Meet Nicole Kincaid of Perfectly Imperfect Pups

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicole Kincaid.

Hi Nicole, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I have been in rescue for 12 years now and was the director for another rescue for seven years. When I left, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, but when I reached out to my group of rescue friends that I now call the PIPs Pioneers, they were on board with starting a rescue. We talked for a long time about what we wanted our rescue to be and we all agreed there was a need for a rescue that specialized in what we call PIP-Abled, which are pups with higher medical needs or have a special needs/disability.

We take in all dogs, not just PIP-Abled, but we do love our PIP-Abled pups!!!!

We rely on donations to run, we are not funded at all. A lot of our PIP-Abled pups are surgical, they have been hit by a car or have suffered trauma in the hands of people. The average for these surgeries are about $3000. Our pups with disabilities, blind, deaf, mix of both, paralyzed, etc., stay in the rescue longer while we find the perfect homes for them.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Starting a rescue that specialized in medical and special needs was a scary thing to start. We had no idea how the public would react and we needed the public to be on board and donate to these hard and expensive cases. The other very real struggle is the emotional toll it takes to see these hard cases and win some but also loses some. Some of the dogs we take in are in such bad shape that no amount of love or medical care can pull them through. We also are foster-based, so we need a home open to take in a dog and sometimes we have to say not to dogs that we know have no other option but us and it’s hard. But we pull ourselves together after the losses and hard cases and we do it again and hope the next one is a win!

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Perfectly Imperfect Pups?
We had a vision of a rescue that takes in the most urgent pups – dogs with special needs and medical cases in and around North Carolina. While our focus is special needs, we are inclusive of all dogs and our main purpose is to rescue as many dogs in need as we can. PIPs is one of the only rescues in the area that specializes in special needs and medical cases.

We believe in welcoming the challenges of rescue work with responsible compassion.

We believe every dog and every person deserves a place to belong.

We envision a world where imperfection is perfection; where all dogs get the love they deserve.

These values and focus set us apart. Once our dogs are ready for their forever home, we work with families to find the best fit for their homes. We then have a team that follows up with the families once they adopt a pup to offer advice or help them with whatever they need!

Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Today we were asked to take in a puppy who is having trouble walking. This puppy is across the country. The x-rays look like there are two vertebrae that are infused. We would need an MRI and possibly surgery for this pup OR the puppy could just be a wheelchair dog if no surgery can be done. So this pup will cost the rescue $500 or $7000 and until we can get our hands on the pup, we have no way of knowing. This is the financial risk to a medical rescue. The other very real risk is compassion fatigue with the PIPs Pioneers, board members and fosters. We see dogs in horrendous conditions, hurt by people – both mentally and physically, dogs that will be euthanized if we don’t take them into the rescue. These are decisions that we make daily, what we see daily and it drains us. A lot of people walk away from rescue because of this, because they can not take it, they get what is called compassion fatigue.

Contact Info:

• Email: bark@pipsrescue.org
• Website: pipsrecue.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pipsrescue/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pipsrescue