There have been a lot of very worrying posts and news articles about rescues that are failing their animals. Sadly, not everyone is as concerned about the animals in their care as they should be. The most obvious and recent incident being the Save a Paw Rescue. This is especially worrying given the number of ‘popup’ rescues appearing on social media.
Surprisingly, there is no registration required to run a cat or dog rescue. It’s madness. People who run boarding kennels or take in your animals to care for them have to be licenced so why not rescues? It’s actually something that the rescue world has been campaigning for for a long time and finally, Parliament has debated the topic. You can read about it here. In the meantime, until something more concrete comes into force, we carry on as we are doing.
From the moment we decided to set up UK Spaniel Rescue, it was our intention to do the very best we could to make the adoption process the best it could be for everyone, from the owner asking for our help in rehoming to the adopter signing on the dotted line and not least the dogs in our care.
Our first step was to become a registered charity. Things have changed a lot since the first time I gained charity status for an organisation and this time it took months to get the information signed off and our application approved. Not a bad thing, merely frustrating, but we answered every question that was asked of us and the way we were going to run the rescue and we got the recognition we wanted. We have since become a registered charity in Scotland as well.
Next it was imperative that we got as much in the way of professional recognition as we could. We applied for membership of the ADCH (Association of Dogs & Cats Homes). Again, we came through the assessment process with flying colours. It is crucial that we align ourselves with the values of the best organisations to show that we are serious in what we undertake and how we run our rescue.
To have 2 highly respected behaviourists on our board of trustees is a huge bonus for us. Whilst they both have their own businesses, to have them both pledge their support to UK Spaniel Rescue meant we had the start of a rescue that would be run the way they should. As time went on, I also set up my own business. Each having our own business means that CPD is important as well as we never take it for granted that we know everything. We have been proud of the fact that we learn so much, not only whilst undertaking courses and attending seminars, but also from each other.
We also have the backup of a brilliant dog law team at Cooper & Co.
- Ask questions – we have no problems answering your questions no matter how insignificant you think they may be. It’s as important for you as it is for us to make sure the correct match is made even before the pet is rehomed. Find out as much information about the dog as you can.
- Be prepared to have to answer lots of questions – we need to know as much about you as we possibly can. It may look as though we are asking too many personal questions but it is very much in the best interests of the dog and your family. Be prepared to be told the dog isn’t a good match for you. We may get a lot of applications for a dog and this means that we will go through each and every application to find the best match possible. It’s not simply a case of first come, first served and sometimes it can take weeks or even months to find the right match.
- Check that no aversive training methods are used – this includes items such as chokes chains or prong collars. Don’t be afraid to ask what methods are used. We are a force free rescue.
- Ask what information you will be given about the dog you wish to adopt – not least the vet history. We always pass the vet history on with the adopted dog along with any behaviour reports the dog may have before coming to us.
- Meet your chosen dog before adopting – though in some cases it might not be possible due to the dog not going into foster before adopting. This could be due to a lack of fosters or simply because of the distance needed to travel. (e.g. the dog may be in Scotland and you may be living in the South of England). In these instances we will offer you the chance to foster your dog before committing to adoption.
- Check that you get full rescue backup (RBU) – we always offer full rescue backup for all the dogs that are rehomed through us. This includes behaviour support. If a rescue you are looking to adopt from doesn’t offer full rescue backup, we advise that you give them a wide berth.
This is just a very basic run through of how UK Spaniel Rescue is run and what you can expect from us. When you adopt from UK Spaniel Rescue, you will be given details of who to contact should there be any issues and the name and number of your allocated behaviourist.
Should you have any further questions about UK Spaniel Rescue, please contact us at hello@ukspanielrescue.co.uk
Thank you for your time.