DOG POUNDS

[Vallhala]

Having posted this in Chat, where it appears that readers are more interested in who has seen a children's show, I've decided to post here. Apologies for my bad forum etiquette but tough, this is a subject soclose to my heart!

From a report today, the truths which your local council would rather you didn't know.

This is not sensationalist journalism... every word is true.

link not available.

The link wasn't working but I read the article that you're referring to.

It's heartbreaking

Oh rollocks! Sorry!

trying again

read it on your other thread.
and

out of interest -what do you think about all the rules, regulations and criteria places like the RSPCA have in place before you can rehome a dog? things like working hours, children's ages and prices they charge you to take a dog? i know that in theory they are there to protect the animals but are they too rigid?

It's awful, don't know what to say. Our local dog rescue is under huge pressure now the RSPCA won't take unwanted dogs. When mine is a bit older I'm hoping to talking DH into fostering but I don't think we can through local rescue until DS is 10 and he's only 6.

Eccentrica, imho a blanket policy is an unfair, unreasonable line to take and one which both costs dogs their lives and deprives many decent people of a companion. Wynken's post below yours is a good example of what I mean.

Charges are a different matter... ime people tend to care more for something they've spent money on, treat it better and be less likely to view it as disposable.

Wynken, if your local rescue is not helpful re fostering and you manage to talk DH round, do please consider others, particularly breed rescue, which often cover large areas or rehome/foster nationwide.

HTH

I haven't posted on mumsnet for some time, but having read this article I am in tears and moved to comment. I have grown up with staffies and am collecting our latest pup in a few days time. I feel guilty that I am turning my back on the glut of staffies in rescue centres and pounds, but I have no choice. Blanket policy means that as I have children under 10 then our family is not a suitable placement. Yet I have 35 years experience with this breed. I too would like to think that I will be in a position to foster in a few years time.For now I will focus on giving our new pup the home it deserves, and be comforted that it will not be another status dog in the hands of those that are destroying the reputation of this fantastic breed.

That story has really upset me I was terrified of dogs and in a few short months of owning a lab I can't imagine life without him. I don't know how anyone can re-home a dog if there is another choice let alone mistreat and abandon them.

I really wish I could take in a dog from the pound however due to my ds 4 I also am exempt which is ridiculous because I am sure even with a young child we could give those dogs a much happier home than a weeks chance to find a home or be pts.

WideMouthFrog, great name!

Wish I'd have heard about your quest earlier, as I know a few rescues who judge on a dog-by-dog, family-by-family basis and certainly wouldn't have just ruled you out because you have children.

That said, I hope you and pupster have a wonderful time together. They're gorgeous dogs.

slushy06 you could take in a pound dog as they don't homecheck. However although I've done it with very young children at home and would do so again without hesitation, in general I wouldn't recommend that a family takes on a dog from a pound. Far better to take on dog from a rescue, who should home-check, neuter, vaccinate and assess their dogs and then match the right dog to your family.

I worked in a well known rescue centre a while ago now and it has always been the same. We knew the dogs that were on their last chance and we would try our hardest to rehome them in their 'last weekend'. We were usually unsuccessful.
There is no such thing as the 'no healthy dog is ever put to sleep' they just find a way of labelling them unhealthy. It is a real eye opener working in one of these places and you just have to try to not get attached to them all.

Sorry, I have to disagree fruitshootsandheaves, there are some genuinely no-kill rescues. Granted they're bloody rare but they do exist

Take a look at this one for example.

The place where you worked, was it a rescue or was it used by the local council as a pound?

I can name a large northern city organisation which calls itself a "Dogs Home" and a rescue but is nothing more than an enormous pound with appalling practices.

PS FSAH, the rescue in the link doesn't use the old trick of calling an aggressive dog "mentally unhealthy" in order to justify PTS. It calls the dog a bloody nightmare and gets on with socialising, training, feeding and caring for him until the day he dies of natural causes or genuine incurable ill health where he is suffering beyond help causes a compassionately considered, often widely discussed with volunteers, PTS decision.

Likewise expense of treatment or old age is never a reason for PTS at this rescue.

They put down dogs who show 'aggression' over food and toys ?

My dog has just growled at myself, dh and dd2 because we walked past him while he had his bone. We were in no danger of him biting us. He was just letting us know that it was his lamb bone and we were not allowed any.

The article was very sad, but unfortunately I am not shocked by it. I know myself from reading your posts on here and from talking to my vet how many dogs are abandoned every year and what happens to them. I was told my almost 2 yr old x breed was 'on his last days' when I collected him. He's still just a pup

I simply cannot understand how people could abandon their dog to places such as this or onto the streets. I could not live with myself if my dog ended up back in the pound.

Oh yes Shiny, they PTS dogs who show 'aggression' over food and toys, you'd better believe it.

They PTS if a dog shows fear aggression too - ie if he growls at pound staff or is too hard to get a lead onto. Wouldn't you growl if you had been taken from your home and dumped into an environment where all you could see and smell was your own species' fear?

Many a dog I've know to show fear aggression has turned out to be a perfect family dog... and many have been refused the chance of a home by a pound manager flexing his power and deeming them aggressive due to their fear. I know, I've begged and pleaded with pound management to let such dogs out to rescue, I've had rescue places waiting for them.. and I've sobbed for hours when the pound has said no.

And the saddest thing is that in Ireland the situation is far, far, far worse still.

By the way... have you ever thought... if a dog is 'too aggressive' to get a lead on, how the fuck do these people get close enough to put a lethal injection into them?

It doesn't add up, does it?

All my animals have been from rescue places. I can't justify getting a puppy or kitten when there's so many animals already out there.
I'd have a lot more animals if we had the room.

I have recently tried to adopt a dog from my local pound . the dog we wanted was a 6month old cocker spaniel cross , Dh & i went to fill in the Application forms while the dc's were in school & were told someone would contact us in a day or so to do a house check , we never heard anything so 4 days later i rang & was told that the dog was gone to another family Q children & dh & myself all upset as we were told we were the first to see her . Last week we put down a deposit on another pup we found out of a newspaper , only for the pound to phone me on Friday to ask when are we picking up the cocker . i rang the pound to explain , but felt very for that dog but i rang them this morning to see if the dog was still there & they told me she went to her new home yesterday . I think the whole thing was managed very badly imo .

It was a rescue I worked at, not a pound.

Valhalla Do a rescue have any stipulations on whether you are suitable to adopt?

I may do this in about a year at the moment my puppy is going through his teens so we are focusing on him but in a year when he has calmed down (and I am more experienced) I would be more than happy to adopt from a rescue. But would like to know now whether we would be able because I would have to discuss with dp and see if it is viable for us to do so (It took me two years to decide to get a dog a further year on which breed, sex)

If not what other ways are there to help?

valhalla i am in Ireland & my sister was hoping to adopt a dog from the pound but she has been refused because her ds is only 4yrs old . Are all the pounds going to have this same rule ?

slushy and elmofan - whether a rescue or a pound has a 'one size fit all' policy depends entirely upon the organisation concerned. The only way to find out is to ask.

As for ways tohelp, if you've the time slushy, your local rescue would no doubt be very grateful for the offer of help, be that dog-walking, cleaning kennels, fund-raising or whatever, Just drop them an email or give them a call.

FSAL that's dreadful but not surpriising. TBH I've found that the many of the larger rescues and the nation's flagship one, the RSPCA, are frequently guilty of killing unnecessarily and often in a very covert manner.

ok thanks valhalla will get in touch with my local rescue .

The reality of dog pounds is seen on this short YouTube item . Note that the bodies of the dogs killed by lethal injection then go to a feed rendering plant.

This particular pound is in Ireland, a country from where I used to assist in getting dogs into UK rescues. During that time I knew of litters of 10 week old Lab and GSD puppies going through those doors through to a 17 year old collie with failing sight and health, who was of no further use to an owner who doubtless wanted to avoid the expense of taking her to the vet.

And the pound killed them all.

This is not just an Irish problem. Here in the UK, with a bigger population and less dogs per head there are fewer cute puppies in pounds. Instead there are the older dogs, the bigger ones, the 'less desirable' ones like Staffies.

And here in the UK pounds continue to kill so many blameless, healthy dogs.