Rescuing a dog from abroad

[Pigeonpost]

There are a number of historical threads on this but I wanted to garner current opinion. We are looking for a rescue dog but have quite specific requirements as we want a male dog of a different breed but similar age and size to our female "sprocker" spaniel. We have young kids and an ancient stoic cat. I'm a WAHM, DH works from home etc so no concerns on that front. We don't want a small terrier style dog and we don't want a big dog or anything especially hairy. So, our options are quite limited. I've posted before about beagles seeming to be the breed which keeps coming up for us and we have two options in the pipeline at the moment. One is in a UK rescue and in foster. The other is abroad so we wouldn't be able to meet the dog beforehand. This worries me greatly. The foreign rescue (which came recommended on this forum) has suggested that we could foster the dog initially and then if he wasn't right for us they would then look for a permanent home for him.

I have a number of conflicting thoughts about this:

1. As there are already many dogs in the UK in foster (not ones suitable for us necessarily but still dogs in foster nonetheless) which need permanent homes then why should we bring another dog over from abroad to potentially add to this situation.

2.The foreign dog is pretty much kept behind bars all day which makes me very sad. The UK foster dog already has a better life.

1. It costs almost twice as much to adopt a dog from abroad for obvious reasons. This shouldn't matter and isn't the end of the world but still niggles.
2. What if we foster the foreign dog and decide he's not for us, seems like it would be really hard-hearted to turn him away after all that and would I end up choosing to keep him out of guilt and weak-willedness and then regret it for the next decade?
3. Should I just pursue the UK based rescue? Despite my niggling feelings about the foreign one being more "deserving" of a new home given his circumstances?
4. Does the fact that I can't seem to make a decision either way mean that my heart isn't really in it for either dog?

I know this is all a bit of a stream of consciousness rambling but if anyone has any views on foreign rescues and can offer any advice/opinion I would be grateful.

I would say with two young kids, a cat and an existing dog it would be far too big a risk to rescue the dog from abroad. We have the same situation and have spoken to several rescues, many of whom wouldn't rehome to us and others who would only home a puppy. Given their reservations I would be very cautious believing a rescue that would happily rehome a dog who isnt living in a home environment and who you can't meet beforehand

It is difficult. I rescued a Greek dog 12 years ago or so - I have a tiny house in Greece and my farmer neighbour regularly abandons dogs when the family move down to their winter house 4 miles away. One year I ended up adopting one of the abandoned dogs (another foreign neighbour offered to look after her when I was back in UK working in between visits). A few years after that I had to bring her to UK as I ran out of carers in Greece for her in my absences. It was great and I had many more years in UK with her that we both enjoyed. I did always feel a bit guilty as there are so many UK dogs that need homes but it just happened like that. She died last year and I now have a UK rescue dog. I did really want a Romanian/Greek/Spanish dog but couldn't square it with my conscience. However, if you are set on one - www.saferescuefordogs.com
seem really good (I was tempted when looking). They bring the dogs to UK and foster them first to settle them in and find out what they are like, what their needs are, sort out the medical problems they come with, etc. It seems to me they have a good idea of what the problems, quirks and behaviours of each of their dogs is before they put them up for adoption. I've noticed too (as I follow Doglost website) that when one of their dogs is "lost" from its new UK home, the original fosterer will often travel many miles to help recover it safely. They also rescue some UK dogs (from dog pounds etc)
I would just add that your heart HAS to be with whatever dog you decide on. I would definitely not agree to take one that was currently in another country and I hadn't even had the opportunity of meeting face-to-face. I went to meet several UK rescues this year and felt awful deciding not to adopt them but they just didn't "click". When I met my now dog at Battersea (having seen several there previously) I just knew she was the one for me (and she is).