[Oliveview]

Puppy is off to Barcelona tomorrow- to a foster home there, phew!!  Nani, fingers crossed is off to the UK on 25th June-along with 2 other refuge dogs!  We will miss Nani, she goes everywhere with us, she is such a well behaved dog.

Pamela

[Oliveview]

Nani does not get to go off this week, the home she was going to has kennel cough, so she is off on the 11th to a foster home with a view to adopt if all is ok. 
Celeste (who is Nani´s double but fat) and Milo both refuge dogs are off to start the journey to their forever homes today, Celeste to a family who adopted Belle, the dog that was rough  in the carpark of the venta bar, she is a very lucky girl, she is going to Blacktoft (?)  and Milo is off to Scotland, to the west coast, Girvan, so he will get to run and play on the beach with 2 other dogs!  The refuge are just so very happy for the chance of a better life for the dogs.  Celeste had been at the refuge for over 2 years and was getting so unhappy and scared of life.  She can now enjoy life.  Milo was being picked on, he was the ´underdog´  he never fought back (luckily I guess) now he can start his new life  and forget the bullies.
I get updates about Tano- he is a fabulous well behaved dog (I think they are talking about a different dog had I not been sent photos!) So that is the good news for the refuge.  There is even a chance on grumpy Pumba finding a home!!  That is the biggest shock of all!  He is a pint sized dog, always overlooked. 
More puppies are being found every day- we are unable to take them, so are always looking for foster homes.

Pamela

[Springlands]

Pamela - it must give you great pleasure when you find forever homes for some of the dogs. Makes the hard work worthwhile. Thank you for sharing the good news with us. 

[devonbarmygardener]

It's lovely to hear all the good news about the forever homes 
Good work

[Oliveview]

A facebook group that I belong to, that posts information on dogs needing homes for refuges,  has taken in a Spanish Mastin and her 8 puppies (there should have been 10 but the pound gave 2 away at 5 weeks old) the dogs were just a few days away from being killed.  Lots of folk are asking about the Mum and her pups- when told the adoption fee was 100€ for the dogs- that is for a vet check- microchip, worming, passport and all injections needed the lady said that surely the rescue were joking- they should give the dogs away free!!!  The her husband sent a private message saying the rescue were a charity, so all funds for the injections etc should come out of the money they take in!!!  The woman said she had never paid more than 10€, the price of a sack of food ( a very small sack if she only gave 10€)   She was told sorry, 100€   Who do they think magics the money out of the air for the dogs food, vet care etc???  I know 100€ sounds a lot, but if you are getting a dog vaccinated at the vets yourself, for everything- it would cost more than that!  She wanted it without the vaccinations too!!!  If you are really lucky, you will get a sterilised dog for that price too!!  Some people do not live in the real world.  They think there is a refuge fairy, like a tooth fairy, who drops money off for the refuges! 

Pamela

[Springlands]

That is crazy Pamela. If she cannot afford 100 euros for a dog can she afford the upkeep. 

[Dilly Dom]

Some people really make my blood boil.  If they are so mean minded as to not want to make a payment for an animal from a rescue centre then in my mind they don't deserve the animal

We visit Spain a lot on our travels and am amazed how many Spanish people chuck their dogs out to wander the  streets for the day!

We have always had rescue cats/dogs.  In fact this winter when we were over there my father-in-law died and he'd recently taken in an little old dog which had been found wandering the streets of Alicanti he'd already got all her paperwork in place so we went over with our old Labrador and came back with two!!  She's a real little cutie and has settled in well.

I know there seem to be quite a lot of ex pats over there that are working for refuges, there are always ladies on the market at Calpe collecting donations etc for the local dogs.

[Oliveview]

I do not think it was the fact she could not afford the dog, she could not see why she had to pay to ´rescue´ a dog!
 It costs aprox 78-88€ for the passport stuff- that is with the kennel cough vaccination if going abroad by a pet carrier, anything from 55€- 155€ or more to sterilise (depending on the weight of the dog and if the vet gives us a deal) so if they get a sterilised dog for 100€ they have a bargain!!!  If the dog is not sterilised the adoption fee is less, but we can get them sterilised if the owner pays (in advance now, the last time the new owner let us down and it cost us  170€ for the castration!) Even for that dog, who was adopted by another family we only asked for 80€ but now we have decided we will have to ask for more, depending on the cost of the castration, so from 80-100€ 

Pamela

PS Well done Dilly Dom for taking on your Dads rescue dog

[devonbarmygardener]

I do believe some people think there is a refuge fairy who sees to all the animals needs for free
€100 is not a huge amount of money. You just have to cover the costs of those who are caring for the dogs ie: the refuge. 
Many people seem to want something for nothing these days!

[Elvira]

Does the woman not realise how much a puppy from a breeder is these days? Your costs are very low compared to that - especially if the dog/bitch is neutered (which is easily a couple of hundred pounds). 

We adopted some rabbits and they were £50 each which didn't even cover the costs of neutering them - the refuge had a lovely vet who did this at a huge discount but this was still more than the £50.  Like your refuge, the lady who took in the rabbits (Alice at Windwhistle) relied on contributions and free labour and her sheer love of animals - she had to cope once with 60 rabbits being taken in one time (shades of Father Ted!)  I still find her dedication amazing but this can only stretch so far without contributions.

[evie2]

It raises a wry smile that the UK public are known as animal lovers, more is given to animal welfare charities per annum than any charities.  However, when it comes to adopting from them they're taken aback at being asked to pay x amount rather than being allowed to offer a donation.

When we adopted our kittens last year, the cost was £45 each.  For that they had been cared for, vet checked, chipped and received the first of their vaccines.  People don't always look at the bigger picture.

[joyfull]

sadly all rescues get the same comments given to them. I paid £90 for my Rosie because she is a staffy x and was too young to be speyed (I had to undertake to get her speyed and provide proof that this had been done when she was old enough to be done) and my Ols when we got her we paid £250 because she was a pedigree pup (Neapolitan mastiff) and again had to get her speyed when she reached an age old enough to be done. The cost of adopting these was less than going to a breeder (Neapolitans start at £800) and although her vaccinations and food would have been a fraction of the cost there are also the heating bills, staff bills, clean bedding etc to pay and also the cost of the other dogs who are there and not yet adopted.
My two Newfies came to me for free because the owner needed to rehome them quickly and I had experience of giant breeds including Newfoundlands.

[Snoop]

It raises a wry smile that the UK public are known as animal lovers, more is given to animal welfare charities per annum than any charities.  However, when it comes to adopting from them they're taken aback at being asked to pay x amount rather than being allowed to offer a donation.

When we adopted our kittens last year, the cost was £45 each.  For that they had been cared for, vet checked, chipped and received the first of their vaccines.  People don't always look at the bigger picture.

Cheap at half the price! My parents took in two black castrated toms aged three or so ten years or so ago and paid £300 to the charity that had taken them in. They were quite surprised at the cost, it must be said.

[Oliveview]

I was told by our neighbour that his cousins husband (who has since died) could not be bothered with his     ´old´ Galgo dogs, a greyhound type-  they are 3-4 years old, did I want them for the refuge?  I had to think hard- sorry no!  They are safe, they have excellent brand new kennels, are well fed- so why would we want them?  The son looks after them, he is in his late 20´s, he is quite capable  of looking after the dogs, they were his in the first place.

The good news is all the dogs on the doggy transport with For the Love of Dogs and Cats have gotten through passport control they were subjected to a second check-why they did not know-  they were told all the paperwork was excellent, the transport excellent and that it is a shame other transporters were not as good!!  They take every dog and check it for chip, paperwork is correct etc- one trip a few months back a dog ´lost´ it´s chip    2 vets had checked it, the dogs are always double checked before being taken into the transport, and the chip number checked against the passport- all was fine- then by the time the dog got to Calais the chip had gone!!  He was taken to another vet to be re-checked, they scanned him all over- no chip was to be found!!!  Either the chip failed or it found it´s way out! 

We had a refuge dog once, the  dogs are always taken to the police to be checked for a chip- nothing.  One day the lady who was fostering him was rubbing his paw- felt a bump- there was his chip, down in his paw! He was re-united with his owner!

Pamela

[devonbarmygardener]

Those chips do migrate quite a lot!!
I found a strange lump on Lotty in the garden the other day and went looking for a large tick in her fur - said to Ben about it and he said - "It's her chip!!"

It started in her shoulder and now it's in her lower leg!