Giving your dog to a rescue society

Unfortunately there can come a time when a dog must be re-homed - for many different reasons. If you find that you are in this terrible situation, your vet can advise you on how to proceed, or, if you have a recognised dog breed, you can search for a local breed rescue society near you (try the Google box at the bottom of this page).

There are far too many rescue societies to list here, but we give links in the main A-Z section and some general database websites below.

A Reader's Story

When our beloved dachshund was 8 year's old and our children were 6 and 3, I left them watching the television one evening to get a snack for the kids. Moments later I heard a savage snarl and a scream, then my son calling "Mummy, Mummy, come quick! Frankie's done something terrible!" I raced back to the sitting room (Frankie slunk past me in the corridor) to find my daughter with blood pouring down her face, 3 teeth having pierced her skin - one of which missed her eye by half an inch. She had reached out to stroke Frankie's back as she lay beside her on the floor, as they often did.

We will never know why Frankie went for our daughter. She had never shown any signs of aggression before this to either child, or to any human. As soon as our daughter's injuries were dealt with, we spoke to our vet, who gave us the name of a dachshund resuce society an hour's drive away. He insisted that we take Frankie straight away, pointing out that we would have to lock her away if we had any children in the house in the future, and that it would not be fair on her to keep her in those circumstances.

Next morning my husband stayed home for work and we left the children with grandparents to drive Frankie to the rescue society. I couldn't go in - I just couldn't stop crying for long enough. My husband had to take Frankie inside and sign the forms, and hand over her favourite possessions. When he came out he was just as upset as I was.

We heard later that week that Frankie had been re-homed with an elderly couple and had settled in very quickly. She had a few problems adjusting - she was reluctant to eat for the first few days - but we know that the problems were short-lived and she lived out the rest of her life in a happy home.

It is many years since we had to part with Frankie and we have found it difficult to replace her with another dog. We will always wonder what went wrong that day. But we also thank goodness for the rescue society, their excellent help, and the care with which they found Frankie a new, happy home.