Friend is adopting dog from overseas - could it be a scam?

[starfishqueen]

Hello MN
Has anyone rescued a dog from overseas? A friend contacted a dog rescue place in North Africa this time last year & chose a dog. Since then my friend has been sending over funds (a lot of money) to pay for the dogs rabies jabs & other things.
First the dog was going to come last summer, then Autumn, Easter, now apparently this month.
There have been no checks on my friends home & they don't seem to have any U.K. contacts. My friend has been told the dog doesn't have any triggers, is house trained & very well behaved so she's not concerned for her young children/cat.
A few friends have said they think it's a scam. I feel worried that if the dog does come it will be much harder work than my friend thinks.
Any thoughts from those who have rescued dogs from overseas, gratefully accepted!

I’ve recently adopted a dog from the balkans. The rescue is based in the UK and did all the usual checks. I had several phone calls with them prior to them agreeing to me taking the dog I’d chosen. The only money I paid was his travel prep costs (rabies jab, vet checks etc) then his travel costs to the Uk. The rescue were in constant contact and have aftercare groups set up too. They are a non-profit organisation. From choosing the dog to having him here was about a month and I wasn’t asked for any money until we have a travel date. I hope your friend isn’t being scammed but the fact that the dogs arrival has been put off so many times is worrying.

That sounds very much like a scam. Good money after bad. Has Googling the charity thrown up any reviews from others? Does the organisation have an online presence where people are discussing them?

Why don't people rescue british dogs? Genuine question.

A year and the dog still hasn't turned up, but they're still asking for money?

I don't think this dog actually exists.

@Weebleweeble

Why don't people rescue british dogs? Genuine question.

To be clear - I do not have a dog, and when we do get one in future will rescue.

However, the demands from british rescues are very high. You have to not work,have a big home and garden with a 6ft fence, have no children under 12yrs and no other pets. I have close family members who had to build a 7ft fence around their wonderful rural garden to get a dog... who then turns out to be totally recall trained and never wander. They ended up taking the fence back down within months. So an expensive hoop to jump through! Sometimes it feels UK rescues would rather a dog sit in kennels for years.

That's not usually how rescuing from another country usually works.

Usually, it's a British based rescue that brings them over. So the rescue I got my dogs from, have contacts in shelters in a few countries and bring dogs over that are at risk of being killed.

I don't know anyone, including ex pil, who have adopted from abroad where there's no contact in this country.

My pil have rescued 3 dogs from a rescue that is near where they holiday in Greece. They know the people running the rescue. The dogs are brought over in batches and the rescue has a uk rescue that they coordinate with.

It does sound like your friend is being scammed. How did she get involved with them in the first place?

Could be a scam but in any event I would treat this with caution unless a very experienced dog owner with plenty of time & money on your hands.
(Know of a couple of dogs adopted this way & let’s just say both have issues)

@Weebleweeble

Why don't people rescue british dogs? Genuine question.

Well mine didn’t come directly from abroad, he was in a U.K. rescue, so all the usual checks were done - except the home visit was by video because of when it was.

So it was just that he came up and as he was still a puppy and was used to cats, seemed worth going for as I’d been looking and applying for a rescue that could live with cats for about 2 yrs by then.

Very much sounds like a scam.

As an aside I don’t agree with rescuing from abroad. There are enough unwanted animals in British rescues without the need to import more with far more serious socialisation problems etc, and British rescue have no business getting involved in foreign rescue unless they personally have no dogs for rehoming which is unlikely.

@Weebleweeble

Why don't people rescue british dogs? Genuine question.

Because they generally don't do as many checks, and so you can adopt even if you have cats and very small children in the house. They're also far less strict when it comes to people being home all day etc.

I don't agree with adoption from abroad, but I can see why people do it. Rescuing from a shelter in the UK is almost impossible for many families.

Is it from RANA?

I've just adopted a cat from them, and did start to have a niggle when he was delayed and they asked for more money (not compulsory) for food and lodging. But it was all OK and he's here!

They've had problems with covid and not so many people travelling, as the animals have to be accompanied by a human passenger on the plane to France, (the blood tests to get their passports have to be personally taken to Germany, too, apparently) then the person that drives them to Dover can obviously only take a limited number.

Because they generally don't do as many checks, and so you can adopt even if you have cats and very small children in the house. They're also far less strict when it comes to people being home all day etc. and because of that people often end up with dogs with far worse issues e.g. aggression/limited socialisation because so many essentially come from the streets of whichever country they have come from. So while I don’t generally agree with the hardline approach the rescues here take, the approach for adopting from abroad potentially comes at a much higher price.

We desperately wanted to rescue from UK. Put our criteria into the ones within 100 miles.. Nothing. Not a single ddog. Wouldn't rescue from abroad as know of too many gone wrong stories... We got a dpuppy from a breeder but wasn't our initial plan.
We have dc over 6 with dcats and other ddogs. Pretty standard imo.
Sounds like a scam op.

And why in God’s name would anyone adopt a cat from abroad, when the cat rescues are literally overflowing with unwanted cats to the extent that many have to live in foster, and the criteria for adopting cats is nowhere near as strict.

My sister adopted a dog from Serbia. Direct from the rescue centre there, via their FB page. Recommended to her by a friend who had 2 dogs from that centre. She did send money over for the dogs care while it was still there, then the Dog was transported over and a courier/ person collects the dog then met with my sister in London to hand the dog over. That was 3 years ago now, happy dog happy owners. I hope it's works out for them!

@Weebleweeble

Why don't people rescue british dogs? Genuine question.

A lot of people worry there’s a higher chance of dogs from abroad being put down if they can’t find a home whereas a lot of shelters here say they would never do this if the dog had no other problems.

A year ago a friend set up a registered charity after having several holidays at a place and seeing the number of dogs roaming the streets with all kinds of health problems, and starving. The locals did not care and treated them badly. Her primary aim is to fund a local rescue centre and she has raised a lot of money. My point is that she wanted a dog for herself and because of COVID this has delayed things by more than a year. Her dog arrived a couple of days ago and is settling in really, despite what must have been a traumatic journey.

People rescue from abroad because it's easier, and a lot of overseas rescues don't do adequate checks. I know if several cases local to me of dogs with serious issues, or a young dog with no issues being placed in a home that anyone could see was completely unsuitable, where he lasted about a fortnight.

Some overseas rescues are very good, others are incompetent. I'd only ever trust one after a long slow observation of their FB page and discussions with people who've had dogs from them.

Ive got a spanish rescue dog, but I was able to see her before getting her. I know people whove rescued from abroad that paid upfront and then the dog was brought over. None of these have had any issues.

Im assuming the delays are because of covid. Do they have a website?

I adopted a Rommie (brought over by a rescue centre local to me) because the majority, having lived how they have lived, are fine with cats.

also I still had a homecheck. I wish people would stop trying to slate foreign rescues. A dog in need is a dog in need. They dont come over all aggressive. Theyre not stopping british dogs being rescued.
The most reactive dogs I meet on my dog walks are without fail dogs that have been raised from puppies bought in the UK.

@Branleuse

also I still had a homecheck. I wish people would stop trying to slate foreign rescues. A dog in need is a dog in need. They dont come over all aggressive. Theyre not stopping british dogs being rescued. The most reactive dogs I meet on my dog walks are without fail dogs that have been raised from puppies bought in the UK.

I completely agree. My Romanian rescue arrived just over 3 weeks ago. I had spent nearly a year contacting rescue centres across southern England from Aberystwyth to Dover. RSPCA won’t let you adopt if you’ve ever had a dog put to sleep (and two had notices in their reception area stating that (before I get told I’m wrong, again 🙄) Many won’t let you unless you already have a dog at home(seriously? Just how do I get Ddog1?) I didn’t want a staffing/German shepherds/Rottweiler type thank you, nor a neurotic sheepdog, just a medium size puppy or adult. It was impossible, even without COVID, hence decision to go abroad. She’s about 6 months old, completely chilled out and perfect for us!

RSPCA won’t let you adopt if you’ve ever had a dog put to sleep (and two had notices in their reception area stating that (before I get told I’m wrong, again 🙄)

Even on veterinary advice for medical reasons?! Terminal cancer or similar? Batshit crazy if true - I could understand if you'd previously had a dog from a puppy and screwed things up so badly that the dog had been put down for behaviour reasons.... but it would still be ironic given how many dogs the RSPCA put down for behaviour

People adopt from abroad because there are more dogs available.

Many British ones have very strict stipulations about the sort of homes their dogs go to - which is entirely correct, because no-one wants a failed adoption.

But if you fall outside those criteria, say you have DC younger than teens, then you will be ineligible no matter how experienced a dog owner you are. Overseas rescues tend to have less rigid blanket rules, and I think the more individual approach can work extremely well.

Reputable international rescues will have a UK presence, and I would expect them to foster a dog on its arrival in UK to check it is as is described (which it almost invariable is, the doggy people work closely together) and then introduce to the (home-checked) new owners who will take the dog home shortly after.

Sending money for a protracted period to an organisation which has no UK based end really does sound like a scam.

It sounds like a scam. I haven’t but one of my neighbours has. The dog came from Romania but this was through a British based charity (UK charity number and everything). The dog is absolutely lovely.