To not understand why people adopt feral dogs from Eastern Europe?

[Elmore]

I don’t get it, there’s thousands of dogs in the U.K. that need homes, so why go to the effort (and expense) of importing these wild street dogs?

What were the reasons the rescues cited for not allowing your mum to adopt?

One thing I do know is that people that have foreign rescue dogs are like vegans - they just have to let everybody know about it

I am assuming you adopted your dog from a dogs home then OP? Or are you one of the many people purchasing pets from illegal, immoral breeders and complaining about those who choose to do better. There are many dogs needing help in this country but none of them live in the horrifying conditions dogs in some countries do

Round up the dogs and sell them for profit? Have a look at some romanian rescue dog pages, the people care for the dogs, they have very little and what they do have goes to the dogs, without them the dogs would be killed in the most inhumane ways. The fees to adopt a romainian dog are a few hundred pounds, this will barely cover their care, food and transport.

I’m a cat person actually..

But in seriousness though we’re very lucky to be rabies free in this country, and if you’ve witnessed the sheer terror of people dying of that disease you’d understand wanting to keep it that way

So is it that they are aggressive or because of rabies dogs are vaccinated against otherwise they are not allowed in?

Both. I just don’t see it as worth the risk

The conditions in these countries are absolutely awful and the dogs are in much more immediate danger than our rescue centres over here.

However I do think it just puts a plaster over a wound and it’s not getting to the route of the issue which is stray dogs breeding.
So hopefully these charities neuter the dogs over there to reduce the problem else no amount of adopting the dogs will ever be good enough.

I have rescue dogs from the UK and never had an issue with people rescuing from other countries but I read the other day about a women who rescued a dog from abroad and although it had a proper health check done it had an illness which meant it had to be put down. But the illness also spread to her other 4 dogs and they all had to be put down too.
It broke my heart.

Sure

This is our aggressive street dog from Northern Macedonia. She's a terror.

There were strict quarantine and medical testing criteria before her passport was generated including a final vet check and sign off before she could travel. The majority of imported dogs are subject to these tests and quarantines which prevent diseases being brought into the UK.

I suppose though there’s not much incentive for Romanian rescues to neuter dogs when they’re being paid to send them elsewhere..

Luckily there is currently a ban on importing dogs from Romania and other Eastern European countries.

There you have it it's really all you need to know.

... until the 3rd September that is

Details can be found here:

www.gov.uk/guidance/imports-and-exports-of-animals-and-animal-products-topical-issues#commercial-import-of-dogs-cats-and-ferrets-to-great-britain-england-scotland-and-wales-from-belarus-poland-romania-or-ukraine

If you had any idea about rescuing abroad you’d know that every animal has to be vaccinated against rabies amongst many other things. So I would be more concerned about the possibility that your cat could bring rabies in to the house 😊

I suppose though there’s not much incentive for Romanian rescues to neuter dogs when they’re being paid to send them elsewhere..

They do neuter the dogs as soon as they are old enough, the rescuers do it because they care not to make money.

All animals must adhere to rules regarding testing and vaccinations etc

The Dogs trust currently has 14,000 dogs. It's income last year was 111M. That's eight grand per dog per year. A lot of this money is spent on infrastructure, admin and fundraising. Here are some typical salaries:

Head of philanthropy at blue cross £53K
Solutions Architect with the RSPCA £57K
Data selections executive (wfh) RSPCA £28K
Data assistant Dogs Trust (wfh) £28K
Community engagement officer Dogs trust £24K
HR policy advisor Dogs Trust £41K

I notice that a lot of the jobs are nothing to do with actual dogs. The highest paid jobs are ones that enhance and maintain the income stream. The jobs that actually involve working with the dogs are poorly paid, or voluntary, unless it's in a medical or psychological capacity.

If you're the Dog's trust and you gave actually gave a dog to everybody who was actually suitable to own a dog, you'll soon get rid of those 14,000 dogs and you will have to scale back, or cease operations, so the business goes bust. It would be like an art gallery with no exhibits, asking for donations.

So what they do is invent impossible criteria, so no one can actually get a dog, so they can hang on to the dogs and generate more income and keep the business going.

This is very different to the foreign dog charities, staffed mostly by local volunteers. No fancy ads or campaigns. No high-paid executives. The dogs don't actually generate income, so it's in their best interests to rehome them to decent owners ASAP.

Having said that: the woman whose existing dogs were infected by the Romanian pregnant dog is a terrible story of incompetence by that charity.

As daft as it sounds it's probably much easier to adopt a rescue dog from abroad than it is from the UK! Have you seen how difficult it is to get a dog from the dogs home in the UK hardly anybody must meet the criteria. No children even visiting children, no other pets, you must not work as you need to be with the dog 24/7. home visits etc it's absolutely ridiculous. friends of mine were after a rescue dog a couple in their 50s who's previous dog had died. they found the process at the local dogs home so stressful and intrusive and didn't meet the criteria as they had an adult cat and both worked part time. they gave up in the end and had to get a puppy even though the didn't want a puppy and would have preferred a rescue dog. So a poor rescue dog in need missed out on a lovely home. This couple absolutely adore their dog.

My mom.has decades of experience in dog ownership semi detached house that only one dog has escaped from (so she put in a second front door afterwards) she has an occasional job but a recluse of a partner who is always home they rejected her because she lives on a main road this road is 30 mph her house and garden is like Fort knox only one dog has ever escaped and that was on funeral day who knew the dog would take off like a rocket looking for its owner who we had just buried we caught the dog and it was fine mistake never repeated but no she was rejected over and over again she didn't want a greyhound she wanted a small dog and the romainian rescue gave her just that the dog is safe well cared for and it's a shame no British rescue would look at her as an owner

When UK charities won't rehome there's often a sound reason (no garden, young children, owners working all day) but people don't like being told no.

I work alongside dogs and a good proportion of these EU imports are poorly socialised and show fear aggression. They need experienced owners but, sadly, they don't often get them.

The main worry though, is the serious potential for them bringing over diseases (as discussed by PPs). The amount of times an eastern european dog has been presented to me with a cough and I've asked if they've had a heartworm test and the owner hasn't a clue what I'm talking about.

Oh and it's not unheard of for some charities to completely wash their hands of the dog once they've been exported, even if they become seriously ill or are discovered to have severe behavioural issues.

Adopter beware, that's what I'd say.

@CinnamonJellyBeans wow interesting post. Just shows that dogs trust don't actually care about dogs at all they are just money spinners to them. poor dogs spending months, years even in the dogs Trust kennels whilst they could be in lovely suitable homes. like you say hardly anyone meets there ridiculously stupid unrealistic criteria.

The reality is that no one needs a dog. It’s just a want and humans are selfish creatures so they’ll go about pleasing themselves rather than thinking of the greater good. You don’t have to have a degree in zoology to know foreign imports of stray animals is a terrible idea. You can’t even taken fruit or veg across boarders in many countries, let alone a wild animal to take home and domesticate.

Isn't it also an indicator, though, that an awful lot of people who get dogs probably shouldn't have them, because their home and/or circumstances are unsuitable for keeping a dog?

I adopted a puppy from a foreign street litter a few years ago. She’s a poppet, and very placid, if a bit regal.

The flight, which brought about two dozen dogs to adoptive homes, was organised by a charitable dog rescue in that country, headed up by an expat. They treated & assessed the dogs before deciding if they were suitable for placement sand they had experience British based volunteers to vet adopters (veterinary and personal references, plus an interview and only to experienced dog owners).

I went with the foreign rescue because a) I’d rather afoot than buy a puppy, b) the foreign rescues see a lot of dogs destroyed by local authorities due to lack of capacity and c) our British rescues are ridiculously fussy about placing dogs in homes with existing dogs.

I can’t really see a downside when it’s done properly like that.

Did you imagine it was ad hoc and unorganised?

My difficulty in getting my second and third dog is that they weren’t the first dog. That’s quite frankly batshit. Dogs are happier with company. You just have to be careful about temperamental matching.

I’ve WFH for years but occasionally have to make site visits. No problem for my dogs to be sat for a day or be alone for three hours once a month, but again that is enough for rescues to turn you down.

We have loads of space. Loads of experience. Loads of time and are very dog centred. It’s silly that people are driven to buy puppies for terrible breeders.