Valhalla - have you heard of either of these rescues?

[toomuchmonthatendofthemoney]

Hi and must just say big fan, big fan

looking into getting a rescue dog for our family, wondered if you had heard anything about either Dawgs or Mrs Murrays cat and dog home, both based in Aberdeen? yes sorry, tis rather out of your jurisdiction, but if you had any feedback on either would very much appreciate it. cheers TMMAEOTM

[Vallhala]

Sorry, no I haven't. Dawgs rings bells but for what reason I can't for the life of me remember and Mrs Murray's is a new one on me. Happy to ask around for you though.

[Vallhala]

Right... I wouldn't touch Dawgs personally. I was looking on their website and spotted that:

1 - they rehome direct from the owner's home on most occasions and so I'd question their ability to assess adequately and

2 - that they are noting dogs on there to be unvaccinated and unwormed. IMHO the minimum you should be looking for is an ASSESSED dog which has been vaccinated, wormed, de-fleaed, neutered, where a homecheck is carried out upon the prospective owners before they may adopt and where the rescue guarantees to take that dog back into a no-kill environment if for any reason and at any time AT ALL the new owner can no longer keep him.

Not impressed to be blunt.

Mrs Murrays IS A COUNCIL FUNDED DOG POUND AND IS NOT A RESCUE - they say nothing about homechecking you, the potential owner, or assessing their dogs. UNLESS THEY GUARANTEE TO DO THIS AND THEN SOME, AVOID THEM AT ALL COSTS.

I've done it a few times (slightly different background and circumstances to the average owner) but I would NEVER recommend to the average family that they take on an unassessed dog from the pound. Let rescue do that, let THEM assess the dog to see if he's suitable to live with children/cats/won't chew your furniture/won't howl and cause rows with your neighbours/doesn't hate men, women or children etc etc and then adopt from a rescue which has done so. Don't put your family up as guinea pigs.

There's nothing wrong with taking on a former stray, providing it's done in the right way... providing you have been homechecked (for YOUR wellbeing as much as the dog's), he has been assessed and the rescue will take him back at any point and support and advise you 100% of the way.

Which is NOT what a pound does. A pound is there to make money and to get dogs out of their premises as soon after his 7 days are up as possible so they can take the next batch in. :(

Sorry... I know neither place personally but would certainly not advise you to adopt from either going on what I see on their websites.

[toomuchmonthatendofthemoney]

Hi Vallhalla, thanks for the advice. Lady from Dawgs actually phoned me back today after my initial enquiry and she said they do do a homecheck and that they do take the dog back if for any reason the rehoming family can no longer keep the dog. She also said that they would cover the cost of neutering if the rehoming family requested this. Does this improve your view at all?

do any of your contacts have any recommendations for a rescue in the Aberdeen/shire area at all? could reasonably go as far as Edinburgh/Inverness if required i think.

thanks again!!!

[toomuchmonthatendofthemoney]

and lord one of these times i will slow down my typing enough to actually spell your name correctly, my apologies

[Vallhala]

They should make that clearer on their website the silly buggers! Might help them home a few more dogs!! :o

Yep, sounds better to me - I still think that a rescue should neuter as standard before the dog is rehomed though, unless there's medical reason not to. Not doing so merely increases the risk of yet more unwanted dogs.

I'd advise that you ask about their assessment procedure. IME it's not unusual for an owner to lie to rescue about their reason for giving a dog up so I'd very strongly recommend that you are content that an experienced rescue assessment has been carried out on the dog you choose before considering taking the matter further. I'd also want the dog to be vaccinated before being rehomed.

Check too whether that promise to take back the dog is for life and what "aftercare" support you're offered. Just imagine how you'd feel if you took a dog on and then in 5 years time, heaven forbid, needed to give him up... rescue places are like hens teeth and the last thing you would want is to struggle to find somewhere to place your dog on top of whatever problem caused you to need to in the first place. It's situations like that, often when dogs are bought from lesser rescues or backyard breeders, which cause not only the burden upon rescue that I see day in, day out but also causes people to take their dog into the vet to be killed having been unable to find him a rescue place. Sadly that's something I come across all too often. Some of the vets local to the rescue I help out at will call that rescue rather than kill the dog but some aren't so ethical and humane. :(

In the past appeals for info on rescue in your area have been met with little more than the suggestion of the Dogs Trust, but I'll try and ask nonetheless. :)

Oh... and don't apologise on the name spelling.... it's wrong anyway, some age ago I name-changed and couldn't for some reason return to Valhalla so opted for Vallhala instead. I was more or less told by some angry bod I upset on here that I'm thick because I can't spell the name correctly... all water off a duck's back! Nothing compared to the spelling variations and mispronounciation of my real name!! ;o

[Spudley85]

I'd just like to comment on your post regarding Mrs Murrays...

1. It is not a pound
2. They do not kill dogs after 7 days
3. Its not all about money

[Yummypancake]

I have met people who have had dogs from mrsmurrays and seem happy with their experience. Not sure if that helps. They do spend time rehabilitating dogs before adoption. I have seen dogs on the website that have been returned once already and are back up for adoption following further work. So the def take back dogs if it doesn’t work.

Also there is spca in drum if you are in the Aberdeen area. Don’t know anything about dawgs.

[Bamaluz]

THIS IS A ZOMBIE THREAD

IT WAS POSTED IN 2011

[GarnetsandRubies]

This thread is from 2011. I'm not sure the OP needs advice 10 years after making this thread.

[Spudley85]

I know this, but was just saying