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?

Some foreign rescues are just puppy farms in disguise.

There are several "rescues" who will get you your choice of golden retriever puppy from Turkey.

my best friend adopted an Eastern European dog. He is an utter nightmare, sheepdog cross type breed, not necessarily massively dangerous but can’t be trusted around kids, barks at them , digs up lawns, wrecks furniture… to be honest I don’t like going to her house any more because of the dog

To say all imported dogs are “feral” is a sweeping generalisation and factually incorrect. I have volunteered for an overseas rescue, as well as for uk rescues, for a number of years. The vast, vast majority of adoptions go well and I could put you in touch with literally thousands of owners who have adopted from abroad (for all the reasons pps have stated) successfully. But you don’t read about those people, you only hear about the ones that go wrong. Personally, I have adopted from both the uk and further afield many, many times. There has been literally no difference in my foreign or uk rescues, other than that the foreign ones are clean in the house from day 1!! No idea why this is, but it’s consistent. I’ve been challenged on why I adopt from abroad too….the interesting thing is that that challenge always comes from people who have NEVER adopted, from the Uk or anywhere??
Shelters in the uk are full of lockdown dogs…..bought from money grabbing breeders by people who didn’t think it through and who then decide to just throw the dog away.
Providing a loving, safe home for an unwanted animal, wherever it’s from will always be a good thing to me and far better than buying a puppy and lining the pockets of breeders. And all the while I’m taking responsibility for my animals, I’m paying for them and they aren’t negatively impacting anyone else (I adopt from reputable charities, I’m aware of the health checks required and ensure they are done) it’s nothing to do with you or anybody.

🙄 That's not true. Don't you think the best thing about working in a home us seeing dogs go to a good home and then them revisiting, happy with their new owners. You think that people working on minimum wage looking after animals want to see them put to sleep? Do you know how many unsuitable people enquire about dogs? With unsuitable homes, no gardens, unsuitable family situation etc. Every time a dog is rehomed and that rehoming fails, the risk of the dog not finding a suitable home increases. The art of good homing is matching a dog with suitable owners.

I tried for over a year to find a dog from our local rspca and Wood Green. Because we already have an old good boy, work and have 2 older kids, it just wasn't happening despite the fact that my mum is over with the dog all.day every day.

Eventually, we found a small local rescue centre that rescued from home and abroad. They did a home check and we got our lovely 6 month old puppy from Romania. She was fully tested, vaccinated and chipped. She has some scars on her head from her life in the kill shelter prior to rescue.

She is adorable- so loving and intelligent and quick to learn. I've never had a dog housetrain so quickly and she picked up other commands from simply copying my older dog. Her capacity for love and loyalty is amazing given how she had her start. She does have quirks- she has one ear up and one ear down, "talks" rather than barks and she climbs trees. She has more automatic understanding of a pack than any other dog i have had though- she is brilliant with other dogs.

The vet said she was fit and healthy and would be bombproof, being such a mongrel. He is Romanian himself and said nobody who had seen the shelters could deny the dogs a chance. A lot of people are ignorant about European rescues, but once they meet her they change their minds.

The ones I’ve met were very badly behaved and aggressive, and i honestly think could be the next pit bulls

If you say so love - you must be a complete expert on dogs.

We got our rescue from Balkan Underdogs - mainly because we were not able to get a rescue dog from UK shelter for the reasons others have outlined. We didn't do it as a 'status symbol'

This thread has been an eye opener. I’ve always been concerned that some foreign rescues were little more than puppy farms and I now have plenty of food for thought of different perspectives. Thank you.

Meanwhile thousands of healthy, nice - natured dogs in rescue centres and stray kennels are put to sleep every year. And why? Because it's now a status symbol to say you got your dog from abroad.

this might be the dumbest statement on this thread so far. You honestly think the reason people adopt from abroad is just because it’s a status symbol?

I adopted from abroad because I wanted a mongrel dog. I didn’t apply to any UK rescue centres first and now I have two lovely dogs.

agree op
it seems wrong
why is it so difficult in uk?
is it because they want too much from prospective owners

You honestly think the reason people adopt from abroad is just because it’s a status symbol?

Some of them, yes.

@Latenightreader
Romainia has a problem with dogs as a result of years under a dictator. Ceaucescu forced people into state residences which did not allow animals so many dogs were abandoned. Over time they bred and grew into a problem. The subsequent end of the regime left Romainia pretty impoverished and dogs were not really their priority.

They are now literally picked up from the streets and sent to kill shelters for mass killing. They are certainly NOT bred for puppy farming. Don't be ignorant- take some time to google things at least.

We adopted a 9 month old puppy from Southern Spain. I know several of the team personally so chose them. Our dog it was his mum who was rescued whilst heavily pregnant. Mum is deemed unadoptable due to her issues but is in a long term home based environment with wonderful carers and 8 other dogs. They helped her with the puppies and all 8 of them have gone to wonderful homes and are wonderful dogs.

All UK rescues were a blanket no due to a child.

Our dog has been with us a year and is a wonderful part of our family.

We've considered it recently because we can't adopt a dog in the UK. Every time we check the different shelters we find that the dogs are not suitable for families with children. Our local shelter has so many dogs that cannot be removed for this reason that they said they cannot take on more dogs.

I can’t even… I had no idea my small terrier cross is a status symbol. I wonder if she knows.

exactly what status do you imagine people are gaining?

*rehomed

I also don't think I've ever mentioned he's Spanish. When people ask what breed he is I explain I'm not sure as he's a rescue but "from spain" has never been an info piece shared

I don't get it either OP, once feral always feral imho. I know two cases of dogs adopted from overseas. One turned out to be a biter, the other can never be let off a lead.

And as for “status symbol” do me a favour!!!! I adopted a 10 year old with cancer and another 10 year old massive boy, who had been shot in the leg by some complete asshole. No way could anyone describe those as status symbols - they were dogs that had had a truly shit life that we were lucky enough to give a good retirement to!!! How anyone could begrudge them that, wherever they were born, is utterly beyond me.

Yep, when I came through the pet centre at Calais last summer the car park was full of big white vans from Romania, packed with dogs in tiny cages (the walls of the vans are clad in cages, floor to ceiling). We counted 52 vans in the hour we were there.

Its a cruel, exploitative business. You would have to be incredibly naive to believe these were all strays ‘saved’ from the streets by ‘charities’. The conditions they were being transported in were certainly not charitable. Im sure there are some genuine dog rescue charities there, but most of these dogs are farmed to be sold in the UK.

Someone up thread said there was currently a ban on these imports- I really hope it continues.

My friend had a Romanian rescue dog and he was a nightmare who had to be re fostered. But.... he was a nightmare because she didn't put the work in. She was warned that he wasn't a typical rescue, she was given specific instructions on how to settle him into his new life and acclimatise him to a new way of living and she carried on in her own merry way ignoring the advice she was given. Within a day of him coming over she went on a holiday in a caravan with him, despite everyone telling her not to. She could have had a lovely dog had she done things properly but she ended up with a fear aggressive dog that she couldn't handle. The charity ended up removing the dog against her will and placed with someone more suitable. She was outraged, I was delighted.

Rescue dogs from abroad are great dogs mostly but only if people are prepared to put in the work. And lots of people just can't be bothered. My friend now has a cutesie fluffy teddy bear like dog.... and she still hasn't put in the work and as a result even though he's a lovely boy he's naughty and undisciplined because she hasn't trained him.

It's the owners not the dogs who are mainly the issue! Some people just shouldn't have dogs, from anywhere! This thread is ignorant, OP clearly does not have a clue! The next pit bull? What a ridiculous comment.

I think the other reason foreign rescues are so popular is because they offer a range of small, cute, fluffy dogs which are much more desirable than the British rescue pages which seem to be dominated by staffies and other bull breeds, greyhounds and terriers, often dogs which simply aren’t what people are looking for.

People like saying they got the dog from a foreign rescue because the conditions for dogs are awful. It makes them feel proud about rescuing them and they enjoy the kudos they get from people like the posters on here. They don't get the same buzz rescuing from a clean, well-maintained British rehoming kennel.

This I agree with. It used to be kennels were full of collie cross type dogs now they're all staffie crosses. If people don't like that type of dog, then it's difficult to find an alternative.

YANBU. This is a real bugbear of mine. There are so many dogs needing homes in the UK already without adding to them and saying the EE dogs need homes too doesn't work because for the ridiculous amount of money it costs to bring 1 dog over a whole shelter could be opened and funded to help loads of dogs. There's an animal rescue nearest to me I used to help and donate money to but they now seem to have £10000s to fritter away on importing dogs so as far as I'm concerned definitely don't need it now.

How much does it cost to bring one dog from abroad?