Tag Archives: pound dogs

Adopting A New Dog Checklist to Ensure Forever Homes

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This week Broken Souls Rescue saw our record number of dogs whom we have already rescued and rehomed once, in a 48 hour period readmitted into our care. The reasons were varied, from behavioral issues to personal health problems to absolutely no explanation at all and a dog on our doorstep… Whilst we strive to be as flexible and understanding as possible, all of these dogs had been adopted under a forever home contract and the average time in their new homes was 7 months which is not exactly a trial period or suggests it is something the dog the did.

Perhaps i should not be surprised about any of it, seeing how these dogs come into rescue initially having been dumped and found as a stray by county dog wardens or via private surrenders with a flurry of excuses. If we received just £1 for every time the emotional guilt train gets passed on to me and i hear the phrase “if you don’t take my dog today i’m putting it to sleep”, we would be able to save every dog in the UK. It seriously makes me wonder; why on Earth did these people acquire a dog in the first place? 

I (rather naively) assume that every person who decides to buy or adopt a dog, be it a first dog or an additional dog, carries out some form of research into how it will affect their life.  However, i am coming to my senses that most people actually don’t and think as long as they can fit the dog bowls and bed in as well as some toys then they are good to go…. Well there are far more things to consider.

puppy kit
Here is the Broken Souls Rescue list of questions to answer before getting a dog:

Housing – Do they have permission to have a dog in their property? Is their space? Is it secure? Is it ‘dog friendly’ (furniture, expensive items out of reach, house proud)? Should you move, are you prepared to search for a dog friendly property?

Family Members – Does everyone in the household want a dog? Are their children in the house, and if so are they dog ‘savvy’? Is there anyone with disabilities (physical or otherwise) requiring consideration? Are there any regular visitors who could be significantly affected?

Work – Are your hours dog friendly? How long will the dog be left alone? How tired are you before and after work?

Finances – Can you afford to cover all the extra costs: food, monthly worm and flea treatments, yearly booster vaccinations, neutering, insurance, toys and chews, training guidance and good standard holiday boarding?

Social – Are you regularly out in the evenings? Are your weekend social events dog friendly? Are your friends dog friendly? Will a dog make you feel restricted in any way? How often do you holiday? Can you provide appropriate boarding care for during your holiday?

Health – Are you physically able to walk the dog at a good pace for at least half an hour twice a day? Are you able to part-take in training activities that may be required, (such as leading a walk, controlling your dog in an excited state around others, agility, flyball)? Do you have any mental or emotional health issues that may restrict your ability to care for the dog? Is anyone who is regularly in your life allergic to dogs? Is anyone who depends on you expecting surgery? If you were to suddenly need surgery or become ill can you or someone you know provide care and board for the dog?

Puppies – Are you prepared for toilet training and cleaning up multiple accidents? Are you ready to accept damage to some of your property or home via chewing or toileting? Are you ready to take the time correct and train your puppy fully? Are you prepared to attend puppy group classes to ensure proper socialisation for a well rounded and safe dog? Are you prepared to teach puppy not to bite? Are you prepared for the sleepless nights of settling? Are you ready for the 6-9 months of age mark where puppies hormones will become particularly strong with females coming into heat as well as both males and females scent marking and becoming dominant which needs immediate correcting?

dog checklist

Each year, the genius scientists in university laboratories across the world discover new fascinating facts about the range of emotion different animals really have in comparison to the human race. Rats and dogs have been found to have just as many emotional processes and reactions as people do, which only further impacts the pain and confusion each dog abandoned to a kennel and a stranger, must feel.

Taking on a new puppy or adopting a dog from a rescue is a big commitment and requires dedication. A dog is the most loyal family member you will ever come across who gives you unconditional love no matter what. So how people can allow what i consider to be ‘life events’ to push them into giving up their “beloved” dog is beyond me.  The UK is supposed to be the most animal loving nation on the planet, and yet we discard our pets like clothing and inanimate objects. Let’s start listening to what we preach as a nation, “A dog is for life not just for Christmas”.

Please take serious consideration into adopting a rescue dog or buying a puppy. to support our work at Broken Souls Rescue go to:
www.broken-souls-rescue.org/donate.html

Pictured: Toby, Jug puppy surrendered Winter 2016 happy in his forever home.

toby

The Dog Pound: UK

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We all remember the dog pound from Disney’s “Lady & the Tramp”, the dog catchers portrayed as evil with their catch poles crawling about in their cage van searching for dogs to catch and take back like it was their hobby. A dark and dingy place full of dogs in cold kennels looking sad, lost and alone. The little brown mutt too sad to sing who was crying always made me cry as a child. But having been in the animal industry for 13 years now, i know that the reality of UK dog pounds somewhat brighter, (thank goodness).

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Dog wardens in the UK are mostly people who actually adore dogs and want to be first on scene to respond and ensure each animal is treated with dignity and love. They don’t have time to be hunting down hiding doggies to make up their numbers; the kennels are already crammed and the calls keep coming in about stray and dumped dogs. I have also found that dog wardens are very active in the Lost & Found pet world to try and reunite any of their charges with their families outside of their work hours on their own time, and failing this,  they are extremely active in the rescue world, seeking out pound pulling organisations and rescue back ups to take the dogs in when their 7 days are up.

So what are our pounds actually like? Well think of the bottom end of the scale of boarding kennels and you’re pretty much there. UK country dog pounds are a council service or contracted purely for council dog warden intake, and therefore do not often have the biggest resources to be refurbishing their premises or improving their resources. Time is the biggest problem, the staff are usually spread thin keeping a full kennels clean and sanitary with feeding times and daily walks. Luckily, many pounds have volunteers who come in to walk dogs, spend time playing and being affectionate as well as helping to train out any behavioural issues.

Unfortunately, like everything in life, there are pounds who try to make profit from their rehoming services by selecting certain breeds of dog deemed more adoptable to extend their time in the kennels and put other breeds (like the staffy) to sleep without hesitation. Pounds can also be difficult when dealing with rescues trying to pull dogs from death row. Most pounds also won’t work with any rescue that publicly states a dog has been on death row, it says it gives the dog warden service and that particular “rehoming centre” a negative connotation. Posing as a rehoming centre and not allowing true no-kill rescues to be more honest and open about the problem is meaning their is little to no public awareness of the 18 dogs a day issue in the UK.

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So is their really a clock ticking? Yes. Once admitted into the kennel and found to have no chip or not be able to contact the owners or have the dog released to the kennel by the owners; the dog has 7 days to be claimed or bought from the pound. Once the 7 days are up, it is all down to how full the kennels are as to how much extension each dog will get. 99% of the time, the pounds are full. If no rescue steps forward to pull an un-“adopted” dog from death row, the dog will be euthanised via lethal injection. Put to sleep. Killed.

Call it a rehoming centre, a county kennel or a high kill shelter; the pound represents the stray, abandoned, dumped, unwanted dogs of the UK being turned away by large rescues due to their breed and smaller rescues are too full to help. The 18 dogs a day in the UK being killed.

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For Every Puppy Born and Bought There is a Dog Already Waiting in a Rescue, Shelter or Pound…

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If i hear one more idiot tell me that they don’t want to have their pet neutered or spayed because it will change the dog’s personality, take away their “man-hood” or they simply do not see the benefits; i may scream.

Medical benefits of having your dog neutered and spayed is the significantly reduced risk of cancer. Cervical, ovarian and testicular cancer are extremely common in dogs nowadays due to changes in diet, environment and genetics from modern breeding practices. The Staffordshire Bull Terrier is especially susceptible to testicular cancer and is often a tragic end to a dogs life from as young as 5 or 6 years old due to owners not being able to afford treatments to cnacer that quickly spread to other parts of the body. So let’s prevent.

Keeping an entire dog or bitch, particularly in a low income household, is simply a temptation waiting to become a disaster of an “accidental” litter sold on the cheap to friends, family and neighbours or online to make a quick bank deposit. A successful litter of pups can be produced and profit making within 17 weeks as long as no complications occur such as the loss of the mother’s milk. A microchip at 8 weeks, solid puppy food from 5 weeks and worming and flea treatments throughout are a minor cost compared to the potential income from selling a puppy online, and most backstreet breeders don’t even bother with these minor care points. Despite 2 new laws in 2016 stating that:

(1) all dogs must be chipped from 8 weeks old by their original owner

and (2) dogs can only be sold be rehoming organistions and licensed breeders,

…the policing and enforcement of these laws is flakey as remaining anonymous, multiple identities and a lack of public awareness means most backstreet breeders and puppy mills are never recognised by buyers, let alone reported and brought to justice.

Now your neighbour illegally selling the “accidental litter” is one thing, the puppy mills across the country using family homes as fronts to sell puppies is another large scale, huge profit making industry that is beginning to creep into the light of the public eye. However, the demand for the supply of puppies in the UK is relentless. Puppies shipped in illegally from Europe and Ireland are being bought for as little as £20 each and sold online for up to £750 and puppy mills hidden on farms deep in the countryside in the UK are selling these unhealthy, mentally frozen and emotionally damaged pups into respectable family homes across the country. Even when people do realise the dog is not in a well state, they often feel they are saving that puppy or simply want the pup more than they want to make a scene, and then forget to report the address of the backstreet breeder later.

These dogs with no social skills and often health issues, frequently end up being passed family to family through online sales or “free to good home” adverts due to behavioural issues. Eventually, they will be surrendered to a rescue or shelter, left at a boarding kennels never to be collected or dumped on the streets to be left unclaimed on doggy deathrow…

For every puppy being born and bought, there is a dog of 18 months upwards, waiting in a foster home or worse, behind a kennel door. A dog who like the puppy you are considering buying was ever so cute and now has separation anxiety, or dog aggression, or maybe is aggressive to men….

Spay and Neuter your dog. There are many reasonably priced veterinary practices, PDSA branches and annual free neutering events across the UK.

#AdoptDontShop #18DogsADayUK

To Today’s 18: Sleep Tight Little Ones, Run Free Over the Rainbow Bridge

dog-heaven

 

#18DogsADayUK

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Buster is 10 years old and i have no idea where he has been, what he has seen or how he came to be on deathrow. He has the goofiest face you just want to laugh at and all he wants to do is cuddle up and watch TV. Out and about he has been a perfect gentleman with a particularly gentle nature around children and a playful attitude to other dogs and cats. Why is Buster on deathrow with 1 day left until he will be taken down that hall and “put to sleep” with the subtle pink fluid.

I will never know why Buster was on deathrow, an unclaimed stray, nor Oliver, or Mitch or Cubey or any of the 100’s of others i see everyday in our rescue, in my email inbox, on my facebook wall all desperately begging me for a rescue space. I can’t save them all, we are a small scale rescue after all, but if ignore that email, that post, that voicemail…where will that dog be tomorrow?

How can the UK be so ignorant to not be able to see the severity of this animal overload on the island to continue to breed more puppies and kittens? They will complain about graphic images in social media posts and the never ending plea for donations but they refuse to realise the source: Themselves.

Until we stop treating our loyal canine companions like commodities and possessions we can pick up, throw away and replace the problem will not cease. 18. Eighteen. 18 Dogs are euthanised each day UK. Wake Up!

Please tweet, post, blog but #18DogsADayUK today.

Donate to support our rescue work through PayPal (broken-soulsrescue@outlook.com) or via the website on our contact page.