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. |
Breed Rescue Societies - Listing
Animal
Rescuers (UK)
Extensive alphabetical list of breed rescue societies with
links to sites.A very good place to start.
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