Stray dogs: There are 345 being found every day, yet why is it so hard to give a dog a loving home?

January 3rd, 2012

FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda

By
Shona Sibary

Last updated at 12:46 AM on 3rd January 2012

Last January we lost our lovely ten-year-old Labrador, Oscar. The vet found an inoperable tumour in his abdomen and gently suggested we take him home to say our goodbyes.

We cuddled him on the sofa and tried to feed him small morsels of his favourite cheddar, but it was obvious he was fading from us fast.

Nothing prepared me for the agony of having him put to sleep the next morning. The children clung to him and wept before leaving for school — the same children who, as toddlers, had swung from his neck, covered his nose with Buzz Lightyear stickers and attempted to ride him like a horse across the garden.

Shona Sibary with her rescue centre dogs Juno (left) and Albus (right). More than 126,176 dogs have been picked up by local authorities over the past 12 months, but she found rescue wardens patronising

He was a family dog through and through. He’d seen me off at the front door to give birth to three babies and been there, waiting, each time I returned home — giving a gentle sniff to the tightly blanketed bundles, followed by a wag of approval.

Oscar’s death left us bereft and even though we’ve always owned a dog, it didn’t feel right, somehow, to rush into replacing him. But as winter thawed, so, too, did our resolve. By spring we were ready to share our lives with a four-legged friend again.

I started researching breeders on Google and was horrified to discover the price of a Kennel Club-registered Labrador puppy was £600 to £800. We’d paid £250 for Oscar in 2000.

It suddenly seemed hugely extravagant, not to mention socially irresponsible, to spend all that money on a dog when there are thousands of homeless mutts in rescue centres all over the country.

Figures by the Dogs Trust, the country’s largest dog welfare charity, reveal that the number of stray dogs in Britain has reached an 11-year high, with more than 126,176 dogs being picked up by local authorities over the past 12 months — equating to 345 stray dogs being found every day.

You would think, with so many strays needing a home, I’d have been welcomed with open arms at any dog rescue centre of my choosing.

But you’d be wrong. If I’d known then what I know now about the dog re-homing process, I’d have hot-footed it to the nearest pet shop, bought a goldfish and told the children to start bonding.

No one warns you of the ridiculous hoops you have to jump through and of the high-handed, often patronising manner of rescue wardens.

'Juno (left) is a Husky-cross-Pointer with piercing blue eyes. At the age of one, she was still deemed to be a

‘Juno (left) is a Husky-cross-Pointer with piercing blue eyes. At the age of one, she was still deemed to be a “puppy” and we were still “officially” not allowed to have her,’ said Shona

There were times — during a ludicrously long-winded and bureaucratic process of adopting our two pets, Juno and Albus — that I wanted to turn to the centre and say: ‘Look, do you want us to take these dogs or not?’

Perhaps it’s not the same for everyone. Certainly, more and more celebrities are opting to re-home a stray rather than parting with money to a breeder — even President Obama. But I couldn’t help wondering if they were all subjected to the same relentless grilling about their suitability to own a dog as we were.

Did Barack have to throw open the White House doors and show an officious dog warden around his home and garden (to ensure it was properly fenced the entire way round) before they would let him take Bo, a Portuguese water dog? Somehow, I suspect not.

Part of the problem for us was that with four children — one a toddler — I was reluctant to risk adopting an adult dog that might have behavioural problems. I felt, rightly or wrongly, it was just too much of a gamble and I would never be able to trust an older new pet in the same way I trusted Oscar.

But, similarly to the child adoption process, puppies, like babies, are hard to come by. Dog homes are full of older dogs.

A large proportion are cross breeds no one wants — pit bull terriers, Rottweilers and Doberman mixes.

In re-homing a dog, I knew I couldn’t be too picky — but there are limits. I’d have been insane to put my children’s safety at risk by selecting a dog with questionable parentage and a dodgy background.

So when, in June, we found a rescue centre in the South of England advertising six Rhodesian Ridgeback-cross-Boxer puppies on their website, we couldn’t believe our luck.

They were 12 weeks old — young enough to adapt to our family and still impressionable enough to train and fit into our way of life.

'Juno and Albus have brought that wonderful doggy spark back into our lives - wrestling for space on the sofa and barking endlessly at washing drying on the line,' said Shona

‘Juno and Albus have brought that wonderful doggy spark back into our lives – wrestling for space on the sofa and barking endlessly at washing drying on the line,’ said Shona

First mistake. I called the dog home to register our interest and was told their policy was never to re-home puppies into families with children younger than eight years old because — and I quote: ‘We can’t guarantee the puppy won’t, at some point in the future, bite one of your children.’

Instead, we were offered an older dog, one that had been assessed and deemed suitable to be around small people.

How they could guarantee that this dog — with eight years of goodness-knows-what treatment behind it — wouldn’t bite one of the children, I have no idea.

This was to be the first of several regulations that struck me as having no logic whatsoever.

So I did something naughty. I’m not proud of it, but I called back the next day pretending to be someone else with three children over the age of eight. And no toddler. Now I could be considered for a puppy — but only if I had owned a dog as an adult. Otherwise I would not be deemed suitable.

The next step was attending an interview at the dogs’ home and meeting Albus — we had decided to name the puppy we had fallen in love with online.

I can accept that an interview is an entirely reasonable part of the process. The centre must ensure their dogs are going to suitable families who will treat them well. After all, the last thing they want is for the dog to be abandoned a second (or even third) time.

They also insisted on seeking independent permission from our landlord (we live in rented accommodation) and separate references from our vet.

Part of me was pleased they were being so thorough. But we were far from finished.

Hurdle number two was that every member of the family had to visit Albus at the centre 70 miles away. Not just once. Or twice. But several times for ‘bonding’ purposes before they would release the puppy to us.

This involved several expensive train journeys for all of us and, of course, on each occasion, I had to find childcare for the toddler who didn’t exist.

'I can't imagine our lives without Juno and Albus. Which is a shame, because they still don't legally belong to us,' said Shona

‘I can’t imagine our lives without Juno and Albus. Which is a shame, because they still don’t legally belong to us,’ said Shona

It was during one of these visits that we fell in love with another stray in the rescue centre.

Juno is a Husky-cross-Pointer with piercing blue eyes. At the age of one, she was still deemed to be a ‘puppy’ and we were still ‘officially’ not allowed to have her.

But having lied once, we were on a roll and so we decided to take both dogs.

Hurdle number three was The Home Visit. By then, I was starting to feel more than a little irritated.

We had already expended a huge amount of time, money and energy in meeting their re-homing requirements. Sending a warden to assess our home seemed to be an excessive measure.

Let’s not forget we are talking about a dog — not a child. We were clearly a nice, middle-class family trying to do the right thing by giving not one, but two, strays a loving future with our family.

The centre had been assured that our garden was properly fenced and secure — the reference from our vet had confirmed this.

I had also told them that we live in the middle of beautiful National Trust countryside and are experienced dog owners.

But their stance through the entire process was one of distrust and annoying superiority.

They even insisted we pay for a whole term of puppy-training classes — and show them the receipt — before they would consider releasing Juno and Albus to us.

On the day of the home visit, supposedly the final box-ticking exercise, we removed all evidence of the toddler from the house.

The warden arrived for the inspection bringing another dog with her and asked if it could come inside the house. I suspected immediately this was a test of how dog-loving we are.

I made all the appropriate cooing noises despite the fact it was quite a smelly dog who proceeded to relieve itself all over our hallway rug.

By then, I would have done anything to get this woman to authorise our suitability — including waxing lyrical about the smell of dog urine.

'If the rescue centre finds out we have broken any terms of our contract (ie that we have a two-year-old), they have the right, with police force, to remove Juno and Albus from our care,' said Shona

‘If the rescue centre finds out we have broken any terms of our contract (ie that we have a two-year-old), they have the right, with police force, to remove Juno and Albus from our care,’ said Shona

Then she checked every single downstairs rooms and opened all our cupboards.

Luckily, she failed to see a toddler’s dummy on the draining board and, after a thorough inspection of the garden, shed and greenhouse she drove away — without once offering to help clean the hallway rug.

So, finally, after weeks of meeting the dog rescue centre’s requirements and attending a three-hour seminar on how to care properly for a canine, we were finally cleared to take Juno and Albus home.

Don’t get me wrong. I am as much of a dog lover as the next person. But there were many times during our re-homing adventure that I couldn’t help feeling the pooch police had lost the plot.

I’m quite convinced Madonna had an easier time adopting David and Mercy from Malawi than we did our two puppies.

Oh, and of course we still needed to pay £120 per dog for the privilege of this grilling we’d been subjected to.

Now that they’re with us, it all feels worth it. They’ve brought that wonderful doggy spark back into our lives — wrestling for space on the sofa and barking endlessly at washing drying on the line.

In fact, I can’t imagine our lives without them. Which is a shame, because they still don’t legally belong to us.

If the rescue centre finds out we have broken any terms of our contract (ie that we have a two-year-old), they have the right, with police force, to remove Juno and Albus from our care.

That’s why I’m writing this article — in the hope the centre will realise they are, at times, a little too stringent and this may put off some affectionate owners. After all, Albus and Juno couldn’t be more loved.

If we ever go on holiday abroad, we have to tell them. If for any reason we are unable to continue to look after the dogs, we are not allowed to give them away to family or friends — they have to go back to the rescue centre.

Oh, and Juno and Albus are micro-chipped back to the dogs’ home, so if they do ever find a gap in a fence and decide to run off, the dogs’ home will always know.

So there you have it. Barking mad or sensible measures? I’ll let you decide or, perhaps, we should let sleeping dogs lie.

Here’s what other readers have said. Why not add your thoughts,
or debate this issue live on our message boards.

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“There are 345 stray dogs being found every day, yet why is it so hard to give a dog a loving home? ” – they are trying to avoid giving them out to the same sorts of people who had them in the first place. I agree with the comments about how easy it is for someone to decide to have children with no checks at all. Strangely, dogs seem more important :/

– Mark, London, 03/1/2012 11:53

ps. There is no way I would let small children swing from my dogs neck, sit on him or pull him about at all. Personally I don’t think families with very young or boisterous children should be allowed to have a dog. Just my own opinion.

– Miss Jones, London, 03/1/2012 11:51

I’m a dog lover who currently has 2 rehomed dogs from different charities. In each case the charities rightly considered the welfare of the dogs paramount as they had both had very shaky starts in life and had both been abandoned. I did not resent the checks and overcame the concerns of the 2nd organisation by fostering our 2nd dog, a very difficult case, until it was obvious our pair got on famously and would now be lost without each other. If I had distorted the truth to rehome them the last thing I would have done would have been to have nationally declared what I had done, knowing that this breached the charity’s rules and they had the right to take the dogs back. By all means speak out about unnecessary bureaucracy but don’t risk having your dogs taken back, that is if you put their welfare first!!

– Joyce, London, 03/1/2012 11:50

I also just want to add in reply to the person who says dogs are a tie…WHY does everyone always say this????? I have had dogs all my life and they have NEVER been a “tie”. I chose not to have human kids because i consider that they are a tie. My dog comes almost everywhere with me. If I cannot take her in a shop then i do not go in!!! Many local shops know this, and allow me to take her in as she is better behaved and cleaner and friendlier than most human kids. My dog is more a part of my life than human kids could ever be. If someone is truly a lover of dogs and bonded with their dog, I cannot understand that they can believe their dog to be a “tie”!!! A life with a dog is a shared experience. Your dog does not tie you down to anything. You both adapt to each other’s life and needs. This is bonding.

– Marie, Exeter, UK, 03/1/2012 11:47

To merka, south coast. Are you absolutely sure about this and are not just guessing. My husband and I both work and were allowed to adopt our dog from Dogs Trust. They took the view that it was far better for him to spend up to 8 hours a day on his own than 24 hours a day in their kennel. You might also want to consider a dog flap.

– Paula, Warks, England, 03/1/2012 11:46

The people lying about their circumstances probably end up throwing the poor dogs back onto the street or writing another article about how their poor child was bitten by a ‘monster’ given to them by a dog home.

– Ursula, London, 03/1/2012 11:46

Are there not dog pounds run by the council? There are in Northern Ireland, plenty of dogs in them that need a home, and are closer to home than some of the dog shelters. Of course it is frustrating if you have to travel long distances to see the dog before you can take it home, perhaps it would make sense to check the shelters policies first, instead of telling lies and then moaning about it. This would have been a very different article if they had just let you have a dog and it ended up biting someone.

– anon-j-, ire, 03/1/2012 11:45

I watched in Manchester as a guy with a mobility scooter dragged his dog along a main road. Many people have no idea about the needs of a dog and when they realise they need walking and feeding they dump them. Owners who dump should be fined or jailed if found.

– MooMoo, UK, 03/1/2012 11:44

I have my own dog who is beautiful and I also sponser a dog at the Dog’s Trust. The last one was called Harvey and this one is called Millie. Both are older. I think Millie is about 12. Too old to leave the Dogs Trust and be rehomed. They are there for life now. It is only £1 a week to sponser a dog there. Nothing and does not even pay for the cost of their food. Yes, it is difficult to adopt a dog. I know it is. I got mine from a breeder.

– Jessand, Putney, SW London, 03/1/2012 11:41

I have been through this process twice and it is so rewarding to re-home a rescue dog and give it a loving home. I understand and agree with the stringent procedures which protect the dogs against being used as bait or as puppy farm stock and also agree with the fees which help to cover the vet / treatment bills and identifies potential owners who can afford to re-home a dog but something needs to change. The process can be timely and often it encourages people to look elsewhere, where such checks are not done ; often supporting un-registered breeders and worse!..in addition, with the through-flow of dogs in rescues being at a snail’s pace then people out there who cant afford their dogs or for some reason cannot have them any more are unable to take them to rescues and instead opt to sell them “free to a good home” via websites and free-ads; adding to the number of bait dogs and strays…..something’s gotta give!

– Ann-Marie, Bucks, 03/1/2012 11:41

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