Romanian rescues anyone?

[disappearingfish]

We lost our old boy early last summer and are ready to take on another rescue.

We have had a home check with a charity that rescues dogs from Romania and have been matched with a 2 year old dog that looks lovely.

Has anyone been through this? I'm slightly nervous about adopting a dog that you don't meet IRL first. Otherwise the organisation seems great.

I don't know how many times I have to say this but I got zero responses from UK rescues in the 12 months or more of looking. And from this thread and others that doesn't seem unusual.

I don't know about "disappearing" foreign rescues, I don't know why someone would go to so much trouble and money to rehome a dog just to discard it. Maybe you've met lots of fosters?

All the dogs from my overseas rescue are fostered, I have one at the moment. I'll keep him until he gets the right home. My resident dog is also from Cyprus, the easiest dog ever from day one, she can be a bit reactive on the lead, but so are most other small dogs we come across, I call it small dog syndrome. Don't agree with dog breeding and the resulting health issues, give me a mutt anyday!

This is my terrible savage Romanian rescue - she likes to come in and give me a friendly good morning every day. We had a delightful walk on the beach today where she played nicely with other dogs. She has her quirks but no worse than our fancy pedigree that we have had from a pup. And no worse that my previous UK rescue dog, who was also generally a sweetheart. Yes, there are definitely Romanian rescues that are in need of a lot more support than ours, but like the OP, we had been looking in the UK for a long time, and offering a brilliant rural home with rescue dog experience, and could find nothing suitable from the UK rescues that bothered to respond. We used a great organisation with ongoing support and wonderful fosterers with whom we are still in touch. Our dog is fabulous and I'm really happy she's in our lives. Hope your dog is as brilliant as ours, OP - enjoy!

I don't know about "disappearing" foreign rescues, I don't know why someone would go to so much trouble and money to rehome a dog just to discard it.

That's not what PP is referring to. They're talking about people getting dogs they can't cope with (because they've never lived in homes or anything) and either returning them to rescue or selling them.

I think you're wasting your breath @oakleaffy - nothing will change while people stick their fingers in their ears and ignore the very real issues that exist due to all these foreign imports

Don't agree with dog breeding and the resulting health issues, give me a mutt anyday

Even your mutt is a result of selected breeding. The criteria might not be for beauty or certain breed standards, but nevertheless your mutt came into existence for some kind of human purpose.

Absolutely this.

Covid era there were loads of “Romanian imports” about.

Now, there are hardly any.

So where have they all gone?

A lot have behavioural issues-

Dog aggression, people aggression, and many are escape artists.

It IS an industry, selling strays and “ Puppies” to U.K. in particular-
The entire “ Dog ( and cat) rescue industry is unregulated.

Anyone can set up and call themselves a “ Rescue” - and it is a money earner.

UK rescues ( the main ones) have strict criteria for a reason.
The last thing a dog needs is to be brought back because it’s unsuitable for the owner’s home situation.
The old Greyhounds I see walking obediently have been around for years-

Many of these are from Eire.
One had an American owner who adopted him in the States but didn’t realise he was Irish ☘️ ( green tattoos in his ears)
Greyhounds have had their ears removed to hide their identifying tattoos- obviously without any anaesthesia .

“Kill shelters “ aren’t only in Romania.

Norman here has had his ears cut off, and burns and injuries consistent with being thrown from a moving vehicle.

I know (very well for some time) someone working with rescues in Eastern Europe. Puppies are absolutely being bred for the UK market and dressed up as rescue.

I don't agree with greyhound rescues. I think a better solution would be to ban greyhound racing, because the wastage in dogs is so incredibly high and largely, dogs that don't make the grade are treated incredibly cruelly. They're not socialised, not used to living in a home, not used to children. I think it's really cruel to force a greyhound to become a pet. They're working dogs. Plus if there weren't all those greyhounds out there looking for homes, that would free up a lot more homes for non greyhounds in rescue. Stop the breeding and inevitable dumping of greyhounds.

Sorry but that’s nuts. I’ve worked alongside GGAH, and greyhounds make amazing pets. Just not with cats, usually, and need to be kept on leads on walks.

Every single greyhound I've ever met has been chilled out and calm and has made a lovely pet.

But lots have vets have had proof of dodgy imports. Yes, they shouldn’t have made it into the country, but they have.

Anecdotes of how lovely greyhounds are doesn't mean that the whole industry shouldn't be shut down. A couple of people knowing some greyhounds that coped well in a home isn't evidence of anything. It's more likely that the ones that wouldn't be able to cope with rehoming, or who were too injured or traumatized were slaughtered by the racing industry. You don't hear about those ones. Greyhound rescues put an acceptable face on a grotesque industry. Stop greyhound racing, then there's a lot more homes available for all the other dogs in rescue.

I don't really get how greyhound rescue is ok but foreign rescue isn't.

I actually agree greyhound racing should be banned but until it is, those dogs still deserve a chance at a loving home, don't they?

Greyhounds are also not at risk of bringing over fatal diseases like brucellosis, don't arrive on forged documents and aren't found feral living on the streets.

As @Newpeep says many foreign "rescues" are just foreign puppy farms operating under a different name to make money.

So greyhounds deserve a home, but foreign rescues don't?

Even if the foreign rescue is health checked, vaccinated, and has been in a foster home, for example? That foreign rescue is more likely to make a better pet than a greyhound that has lived in a kennel all its life, only coming out to race then going straight back into it's cage for 23 hours a day.

So greyhounds deserve a home, but foreign rescues don't?

My point is that most of them aren't rescues in the first place they're either taken off the street as strays or bred specifically to be sold to the UK market.

I would wager that the number of dogs who enter this country as genuine rescues is absolutely tiny.

I can’t tell if you’re using an extended metaphor or are serious?...

People interested in animal welfare don’t support greyhound racing, rescues are not putting an acceptable face on if at all, they exist to try to stop some of those dogs being killed.

You seem to have a lot of opinions but not so many facts and yet you insist on making blanket statements.

I'm sure there are some unscrupulous people involved in overseas rescue but there are genuine people trying to do their best to help creatures in utterly desperate situations.

You seem to have a lot of opinions but not so many facts and yet you insist on making blanket statements.

The same applies to every other poster on this thread.

I'm sure there are some unscrupulous people involved in overseas rescue but there are genuine people trying to do their best to help creatures in utterly desperate situations.

I don't disagree but that doesn't mean those dogs should be brought into the UK.

The thing that is never commented on when denigrating people rescuing overseas dogs is that the alternative is often puppy farms.

Everyone on Mumsnet of course waits years for a puppy from a reputable breeder who takes the puppy back no qs asked if anything goes wrong. In real life loads of people buy poodle crosses from backyard breeders and puppy farms advertising on Pets for Homes.

At least as many badly bred poodle crosses with terrible separation anxiety and Frenchies with horrible skin allergies exist as problematic Romanian rescue dogs and that is almost never commented on.

Not to mention that half the dogs rehomed from U.K. rescue seem to be ex breeding bitches from puppy farms which is a problem in itself

The U.K. puppy breeding industry is the source of far far more of the problems than Romanian rescue dogs and I am very happy that I did not contribute to or encourage puppy farming and poor breeding when I got my dog.

Honestly my vet didn't look thrilled to find out that our dog originated in Romania (came to us from a U.K. rescue) but she was reassured to see he was fully vaccinated including for rabies and Brucella tested and this was 3 years ago before it was mandatory. She has come to like him because he is a super friendly, handsome chap and she later told me that she has far more problems with puppy farmed cockerpoos with reams of horrible allergies all on anti anxiety meds than any rescue dog in her practice.

Slightly odd derailment about greyhounds. I adore greyhounds but we would not be a good home for one. We like long walks and camping and we only have enough sofas for the people who live here.

There are real concerns about disease control and about scammers with foreign rescues, but it seems no worse than dodgy puppy farms and perpetuating unhealthy breeds / responding to fashions that the uk dog "industry" has created. Ultimately there is potentially a lot more we could do with legislation and enforcement to ensure dogs don't end up suffering.

Like everything there are good and bad charities for overseas dogs. Highly recommend High hopes dog rescue based in Worcestershire. They are honest about the dogs, carefully vet you and have lifetime support and back up. We got our boy from there. He came from Portugal at 3 years old and is no trouble. All their dogs are from abroad.

The thing that is never commented on when denigrating people rescuing overseas dogs is that the alternative is often puppy farms

There are many ways to responsibly source a dog than buying from ads online.
Breed rescues who specialise in a certain type, or of one wants an ethically bred dog with no congenital issues, go via a breed club where they vet prospective owners thoroughly.

Importing puppy farmed dogs from Romania and elsewhere {there is plenty of evidence to show that these are allowed to breed specifically to be sold on as ''Rescues''.

A woman said her dog {From Romania} was from the only litter the female had had.

IF it was a so called 'stray', they wouldn;t know how many litters the female had had.

Disease risk of alien parasites and brucellosis canis and other conditions are the main worry.

Shelters here are groaning under the weight of abandoned dogs- importing yet more unsuitable ones that are destined to end up in shelters or having behavioural euthanasia is just irresponsible.

Selling dogs to UK is lucrative- this ensures a constant stream of suffering.

Or why not adopt one of the dogs from one of the shelters that are groaning under the weight of abandoned dogs?
Because at least some of those dogs will have come from people who went to a breed club breeder, were thoroughly vetted, but whose lives have changed so much over the dog's lifespan that they can no longer offer the dog the life it deserves so they put it in rescue.

Whatever you think of overseas rescues, going to a breeder, however many claims they make about ethical, is pretty much never the responsible thing to do.
However good a dog owner the pup gets, its parents are still trapped in that cycle of being forced to knock out pups. So called ethical breeders might give the bitch a break but if they have got a bitch and at least access to a dog that produce pups with no congenital issues that demand a high price, they are going to breed from them.

I'm not advocating bringing in dogs from abroad. I'm really on the fence about it, despite having a Rommie myself. But one thing I would never do is go to a bloody breeder.

As for the woman who says the mother of her pup only had one litter, she could have been told BS but necessarily. There's lots of ways of telling how many litters a mother may have had.
She may have been helped by local dog rescuers, taken off the street or from the public shelter (where conditions are brutal) and taken to a private shelter where she gave birth. The money her pups made or at least some of it would help feed and house the other dogs at the shelter.
Or it could be that her pups have made a stash of cash for a bunch of criminals.

I've no doubt that puppy farms exist in Romania. I've also no doubt that there are people doing their best to help these poor creatures. Shipping them to other parts of Europe is obviously not a long term solution but what is?

If shelters in the uk are overflowing then there's something seriously wrong with the way puppies are bred and sold in the UK. It's not being caused by foreign rescues.

And again, those uk shelters didn't reply to any of my enquiries. There's a woman upthread who said she got dozens of applications for each dog she fostered. How can both be true? Because the dogs in the shelters are really troubled or require specific types of homes.