Should animal charities relax their rules?

RE: Should animal charities relax their rules?

Chris Geddes — Wed, 21 Aug 2019 14:16:03 GMT

[quote user="robloxley"]If they are housing dogs I'd guess they come under the kennels licensing?[/quote]

Kinda odd if so.

Qualified vet inspects their kennels to tell them they are suitable for housing dogs....then they send unqualified person to vet's house and tell them that it is unsuitable for housing dogs. :-/

RE: Should animal charities relax their rules?

Rob Loxley — Wed, 21 Aug 2019 13:55:39 GMT

[quote user="vetbl.locum"]Is there a national association of rescue homes ?[/quote]

If you're looking for rescues, particularly specific breeds, there used to be a printed directory (not sure from whom), I assume nowadays one just googles.

[quote user="vetbl.locum"]Do you need a any sort of licence or inspection to run one ? [/quote]

If they are housing dogs I'd guess they come under the kennels licensing?

RE: Should animal charities relax their rules?

Wren — Wed, 21 Aug 2019 08:34:49 GMT

[quote user="Chris Geddes"]Wren - did you tell then that you're a vet?[/quote]

First thing I mentioned!! The response from one charity was 'oh, then you're going to be working longer hours than we allow for rehoming'. I said 'not a problem, the dog will be coming to work with me and coming out on calls with me [equine vet]'. This was followed by the 'well, that's hardly a suitable way to keep a dog!' response!!

A friend has a connection to a working springer rehoming charity and has said that organisations such as these are usually a lot more pragmatic, but I didn't know that at the time, plus I definitely did not want a spaniel!!

RE: Should animal charities relax their rules?

Chris Geddes — Tue, 20 Aug 2019 17:09:46 GMT

Wren - did you tell then that you're a vet?

I don't normally tell people, but in a similar situation, when I was getting a cat from a rescue centre, I told them I was a vet and they said there's no need to do a home check then. Who is more qualified than a VS to determine if a home is suitable for a pet?

RE: Should animal charities relax their rules?

Wren — Tue, 20 Aug 2019 14:06:33 GMT

Yes. I was turned down immediately by two charities. Firstly because of my working hours, and secondly because of the height of our garden fence. I wanted a terrier - our fence at the time was 4' solid wood panels and had kept our previous dogs in for many years without incident. However it was not tall enough for either rescue kennel. It was a rented house and I was not willing to pay to re-fence someone else's garden.

With regards to the working hours - my dog is with me 100% of the time. She has a bed in my office, she comes out on calls and often is left to run around clients' yards with their dogs whilst I'm working, she runs 5 miles with me most nights. Several people have remarked that she probably has the best life of any dog they know. Yet when I explained to one of the charities that I intended to take the dog to work I was told 'well I hardly think that's a suitable way to keep a dog'.

I bought a puppy instead….

RE: Should animal charities relax their rules?

Julie Innes — Mon, 19 Aug 2019 09:01:28 GMT

[quote user="Kate Richardson"]

Totally agree, this is something that needs to be discussed on a larger scale, otherwise we will be indundated with rescue dogs from Europe

Maybe BVA/BSAVA could enter into discussions with some of the larger rescues? Is anyone on this forum involved with either of them?

[/quote]

That would be ideal!

RE: Should animal charities relax their rules?

vetbl.locum — Fri, 16 Aug 2019 14:13:02 GMT

Is there a national association of rescue homes ?

Do you need a any sort of licence or inspection to run one ?

Rgds

RE: Should animal charities relax their rules?

Kate Richardson — Fri, 16 Aug 2019 11:52:12 GMT

[quote user="Chris Geddes"]Completely agree that it is a strange and frustrating situation. Have you tried speaking to your local charities to see if you can get some sense into them?[/quote]

Totally agree, this is something that needs to be discussed on a larger scale, otherwise we will be indundated with rescue dogs from Europe

Maybe BVA/BSAVA could enter into discussions with some of the larger rescues? Is anyone on this forum involved with either of them?

RE: Should animal charities relax their rules?

Bob Russell — Fri, 16 Aug 2019 11:49:24 GMT

I suspect this is caused by relatively inexperienced rescue staff adhering to overly cautious rules. A bit like the VMD inspector we had who wanted to know how much propofol went into the pharmaceuticals bin.

The rules have a purpose but can act as a straightjacket instead of a guide.

We had a family refused by the RSPCA because they only had a small yard at the back. Someone was in all the time, they had a responsible teenager and the freedom of the New Forest 100 yards away. Pretty much a perfect home.

They bought a collie puppy on GumTree instead and he lived a fantastic life.

RE: Should animal charities relax their rules?

Chris Geddes — Fri, 16 Aug 2019 10:10:53 GMT

Completely agree that it is a strange and frustrating situation. Have you tried speaking to your local charities to see if you can get some sense into them?

RE: Should animal charities relax their rules?

Julie Innes — Fri, 16 Aug 2019 09:05:14 GMT

It really is frustrating, isn't it? I don't like the rise in foreign rescues, as I worry about the diseases they may be bringing in, I worry about the suitability of many of them as pets, and the consequences if these adoptions don't work out (they're hardly going to ship them back to Romania/ Spain/ Greece)

But when I hear how intractable our local charities are being, I grudgingly understand!

Agree about breed rescues- friend of mine who had lost her 2 JRTs and was turned down by Dogs Trust and SSPCA (for working, despite her and her husband working different times) got 2 lovely JRTs from the breed rescue, although she had to travel hundreds of miles! Both dogs are spoiled rotten, and have every need met.

RE: Should animal charities relax their rules?

Sammy82 — Thu, 15 Aug 2019 20:23:51 GMT

Agree. When working up in Inverness one of the nurses was refused a dog from the local rescue because both she and her partner worked full time. Both were able to take their dogs to work, husband worked very early hours so always home at lunchtime. Her dogs are never alone for much more than 4hrs. Yet we often had new clients with new dogs from said rescue who couldn't afford to vaccinate them this month because they don't work and would fall over backwards when they were told the price of a spay. Really annoyed me!

RE: Should animal charities relax their rules?

Joyce Whitehead — Thu, 15 Aug 2019 18:45:48 GMT

I would definitely agree Julie. We see quite a few people with foreign rescues because they have been refused by the more traditional rescue centres. I think I would be refused as I work even though the dogs are in my house 100 yards from work so I can let them out as much as I want. I got a Border Terrier through breed rescue and I often find breed specific ones are more lenient.

RE: Should animal charities relax their rules?

jane alexander — Thu, 15 Aug 2019 14:29:51 GMT

Our local small 'cat rescue' organiser 'googlemaps' (new verb for the OED?) prospective adopters and if they live near a road - and who doesn't? - refuses to home the cat. she has 30 longterm cats in her home and no room for more. (A bit of a hoarder)

RE: Should animal charities relax their rules?

Edward Jones — Thu, 15 Aug 2019 12:15:46 GMT

It's pushed a few of my clients towards less well run charities - either fuelling the increasing trade in dogs across Europe, or clients taking on dogs that are totally inappropriate (i.e. 'great family pet' that turns out to bite anything that moves).

RE: Should animal charities relax their rules?

Lucy Fleming — Thu, 15 Aug 2019 12:01:26 GMT

This could qualify as "thought for the day". I'm in agreement with you, really. I can understand why they are so strict, in some ways (I imagine that perhaps some fear of liability/ litigation exists - if a dog adopted into a family were to bite a child, for example), but it is frustrating. After all, how can being in kennels day in, day out be better than being in a home where the owners work, but come home in the middle of the day, or provide a dog walker?