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?

The Ark at Ashbourne. Went with my son, found a lovely cat - no problems

That is such a shame that they are placing so many barriers in front of you especially as rescues in the UK are bursting at the seams. A lot of UK rescues are very rigid in their requirements and don't seem able to embrace the attitude of the right pet for the right home. I volunteer for an overseas rescue charity and many of our adopters come to us after they have been refused a UK adoption. Perfectly good homes for the right cat/dog. I hope you have some luck with some of the rescues already mentioned.

Yup, exactly this.

Omg yes so ridiculous- the adverts- Walter is a three year old terrier. He needs a 5 bed detached home in the countryside with no kids or any other animals, with no kids visiting the home ever. No one must work. Ever. Walter cannot be left more that 43 seconds on his own.

Walter just isn’t going to be adopted then hun is he?

100% this- our dog came from Romania. Accepted immediately.

Derailing this slightly, but asking anyway. Our much loved cat died years ago. One of our neighbours loved cats and had a key to our house and used to feed him for us when we visited family or went on holiday. Our lovely neighbour died a couple of years ago. I'd love another cat, but what do people do if they don't have a lovely neighbour to step in when they go away? I hate the idea of a cattery.

Is this true or was your niece just saying that?!🤷‍♀️ I highly doubt the volunteer would have said that.

Ive had such difficulties trying to adopt a rescue over the years. Things like children's ages, fence not high enough at 5ft, working fulltime or part time etc. Ive always had animals at home but always had to pay for them from private sellers . Would love to rescue an animal but never reach the criteria? Yet when I was younger we had dogs and cats just turn up at the door and decide to live with us! Ive never heard of anyone being successful with animal charities in the last 25+ years or so

Pay someone to come in twice a day. My neighbour & I usually look after each other’s cats but when she’s not available I use a sitter I found on Pawshake.co.uk.

I have been in the same situation..... was told I couldn't possibly manage a cat if I worked.....

I ended up getting 2 cats from a respectful breeder. There are many breeders that have older cats needing a home, as their lines cannot get too inbred, or they decide it is not the right "contribution". Sweetest cats ever, and breeder was very thankful.

Better than buying a kitten from someone that might be raising them commercially?

My neighbour works in the charity shop that funds a local rescue. When her dog was pts she attempted to adopt a pair of dogs. She was declined on the basis that she was 3 miles outside their catchment area for a home visit - but she volunteered for them!
We have 5 rescue cats and 5 others.
We are breed specific and very experienced. We were turned down for this breed as "everybody wants these but dont realise the work involved" i said " we have 10".
" you need a lot of room for these"
"we have a farm",
"they can't be left alone for long periods" "we work from home"
"ah well, we don't know how they'd react to a large number of cats"
"I do have a couple of purpose built rooms and a huge catio, so we can introduce newcomers slowly"
<worker looks dubious and disbelieving> "if you want to complete the form on line we'll get in touch"
they never did. I wasn't bothered about getting another cat particularly but Id seen numerous appeals for a home for this specific cat who needed a knowledgeable home and after much consideration we felt we could help the poor old boy.
I think its very important to ensure animals go to a suitable home where they have a good chance to settle for life. But I completely agree that the restrictions but in place by some rescues are utterly unrealistic

We are East Midlands and got our last kitten from the RSPCA in 2021. I was given a private mobile number of a volunteer by a friend otherwise we were in the same position as you OP.

Before that it was cats protection but since Covid the don’t seem to want to rehome either

Yes we wanted to take care of a cat that had had loads of kittens and was knackered. Despite my daughter and the cat bonding well they wouldn’t let us have her even though she would have had good road sense by getting to the age she did. Sue was robbed of a good loving home with a garden because we lived near an a road. I think they enjoyed saying no tbh…!

The vets are getting very concerned about rescue dogs from overseas because a lot of the people are not screening them for diseases that are now impacting the dogs already in the UK.

Great suggestion! I'd seriously not thought if that, but I can ask around. There are some sensible teens along our road who might welcome some extra money. Thank you.

Absolutely this. I could have written this exact post a year ago.

the smaller independent places just seemed totally disorganised and overwhelmed. We got to the point of being accepted and almost adopting (twice) but it was such a looong process (months rather than weeks/days) that I pulled out

i wanted to support smaller independent charities. Ended up going to Dogs Trust 3 hours away by car!!! The reward though, is well worth it. Our lovely just turned 6 yr old dog has changed our lives in the short 10months since joining our family.

don’t give up. Good luck

It's just a dog? That right there shows you have a low regard for a dog that would be in your care.

Rescue dogs can be complicated, they can often be psychologically scarred and kids bounding around them might be the last thing they need! You also rule yourself out by admitting you wouldn't consider the dog as important to you, you certainly wouldn't want one with anxieties etc.

Yep that's my sort of impression. The criteria they seem to hold over working 9-5 etc seems to contradict their own kept in pens in my opinion.

Pet rescues are money making enterprises. Our local one brings in millions every year and 80% is spent on wages. Lots of posts on social media about how they are overwhelmed with the number of animals, but just asking for more donations, not people to adopt.

They've probably been turned down because they both work part time which means a) the rescue will be concerned that their finances won't stretch to shelling out for a lot of health problems which could arise in a senior dog and b) it's not a normal at that age to not be working full time and the rescue will envisage full time coming at some point and c) the rescue will have struggled to buy that a couple of 23 and 24 don't want to have a life and just want to sit at home like a semi-retired older couple with an elderly dog.

Yes. I agree with this. We got turned down by a charity because we live on a slightly busy road - it’s residential but a larger/main one within the area. Despite having installed a catflap at the back, and the cat would have had to go at least half a dozen gardens over to find a cut-through. Bizarre.

the rescue will have struggled to buy that a couple of 23 and 24 don't want to have a life and just want to sit at home like a semi-retired older couple with an elderly dog.

What a narrow-minded outlook. Shortly after adopting our lurcher ex and I did exactly what this couple wanted to and adopted an old setter/retriever cross who had been mistreated. We were in our late 20s and ex worked mainly from home. We were his last hope and I actually recall that the rescue place (RSPCA) did seem grateful for once that we were taking him. We didn't 'sit at home' like it was us who were old. We took the dogs out and lived our lives. They were with us still when we started our family and the only time I ever saw ex cry was when the older dog had to pts after around 5 years with us. I understand the need to make checks and so on, but second-guessing everything and trying to foresee the future is just keeping pets in kennels and maybe even causing some to be pts before their time.

Try adopting a donkey, or two donkeys because you can't adopt one even if you already have one. It is easier to adopt a child. You never actually own them, you are subject to home assessment visit pre adoption, unannounced visits after adoption where they can be taken away then and there, you have to have a veterinary plan and they check with your vet. The donkey sanctuary in Cork really is a sanctuary for them.😁

With the retirement age creeping up, eventually most under 70’s will still be working, so that wouldn’t be suitable to have a dog either, presumably!

Our beloved cat died last year, very suddenly, it was devastating. Our surviving cat was lost without her companion. Looked at pet rescues but the criteria were so strict that when I was offered a pair of bonded kittens, I said yes. I’ve always had rescues before and I feel bad but it felt like we’d have failed pre-vetting despite having had several happy, healthy cats over the past 30 years.