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Story of rejection from a rescue centre!

5K views 65 replies 30 participants last post by  EmCHammer 
#1 ·
Not much more that needs to be said about the messages!

I understand rescues want to ensure a dog is rehomed permanently. I found dealing with those local to me were nigh on impossible once they realised I had one dog already. I never wanted a 2nd puppy and all that entailed, but I ended up with no choice!

 
#6 ·
That's a very rude response. If they don't think you are suitable that's fine, but there are ways to respond to people and that isn't it!
 
#7 ·
Rescues are damned if they do, damned if they don't.
An acquaintance once asked me to serve as a reference for a rescue. One of the questions was did they have dogs before and what happened to them. I happened to know that her last two dogs were hit by cars. They have a fenced yard but are not good about keeping the gate shut.
The rescue denied them but was very polite about it and gave them some soft story about not having any suitable dogs or something.
I get that they (the rescue) was trying to be nice and not be blunt about it. Had they been blunt and said, you obviously can't keep dogs from getting killed by traffic we're not giving you one of our dogs, there would have been flack there too.

Another acquaintance rescued a dog from a local group. Despite specific instructions not to, they took her on a walk first day, let her of-leash, and lost her. Because she was chipped to the rescue, the rescue ended up getting the call to collect her which they did and then returned her to her newly adopted family. Not a week later, they lost her again - off leash again, and again the dog was returned to the rescue. This time they didn't give her back. The acquaintance was furious and posted all over social media about how awful this rescue was and how they think they know better than she does what's good for "her" dog (that she's had a week and lost twice) blah blah.

Was that the nicest reply from the rescue? No.
Was there probably way more to the story? Very likely.
 
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#8 ·
How old is this puppy? If it's very young then their response is a bit silly, but if it's older then it's not unreasonable for them to say the dog wouldn't enjoy those activities if they know her character well.

Yes it was a bit abrupt and they could have worded it nicer and I'd probably feel a bit miffed by their response too. But as humans we sometimes have bad days or there are things happening that mean we don't deal with something as well as we could.

I'd try not to get too worked up over it.
 
#10 ·
If those are all the messages, then I think yes a bit abrupt and rude.
I think the rescue could have suggested a dog more suitable to your lifestyle, if they did not think this puppy would be a good fit.
But yes, the demand for dogs and cats is crazy at the moment but no need to be flippant to people who would like to adopt.
 
#15 · (Edited)
I think the rescue could have suggested a dog more suitable to your lifestyle
Absolutely: suggested another dog/puppy or told her they would be happy to put her on a waiting list
or send her an application form. Her messages to them were very polite and carefully written and she deserved much better in return. I remember many years ago a friend of mine contacting the Mayhew and was really appalled at their attitude. She ended up buying one privately.
 
#11 ·
The response was definitely rude and abrupt. However I have a feeling this may have been a worked on the end of their tether. The enquiry makes no mention of what they can offer except working from home (will this change probably or we have lots of people asking why puppy won’t entertain themselves whilst they work) The rest of the enquire is I want a dog as company....I want cuddles.

.Does that make sense ? Whenever I’ve applied and been rejected by a rescue I’ve put details about working hours, garden size, fence, experience of breed. (Still always been rejected on my work hours)
 
#13 ·
I know most rescues don't have an easy job & take a lot of stick but I do question some of them & their consideration for the dogs they rehome. I still remember Paisley (the GSD) & how the rescue who had her were so against her going back to her breeder or to a GSD experienced home. I have no idea why they were so cagey about their dogs & their 'rehabilitation' process, etc .... I honestly think some people involved in this it is all abut ego's rather than the animals welfare
 
#17 ·
Completely sympathise with picky rescues - they must see too much of the dark side of thoughtless dog ownership - but wonder if it has gone too far. After years of having rescue dogs, my last three dogs have been bought from breeders after being turned down by rescues on the knee-jerk line of "all your current dogs must be neutered". (I have never castrated males unless there is a genuine medical or behavioural reason, and refused to have resident elderly males neutered. And in half a century none of my entire males has worried about sex and certainly not sired a litter.) I look back to the past, when rescues would check us out, find a dog to suit us, and we all lived happily ever after - one rescue, a year after providing us with a wonderful companion for our first dog, sought us out and told us we needed a third dog and here he was - we didn't know we needed a third dog, but they were so right!
 
#31 ·
From personal experience I think some rescues have an exaggerated idea of their own importance....no-one is worthy of adopting one of "their" dogs!
While I understand that they have to take precautions/do checks etc, I found the attitude of the three I dealt with was appalling.
I'm sure there are really good rescues, I just haven't found one yet.
 
#33 ·
I think it’s difficult to make a judgement about this particular case based on the limited information shared (but I guess that’s Twitter!). It seems like there is more to the story than in the original tweet, and the abruptness of the response may be partly down to it being in someone’s second language.

In terms of wider issues with rescues, it’s easy to extrapolate from negative experiences and create an un-representative view of how they operate. There are different policies and approaches across the sector and I think that needs to be factored in when considering adopting. My wife and I decided that we wanted to adopt from the Dog’s Trust as we trusted them to deal with applications in a fair and professional way. We applied for a few different dogs that, in hindsight, weren’t right for us, before we ended up adopting Zeus last month. I guess this may cloud my judgement, but I certainly feel that the Dog’s Trust operate in their dogs’ best interests and I’m sure most other rescues do too.

Many rescues are inundated with applications at the moment, which will shift the balance from them being keen to adopt out dogs to anyone who shows an interest, to being able to ensure that the dogs go to the best home possible. As with breeders it’s supply and demand, except in this case it’s the requirements going up rather than prices. This will no doubt change over the coming months, as I expect more dogs will be put up for adoption and fewer people will be able to take them on.
 
#37 ·
Some rescues won't rehome a cat to be solely ''indoor''; and I know when I was fostering, I was quite alarmed how some ''home checkers'' would say yes to a home which I knew for a fact was a busy main road bus route and when I rang to question the decision was told, well, they have a garden at the back - and of course, we all know cats stay in their own garden once they are let out. The final decision was always the fosterer's and I would never have someone come to see a cat if I saw from their address (I know the area well) that they were on a main road.
 
#48 ·
I applaud the work of rescues and appreciate they must be completely inundated with requests at the moment, it must be hard weedling out the genuine long term prospective owners from those wanting a dog on a whim because its fashionable right now.
However, we applied to many UK rescues before covid and were declined by every one. We had a happy, healthy dog already and a 6ft enclosed back garden. Yes we work full time but I am (was then) at home 2 days a week and the dogs would never be alone more than 4 hours. Some never bothered getting back to me and others refused to even consider us because we work or because we have a cat. 3 rescues told me they don't cat test dogs so will only rehome a dog with cats if they've previously lived with one.
We would love to have rescued and it still makes me sad we couldnt, no I wasn't 'forced' to buy a puppy but it was the only way we could acquire a 2nd dog and it's the route a lot of other people that would be suitable for rescue have to go down.
Like I said I honestly applaud the work of rescues and know they must have a lot of unsuitable people contact them but they need to start looking at individual circumstances rather than having blanket criteria that are often just not realistic.
 
#51 ·
perhaps they did , perhaps they emailed. Ive always had rescue dogs and Ive dealt with on line rescues. You have to fill in a form through their website before you are considered for adoption , I dont understand why it was done on twitter though I know they advertise there. maybe they were saving her time because the dog wasn't suitable for her.

ETA you really dont have lot of room to write much in tweets, they are generally short ,

a lot of people act as if the rescue should be grateful that they want to adopt from them and it can come as a bit of a shock that they have to go through the procedures.
 
#52 ·
I actually found it surprisingly easy to adopt.
My first dog was adopted from a place that was more like a pound nearly two decades ago, its probably changed a lot since then.
I and siblings were at school and my parents worked so the only thing they said was a puppy wasn't suitable, fair enough. We got a one year old.
Our garden isn't enclosed and we had/have cats.
We went in, looked round (not even all my family) said which dog we liked, met him, took him home.
The issue with that is we felt we couldn't call for advice or anything. The dog and cats never fully integrated, we had no idea what we were doing.
When my then cats passed I did successfully introduce him to kittens.

My second, current dog, is from a national charity.
Again our garden still isn't enclosed, it'd be incredibly difficult. The staff suggested having an area that she could be or having it so she couldn't get into the garden.
We put gates up blocking off a courtyard type area off our back door and so cutting off access to the garden altogether.
We passed homecheck.
We also still have cats but I specifically looked for dogs that had previously lived with cats to give us the best chance after our previous experience. Although now I know a whole lot more anyway.
It could well be the specific dog, had there been multiply applicants or if were younger I'm sure they'd not choose us over someone with an enclosed garden etc.

However I still feel a bit forgotten. I had thought there would be more backup this time round.
As it turns out we never did get the promised homecheck after 5 weeks with her to see how we were getting on.
We asked for her medical records as our vet thought it would be useful, she came to us with many pre-existing conditions, they never got back to us.
 
#53 ·
I have not found a single rescue that would consider me as either the dogs can't be around small children or they can't be around cats
Looked again this morning on dog trust there were 311 dogs when I put in I have a cat it goes down to 5 or 6 them add I have young child it goes to 0
Same for rspca and even the smaller rescues won't accept me
I know I'm not being forced to buy a puppy but if I want a dog there's very little other options
I won't try non UK rescues as I don't trust that they'd be helpful after adoption and having young children I won't risk getting a street dog/one with unknown upbringing
 
#57 ·
There's nothing wrong with choosing a good breeder over rescuing.

It's the people who come straight from being turned down to buying the first puppy they find that are the issue.
 
#54 ·
The rescue I got my dog from was very thorough, all the family had to meet her including our pomeranian cross. Luckily all introductions went well.

We had a house/garden visit which thankfully passed their criteria.

We were only considered as we had experience of owning dogs they said she wasn't suitable for a 1st time dog owner because of behavioral issues.

As far as I'm concerned the rescue did everything right for the dogs in their care.
I guess you must get some dodgy rescues in some places though that just want a quick turnaround.
 
#59 ·
We got Tango from Dachshund Rescue, it's no longer active in the way it was. I'd been saving for a puppy but then decided I'd never cope with a puppy so looked into rescue. My heart was set on a Dachshund and preferably wirehaired. After a phone call and a visit ( January 2013) we met Tango who walked straight past me to OH and put her paws on his knees and gazed into his eyes adoringly. Poor little thing, she looked much older than her 9 years, at that stage we didn't know hr age but she had alopecia and looked pretty decrepit, she kept shivering as it was bitterly cold with snow on the ground. A week later we fetched her home, I put a jumper on her and she snuggled up on a blanket and went to sleep.
We had no home check, just a few questions about our home, circumstances ( I had retired) ,children in the family and the garden.
The lady that ran the rescue told us that Tango had been spayed ( she hadn't!) and gave us some paperwrk including her pedigree. It was all very informal really, Tango had been there 2 weeks having been surrendered following the failing of her owners' health.We found out she was only 9 years old.
 
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