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The West Highland White Terrier Club of Western Pennsylvania's Westie Rescue organization is dedicated to assisting West Highland White Terriers needing rescue from neglect or abuse or with assistance in finding new homes. We primarily cover western Pennsylvania and western New York. We also partner with Westie Rescue groups in neighboring states and support or participate in rescue efforts elsewhere in the United States.

We are proud to say that West Highland White Terrier Club of Western Pennsylvania's WESTIE RESCUE is an ALL volunteer, NOT-FOR-PROFIT rescue mission! Our volunteers have been involved in rescue for 10 plus years and during that time they have taken in and placed dozens of Westies, very successfully.

Westie Rescue operates totally on donations from the public. There is no full-time staff. Volunteers receive no compensation except for receipts of out of pocket expenses directly related to the rescue, rehabilitation, and adoption of Westies in the program. Each year, we place many Westies into loving homes. Some are in excellent health but some are far from it. Although most are around 5 years old, the ages of the dogs range from 18 months to 11 years.

The following information is from The Humane Society's Website:
Good breeders accept responsibility for the dogs they produce and will take them back at any stage of their life and make an effort to find a new suitable home for them. Irresponsible breeders fail to live up to their end of the bargain, don't care what happens to their puppies once they are sold, and will normally sell a puppy to anyone who has the money to pay for the puppy...little or no questions asked. Puppy mills have been around for decades. They continue to thrive because they prey on unwitting consumers who are smitten by too-cute-for-words puppies in pet store windows and on legitimate-seeming websites. Puppy mills house dogs in shockingly poor conditions. After their fertility wanes, breeding animals are often killed, abandoned or sold cheaply to another mill to try and get "one more litter" out of the dog. The annual result of all this breeding is millions of puppies, many with behavior and/or health problems.

Backyard Breeders

The following information is from Almost Home Rescue Organization's Website:
Of the 53 million dogs in the U.S., about two-thirds come from backyard breeders. They are the single greatest cause of the pet overpopulation crisis in this country. The worst of the backyard breeders sometimes come to the attention of local animal control authorities, who may negotiate with a breeder who is keeping dogs in truly deplorable conditions to release at least some of the dogs to a shelter. Shelters then often turn to rescue groups, because they know that the dogs -- unsocialized, requiring more medical care than most shelters can afford -- will have to be euthanized.

Abuse, Neglect & Abandonment

The following information is from Pet Abuse.com's Website:
The most common type of animal cruelty is neglect or abandonment - that is, people not providing adequate care for animals in their charge. These types of cases often involve situations where an animal is left without food, water or shelter, or when proper veterinary care was not obtained...
While ignorance can be blamed in some of these situations, an additional cause that seems to be a major contributor to neglect and abandonment cases is that the pet owner simply does not care. Even people with only the most basic knowledge of animal care can see that an animal has degenerated to the point where it is only skin and bones.
Many times, animals are purchased as pets, and simply forgotten about. Animals in this situation however do not merely gather dust. They are slowly starved or dehydrated to death, literally bled dry due to parasite infestations, or slowly garroted by their own collars