ways. Pilots N Paws is an online organization with a unique transporting program that has given rescue organizations, shelters and people who foster pets the ability to move unwanted and homeless pets to locations around the country where a new home is hopefully waiting for the pet. Pilots and plane owners who want to help improve the chances that a pet can find a forever home are offering their planes and time. They fly pets from an area where there's little chance a pet can be placed in a home, to another area where the pet's chances of being adopted are much better. Pilots are also flying pets who have been adopted to their new homes around the country. Pilots who want to help rescue shelter pets can get together with shelters and rescue organizations to plan their own special way of saving a pet's life.

Pilots N Paws is a volunteer organization that doesn't ask for donations. It's a website that was started by Debi Boies who was involved in Doberman rescue in upstate South Carolina and her friend, Jon Wehrenberg, a pilot, who had volunteered to fly a rescued Doberman from Florida to Debi's home in South Carolina. After the flight, the two began to discuss the need for a better way of moving homeless pets across the country besides the traditional way of setting up car transports. They began on February 8, 2008 with their first official life-saving flight. To date, the volunteer pilots number over 1,800 and there are 8,100 registered users with more registering every day who use the Pilots N Paws website to connect with each other. Debi and Jon are shooting for 10,000 pilots to make sure there are enough planes to transport homeless pets wherever they need to go to help them find a new home.

Their site has a forum where rescue groups and shelters can post messages about any pets needing transport to a new location. A pilot reading the forum determines which, if any, of the pets they can assist. The pilot will then contact the person or organization making a flight request, and the two parties make appropriate plans for transporting the pet.

Pilots N Paws has a 501(c)(3) tax status. Pilots are not allowed to accept any money that would compensate them for any of the flights they make. However, the FAA gives the nonprofit organization a Humanitarian Flights tax status which allows pilots to declare part of their expenses for flights as donations, which are tax deductible.

Soldiers returning from overseas who have rescued dogs from the war zone transport the dogs on commercial flights to the U.S. Once on American soil, a pilot then flies the dog to the soldier's home. One transport flight carried a Steppe Eagle that a group of Navy Seals had rescued in Afghanistan after the bird had been shot. The eagle's new home is at Berkshire Bird Paradise alongside an American Bald Eagle.

Pilots who volunteer do so because most are happy to have a good excuse for hopping in their plane and taking off. And any time you can combine saving a homeless pet's life with flying, it's a good thing. Cats, dogs, reptiles, pot-bellied pigs, rabbits and one 13 foot python have been transported by pilots to new locations throughout the United States.

If you agree with the mission of Pilots N Paws and would like to help or get involved yourself, please visit their website for more information. They are always searching for more pilots who haven't heard about their organization and who might want to become involved in their life-saving mission. If you are a pilot, or know one who might be interested in helping to relocate homeless pets, you can find what you need on their website. To help spread the word, you can download and print out a flyer from the site to post at your local airport.

Shelter pets can use all the help we can give them. Whether it's donating some CANIDAE dog food or cat food to a shelter or rescue organization, or posting a flyer at your local airport or anywhere around town where people can read it, the help is always appreciated. Millions of pets need forever homes. The ability to transport them from one shelter to another one where the pet has a better chance of finding a home, or delivering a pet to a new home, is very satisfying to the pilots who donate their time and plane to save a pet's life.

Read more articles by Linda Cole

Canine Rescue Groups

By Suzanne Alicie

As a responsible pet owner, it breaks my heart to see dogs that need to be rescued. There are foundations that put up heartbreaking ads on television, and shelter animals for adoption at local pet stores. For someone like me who recently lost a dog to cancer, it can really cause the tears to flow to think of those poor dogs having no homes and no one to love. The love of a dog is a truly unconditional love. A dog is never too tired to play, they never want you to leave them alone, and even when they are sick and in pain they want you nearby. When it comes to comfort, there is nothing like the soft eyes of a dog as she nudges your hand to let you know she is there.

We are all aware of animal shelters, or that other term “the pound,” and although they provide a beneficial service to the community, it’s difficult to accept that not all of them can be “no kill” shelters. When it comes to saving dogs and keeping them alive, placing them with foster families for socialization, and making needy dogs available for adoption, canine rescue groups are considered the cream of the crop. There are breed specific rescue groups, rescue groups for different areas of the country, and rescue groups for specific disasters such as Hurricane Katrina which left thousands of animals without homes.

Why Adopt From a Canine Rescue Group?

When you find yourself in the market for a new dog, there are several reasons why you may want to consider contacting a canine rescue group.

• First and foremost, when you adopt a dog from a rescue group you know that you are truly saving a life.
• Adopted pets often respond to the real stability of a forever home by forming a strong bond with their new family, and becoming a whole new dog. It's so rewarding to see the changes that love and stability can have on a dog.
• Because of the many different types of canine rescue groups, you can pretty much pick and choose your new dog much as you would if you were going through a breeder. The difference is that you will be providing a service to dogs everywhere be adopting a rescued dog.

When you contact a canine rescue group, you may be surprised at the amount of information you have to provide before they will let you take one of their dogs. These dogs have been rescued from abusive homes or from the streets, or have been turned over when the owners were unable to keep them. They need real stability, love and attention, and they need to have their potential new family evaluated to make sure their personality is a good fit. This helps ensure that an adopted dog from a rescue group is truly going to have a forever home. 

If you find a canine rescue group that doesn’t seem to have each and every dog’s best interest at heart, one that doesn’t have current medical records and treatments since the rescue, or one that doesn’t explain to you as much as they are able about the dog, please consider having the group checked out further by officials in the county where they are located.

To adopt from a canine rescue group, you will need to prove that you have a safe environment for your new dog, that you can afford to care for the dog properly, and that you and your family understand the challenges of dealing with a rescue dog. These dogs are often like small children who are placed in foster care. They can be wary, timid and often nervous, but they are eager to please and want your love. Some rescue dogs are not suitable for homes with children; others may have issues with men. Each rescued dog has his own story, and each day of his life has shaped him into what he is today. It can be up to you and your family how his story plays out for his future.

A few rescue groups to check into that are highly recommended include:

• Purebred rescue groups approved by the AKC can be found on their website.
• The All Breed Rescue Network of Colorado can assist potential adopters with finding a reputable rescue group in your area as well as in Colorado.
• The PGAA Rescue Contacts page offers national and individual state rescue listings for all types of animals, not just dogs.

If you have room in your heart and in your home, please consider adopting a rescued dog. The benefit of having a dog in your life is beyond measure. You will reap the benefits of your dog’s love for years to come, and they will leave an indelible mark on your soul.

Read more articles by Suzanne Alicie