Why are people adopting dogs from Greece and Romania?

[NorthernGravy]

My Facebook seems to have people who are getting dogs from charities in Greece and Romania and I don't get it. If you want to foster a dog then why not one from a local shelter?

I know a lot of rescue dogs can't be re-homed with children as past history isn't often known, but more of the foreign charity dogs seem to be allowed to go to families. It makes me suspicious that either the foreign charities are less strict or that there is some form of puppy farming going on somewhere in the chain.

AIBU?

I know someone who got a dog from a rescue from UK, got rid of it because she couldn't cope with it and has now adopted one from abroad. I don't get it at all.

Glory?

Yes I have two friends recently who have acquired Cypriot rescue dogs ! I guess a dog needs a home wherever it is from though. My friends puppy had been shut in a shed for half of its short life, so sad.

Because they let anyone adopt them for cash? Unlike British rescues who have "criteria"

It really pisses me off, and can't see how it's allowed to be honest.

I know two people with Greek dogs. One was refused a dog from UK shelters due to their working hours. Both of them (unconnected, one a friends one a work colleagues) are bloody vicious and I wound't have given either house room tbh.

We looked into in as no UK shelter we spoke to would rehome to us as we have 2 cats and 2 children under 10.

They are less strict, and much more willing to rehome dogs to people who have kids or live in flats or who go out to work. That’s not a suspicion.

Whether it’s ultimately a good or a bad thing is on an entirely case-to-case basis.

Well for me, it was because I found an abandoned puppy on the beach in Crete. As soon as I picked him up, that was it. I couldn't leave him. Paid for him to stay at with an amazing charity until he was old enough for vaccines and pet passport, then paid to have him flown to the UK. Best thing we've ever done. He's divine. Have also adopted four cats from a local shelter in London, so it's not an either/or. The state of widespread animal abuse in these countries is really shocking, though. So I understand why people are moved to act.

All the ones I have seen on UK rescueoften seem to be Staffies or Bulldog types or crosses .. I dont have a dog but have looked recently in thoughts of adopting one, and they all seem to be either of those breeds.. I wouldn't adopt one of those , as they have probably been brought up as fighting dogs and ended up in doggy care after or owners couldnt cope or they were removed.

It’s less strict. I know quite a few people who have done it and believed whatever the people have told them about the dog and then gone on to have a lot of issues (aggression in the extreme etc). I think it’s sad when there are so many dogs already in the uk needing homes.

I think it’s a combination of things. There will be a much wider range of breeds than in a uk shelter, and less strict criteria for rejoining. I think there’s also a worry that a lot of the dogs from some countries will be PTS if not rehomed fast.

I have a dog from a UK charity that takes dogs from Romania.

All the dogs homes local to me (and there's lots, I'm in a big city) didn't have dogs that were suitable. They were either very young puppies or larger breeds, or pups of larger breeds, none of which would have been practical. There were an awful lot of Staffies, and although I do like them, my friends one is capable of knocking me straight over. Just not practical really.

I have a foreign dog. All the local available dogs were Staffy/Rotty/Bully breeds and our dogs is like a dog from my youth; medium, white and tan, whippy tail, boring pet dog mongrel. Only thing missing is white dog poo!

You don't see them anymore and I love mine.

"Glory" my arse.

We’re looking into adopting a Romanian dog in the near future for a variety of reasons. Firstly, we’d like the opportunity to train a young dog but we absolutely do not want to buy from a breeder. Secondly, we don’t want a small breed, and most of our local rescues are tiny terriers (we’re leaning towards a medium-sized Heinz 57!) and thirdly, Romanian shelters have a high kill rate whereas most UK shelters are no kill, so we feel we’d be giving a healthy dog the best chance possible if we rescue from a shelter where they might be PTS for no reason other than they are taking up space.

Where we live, almost all of the dogs in the shelters are whippets, dumped by travellers when surplus to requirements. These dogs are often not child friendly. There are also a lot of staffie crosses, which are similar to the above. On top of this, Battersea are clueless, they charge you to visit to see a dog, and then won't consider you if you work. They only appear to have dogs for those who are SAH, if you have a job, forget it.

I guess because they love dogs and aren’t racist about the dogs heritage.

Just how does this affect you?

The UK has laws to protect animals, and to prosecute those who abuse them. Countries like Romania don't and these dogs would either be pts or live a miserable existence if they were not adopted to other countries.

Lots of reasons!

Unlike in the UK, in some other countries stray dogs are routinely killed by the authorities in extremely cruel ways - so there are lots of charities rescuing and re-homing strays to stop this from happening to them.

It can be difficult to adopt a UK dog - many organisations have lots of requirements which many people can't meet, e.g. size of home, having a garden, being home during the day.

The Greek / Romanian dogs tend to be a real mix of size, age, breeds, behaviours etc - whereas if you look at your local dog shelter, you'll likely see lots of quite similar dogs which might not be what you're looking for.

My parents have adopted two dogs from Greece over the years and although both have had their challenges (one was a street dog, the other horribly mis-treated by her owners), they have brought years of happiness and seem to love their new lives :)

I honestly think this is importing a problem. I get it that shelters here are filled with the ‘wrong’ dogs, but i reckon it is good that demand outweighs supply. I have a dog admitedly, but i think there are far too many in the UK. Many people with small homes with multiple dogs and others out working all day leaving them alone. Dog ownership is out of control and we don’t need more street dogs coming over from. Romania. I’ve been to Romania and there are dogs everywhere in poor health. They must have Giardia too which is a parasite that it practically impossible to get rid of. Bad, bad idea and practice.

I don't get it either but I do see that a dog in the UK Rescue has a roof over its head and food in its belly which is more than a street dog would have ?

I'd be very wary and suspicious that there are puppy farms out there (or dogknappers) creating the supply of supposed "rescue" dogs to the uk from Europe.

You can see why; every time someone talks about buying a dog on MN they get a zillion posters telling them that they are selfish and MUST get a rescue dog.

People get a feel good factor and something to low-key boast about that they were ever so virtuous and "rescued" a dog

Because the pounds in the U.K. are heated and cleaned, the dogs are fed and watered and exercised and cared for and when there are too many, the unfortunate ones are gently sent to sleep via injection.

Kill shelters abroad are 20 dogs to a cage, fighting for the odd carcass thrown in. Those dogs that don’t starve or aren’t killed by the others, are drowned or beaten to death. It’s absolutely horrific and we should be trying to save as many as possible.

Also, they are usually the cute, small fluffy breeds that families want, whereas the U.K. are either Staffies, lurchers or terriers which aren’t everybodies taste.

Many of these charities are less fussy about who they rehome too, so it's a way of side-stepping UK charities when they consider you unsuitable. The risk is that the less reputable of these will leave you with no support and no one to call for help if you have problems after receiving the dog.

There is an issue with some rehoming charities (and this sadly applies to the UK and Ireland as well as eastern/southern Europe) being fronts for puppy farms, or supporting puppy farming by rehoming the breeding dogs once they've past their best.

One problem that's not always adequately considered is that some parts of E/S Europe have endemic parasites not found in the UK and not routinely tested or treated for on import. It was MN that introduced me to this in a discussion on tongue worm.

If people want to support animal welfare in S/E Europe, the reality is that a donation will go a lot further in providing neutering programmes and veterinary support within the country.

Romanian shelters have a high kill rate whereas most UK shelters are no kill
There's also this naive belief that importing a rescue saves a dog from being put down. Sorry to burst your unicorn, but dogs in shelters are being put down daily in the UK as well as abroad. Stop kidding yourself. Only a small proportion of dogs in the UK that are abandoned or otherwise end up in shelters make it to "no kill" shelters.

No matter how many dogs we import we cannot make a dent on the problem. It’s up to Romania etc to tackle their own problems at source. I guess i sound mean but if we’re going to get sentimental about animals, then there are a whole lot of other issues to get in a squiz about. Why stop at Romanian dogs? People are making money out of it. How do we know they are genuine cases anyway and not coming from Romanian puppy farms? If money is changing hands then there will be corruption for sure. It’s crazy.