To think that dog charities are so fussy about rehoming that they drive people to buy from breeders?

[FreshFreesias]

I volunteer and help fund a small very well-run dog charity. We are all volunteers, no one takes any remuneration and we are all united in our desire to help dogs in the direst of situations find a lovely home.

However I struggle with the strict rehoming policy. We are rescuing (healthy, attractive, assessed, socialised and rehomeable) dogs and puppies from the horrors of life in a concrete pen in a `shelter’ in 100 Fahrenheit from which they will never be released, even for a walk; or from a precarious life starving on the streets of in Greece or from life on a chain.

Given that these dogs have absolutely no hope where they are, a loving, sensible, experienced owner in the UK who may well live in a flat or in a big city can most probably give one of these dogs the fantastic opportunity of a new life.

But I’m constantly working with dare I say, dogmatic ladies who, while redoubtable and salt of the earth, have very restrictive ideas of where these hopeless hounds can be happy.

A recent conversation with the rehomer made my heart sink. She explained that while she didn’t rule out homes in London and cities, she didn’t think London was a good place for a dog and that a flat in London would automatically be ruled out. Ironic as I live in a London flat with 3 dogs who have the most wonderful life as I live in the middle of a Common! The most important thing is the right owner, who is determined to make it work.

While I agree that rehoming to someone who is working all day isn’t a good idea, if someone can take their dog to work with them, why not? Oh no’, she replied, what is the dog meant to do in the work place?’ Um, I should have replied, do whatever it will do when it’s at home… sleep, get petted by visitors, potter around or whatever.

This all came to a head when my sister in law recently applied for one of the rescues on the website. She is a really lovely woman who lives with my brother in a modest but comfortable terrace house in Bristol, with a nice garden and near parks. They are middle-aged, no kids, both work from home and have one old dog already for whom they seek a companion. I’m despondent to find out that she applied for a dog on the website but was told he already had a home. Fair enough. But soon after I find out that this home has fallen through and despite SIL having sent in her form and stated her keenness on this dog, has not been informed.

Consequently, this dog is being advertised again. I don’t think she has slipped through the net as the rehomer is supremely efficient but very fussy. (I haven’t let her know that this applicant is my SIL as I am interested in her being a `mystery shopper’ and giving me an insight from the other side, so to speak).

Because SIL lives in a city in a terraced house I have the feeling that she has been tacitly turned down as country homes are favoured. Of course it would be wonderful if all adopters lived in the greenbelt with acres of land but that is not the reality. Many of the best dog owners I know live in London and make good use of all the parks. Many people who live in the countryside have no access to `countryside’ and must drive for miles to access dog-walking fields, so country living is no panacea.

While I am in favour of home checks and dogs going to the right homes for them, do you feel that dog charities are over fussy? It breaks my heart when great homes are rejected and owners then go to breeders. The last thing the world needs are any more dogs when there are millions, even billions, living wretched lives, and yet kind-hearted, dogmatic rescuers are inadvertently making things even worse than they need be.

The other maddening thing is that dogs are often kennelled while homes are being found but due to all the turning good homes down, this can take months and this is a huge expense for the charity.
I’m so fed up I am pulling out of rescue and will stick to raising money for neutering programmes, which is even more vital anyway.

Dogs adopted as "strays" from my home country are sometimes clearly family pets, most likely, stolen from the previous owners - a popular business there.
I am a little bit when I hear stories about a stray being adopted straight from the streets abroad and turning into a family pet in Britain with a little bit of love and disney-grade magic - immediately learning how to walk on a lead, showing perfect recall etc.
Obviously not saying all international rescues are like this, but ones I know personally made me question the charity's suppliers.

Can anyone recommend any charities that have a pragmatic approach to homing

@FreshFreesias, Pound Puppy Animal Rescue in Poole, Dorset, will consider anyone, anytime, any situation, as long as the family and dogs are right for each other. Sometimes they can be a bit too quick with getting dogs out without fully gleaning the family's whole situation which results in a return, but on the whole they are amazing and have no trouble rehoming to young kid families etc.

ginyogarepeat
the busy road rule is the one I do get. Only with cats would people be so blasé about their lives only being a fraction of the length they could be by letting them out on busy roads and the inevitable happening. No one would say the same about a dog being killed at a few years old by a car.

Its a bit different with dogs as they don't roam the streets by themselves, as cats do, so they aren't likely to get run over. But honestly I'd say the same for a dog. Better a few happy years over a few more miserable ones in a pen. Or being pts!

I had the opposite problem because I fit all of the criteria on paper. Work from home, large garden, very active, no kids or other pets.

They 'matched' me with a dog that was really not right for me; I didn't have the experience to deal with a high needs, reactive, destructive dog.

I feel like they palmed me off with a difficult, project dog simply because I looked good on paper.

I was completely the wrong home for the poor pooch!

It would be easier to adopt a child from China than get a dog from a shelter in the UK

We looked - that particular charity didnt rehome within the M25 . Like there are no houses with gardens, or park withing thae M25. Narrow minded

I see someone has beaten me to it, but I came on to recommend the Blue Cross. They are sensible about trying to match animals who need to be sole pet, that don’t like small children, need to be an indoor animal, etc but no silly rules and they don’t make it difficult. In fact, they make it easy for animals to go to loving homes as quickly as possible as they recognise that a shelter is the worst possible place for a pet to be long term.

We had difficulties as 3 kids (youngest 10yo), 2 cats and needed a low shedding dog specifically as one of my DC sensitive to dogs. We were also inexperienced owners! Not an easy combination. In the end we bought a puppy as nothing was coming through to fit all the criteria. DC is fine, no allergies. Dog is fine with cats. Kids great with dog. Had her a year and v happy.

COMPLETELY AGREE.
I am a volunteer dog walker at an animal shelter and want to cry for the dogs every time a home for them is rejected on ridiculous grounds.

If any of you can help them have a better life by walking a rescue dog, PLEASE do.

I agree - we are not ready for a dog at present but I was browsing a rescue website recently and we wouldn't be eligable because we have a 5 year old (who absolutely loves dogs) and although we have a huge amount of land outside, it's not considered secure. We have a field plus garden/patio so plenty of space and we are on a tiny country lane but not good enough it seems.

Interestingly, when we were kids, we rescued a dog from Manchester Dogs Home. He has come to them as a stray, was a mongrel and they actually knew very little about him.

We were allowed to spend time with him there before the final decision was made and he was a lovely, gentle dog. My sister was only 3 and he was perfect with her, shaking paws, allowing her to pick up his toys etc.

We took him and he was honestly a wonderful dog who lived with us for many years.

If they had rejected our family because of kids, the dog would have missed out on a lovely home.

We were turned down as youngest (very sensible and dog savvy) child is 9.
Also just found the staff very rude. They were very condescending, talking a lot about how we thought we could 'manage' a dog with children too. Oldest 2 are young teens so actually very capable and keen to be very hands on with all aspects of the dog's care such as exercising, feeding, poop picking and hosing patio regularly etc.
Essentially 4 adults on hand to help. But no.

YANBU

We got our rescue 9 years ago, from a local animal charity. The larger charities didn't put a blanket ban on us, but had 100s of dogs for adoption which were apparently not suitable for children, there were no dogs at all suitable. We didn't get any further than that so would probably have failed on other things too, as I worked part time too, 2-3 hours a day 5 days a week.

The charity we used in the end were very interactive with us, not just ticks on paper, but spent time talking, getting know our experience, our views, our expectations. At the time our dc were 4 and 7. I had already fallen in love with a collie they had. The only condition on her advert was must go to an experienced collie home. luckily DH and me were both experienced with collies.

We had the DC meet Ddog in one of the play runs to see how they all reacted to each other. Ddog was very gentle with DCs.

The charity did update checks too, and popped round after a couple of weeks, they didn't say when, as they liked to see you unprepared. Which I agree with.

oh we also had two cats at the time too!

So glad to read of so many great rescues that take a sensible approach to rehoming - no need for anyone to go to a breeder with so many recommendations.
@meadowlands please could you let me know which charity doesn't rehome within the M25?
I donate to a number of charities but am trying to streamline and only support those with sensible policies.

YANBU. Back before we got our first dog we looked at rescuing but were automatically ruled out because we both work. Lots of the rescues wouldn’t rehome to full-time workers and also not to people with children. Then on the flip side, the rescues with ex-puppy farm dogs wanted you to have a dog already before they would consider. It’s just like trying to get your first job but being turned down because you have no experience!

I do understand why they do it, but on paper my DH and I probably wouldn’t be considered suitable owners (both work full-time and have a young child) yet my dogs have extremely comfortable lives. My mum is at my house two days a week watching our DD so they have company all day, then the other three days DH goes home at lunchtime and gives them a good walk (and I think they rather enjoy the peace and quiet the rest of the day tbh). They are walked three times a day whatever the weather. It seems crazy that we would be turned away but there you go.

As a very very experienced homechecker for cats and dogs, yanbu for the dog charities. It's pretty ridiculous that they reject people who use dog walkers.

I'm a very active volunteer of a small cat charity, we do not have half the restrictions seen on here.
If you have young kittens, no, they can't be left for 8 hours a day regularly. They are babies and need socialisation
Yes, you need a home visit to check that you have considered lots of things about cat ownership that you may not have,like integration with other pets, safety, keeping your home undamaged by cats and other random stuff(you would not believe some of the things that people don't realise... My favourite that cats can live for 20 years. Not 6). We do not want cats returned because it can be so so traumatic for them.
We do rehome to families with kids. But not any old cat/kitten. E.g.Toddlers and kittens don't mix, because kittens are scratchy and bitey. But a pair of 1 year old cats that have been 'child tested' yes.
No we won't home near busy roads. But we are reasonable.
No we won't rehome to flats that don't have direct access to a garden.
No we won't rehome to a communal garden. That's asking for trouble.
All of this is for the welfare of the cats.

Another family here who would fail the rehoming criteria although we now have 2 very well looked after large breed dogs.

DDog the 2nd came from a sanctuary. Initially we couldn’t have him as didn’t tick the right boxes, but the sanctuary phoned me in desperation a few weeks later as they had no room (it was January). I showed them photos of DDog the 1st with the family and suggested they phone our vet to double check we were legitimate. The sanctuary took a pragmatic approach and so we got DDog the 2nd.

I send them a picture of him every few months to show how happy he is and reassure them they made the right call, so hopefully they will do it again for someone else.

with one of the bigger charities we were quizzed about working full time and would we be getting a cat flap. We got our cat eventually from a smaller rescue who just came out to check that we lived where we said we did, looked at our garden and were happy. Our cat generally spends most of the day sleeping and lounging around, goes out hunting at night and is back by the morning miaowing to be fed. He didn't need the cat flap and has a charmed life.

Agree 100%. After months of having to jump through hoops with no results, I found my dog on gumtree, from an old man who could not look after her anymore. I have a very happy and loved dog now.

We were turned down by RSPCA to rehome cats as we were in military accommodation and would move regularly. I was at home full time doing distance learning and this was pre-dc but there was apparently a blanket ban on military because when military people move we allegedly abandon animals and leave them behind. I argued but it made no difference. Later we got two rescue kittens from CPL instead and they moved with us 6 times in their 15 years of life.

Came back to bite the RSPCA on the bum a bit though when they applied to be the base’s charity of the year as my DH was on the board to decide which charity to support...

I would second Celia Hammond in London for sensible rehoming policies for cats - we got our two from there despite living in a flat with no garden and both working full-time. The cats were happy in the flat, kept each other company during the day and a couple of years later we moved to a house with a big garden which they loved.

I'm not a fan of keeping cats indoors in general but when the alternative is those tiny cages at the rescue place then surely anything else is better? Plus there's no risk of them being run over.

My neighbours had the exact same thing but with donkeys. Totally get that these are animals with very specialised needs, but this was an active retired couple living rurally with plenty of land, accommodation already set up and years of equine experience, looking to rehome a pair of animals from a shelter. By about round 5 of the vetting process they were made to feel as if their motives were somehow suspect, and that the charity was simply trying to unearth reasons to say no. They gave up.

Agree with all previous posters, it’s a crazy and heartbreaking state of affairs that so many animals are destined to be pts or live out their days in shelters whilst loving homes are denied to them for such spurious reasons. These charities are often campaigning against puppy farming whilst simultaneously forcing good owners to perpetuate the system by making rescue animals unobtainable and the bar to entry so high that it excludes the majority of homes. Effectively turning shelters into jails.

Once the dog goes to an owner. They don’t want to know.
I was talking to someone who has a rescue dog. She said he wasn’t settling and chewing everything etc. She phoned up the Rescue centre for advice and support and was told. It’s nothing to do with us now.
If you can’t handle it send it back.

And what if circumstances change? They may rehome a dog to a couple where someone is at home all day, suddenly the SAH person NEEDS to get a job - whoosh, the dog that was carefully homed to someone at home 24/7 has to be left alone!

I've always had dogs, and always worked. Dogs can learn to be left quite happily as long as you work them up to it. My OH has a dog that he rescued and has taken the 'don't leave them alone' literally. We cannot go to the pictures, out for dinner or shopping together. EVER, because he was told 'not to leave the dog'. Sometimes common sense has to be used!

I was turned down for a second dog by Battersea as apparently Ddog1 (the dog underneath) was not suitable to be homed with other dogs. I got Ddog2 from Gumtree and they lived happily together until Ddog1 got cancer.

I think that those in charge of deciding who gets a rescue dog are perhaps subconsciously deciding in favour of people who remind them of themselves. Probably more likely to be female, middle-aged (I’m both of these), not working (I do) and perhaps weren’t ever full-time working while they had children and pets. But things have changed a lot!

They could do with diversity training to challenge some of their subconscious assumptions. And education about the reality of working families with happy dogs.