The Jack Russell Terrier Museum needs a permanent home! The Jack Russell Terrier Homestead… a working place to protect, preserve and promote what has been done and needs to be done.
All of us get handed a baton from our parents, and our job is to “pass it on” to the next generation, hopefully improved, but at least not degraded. The JRT Museum and the JRTCA want to do that too, to ensure the future of this terrier we all love… and this project is envisioned as the physical and visible way that can be done.
A Permanent “Jack Russell Homestead”
As the Museum started to come together, it was quickly realized that it needs a permanent home. For the Museum to achieve its goals, there is more needed than memorabilia on the walls and in the rooms of a museum, or on-line in its website, to protect and preserve this unique terrier. A permanent physical location is needed.
A place where Jack Russell Terrier enthusiasts, and perhaps owners of other breeds as well, can actually see and experience what these dogs are capable of and learn about the history of the terrier.
We need your help! We have a promise of $100,000 towards the down payment on a property… We need an additional $50,000 to $100,000 to fit a reasonable operating budget. If a lot of people can give a little, we can reach this goal and be closer to preserving our terrier and its history for future generations.
A place where ALL working terriers and their owners can go to, at least once in their life, to breathe in the air, meet other people, train their dogs, learn what they were bred to do, and look through the history in the Museum to show where it started and how it got to where it is today, and why it needs to be so fiercely protected.
A place that is a hub for everything true Jack Russell… where not only the Museum is housed, but where the JRTCA registry and administration can work side by side with the Museum. A place where people can learn about the great work the JRT Research Foundation has accomplished, ensuring the future health of the terrier. A place to learn about Russell Rescue and all that they do for displaced terriers. A place where if you love Jack Russells, you have to want to visit!
There would be weekends of training, practicing, learning about the terrier and working, visiting the history in the Museum – it would not only be a history museum, but a hands-on educational experience about the terrier. A place to hold the annual National gathering of Jack Russell owners and their terriers, as well as other field trials and events.
There are endless possibilities this type of Jack Russell Terrier Hub could provide. It would fulfill the Museum and the JRTCA’s goals of a future for this terrier; a perfect chance to educate, train people and dogs, and gain their commitment to the cause for a lifetime. That is the purpose of the Museum!
About the Museum
The purpose and mission of The Jack Russell Terrier Museum & Crawford Library is to document the history and heritage of the unique working Jack Russell Terrier, to protect and preserve this terrier so that it remains the same for many generations to come, and to educate Jack Russell enthusiasts about this dog, and building the dedication necessary to continue its preservation.
With the kennel club “variants’ offering much confusion, the true Jack Russell Terrier could disappear! We can’t let that happen!
The Jack Russell is an amazing dog with a great history that began well before the Reverend Russell purchased “Trump” and became well known for his fox terriers, now known as the Jack Russell Terrier. That history goes through to today’s modern era of well-known Jack Russells such as “Eddie” and Wishbone.” These are smart charismatic dogs, and this is a breed that recapitulates all that is good with dogs and all that is bad (the 1930s terrier craze, etc.). It is essential that there is protection for its future, and education that will benefit all dog owners.
The Jack Russell Terrier Club of America was founded by Ailsa Crawford who had the foresight to put in place a registry and principles that would protect the terrier. The JRTCA made its mark as not only the most important organization for the Jack Russell Terrier, but to also show the way for the protection and preservation of ALL dogs. We want to carry on Ailsa Crawford’s great vision.
The Jack Russell Terrier Museum & Crawford Library will preserve this terrier’s colorful history and heritage, as well as that of the JRTCA and its registry who have fiercely preserved the breed in the USA, and continue to foster education and dedication to the TRUE Jack Russell.
So What Is Needed?
The ideal place must have a location that is physically visible and easily accessible from major highways, have sufficient acreage, a large enough house, working outbuildings, preferably located in or near Maryland, the JRTCA’s home base for many years. The ideal facility that would serve as the Museum site, offices for the JRTCA, space for weekend visitors to gather, cook, and camp, and space for field events. This type of facility will not be inexpensive, but it would belong to ALL Jack Russell people, a Museum Homestead that everyone can be proud of, where there are no more commercial offices with continual expanding rent costs… a place in the country all can learn, enjoy, and protect our terrier.
To make this happen, your support is needed in raising the initial funds to be able to purchase such a place. We have a promise of $100,000 from a dedicated donor. We need a larger down payment to keep the mortgage payments affordable.
How will it pay for itself to operate?
- The JRTCA and the Museum currently pay close to $2,000 a month in rent, soon to go up, and this is just for office space. The JRTCA would pay rent to the Museum.
- Museum Benefit Trials can be held at no site rental cost, raising annual funds towards the maintenance and operation of the Museum Homestead.
- Terrier Weekends. By reservation weekends could be offered at the “Homestead” to include camping, touring of the Museum, demonstrations and training on simulated terrier work (GTG), and an afternoon in the field with a working judge.
- Other breed events. When not being utilized by the Museum, space could be offered to other working breeds, for a fee, for events such as barn hunt or field lure coursing.
- Annual Donations of course are a large part of the income for the Museum. Donations come in through various sources, and more exposure for the Museum is planned.
- Donations might come from a famous dog lover or two. The world is full of well-to-do Jack Russell owners and working dog men and women who are looking to leave behind something greater than themselves. Mariah Carey has a number of Jack Russells, as do a number of other stars, celebrities, millionaires, and then there are the TV and movie dog trainers and producers. Would the producers of Fraser, Wishbone, and The Artist have donated? Who knows? Would dog-loving stars put a “rider” into their contract so that in lieu of a taxable payment to them a production company would make a tax-deductible donation to the JRTCA Museum instead? Perhaps.
There are endless possibilities an agricultural farm with land would offer. These are just a few that would be a given.