To think rescue centres don't actually want you to adopt their pets?

[lurchersforever]

One of my cats had to be out to sleep suddenly in the summer and I would now like to adopt a young cat to keep us all company - me, ds and our remaining cat. I've only ever had rescue pets so looking at local centres. All have banners like please adopt/1000s of unwanted pets etc, but it is impossible to go and see any.

I have no issues with vetting and saying only certain types of households are suitable, but my issue is none of the centres are actually open. I've looked at about 6 near me and they are a mixture of not open to the public, don't answer the phone, say they're shut while Google says they're open, want you to fill in an application form and drop it off in person but you won't be able to even see a pet until your application has been assessed, don't reply to emails... The most success I've had is a centre that 'might' be able to arrange a video appointment to 'meet the cat' at some point and then I might be able to adopt 'when they open,' - no idea when that might be. This is for a specific cat they currently have - no sense of urgency to get her in a home. What on earth is the point of a video appointment with a cat?! What will it reveal that a picture doesn't? Just more time wasting.

I appreciate they are run by volunteers but this is ridiculous. Last time I adopted (10 years ago) you could go into local centres without an appointment and make the arrangements there and then. Obviously they weren't just handing them out to anyone but you could get the process moving.

At this rate I'll be on Gumtree, which I really don't want to be. What's going on?

Why do you assume a home with children will not give a dog their all?

A home with children means the dog will get more attention, and from younger more energetic people. A family of 4 = 4 people ready to play with and love that animal instead of 2.

Your bias towards people without children is actually quite shocking? You seem to actively discriminate against those with children!

You clearly are one of these bonkers people who think the dog must be the important member of the family whose needs must come above all else....

Its just a dog! Its a pet, not a person!

We got some from Loughborough Kitten Rescuers, they are on FB.

Much easier to deal with as independent - we applied on the Tues, picked the babies up on the Saturday 👍🏼

The cat rescue I work at does ask for a form and homing check before you come and see the cats but then you absolutely can come meet them. They are based in Shropshire but rehome anywhere in the UK

The cat rescue I work at does ask for a form and homing check before you come and see the cats but then you absolutely can come meet them. They are based in Shropshire but rehome anywhere in the UK

Because every single dog we've had come in this year has come in from a family with children who could not cope?

A home with children does not mean the dog gets more love. What nonsense. By that logic, you'd be saying single people don't have enough love to give for a dog.

Take a look at any breed specific rescue (Retriever, Spaniel etc) - there is usually a relatively large percentage that are being re-homed because children in the family either were bitten, or the arrival of a child meant the dog was neglected.

So yes, I am bias. I don't sell my own dogs when I breed to families with children either because dogs are not inanimate objects. Being a good dog owner means putting your dog first - if you can't understand that, you're not fit to be a dog owner in my opinion. And if more people put dogs first - particularly over their children - there would be less dogs PTS because they've bitten a child (which is, almost always in my experience, the dog owners fault).

Has he found a dog?
Oldies.org is quite a good website tp
find older dogs. It’s not one charity but collates older dogs from
around the country who need homes.

I found a 10 yo Yorkshire Terrier on there (who was with a charity called REAN - they were primarily a Romanian rescue but this dog had come to them as they knew his owner and he died.) We had a few email exchanges, a couple of telephone conversations and then they brought the dog to meet my gran in her house on the understanding that if they weren’t happy they would take him away with them.

They were happy, she was thrilled and she had a much loved and petted little dog at her side for 3 years until she had to go into a home. I had him for the last six months of his life, which was part of the agreement with them - he would have a good home if anything happened to her. She was 92 when she took him in!!!

I look after csts with .medical problems at my own expense. I still can't get a cat because I work. Im a medical professional. It's an absolute joke. I guess there must be loads of millionaire spinsters out there living on their own in massive homes with large grounds who never go out ff's.

Try the rescue centres in Peterborough. I have friends there who've never had any issue adopting cats.

Not a million miles away. But I'd really recommend Animals in Need near Wellingborough. They are open, they are helpful and they have lovely cats and dogs looking for loving homes.

I think rehoming a dog is very different to a cat though. And reading through the bios on my local rescue kind of explains why they're so fussy with dogs. So many have come in because the owners couldn't cope, or because the child suddenly became allergic. Lots in my local were strays. A few of the dogs have already failed one re home, so I'm split on this one. We'd be useless dog owners, because we've never had one. And part of the reason we've never had one is because we know we couldn't give one the attention and training and companionship it needs.

Yep, we adopted a dog from abroad for this same reason!

When my husband and I got married and bought a house, we decided to get a dog. It’s a large breed — won’t say which one, don’t want to out myself 😂.

So, picture this: two professional adults, both working full time, 3-bed house with a garden and a decent fence. The answer from rescues? No, no, no. Apparently working full time makes you unfit for dog ownership. The fact that it actually allows us to pay for the dog’s needs… clearly irrelevant.

Fine. We went and bought a puppy — because, thankfully, we could afford a well-bred one. Then we had DC. Still not a problem. The dog had a great life. Sadly, it passed away recently at 10.

Remembering the pre-child adoption experience, we didn’t even bother trying rescues this time. Straight to the breeder, bought another puppy.

Full-time working people with children can give a dog a really good life, full of joy. And, crucially, they can actually pay the bills

Same with guinea pigs!
And I wonder if PP is right that some 'rescues' are just a way of people funding their desire for a mad number of pets. With guinea pigs, it's particularly silly because there are so many unwanted ones because they're treated as more expendable than dogs or cats. Yet when you apply, many rescues either ignore, or vet you and then ignore. Despite me being an experienced owner who provides a massively better environment, in terms of cage size, garden runs, enrichment etc than these rescues. Weird.

You aren’t wrong in that some centres just want money to keep funding going and don’t want to house cats.

i can afford one cat and wanted one cat after mine died. Cats Protection said I had to have two. I can’t afford two. Wanted to inspect my house. I’m an experienced owner.

got my kitten through a nice local charity and she was one of the 5 kittens in a litter found in the wild. Mum might have been killed or run over. She leads a happy life by herself and doesn’t even like other cats!

Have you tried Millstream ?

They are between Clayton and Newton Heath in East Manchester.
I have adopted ferrets from them 3 times and always found them helpful and approachable.
You can ( or at least could 3 or 4 years ago ) visit them by just phoning in advance.

I have just read about sergeant and want to adopt him but I have a cat that is part devil .

Here is their FB page.

Source: Facebook share.google/WWZhswTqJydgp4dqC

Oh good luck! And please pay the cat tax when you get your new overlord (=photo), if you want help choosing a name please post....😺

I think they've always been quite difficult, normally more so for dogs than cats, but I remember ten years ago trying to re home a cat when we lived in a flat (it had stairs to the garden) and loads emailing to say "no cats for flats". We found a good rescue through word of mouth - do you know anyone who has rehomed recently (ask on school whatsap groups or local FB page) for any easy to deal with rescue centres. We did still have to do a form and have a home visit but they were more flexible about us having a job and a flat and living within a hundred miles of a road - whereas loads of others just told us to jog on when they heard those factors. The cats we rescued arrived within 2 weeks and have lived long happy lives with us. Ironically within a year of getting them we moved to a big house in the countryside...

We adopted ours 4 years ago. I sent in an application to a small local rescue by filling in a form. The two cats I named I didn’t actually get either of those , we had a toddler and a young child so recommended a cat who was being rehomed who currently lived with a child. We then received a home visit from one of the workers. Then we were able to go meet the cat at her current home (she was rescued previously, then the owners had to give her up and as part of the contract you must give the pet back to the same rescue) so I saw her in her current home and agreed to go ahead, then picked her up a few days later. It’s was all very fast really

My experience (I've had six dogs and five cats) has always been that the smaller rescues are the best. When I rehomed my border collie from a small rescue in Sussex I first spent the day there just watching him, so that I could see his interactions with people and with other dogs. Back in those days (the early 1990s) there was no talk of a home check. I took him with me the very same day!

Coming more up to date, eight years ago I was looking for a dog to rehome, specifically a staffie (just always loved them, but never 'owned' one). I had two indoor cats. Every single large rescue organisation turned me down, because of the cats. I explained that I had previously successfully introduced several (very prey-driven) dogs and cats - I even offered to show them my plan and approach - but it was a flat "No!" Then I saw a tiny rescue in the middle of Wales (miles from my home) who had some young staffies on their FB page. They had only one boy (my preference) left so I said yes without even meeting him! The rescue sent a local contact to do my home check and meet the cats, and then I headed off to Wales to pick up my young chap. He's outlived the cats and now has a new kitten (the result of a friend's cats' unexpected mating!) to teach the ways of the world.

I’m puzzled as to why you think a family with children would never be able to give a dog a better life than a couple. That seems like a really strange view of the world. (And wholly accords with the oddness I and many other posters have found when trying to adopt a pet.)

This!👏

I volunteered with a breed rescue. Applicants filled in a form then we did a home visit. I only ever turned one applicant down, but rather redirected him - we dealt with pet gundogs and he wanted one to kennel. I suggested he asked around his shooting acquaintances if he wanted a dog to live out, as our policy was that if a dog was used to living indoors it was unkind to rehome to a kennel. All the charity's dogs were fostered in homes and not kenneled.

We had these sort of restrictions. They wanted to know what each member of the household did for a living as well as have all of them visit the rescue in person. They wanted to visit the house too. The list of requirements made it impossible to adopt and we just went to a breeder in the end which was far more easy - exactly the place rescues are always begging you not to go to and to adopt instead. Well maybe stop making it so difficult and more people might go to rescues.

My 16 year old is at college 3 days a week, and wanted a wee job at a rescue centre on one or two of her days off. She adores animals and would have loved to walk the dogs. It would also have helped her to build work experience and confidence. They only seem to want a young person to help raise their social media profile.

Hope the cat works out OP, but if not have you tried Cats Protection Derby? They unfortunately have been closed to adoptions and visits for a few weeks due to some sort of disease outbreak, but they are back open soon I think. I got my cats there. They told me that I couldn't have an outside cat as I live next to a main road, but they were happy for me to have kittens or any of the cats that were suitable as inside cats. It was 10 years ago, but they still seem quite pragmatic about labelling cats on their website as who is suitable for families, can live with other cats etc.