DR. RICHARD K. "RICK" SELBY, 69, of Louisville, passed away Tuesday, September 29, 2009.

He was a native of Paducah, KY and a veterinarian with South End Veterinary Clinic. He was a graduate of Ohio State Veterinary School, a past president of Weimaraner Club of Greater Louisville and was awarded the lifetime achievement award from the ASPCA. He loved his work with dogs and horses especially. Dr. Selby treated the rescued Weims that came through the Louisville Weimaraner Rescue program just like they were his own.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Louisville Weimaraner Rescue, Inc. or the American Cancer Society.

Louisville Weimaraner Rescue, Inc., is a non-profit corporation, which has 501(c)(3) taxable contribution status with the IRS. Our objective is to find permanent, responsible owners for Weimaraners that come to our rescue through area shelters or private owners that, because of various situations, are unable to continue to keep their dogs. The first step in helping us find a family for a wonderful rescue dog is to fill out an application for adoption. This helps us by providing information about you, your home, your family, and gives us a general idea of what you are looking for in a family friend.

Upon receipt, one of our volunteers will review your application. Here are the things we look for:

1) Fencing. Lack of fencing does NOT automatically preclude adoption, but could limit the Weimaraners that would be considered for your home. Weims are very energetic and need a safe place to exercise. Walking a dog on a leash in the driving rain or snow is no fun. Tie-outs or chains are not acceptable alternatives.

2) Rental agreements. If you rent your home, you must provide an ACTUAL copy of your agreement and/or a letter from your landlord allowing you to keep a dog over 60 pounds.

3) Current pets. We prefer all owned pets be altered, current on all vaccinations and must be on heartworm preventative medication. We do contact your veterinarian to ensure he or she feels that you are a responsible pet owner capable of providing a quality, permanent home for a Weim.

4) The Weim is an indoor dog and we will place them only as indoor family pets. They are very social and people-oriented dogs and if left alone for extended periods of time they frequently become destructive or adopt other unwelcome habits.

Once your application is reviewed and your references are contacted and interviewed, a volunteer may contact you to schedule a home visit. Please be patient, we are all volunteers and all work outside of our homes, so it may take a while. If you have not heard from a volunteer within ten days, please contact us via telephone or email so we can make arrangements. Please remember that even a successful application and home visit does not guarantee an automatic placement. Each rescue member is responsible for finding the best placement for the individual Weims in our program. We reserve the right to place our rescue Weims in the home we feel the dog has the best chance for success. The fact that one Weim is not a good match for your family does not mean another one won't work out well for you. We know the dogs and ask that you let us help you choose the pet that will work out best for your family. Looks alone will not guarantee a love match!

Please do not be impulsive in adopting a dog. Choosing a lifetime companion is a very important decision and not one to be done in haste. The Weims in our program are our first priority. We must be sure they are placed in homes where they will be loved and properly cared for. Some of these Weims have already been in multiple homes and our goal is to make sure they will not be moved around any more.

We have an adoption donation fee to cover the medical costs of rescue dogs. All Weims placed through our Rescue are spayed or neutered, up to date on vaccinations, heartworm tested (and treated as necessary), microchipped, and have complete physicals prior to adoption. Any other medical issue the dog has upon arrival is treated prior to placement. We have a full disclosure policy on all known medical history and medical records. We attempt to expose the dogs to a variety of situations and people so we can observe how the dog reacts. We will test the dogs with children, other dogs and cats and will inform you of our observations! Unfortunately, many of these dogs have come through shelters and it is not possible to know complete health or behavioral backgrounds, but we do try to learn as much about the individual dogs as we can. Health problems are something we cannot predict. We hope that all Weims placed through our rescue program live long, healthy lives but there are no guarantees. As for temperaments, we do not knowingly deal with any Weim with aggression problems. In most cases we foster the dogs in our homes for a period of time prior to making them available for adoption to learn as much about their personalities and habits as we can. The more we learn about a dog, the easier it is to make the best placement. We cannot guarantee that any Weim placed through rescue will never bite. Every dog is capable of inflicting a bite in certain circumstances. We cannot accept responsibility for any dog's behavior once it leaves our possession. We promise to not place any dog we know has a history of aggression or that we think may pose a threat to anyone.

Please contact any of our rescue members if you have any questions about the adoption process, or if you simply want to learn more about the Weims we have available for adoption. The better educated you are about Weimaraner rescue, adoption, and the Weimaraner breed in general, the better our chances are of arranging successful adoptions for the breed that we love so much. We are all volunteers. Please understand that we are working hard at physically going to Animal Shelters, driving our rescues to the vet clinic, foster homes and pre adoption home visits. We are feeding, cleaning and caring for our rescues medically. We all have full time jobs outside of our rescue efforts. We try to answer emails and phone calls daily, but at times it is not possible. Our primary focus is caring for our rescues and finding loving permanent homes.

Thank you for your interest.