How To Go About Rescuing A Dog When You Have Room For One More?

[Isabel964]

Hey guys, I don't ant to start a fight or anything, and i am not in the market for another dog - my house is full with the two I have. But something often crosses my mind.....if I was to rescue a dog, how would I best go about it?

I was just reading the thread on all the dogs at Hawesbury Pound in Sydney. If I was looking for a dog and lived in Sydney I would ask the people that go to meet the dogs about dogs they post...its really helpful, the info they give.....this dog is sweet, obedient, loves cuddles..... and then you find it got PTS and my heart just breaks. I know we can't save them all though we would like to, but one day I might like to save one at least.

The reason I ask is that I had a bad experience about 6 years ago.

I went to the Australian Animal Protection Society here in Melbourne.

I waited an hour with my husband while a lady explained to a couple how to feed and look after the cat they just adopted. The couple in their 40's, kept saying that they have had cats all their lives, they will be ok. But the person behind the counter kept going on about every brand of cat food and water and was very pedantic. Anyway, my point is that we waited patiently for a full hour. We also had our kelpie in the back of the car....we had recently lost our beloved Zeus to old age and cancer. We did go out and take for out of the car every 15 minutes.

Once the couple were permitted to leave with the cat, we told the lady we rang before and why we were there. We then had to wit 20 minutes for her to get some lady from outside somewhere. Still no problem. We had taken the day off work to do this.

We were taken through to where all the cages/pens are and every dog we pointed out to each other the lady would snap and say "That dogs NOT for you", and "That dog needs to be an only dog" and "That dogs needs someone with them all the time", and "That dogs not for you", and so many of those That dog is not for you. i stopped the lady and I asked what the issue was - we were here to give a dog a home, why were none of the 10 we showed an interest in 'for us'? She said that we both worked and no-one would be there for the dog.

Now we explained that we worked, that we had a young university student son who was often home, that our dogs come and go through a doggy door, that our dogs sleep in our bedroom, that we go on holiday only with our dogs, that we have a car just for our dogs, that our dogs get the best quality food, the best beds and toys money can buy, regular walks, regular trips to the dog beach and different parks etc.

So I was just so baffled and gobbsmacked and dismayed at this woman. So many dogs were there and so may kelpies - we just adore kelpies. We tried to get around this woman, but she seemed to have made up her mind. We were dressed nicely, we were ever so nice, we were patient...we brought our dog, we are good dog owners... it was horrible. So I don' want to go through that again.

Are there places like Hawkesbury here where I can one day rescue a dog from death row...where I can talk to someone who knows the dog a bit or get some info on the dog's nature and personality? It might be hard, any dog that comes into my home will be joining another adult dog and 3 cats, so it would need to be cat friendly....do pounds test for cat friendliness?

Anyway, hopefully I am many years away from getting another dog because I want my two to be with me forever. But for that one day, any advice on how best to go about it would be appreciated.

[Nekhbet]

Have you tried PetRescue.com.au? Also there is the Kelpie clubs around the country, leave a message with them about the type of dog you are after.

Sorry to hear how poorly you were treated. I too have been through a similar thing and it's both disheartening and frustrating as you're only trying to do the right thing. The same place turned me down because I owned an entire bitch and wanted to take another they had of an incredibly specialty breed.

[Cosmolo]

I would recommend looking at petrescue too but then you still have to go through the procedures of the rescue group who has listed the dog.

I urge anyone who has a bad experience with any pound, shelter or rescue group to make an official complaint to management as it is the only way in some cases to initiate any kind of change.

[mr.mister]

I remember being told by a rescue once, 'sorry, we don't do 'mercy buys''.

I'm sorry, but what is rescuing a dog if not a mercy buy of some sort?

Some rescues seem to have this strange way of looking at things, but there are also a lot that are really nice and do the right thing. I'm sure there are plenty of people on here who could recommend a really nice rescue operation. Working Dog Rescue may be a good place to start.

[mumof4girls]

I watched a show last night about rescue, it was very interesting. The show followed a couple of rescuers ( sp it's early lol) and also what happens when a family contacts them to adopt a dog, pretty much the whole process petrescue was mentioned in the credits ( I came in half way through :-)