Can we talk about rescuing dogs from other countries please?

[KenAdams]

We've looked at buying a puppy but decided to consider rescues first. Well a large number of them wouldn't even let us register as we had a child under 10 and then the ones that would let us told me that as we didn't have another dog (to show a rescue how to "dog" as well a young child), the chances of us being matched were incredibly slim. I understand the reasons for this and accept them.

Then we considered rescuing a dog from another country but I'm in two minds about this. Firstly because I can't actually meet the dogs, second I'm not sure if the health tests and other tests (e.g. if they're OK around) would have been done properly and finally if its even ethical to bring more rescues into this country when lots of dogs here in rescues are PTS every year (despite the fact that they're unlikely to let me have one).

I'd like to know your thoughts and experiences please as I really can't make up my mind.

Have not done this myself and my opinions are similarly conflicted on the matter. A colleague however has recently adopted a young dog from Romania and has been very happy with the experience.

They are first time owners and have no children if that has any bearing on the situation. He says they were well supported, were given a voucher for castration and had excellent after care.

Some rescues bring dogs over in small groups and place them into foster in the UK with a more typical adoption routine of meeting the dog first. My sister has a dog from Russia, he came to the UK last year, after a month in his foster home he was advertised on the rescue website, she arranged to meet him, had a homecheck a few days later and adopted him a week after that. 2-3 weeks from her first contacting them to bringing him home IIRC. He was fully vaccinated, all recorded in his pet passport with stamps from the vet and signed off before he was able to travel. If he hadn't been brought to the UK he would likely never have found a home in Russia, lovely calm temperament, good with kids, dogs, and cats but he was consistently overlooked by Russian adopters as he was 'not handsome enough' (medium mixed breed, apparently only small fluffy dogs get much adoption interest!)

My friend has recently adopted one from Cyprus through a charity. She has a little girl who is nine so obviously that wasn't a problem. The dog went to a foster home in the UK first so my friend was able to meet the dog before she took her on. I have another friend who also took on a Cypriot rescue dog and she picked hers up straight form the airport so I don't think she met hers first.

We adopted a dog from Europe - similar to you, we had a child and so would have struggled to be approved for a rescue in the UK despite being experienced dog owners. Our rescue dog is our child's favourite and the dog has settled in well, though usual puppy issues of chewing everything in sight!

@MuddlingThrough1724 were you able to meet your dog before making a final decision?

@KenAdams No, though we could have if we had wanted to travel there I suppose. We had a contact at the shelter which is how we knew about this shelter and this particular dog, and they had met the dog though.

Saying that, with a puppy or younger dog, I'm not sure how much difference it would have made either way - with any dog you take your chances on nature vs nurture and the responsiveness to training. A pup from a local litter could end up with all sorts of health or behaviour issues you could never have known from a quick cuddle before agreeing to buy, so in many ways a rescue is less risky as a good shelter will have assessed the dog (regardless of age) and you through a home check and visit to make sure the match would be very likely to succeed.

We did what @BearSoFair describes with our lady through a charity in the U.K that is affiliated with a charity in her country of origin. We had a 4 year old at the time and had no problems. Not sure if I’d adopt straight from the country of origin though but I don’t know enough about it to be honest.

Ddog is an absolute dream. I wouldn’t have chosen any other dog over her!

We adopted a dog from Cyprus and picked her up from the airport. The charity we dealt with were amazing and although we hadn't met our dog we had a lot of contact with the charity and videos sent to us of her meeting cats and other dogs.

We're looking to adopt another just as soon as the COVID chaos is over.

saferescuefordogs.co.uk/about-us/

We rescued a 2 yr old Romanian dog last year from safe rescue. She had been in a romanian shelter for a few months and was then transferred to a uk Foster home so we were able to go and meet her there. She is the most wonderful, adorable dog.

Genuine question - why would you adopt a dog from abroad when thousands of rescue dogs are being pts in the U.K. ? I wonder this every time I see someone has rescued a dog from abroad

My mum does a lot of voluntary work for a Romanian charity that rehomes rescue dogs. It is incredibly rewarding but it can be hard work. Ours is very sweet (and looks JUST like yours @bilbodog) but we are still working on her social skills and she was quite difficult to housetrain as she’d only ever been a stray and then lived in a kennel. We didn’t get to meet her beforehand, as far as I’m aware you will only get to do that if they already being fostered in the U.K.

How old are your children? This charity will rehome to people with children, but if the children are under a certain age (I think it is under 10) they will only rehome puppies. They have a lot of puppies available though!

I have two from abroad - we work full time so couldn't adopt locally.

They are perfect - just as described and we had lots of videos etc before hand. We also got one as a puppy so was easier to train. Just because they're from abroad doesn't mean they don't deserve a chance and those countries are far less forgiving of strays than the UK!

@whereorwhere unfortunately a lot of UK charities are very unwilling to give a dog to someone if they work, have kids etc.
However, there's also an issue with breed and temperament - a lot of rescues locally were also not breeds I'd consider such as Staffies.

I also wanted a puppy which are gold dust in UK but in abundance abroad.

@whereorwhere I think a lot of it is that most of the ‘big’ rescue charities are very wary of rehoming to people with children under 10/12. That’s not to say none of them will, but it’s difficult. If the rescue that we are familiar with is anything to go by it is a lot easier to adopt a puppy too, which is appealing.

I also think that people like to focus their help on what they perceive to be the ‘worst’ situation. I guess it’s a bit like saying why would you give money to an international aid appeal when there are families in the U.K. having to use food banks?

I’m not saying it’s right (we have currently got a rescue dog from the U.K. too, and we’ve had others in the past), but I think that’s partly something to do with it.

I fell hook line and sinker for a dog I saw on fb. I messaged the shelter and expressed my interest. A few days later they contacted me because there had been mass influx of dogs from somewhere and they needed space. There was no time to do the usual checks and I wouldn’t have been able to comply with their strict criteria.

I provided some references, took my 2 young children with me to meet the dog and was allowed to take him home.

What I’m trying to say is that under normal circumstances the shelter would not have given him to me, but desperate times etc.

2 years on, he is as much a part of the family as anyone. I send the shelter pictures periodically to show that their gamble worked out. They were right to trust me.

It may be worth making yourself known to local shelters so they get a feel for you.

where, because UK rescues can be very restrictive - no kids under 10, no cats, never left for more than a few hours - and because a lot of dogs in rescue in the UK are of breeds/ types people dont want because they feel they'd be a bad fit.

If adopting from abroad, I'd want to be able to meet the dog first. I'd want to know that it had been kid and cat tested, done okay in a foster home and didn't come with a half-ton of issues. We have a fair few overseas rescue dogs round here. One took over a year of careful work to turn her from a nervous wreck to a fairly happy dog (still has a few issues), one did a runner and was never seen again, one pisses himself in fright if another dog barks at him, one is so dog aggressive that he is never off the lead and only two are what I'd consider normal dogs. Of those two, one is a bit barky and suspicious and one is lovely.

In other words, two thirds were/are 'project' dogs. This is okay if you have the time, experience and expectation, but if this would be your first dog, I'd proceed with great caution, check out the rescue's reputation, make sure there would be on-going support, and try and meet the dog first (hopefully in foster somewhere and being properly assessed).

Do any of the rescues close to you allow you to foster? Allowing both you and the rescue to "try before you buy" as such?

Most vets have grave concerns about this. The Pet Travel Scheme was not designed for importing street dogs - vaccinating them in rabies endemic areas then transporting 21 days later is an excellent way to import rabies. There is no requirement to test for leishmaniasis or any other disease which are endemic, some charities are even knowingly importing leish positive dogs. There is growing evidence that puppies are being farmed overseas to supply the British 'rescue' market. Plus would not take a dog unless it has been fostered in UK first so chance to meet and assess.

@whereorwhere

Genuine question - why would you adopt a dog from abroad when thousands of rescue dogs are being pts in the U.K. ? I wonder this every time I see someone has rescued a dog from abroad

In our case the UK breed rescues refused to consider us as we have cats. The Cypriot rescue did a cat test and sent us a video of it so we knew the true outcome.

We really did try the UK rescues first but we got absolutely nowhere and between rescuing a dog from abroad or buying a puppy I knew which I'd rather do.

I’m in Romania. Puppies are generally OK for adoption, but older street dogs are not (obviously there are some exceptions), due to lack of socialisation and generally living in a pack of dogs, rather than with people.

My main concern with international rescues is how do you know they are legitimately rescuing the dogs and not a front for puppy farming overseas?
As previous posters have said, I wouldn't consider one that had not been in a UK foster home and tested and no rush to have them out the door and home with you. If they are investing time and energy into the dog then it's less likely to be a front.

Thank you all - that now makes perfect sense to me and I appreciate you patiently explaining. I have to say I am in the camp of not having a dog if you are out at work all day (sorry) but the cats and kids limitations - whilst reasonable if the dog has form for not getting on with them is otherwise ridiculous. I also understand the breeds issue.

An animal health inspector told me never to rescue from overseas. Google 4paws, a "rescue" business who imported 4,600 dogs from Romania without proper health checks.

@whereorwhere

Genuine question - why would you adopt a dog from abroad when thousands of rescue dogs are being pts in the U.K. ? I wonder this every time I see someone has rescued a dog from abroad

I wanted a waggy-tailed, medium sized, mongrel with a good temperament, and the look of a dog you would have seen in a UK rescue 20-30 years ago. The shelters near me were full of rottie or staffy mixes. I just wanted a dog like my childhood dog.

Mine is lovely.

I adopted from abroad 3 years ago, through a UK charity, because not only were the local rescues incredibly fussy, they were extremely rude, too! I didn't want to buy a puppy, but it does feel like UK rescues really push people towards breeders. Anyway, this charity worked with us to match the ideal dog, and he is perfect for our family (pre-existing cats, now a baby on the way). We didn't get to meet him before, which I was a bit nervous about - but in our case it worked out very well. They increasingly have dogs in UK foster homes now they're a bigger charity. Our vet has had no health concerns with him.