For being fed up that some charities make it it impossible to adopt despite insisting that they are ‘inundated’ with dogs?

[GreekDogRescue]

A well-established dog rescue charity I used to fund neutering programmes for and supported big time are desperate for fosterers and adopters. When I moved to a house with a big (fenced) garden, I offered to foster 5 times (they put up beseeching posts all the time in social media) but they completely ignored me. I’m at home all day, am middle aged, retired, no kids visiting, have help but now foster and adopt from other charities as presumably they think I’m ‘not up to it’.

Then out of the blue 2 weeks ago they messaged to ask if I will foster a specific
dog; I agreed and said when would it be arriving from Greece. No response.

Now I see the same dog advertised on Facebook with no interest. Charity says they are desperate for homes but nobody is applying. Nice sister in law applied but was ignored. Go figure! The trouble is people end up going to breeders which compounds the problem.

Needless to say I no longer send them any money which I suspect was the motive for their message anyway. I now support rescues who have a pragmatic approach to rehoming.

But seeing this rescue plus others constantly posting about how desperate they are for homes while ignoring genuine homes is really maddening.

I wonder if that’s the ‘charity’ I had to kick off my farm because they were misappropriating funds, bullying people and keeping dogs locked up most of the day.
I let them use my land and property for free and gave them donations and then they began telling people that I was charging them 6k a month! They offered to rehome another charity’s dogs, refused to provide updates and even now nobody knows what happened to those dogs, we suspect some were put down.
finally got them to move out but not without a struggle.

Op they may have rethought it looking at the other dog breeds you had at the time? I used to be like you, thinking the rescues etc were a bit batshit and picky etc, but everyone I know who tried an was refused a dog it turns out there was a reason and I know a few who have sent dogs back as it turns out the issues the rescues had with them were valid (but the people argued them out of it). We tried to get a rescue years ago and they turned us down because of children, then because we had neighbours that had tons of cats (they weaseled this out of us in conversations lol!) Now, since having seen the particular breeds we were trying to adopt in action with children and the other with cats, I realise we were idiots and the things we said we'd do weren't feasible long term. They know what they're doing and I think you'll be grateful in the future. Keep going with what you have and well done

I've adopted almost 10 cats in my lifetime with no issues. Then I moved to another area of the UK and experienced exactly what you describe - most rescues completely ignored me (despite pleading for homes on Facebook) and others said no for nonsensical reasons. I tried for six months, contacting every rescue within 50 miles. Then for the first time in my life I bought a kitten from a breeder, and I still feel terrible even though I love him to death.

I really don't understand what the game plan is. I've volunteered in a couple of animal rescues and I know the people who staff them tend to be, erm, a little strange, but usually they do at least want to rehome the animals!

Just to add though, while it can be frustrating navigating the different rescues, it’s so worthwhile because good ones are great.

We adopted a dog earlier this year. From registering to getting her was under two weeks and that included a very practical and sensible home inspection. They really worked with us to match us with a dog where everyone’s needs would be met.

She’s just the best little dog ever and has slotted right in. She really did deserve to find a loving family and was 100% worth jumping through a few additional hoops for.

IMO the people who work for the cat rescues are all animal hoarders who take on the cats themselves.

Most of the cat charities I’ve approached haven’t even responded, but when I approached Celia Hammond the woman who came to do a home check told me it would be difficult as I have a disability, even though she fully acknowledged that I was an experienced cat owner We got talking and it transpired that she herself has 19 cats and was planning to get more. And they were all indoor cats.

Now maybe I’m as judgemental as she is, but IMO a home with 19 cats isn’t a suitable home for more,you can’t possibly give them decent attention, and it’s proven that cats which live in large numbers in close proximity suffer from major stress.

I also approached a different charity a few years ago and I mentioned casually that I’d always wanted a Siamese (I wasn’t looking for one there, I was looking for a moggy,) and the woman I spoke to said “oh, if we get Siamese in they’re not actually put up for adoption because <insert colleague’s name> takes them.

We were trying to find a rescue for 2 years before we ended up getting a puppy instead. Two adults working from home full time, one self employed so flexible hours, no children, no other pets, large enclosed garden. Not having owned a dog as adults seemed to be the sticking point for us.

The frustrating part is they always seem to be looking for new homes for dogs that have already been rehomed, or people who changed their mind at the last minute etc. so it's not like their vetting process seems to be working either.

I do wonder if it depends very much on the rescue centre and the people who run them.

We wanted a rescue dog. We've spent a fortune on pedigree breeds in the past and felt it was time to find a rescue.

Purely by chance, we found a place that rehomes ex-racing greyhounds. They were reasonable, lovely and very knowledgeable. Yes, they did checks on us but they were realistic and genuinely seemed to want the dogs to go to a good home.

We have DC, both work (I'm PT), live in a city but the main pre-requisite seemed to be did we have a lovely comfy sofa and did we 'fit' with our boy when we met him.

He's the love of my life and spends much of the day snoozing on a very lovely comfy sofa.

So they are out there. PM me if you want any further info and good luck!

This is one of my pet hates (pun not intended). People are so absurdly stringent about this and also at the same time so guilt-trippy and preachy. They have to make their minds up: if they want people to adopt pets they have to be more pragmatic.

I have a good old friend who volunteers for a cat charity and is constantly bombarding me with offers for various moggies who need fostering. On two separate occasions I've made contact with this organisation and been turned down, the first on the grounds that I live in London (WTF) "I couldn't in all conscience give an animal way to someone who lives in London," the woman in charge of the fostering decision said on the phone after several interviews, as if I'd said I'd served time in Wormwood Scrubs for murder.

The second time I was turned down on the grounds that I work in an office for two days of the week. And still my friend constantly contacts me with pictures of these lovable cats and says "maybe this is the one?" Well, no, thanks very much, if I haven't met your ridiculous screening criteria twice because I'm a normal person with a job I'm hardly going to put myself through it again.

I'm at home five days out of seven, I'm solvent and have a garden, I live in a quiet street and have one child who is old enough to look after cats. I even went to the bother of having a cat flap put in before the second one as I'd been assured it was a done deal.

I don't know how these charities expect people to live up to these criteria. You basically have to be a retired late middle-aged women (definitely no jobs allowed, God forbid that anyone should have to support themself) who lives in an enormous suburban houses (but not in or anywhere near London) whose kids have grown up and moved out and with exactly the right garden and all this nonsense.

It's hardly surprising that people buy dogs and cats because getting cleared for fostering is harder than applying to Harvard.

I see so many posts begging for adoption for cats local to me, I’ve been turned down so
many times. On top of which they beg for donations and fund raisers to help home the cats at the centre.

Ended to buying 2 cats instead. Completely illogical that I wouldn’t be a good fit to adopt but could go and buy as many as my finances allow. It makes me angry.

It’s crazy as I know the stray cat problem is huge.
I live on the outskirts of London and my local medivet in Mortlake has a vet nurse/cat rescuer called Kerry who is always desperate to find homes.
I’m on the dog side of things so I was surprisedat the amount of stray cats out there.

A friend of a friend is a home checker for a few well known rescues, I've come across her a few times whilst walking our dogs. She said one morning she was doing a home check later that day for a local rescue but she was going to fail them! I asked why and she said I can just tell they won't be suitable but wouldn't say why, I said but the charity must do or you'd not be ask to check in the first place or your waisting everyone's time, her reply was what I say goes and I don't like the area they live in. I was absolutely stunned.

When I lost my dog recently I was going to rescue then realised this woman who failed someone she had never met and a home she had never seen would be my homechecker, so I bought a puppy instead.

Whats annoys me most is I'm happy to adopt the cats that are really hard to home - older cats, ones with medical conditions, ones that don't look 'cute'. Once I adopted a 13-year-old black cat and happily paid over £5,000 in vet bills before he passed away. And still these places ignored me and I ended up with a fluffball kitten that a thousand people would have happily paid for.

@Tara336

I don't like the area they live in

Absolutely bonkers. It's good enough for children, presumably (whose parents can't afford to live anywhere else) but not for a dog or cat.

I couldn't believe this woman at the charity when she said I couldn't foster because I live in London. There must be literally millions of cats and dogs in London. They can't all be abused or neglected.

I do appreciate that people need to take rehoming of animals seriously but a lot of this is just self-important puritanism and judgement. Some of these charities honestly deserve to go bust.

This is 'institutional hoarding' which is actually a really big problem with breed specific rescues. Essentially a person ends up 'hoarding' animals. It's usually has pretty bad endings.

@Thepeopleversuswork we live in rural Dorset so goodness knows what area is good enough for this particular homechecker, I guess I could have asked for a different one but I didn't think that would leave a great impression with the rescue. There is another home checker but she's equally bonkers she has 3 out of control dogs who you can hear coming as the yapping is unbelievable, she let's them run off lead harassing all the other dogs and owners in the local woods so not exactly a good advert, yet you have to prove to someone like that you can be a responsible owner

@Lamelie

Sorry if someone has already suggested this, but is there a specific mastiff charity that could help? A reactive dog of that size is going to need someone experienced.

Oh fuck it. Here it goes. I work for one of the better known rescues in the U.K.

The number of dogs that we are getting are unsuitable for a home with any children is HUGE.

The majority of our dogs are 2/3/4 year old dogs that are essentially pandemic puppies with HUGE behaviour issues. OR they end up with us through the councils stray dog programme and then we have no history so can't in good conscious re home to a family with kids and cats. Oh and many of the stray dogs coming in, have foreign chips, clearly brought in by rescues who then adopt too easily and when it breaks down they don't usually support the family. Not saying this is all rescues who bring in dogs from Romania, Spain or Greece but it's so many that its not a case of 1 bad apple.

On the cats: It's a catch 22, because it's unethical (for the cats!) to cat test a dog but then we can't rehome to someone with cats. What if something happened? How could we live with that? Same applies for children.

It's mad but also sensible when you see the state/behaviour of the dogs when they get to us. Clearly having had no socialisation.

The breed specific rescues are their own mad world. No comment there.

For anyone looking for a respectable and good rescue I highly recommend looking at the Association of Dogs and Cats Home to vet a shelter / rescue.

My issue I have with a local rescue centre is a family member died and in his will he requested that this charity took in his dog, and he left them £40k. They refused to take the dog, saying she was elderly and no one would want her so we would be better “taking her to the vet”

kept the money though. Fuckers.

they claimed no one would want an older dog, especially one unknown with children. But the same charity is notorious for rejecting applicants with children anyway so that was a moot point.

I ended up putting an appeal on social media and had 400+ people contact me saying they would be happy to have her. In the end we rehomed her with a friend of a friend But the dog charity absolutely refused to get involved whatsoever

There are huge numbers of stray and abandoned/dumped pets in the UAE. Bubbles Pet Rescue on Instagram will rehome overseas.

@noSecrets

I can sort of understand this dilemma with dogs because there is a safeguarding element to fostering a dog (although I do think this is overdone in a lot of cases).

But a cat?

When I was a child my mum took in strays and we had at various points dozens of cats coming in and out of our house. They were more or less totally independent aside from having a couple of feeds a day. They came and went as they pleased. They were harmless and most of them kept out of our way. Essentially all we had to do was feed them.

I really struggle to see how anyone with an ounce of decency and intelligence can fuck up taking in an adult cat. You provide food, clean water and a litter tray, take it to the vet if needed, leave it alone and treat it with kindness and respect. Get a catflap and maybe worm it a couple of times a year. What more to it is there? Why does it need to be such a huge psychodrama, involving people re-landscaping their gardens and giving up their jobs etc.

I genuinely think a lot of them are just animal hoarders flying under the “this person needs help” radar by calling themselves a rescue.

Name them @thebellagio ! That’s so unethical to keep the money but not the dog!

I’ve been told by Eastern European friends that it’s hare to rescue there because there’s more money to be had sending the rescued dogs to the UK!

Im convinced most dog rescues are a scam.

We got turned down after enquiring about a rescue pug because she needed an experienced pug owner. We already have a pug. Maybe we don’t have enough pugs 🤷🏻‍♀️

My god, that is unbelievable!
i had the same problem with the Greek dog charity I was supporting. My endowed charity donated a vast amount to help with their kennelling bill and neutering projects yet ignored me when I offered to foster.
Messed me around in other ways too.
Made sure I changed my will!

Above meant to reply to @thebellagio post