Stray dogs from abroad

sylvester1954

sylvester1954

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A question in all innocence and at the risk of incurring a bit of canine anger but why are so many people committed to the rescuing of dogs from abroad and bringing them back to the UK when existing care kennels are full of "local" dogs that desperately need rehoming. Subsequently, these are more liable for destroying because everyone wants to save the strays of Europe?
Surely any investment in time and money for stray European dogs would be best spent on neutering rather than shipping them back?
 
sylvester1954 said:
A question in all innocence and at the risk of incurring a bit of canine anger but why are so many people committed to the rescuing of dogs from abroad and bringing them back to the UK when existing care kennels are full of "local" dogs that desperately need rehoming. Subsequently, these are more liable for destroying because everyone wants to save the strays of Europe?
Surely any investment in time and money for stray European dogs would be best spent on neutering rather than shipping them back?
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I understand your view point, but I think it may be because it appears that dogs are treated terribly abroad. It almost looks as if it’s the norm over 5here, where it’s an aberration over here. Possibly. ;)
 
We have come across several folk that have done this because while in Spain or Portugal find a loose dog and take pity on it and bring them home I don’t personally know why as it must cost a bit to do it and as said there are plenty over in UK that need homing.
 
We were looking to give a UK rescue dog a home but the amount hoops you need to jump through is ridiculous.

We filled in the necessary forms and came to view the dogs at our local rescue centre (Dogs' Trust). We were treated with suspicion and were made to feel very unwelcome. It was made clear that none of the dogs at the home were available until exhaustive checks were made. Now I get that they need to see that the dog is going to a suitable home but, in my opinion, it went far beyond what I would consider as reasonable. Why wouldn't it be possible to choose one of the dogs and have it reserved pending home check? Not a chance!

We gave up and bought a puppy elsewhere.
 
In total agreement with Southdowners experience. Very difficult experience with Battersea at Windsor before we were allowed to adopt our chosen dog. I ended up threatening them with some professional negative publicity. Part of our problem was a so-called dog behaviourist who seemed to know less about dogs than we do about performing seals.

In reply to the OP, two of our last three dogs were from overseas. One from Ireland and one from Greece. Both from homes which euthanise dogs which aren't re homed within a certain period of time, unlike the vast majority of UK rescue centres.

Malcolm

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My friends are looking to adopt. The local RSPCA and others will only let them choose one dog from the website and then arrange to meet it. You are not allowed to view the dogs in the kennels and see if you find one that seems to like you and you like it.
I can see it could be distressing for the dogs to have people wandering up and down but friends are finding it quite off putting.
There also seem to be a lot of Staffie cross type dogs in the Bristol kennels.
 
My neighbour has had dogs all her life. Her last dog, a well trained Collie, had to be PTS ( leukaemia). She was turned down, without even a home visit, by Dogs Trust, the RSPCA and a local animal shelter either because she has a cat or because the garden fence was only 4 feet high, not 6.
Friend’s sister has managed to adopt a dog ( with health problems so limits the number of prospective adopters) but they were reluctant initially as she has an almost 11 year old child.
Don’t know if it’s because they’re worried about bad press or being sued if a dog did snap at a child.

And I totally agree with @Cat53 , dogs and cats are frequently treated appallingly in other countries. I lived 20 months in Cyprus—- couldn’t stand it any longer seeing dead cats and dogs at the roadside almost daily. Dogs and cats were routinely poisoned or shot if they became a nuisance.
 
Riverbankannie said:
There also seem to be a lot of Staffie cross type dogs in the Bristol kennels
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I don't think that that is restricted to the Bristol kennels, either. It's the same in the Midlands, and I suspect, throughout the country. Unfortunately, Staffies and Staffy crosses have suffered from becoming must-have accessories among sectors of the population who are not necessarily dog-lovers. This has resulted in the large numbers of them which soon become surplus to requirements.
While many of them are loving and affectionate dogs, not everyone wants to take on a Staffy - particularly a rescue dog which has an unknown history.

Although we are very experienced dog owners, Staffies would not be our breed of choice, particularly as we travel abroad in our motorhome for several months each year, and Staffies are viewed with suspicion in some countries. It's just not a complication which we would want.

On the other hand, there are many other types of both cross-breed and pure-bred dogs available for adoption in countries such as Spain and Portugal. it is also heart-rending to see just how badly treated so many dogs are in these countries. As an example, I saw a photograph of a large number of gun dogs which had been just dumped outside a Spanish 'kill kennel' on the last day of the hunting season. Apparently, this is a usual occurrence and happens every year once the hunting season is over.

Rescuing a dog, regardless of where it comes from, is saving a life. When the time comes for us to have another dog, we will probably be looking to rescue a Dalmatian from Spain.
 
We adopted FANG from German Shepard Rescue

They sent a local volunteer to our house to vet us before putting us on their waiting list

A few weeks later we got a text to say they had a suitable dog (age, sex and temperament)

Within a month FANG had won ‘best in show’ at the local dog show

0F660DDC-080C-47E3-914D-F26F8C8ADA27.jpeg


And has been a dear family member ever since

5BE9D1E0-C8AE-48F0-A754-89DFB4F65CF7.jpeg


Rescue dogs wherever they come from always have issues, but it’s my opinion that it’s better than buying a puppy
 
Some of these charities are a joke, I've had dogs since I was a kid, until I split up with the missus we were 2, or three dog owners. I'm now full timing in my mo/ho, not one of the charities would come near me. I don't mind, I'll buy another pup, it'll come to work with me each day and spend most of it's time outdoors, yet cosy and warm in the van of an evening. I over winter on a CS where I could easily put up a run, but because I don't have a 'proper' home address none of the re-homing charities are interested. Don't judge a persons lifestyle, judge the person.

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Robert Clark said:
We adopted FANG from German Shepard Rescue

They sent a local volunteer to our house to vet us before putting us on their waiting list

A few weeks later we got a text to say they had a suitable dog (age, sex and temperament)

Within a month FANG had won ‘best in show’ at the local dog show

View attachment 302700

And has been a dear family member ever since

View attachment 302701

Rescue dogs wherever they come from always have issues, but it’s my opinion that it’s better than buying a puppy
Click to expand...
That’s interesting as my friend ideally wanted a GSD and approached German Shepherd Rescue. They are bringing in puppies from Romania and are not very open about how they are obtaining them. Of the group of puppies she was offered 2 did not come over because of kidney problems which my daughter says very unusual in puppies. She had to agree to go and collect from kennels on the day of arrival from Romania without first meeting them.
It all seemed very iffy. They also offered some from Spain one with Leishmania which they said had been treated. Once again my daughter (a vet) said it was not a good thing to do.
Fang is gorgeous !
 
Riverbankannie said:
That’s interesting as my friend ideally wanted a GSD and approached German Shepherd Rescue. They are bringing in puppies from Romania and are not very open about how they are obtaining them. Of the group of puppies she was offered 2 did not come over because of kidney problems which my daughter says very unusual in puppies. She had to agree to go and collect from kennels on the day of arrival from Romania without first meeting them.
It all seemed very iffy. They also offered some from Spain one with Leishmania which they said had been treated. Once again my daughter (a vet) said it was not a good thing to do.
Fang is gorgeous !
Click to expand...
There are a number of rescue groups with similar names, we used
German Shepherd Rescue Elite GSRE
 
We registered with a couple of GSD rescue centres ...

And were offered a beautiful looking Black & Tan, 18 month old boy... having been vetted, and agreed on "Lobo"...
Left at the crack of dawn to drive to South Wales to see and hopefully bring Lobo home to Dorset..

Got nearly to Taunton to join the M5... and phone goes...

Hi Mr Old-Mo.... Just thought we had better let you know that "Lobo" had bitten his handler this morning and pretty badly... afraid this is not the first time...
Why was I not made aware off this before.... sorry cannot take the chance.... turned round and drove back home..

Few weeks later Judy was going through the free adds and saw a write up and picture of "Daisy".... few phone calls and a couple of days later we drove to Bournemouth and saw her... love at first sight.. Paid our money and bought her home..

After a few weeks we had a "Funster" visitor come and stay...

She turned out to be a killer...... had him on the floor and as quick as a flash was giving him a tongue in the gob job and hooked his false teeth out..

P1090020 (600 x 450).jpg


Said visitor did recover after drinking all our "Whisky"...

But must admit it was scary... :giggler:

Do you recognise the man in question... (New nickname for him... Gummy..)

P1090030 (600 x 450).jpg


And there is no money on earth that could buy the stupid black bitch from us... :inlove:


.
 
Southdowners said:
We were looking to give a UK rescue dog a home but the amount hoops you need to jump through is ridiculous.

We filled in the necessary forms and came to view the dogs at our local rescue centre (Dogs' Trust). We were treated with suspicion and were made to feel very unwelcome. It was made clear that none of the dogs at the home were available until exhaustive checks were made. Now I get that they need to see that the dog is going to a suitable home but, in my opinion, it went far beyond what I would consider as reasonable. Why wouldn't it be possible to choose one of the dogs and have it reserved pending home check? Not a chance!

We gave up and bought a puppy elsewhere.
Click to expand...
Us too
 
We rehomed a rescue dog and the hoops we had to jump through meant our puppy was 7 months old by the time we got him twice we went to collect him to find the vet hadnt signed him of as fit to leave never again

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We have seen at the pet passport building at the tunnel loads of (mostly polish I think) vans just carrying dogs this must be a huge import business as every time we are there we see groups of them--------- we once also saw a guy in a BMW car going to several vans and giving them money------- make of that what you want!!!!!!!!
We have seen some dogs in very poor condition, one even had to be carried into the office as it couldn't walk------ maybe it was too young--???-- there lies another potentially illegal act!!!!!!!!!!!
We fear/dread that they are brought in for dog fighting/baiting-------- this trade should be checked out in our opinion!!!!!!!
 
I also think some breeders are, shall we say, a little too cautious in selling their puppies.

Friends of ours lost their much loved Spaniel. The dog died from old age and they were devastated. They waited a year or so before looking for another dog. They chose another Spaniel from a breeder quite a distance away - so far so good. However, the breeder said they must drive over every weekend until the pup was old enough to leave it's mother. They also had to take their sons, one of whom had left home, along too.

After dutifully visiting for a number of weekends they were graciously told by the breeder that they'd 'passed' and need not visit again until they picked the pup up. Apparently during the visits they were watched closely by the breeder to see how the interacted with the pup and they all felt ill at ease with the situation. Eventually they were allowed to take the pup home, so in a way it was worth it. I'd have been inclined to have walked.

Surely this isn't how it should be... is it?
 

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