Valhalla urgent!

[moonmother]

Ineed some advice . about half an hour ago Ifound a small yorkie poss yorkie cross wandering alone in the street. She's very tiny ,very skinny, very matted and very dirty. Her toe nails are about an inch and a half long.

It looks like shes a stray. I want to know what to do for the best for her, not possible for me to keep her here ,as my BC doesn't get on with small dogs but I don't want her to get put somewhere where they'll pts.

My vets are closed , do I ring the dog warden?

Help

DP no impressed I've brought her in, I'm sitting with her in the garden as he's worried she may have some illness to pass on to our dog.

[moonmother]

sorry for typos- trying to type very quickly

[Vallhala]

Will pm you with my phone number, is quicker to talk than to type!

[Vallhala]

While I'm waiting for OP to ring me will answer here, in stages in case she can't call but can see this.

SOME counties have an out of hours dog warden service but not all. Law doesn't insist on it. Where they don't you must either:

Keep dog until council offices open.

Take dog to central acceptance point which council out of hours phone service will advise on. This will generally be a POUND, so beware. Often there is only one, it may be the other sideof your county and may well only be open until a certain time in the evening.

Otherwise shitty councils have told people to chuck dog back out.

Police have NO responsibility for strays unless dangerous and no kennel facilities for them now.

More to follow.

[Vallhala]

You can get round this - find a no kill rescue to take dog and deal with logistics and law tomorrow. Not STRICTLY legal but not going to get you arrested. Nor will finding a rescuer like me to take dog in for you if you can't.

[Vallhala]

If you are in E Anglia/Herts and can get to me I can take her. Have no traansport to collect. Can do my best to find someone in your area to take her if not. Strictly speaking you may keep a stray you find providing that you report the find to the COUNCIL - this is LAW, you MUST report, you have RIGHT to keep her. You MUST by law keep her for at least 28 days if you don't wish to hand her to dog warden and thus the pound and they can only refuse you if they have genuine cause to believe that you can#t or won't care for her.

[Vallhala]

Some councils are crap and will argue that this is not the case but given 5 mins I can find you the law to quote at them. If all else fails contact me and I will get RSPCA to contact council bosses and give them a rocket. Have done this before.

[Vallhala]

If you take dog to rescue although they are not legal finder, you are, and really shouldn't keep her, if Dog Warden is happy with rescue conditions and/or has good relationship with them DW will generally say this is ok and let dog remain there. This is especially good for dog if she is older/a biggun/a bull breed/may be ill and thus at risk of PTS after serving 7 days in the pound if no-one claims her as their missing dog.

[Vallhala]

Another thing... if you keep dog instead of sending her to DW or taking her to acceptance point, you MUST seek to find owner and you MUST hand her over if owner claims her.

But back to your dog.Certainly sounds like a stray, maybe abandoned, maybe thrown out ex breeding bitch, les likely a loved pet as if she's friendly enough to have been caught would have thought she'd have been picked up before getting into matted, long nailed state. Also would have thought genuine loser of such a dog would have been looking all over for her and had posters up locally.

[Vallhala]

SHIT! Still no call from OP.

Check DogLost website in your area for a missing Yorkie please.

Need to know her approx age and temperament before advising further. If she's old/dodgy/poorly she would be best taken to rescue and for you to explain all I've said here than to go to pound, otherwise to be taken in by me or one of my fellow resscue volunteers than risk being PTS after 7 days, that's all the law says a pound needs to keep a stray for then they can kill her. If she's in good health, youngish and good natured she will stand a good chance of being rehomed from pound after 7 days or being taken in by rescue.

[Vallhala]

If you have an out of hours Dog Warden and take that route please find out where she's being taken to tonight AND where she will end up to serve her 7 days and I will contact them and secure rescue if she isn;t claimed. Likewise if you take her to out of hours acceptance point.

[Vallhala]

PS OP... if you are trying to message me, be careful you spell name right. It's VaLLhala, though you have spelled it the "proper" way in your OP, I spell it awkwardly (MN name changed from proper way years ago and couldn;t for some reason change back so opted for Vallhala instead!).

Really worried now. :(

[Vallhala]

OP, am trying to get emergency kennel space at the rescue I help out at (trust 100 percent, no kill, decent folk). They are about 6 miles west of ELY CB6. If necessary and if they can help, could you get her there?

[Vallhala]

Sorry, should have said that your profile says you are in Beds. If thats not poss I MAY be able to get in touch with fellow volunteer in Luton who I know personally and is 100% to help but she works shifts so unsure. Otherwise I can help but am further south, near Cambs Herts border.

[Vallhala]

ALso DON'T WORRY ABOUT CALLING LATE AT NIGHT!

Will be up til all hours as will the rescue if you need them.

[moonmother]

I'll post this here too,

I was out in the garden when my neighbour came out , she knows a local lady who takes in rescues- in actual fact she has a ex battery farm chicken rescue charity shop in our town.

She rang her and she's come and picked her up, she's intouch with the local dog warden so if she has been reported missing then they'll let her know.

She said if she is unclaimed the she'll go to permanent foster as apparently she's a little old lady.

My Mum was over whilst she was here and would like to foster her.

Thank you so much for getting back to me so quickly, sorry it's been a bit of a waste of your time.

Lady did say that she thinks she's not a stray- she thinks she's an elderly persons dog , and although I thought she was in a bad state she's seen alot worse.

I'm going to ring her on Sunday to see how she is, and keep in touch with her after that if she's still there.

[Vallhala]

Brilliant stuff, well done. Looks like the local lady is going to avoid the dog going into the pound system in much the way I described, which can only be a lifesaver for the dog if she's elderly.

You're a star, OP!

Just heard back from my Luton fellow volunteer who could take her if you were stuck, glad that you have it sorted though. You have my number, if you need help at any stage then please don't hesitate to call.

[moonmother]

Thank you, I've been sitting here wondering if I did the right thing giving her to her, but neighbour has mentioned before that she has helped a lot of dogs ending up in the council rescue kennels.

She's going to get her checked over with the vet tomorrow, the poor thing has hardly any teeth bless her- I was wondering why her tongue looked so long when she was trying to lick me, lol.

She really was a very sweet little thing even in the state she was in and I'm hoping that she isn't claimed and get to end her days in a loving foster home.

My Mum was very taken with her and the lady said that she could look into fostering her if the situation arises. Like many of the great rescues she pays for all vets fees etc if thedogs are fostered out.

All the proceeds are raised by her charity shop- I've been in a few times but from now on I'll pop in more often. Her free range eggs alone are a good reason to go in more on their own.

[Vallhala]

Just one thing... please make sure that you and the lady keep in regular touch with the pound if she DOES end up there after the lady contacts the DW as if they're a shitty one they won't hang about and will PTS after 7 days so they need to KNOW that she will be taken into rescue and fostered from there (or that your mum will rehome her if mum is confident that this will work out - remember that although she poses little physical risk as a wee mite she may have issues which mum would be unaware of and would later mean that mum can't keep her. If that's the case or might be the case the best thing would be for dog to go to rescue and be assessed before mum takes her on, which also gives mum support and back up and means that she will be taken back by the rescue if mum can't keep her. Naturally please ensure too that the rescue WILL indeed take a dog back if the new owner can't keep her).

That might sound over cautious but I'd hate for mum to take her in and then the dog be at risk because mum has nowhere to place her if it doesn't work out.

I hope that this has helped others know what to do, what not to do, where they and the dog stand legally and how shitty the system is now that the Police have no involvement in strays unless dangerous and the councils have neither legal obligation to provide an out of hours dog warden nor was the paltry government grant for the handover of the strays to councils alone ringfenced to ensure that the councils spent the money on the dog warden service. Many of your councils spent the money elsewhere, many do not have an out of hours service, many don't even have a dedicated dog warden any more. Those which don't MUST in law provide someone to pick up strays and take them to the pound but for those generally the responsibility ends there. These councils no longer have a DW who will go to a neighbour to advise on how to deal with a barking dog or invstigate claims of badly behaved ones in the park and we are ALL suffering as a result and so are the nation's dogs.

It's YOUR council tax is being spent on killing dogs in pounds and YOUR services which have been eroded, it's YOU who has no-one to advise you or a neighbour when their dog keeps you awake by barking all night and no-one to warn them of their duties in law and the repercussions for not following it.

Worth an email to the director of YOUR council folks, cc-ed to your MP, imho.

[Vallhala]

And PS, not to be picky but you spoke of the "council rescue". The council does not have a rescue. NO council does. It has a POUND. This may be a council facility, owned and run by them, or a contractor, be that a boarding kennels who runs the pound contract as a sideline BUSINESS or be that Battersea "Dogs Home".

The deal with ALL these places is that they have a legal contract to take in strays from their council's area for 7 days. That's all the law says a stray needs to be kept for before he can be sent to rescue, rehomed from the pound or killed. THE COUNCIL ONLY PAY THE POUND TO KEEP A STRAY FOR 7 DAYS.

After that, with no more money coming in and food/electric bills/vet bills/staff to pay the pound is left to pay for the dog themselves. This is why they so often kill dogs when their time is up. Some, like one in Yorkshire I know of, don't even TRY to find rescue or homes for Bull breeds. ill, old or bigger dogs like GSDs and Rotts which are hard to home (am in tears as I write this, looking at my own old Lab X and 2 big GSDs), they kill them as soon as their 7 days have been served.

A dog handed into a pound by his owner doesn't even get that. he may in law be killed immediately.

There is a HUGE HUGE difference between a dog rescue and a pound. A good rescue will rehabilitate, assess, vaccinate, vet treat (god I can tell you some stories about pounds which don't even vet treat ill dogs) and homecheck before rehoming and will be there to support the new owner and take back the dog throughout his life if need be.

If anyone is considering adopting a dog and is unsure of the establishment which is claiming to have dogs to rehome, ask first, "Do you have acouncil contract to take in strays?". If they say yes it isn't ALWAYS a no-goer, then ask if they assess and homecheck and so on, as above. Then, if they say no, walk away and leave rescue to take in those dogs and do those things, and find a GENUINE rescue which does to adopt from. Don't make the mistake of putting your happiness and wellbeing at risk, or that of the dog, by adopting from a pound which does not practice what rescue practices.

Some do... Battersea, for all it;s faults and disgraceful practice of killing healthy strays due to having too many and due to not being willing to provide lifelong sanctuary to the unhomeable is an excellent place to adopt from and will take the process seriously for your benefit as well as the dog's. So will Wood Green Animal Shelter, which has the pound contract for part of Cambs, and the pound near Epsom which I'm helping at the moment.

Most however want to make money and get dogs out asap before the next batch come in with scant regard for the dog's welfare or yours and won't make sure you're suited and BOTH safe and happy. These are the ones who leave it to rescue to do that... and so should the prospective dog owner.