PugsSOS

Thank you for pulling up our quote from our Website re rehoming criteria :)

We receive many enquiries each day, which is fantastic, however a good percentage are so totally unsuitable (for rescued pugs) that we found we had to take a stronger line in our introductory page in an attempt to put our ideals across. Many still do not read it however, and we continue to read through and assess each and every application on an individual basis.

Hi all, Belinda here from Pugs SOS. I would just like to set the record straight in relation to our adoptions :) We understand that people need to work - to assume that all potential pug adopters need to be retired or super wealthy is unrealistic. With the high number of entire pugs being advertised nationwide online each week through the Trading Post, Gumtree, PetLink, Simple Trade, Trade Me, a multitude of Buy Swap and Sell sites and several other smaller sites - we need lots of good homes.

For this reason we do adopt to homes where people work. It is simply unavoidable. And let's face it, many (not some) of these pugs we rescue have been locked outside in a backyard their entire life and never let inside the house. We picked up a pug in Lang Lang on Saturday night - 18 months old and had never set foot in the house and was outside alone. We picked up a girl on Monday who was 14 months old and never set foot inside a house, nor had she ever left the courtyard she lived in. The boy we picked up this afternoon was 6 years old and cringed into the ground when the owner approached him. The young daughter of the friend I was with approached the pug, and he licked her on the cheek. The owner launched across the garden yelling at the dog to get away, and it hit the deck. These are all pugs I am talking about ... dogs bred specifically for companionship. It's not all doom and gloom .. we are picking up two very loved and spoilt pugs tomorrow who are going through a move tomorrow, the wife is devastated, but the dogs have to go.

So ... we take a realistic approach in considering each application. We say "NO" to places with no fences, or people living in a high rise apartment and want to leave the pug on the balcony all day from 7.30am to 6pm. We say "NO" to people with no other pets who work all day. We feel we have just rescued a pug from sitting outside alone all day - why put him or her straight back into a similar situation? We also meet some people and say "NO" .. we do not think a constantly moulting, snoring, highly energetic, highly demanding pug is the right breed for you .. and we make every effort to find them an alternative rescue.

We are happy to rehome a pug into a situation where the people work, however there must be another dog there for company, and their work hours/partners work hours/children/parents living arrangements do not necessitate the dogs sitting home alone for most of the week. Many of our rescues think they have died and gone to heaven just to be allowed access to the house via a dog door throughout the day, to have a doggy friend all day, and to be allowed to be in with their new owners every hour they are home. Warm bedding, regular meals, regular veterinary treatment, walks in the park, nights on the sofa and a spot at the end of the bed are dreams come true to our rescues ... and someone has to work to pay for all this:)