QUAILWINGS RESCUE
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About 

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Quailwings Rescue is a 100% volunteer group that works from foster homes providing care and safe harbor for neglected animals. Our rescue promotes the humane treatment of animals and fosters respect, understanding and compassion for all creatures. Quailwings Rescue does not have a facility. We find that providing that care in a home, rather then a kennel works best for our rescues.


Mission Statement:

Quailwings Rescue shall promote the humane treatment of animals and foster respect, understanding and compassion for all creatures. We provide care and safe harbor for animals afflicted by neglect, abandonment and abuse. We will strive relentlessly to eradicate neglect, abandonment and abuse. We work to reunite lost or found animals with their owners. We are dedicated to lowering the numbers of animals needlessly destroyed due to overpopulation by promoting the spaying and neutering of ALL companion animals. We will endeavor relentlessly to enhance the bond between humans and animals through adoption, education and services for responsible, compassionate pet ownership.


Goals:

Helping the homeless and neglected animals of this community is number one on our list. Our animals and the community need this service. We work tirelessly to make this the best community for animals and humans alike. We cannot do this alone and need the help of kind, caring people. Help us to write happy endings to our adorable adoptables.

Most of our animals were surrendered because their caretakers were moving, divorced, developed allergies or died. Let your imagination go and share your life with a wonderful four-footed friend simply by opening your heart and your home. Knowing that you have kept that animal from being euthanized, which is sadly the reality of life in any shelter situation. It is the new family's job to provide attention, love and safe housing.

In a world of so many displaced, abandoned and neglected pets, thank goodness for the amazing rescue centers that can be found all over the country, including Cut Bank’s Quailwings Rescue.
Founder, Director and Vice President of the 501(c)3 organization is Tina Gauthier. “We were created officially on June 12, 2020, with the IRS and the State of Montana,” said Gauthier. Up to that point, Gauthier had been “unofficially” helping place animals since 2004.
When the pandemic hit in 2020, many shelters around the country had to close their doors for a time or offer controlled access. Even some veterinarians had to shut down or offer limited services for a few months in 2020.
With the inability to get animals to shelters as easily as before, more homeless animals began to surface. That’s when Gauthier decided to make Quailwings an official rescue and transportation site in northern Montana.
All the work done for Quailwings is done through telephone calls, email or postings on Facebook and Gauthier is responsible for all of it.
“We do not have a facility,” she confirmed. “What we do have are foster homes, which are the backbone of the rescue. Those people donate countless hours of love and commitment to each animal temporarily placed in their care.”
When Gauthier hears about an abandoned animal or is called about one that the family can no longer keep, a number of steps are performed. First, if it is a lost pet, they will check collars, tags and see if a microchip has been embedded in it.
“We scan all the animals entering our rescue for microchips, so that no pet loses its family,” she said. “Micro-chipping your pet can save their lives and your heartaches.”
Once the animal is put into the Quailwings system, Gauthier goes to work posting information about the animal on Facebook, telling what they know about the dog or cat, adding some photos or videos too. They are then listed as “Available for Adoption.”
That same animal is also posted on several other rescue sites like Rescue Me, Petfinder, Adopt-A-Pet and Rescue Groups.
If you find a pet on any of these sites, getting it to you for its forever home is not as easy as just calling and saying, “we want that one.” All the necessary steps are performed to protect the animal and ensure it is going to a quality home.
“Adoptions are done by online applications per the website or by email and each requires three references,” she offered.
A vet reference should also be included and there may be a home visit, Quailwings feels that is necessary. However, Gauthier said with COVID being a reality, photos may be taken of the property where the pet will live and those should be sent in with the application.
Gauthier coordinates the adoption, once all the paperwork is done and the animal has received necessary medical care and vaccinations. Then she confirms where the family can pick up their newly adopted "child."
The website is updated as often as necessary, but always when new information is made available about an animal. "Some people want to follow the animals, even if they never adopt one. They follow their stories and the photos," said Gauthier.
Since it has been an official rescue site, Quailwings has received 617 animals. Of that number, 152 were lost and have been returned to their homes and 395 have been adopted. If you take out the number of lost animals, that makes 465 animals at their rescue site and Quailwings had adopted out 395 of them. That is a very impressive number of animals going to their forever homes.
Quailwings and/or Gauthier, coordinate transportation of animals brought to them, should they need to be moved from one foster to another.
Gauthier also coordinates where the animal goes once it comes into their program, meaning she finds a foster home that will take it until real placement home can be found.
"We currently have foster homes in Glacier, Hill, Liberty, Pondera and Toole counties. As of today, we have 14 foster homes and are in need of more foster homes," she shared.
There are a few methods you can use to contact Quailwings, either to relinquish a pet you can no longer care for or list an abandoned, neglected or lost pet.
First, you can call them or text them at 406-229-1042. that number is answered Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. If no response, leave a message.
You can also reach them by email at quailwingsrescue@hotmail.com or by using their website at https://www.quailwingsrescue.com or their Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/QuailwingsRescue.
Feel free to contact Gauthier if you are interested in offering a donation to help them continue all the amazing work they do.
Gauthier's job with Quailwings can be tedious, paperwork intensive (but so necessary), rewarding, sad at times and yet, it is something she absolutely loves!
"What is not to love" We promote the humane treatment of animals while foster respect, understanding and compassion for all creatures. We provide care and safe harbor for the animals. We reunite lost animal with their owners. We are dedicated to lowering the number of animals destroyed due to overpopulation. We love enhancing the bond between humans and animals through adoption, education and services."
When put that way, what is not to love about Quailwings!
To read the complete article, pick up a copy of this week’s issue or subscribe to the Cut Bank Pioneer Press,  Shelby Promoter, Browning Glacier Reporter and The Valierian newspapers at http://www.cutbankpioneerpress.com/site/services/
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Tina Gauthier is taking an active role in expanding Quailwings Rescue, as she did with Cut Bank Animal Shelter capabilities to adopt animals. Quailwings Rescue's websites, http://www.montanapets.com/cas/ and http://www.facebook.com/QuailwingsRescue, have listings of pets available at the rescue, descriptions of pets wanted and lost pets. These sites give statewide and national coverage and helps match pets and potential new owners. To post on these website, send Tina an email at quailwingsrescue@hotmail.com. 

Tina will then list it online. The more people we reach, the better the success rate at Quailwings Rescue. These are just little heroes waiting for a permanent, loving home. This rescue is all about the unsung heroes.

Tina answers phone calls and emails throughout the day and into the evenings at the after hours phone number. She has knowledge of all of the animals in the rescue and keeps logs and stats on each animal. Nothing gives her greater pleasure than adopting a pet into loving homes. 

​Joe Gauthier is not a stranger to the Cut Bank community by any means. He served on the Cut Bank Police force for 30 years, and upon retiring, he worked at Crossroads Correctional (CCA) in Shelby for five years. Joe is now back serving Cut Bank as the animal control officer and enforcing city ordinances. 

Gauthier was a part of the police force in the 1960s when the animal control method was quarantine. "Every six months the city went under quarantine, and we would pick up the stray dogs. The city felt it wasn't enough," he said. The community decided to enact city ordinances allowing Gauthier and other city officers to more strictly control the flow of animals. 

Joe is making improvements for the Cut Bank Animal Shelter and Quailwings Rescue with the way animals are handled. Gauthier and Tina worked to model the shelter after the Great Falls Animal Shelter. They each take turns walking the dogs at the shelter and through their interaction they are able to determine the animal's personality. In addition, Gauthier is working on obedience training with the dogs. By taking the regular shelter activities a step further, it is easier for them to adopt their ani
mals out.
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ODE TO TINA AND JOE
​Once upon a time, in a place not so far away,
Lived a lovely couple who brighten up each day.
A teacher is her trade and he is a cop,
They have a son named Joseph to call them mom and pop.
But their lives reach so much deeper, the world they work to change,
The animals all need their help from the alley to the range.
They’ve touched so many lives and softened hardened hearts,
One critter at a time, they’re helping ‘cuz they’re ever so smart.
They talk to people until at last they understand,
These critters need a home not thrown to the land.
They show the people how to train and make the dog be good,
So they can keep them in their home and love them like they should.
Sometimes the task can get you down and make you want to quit,
But they keep on fighting for the weak; they use up every wit.
The money is always tight and the animals get sick,
So they walk the dogs to get some cash the animals to fix.
Sometimes they get so weary, but still they come and work,
At clinics in the state, they never seem to shirk. 
So much of them they always give and sometimes feel alone.
Joe’s many hours in his truck and Tina from their home.
They are great friends, nicer people you could never hope to meet,
There’s a place in my heart for them that is fuzzy and oh so sweet.
Christmas is upon us and a gift I want to give,
Something that will tell them it made a difference that they live.
My brain I vainly cudgeled, but no idea could I find,
I stayed up late thinking; I fear I’ll lose my mind.
An idea popped into my head, but then it fell apart,
Then another, didn’t work, I feel I’m loosing heart.
So I will have to send a check, that makes me feel so sad,
And tell you what to do, to make it work – egad!
I only write these verses and spiel a little prose,
For people that I truly love, it’s written just for those. 
Penney Bergren 2007
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  • Home
  • About
  • Adoptable Cats
  • Adoptable Kittens
  • Adoptable Dogs
  • Adoptable Puppies
  • Adoption Applications
  • Adopted Cats
  • Adopted Kittens 2023
  • Adopted Kittens 2022
  • Adopted Kittens 2020-2021
  • Adopted Dogs
  • Adopted Puppies 2022-2023
  • Adopted Puppies 2020-2021
  • Sponsored Animals
  • Lost/Found Pets in MT
  • Memorials
  • How You Can Help
  • Our Thanks
  • Contact