I understand why rescues have taken these decisions but........

deb_l222

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in these turbulent times, I can see more and more dogs being abandoned over the next few weeks or months and where will they go?

A number of breed rescues and one or two general rescues I am familiar with have taken the difficult decision to not take on any more dogs and shut their doors to the public for rehoming. I don’t know what the big guns are doing, Dog’s Trust, RSPCA etc but it might only be a matter of time until they follow suit.

I absolutely understand the need to keep volunteers and support staff safe. At the end of the day, people do this for free - it’s not their job but, given the current unpredictable climate, I think these rescues will be needed more than ever.

When times get hard, the dog is often the first thing to be disposed of. Where will they go? Will vets be asked to PTS? Who knows and there’s no way to predict what will happen.

You can only hope that unscrupulous backdoor ‘greeders’ stop adding to the problem. Well, any breeder for that matter. Just because they’re registered breeders doesn’t mean their dogs don’t end up in rescue centres.
 

GSD Woman

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We're getting prepared for a rise in euthanasias at work. Many of our clients are elderly and it is thought that they are going to be too afraid to try and treat a long term problem.
 

Aru

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It's a pity. I've seen ads saying that now is a great time to combat loneliness etc by fostering a dog..and from personal experience can highly recommend it. I dont think I could survive social isolation without my pets at the moment...And I'm quite introverted.

But I also get it. They have to put human health first and dogs are a possible fomite's for infection so having multiple people handle the dogs at the moment would be irresponsible. Taking in dogs from potential infection homes would be irresponsible and place their workers at risk. This is a human health consideration at play I suspect.

The euth numbers in general practice are starting to rise in some areas from what I've read on online groups but it's mostly the older animals with longterm health conditions.Its sort of expected to see euths for previously treatable but complex medical cases for the next while as we face into social...and financial uncertainty.

But to put it in context the humans med supplies been affected badly enough affected that cancer patients that were on experienment or imported drugs no longer have them availiable etc are going into pallative care... they are depopulating the hospitals and cancelling all elective surgeries...preparing for what's coming.
And in some hospitals there is no ppe for medical staff to wear on high risk wards in some of the outbreak areas unless they are actually intubating.

Everything availiable at the moment will swing into the human medical system and for the public it's all about reducing risk and limiting exposure.

Vets have already been asked about our ventilators and there's talk of being able to to use out anaesthetic machines in human med as well so that may be coming to....
In the bad hit areas where it's rising like Ohio in America Vets are already on emergencies only. No surgeries being preformed to reduce the load on the medical supply chain.

Animals health will not be placed above human health in a pandemic.

Pity people are shit and likely to abandon their pets in a crisis :( it's not unreasonable to imagine thst stray's will be euthanised if there's nowhere for then to go after council holding.

Ps by fomites I mean pets can carry the disease on their fur etc... if they have been in direct contact with an infected person. Just don't let non household members play with your dog and it's a non issue.
 

Leo Walker

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If I had an animal that had a long term health condition that needed vet intervention on a regular basis or was at risk of needing emergency care, I would be having them PTS. It would break my heart but I would not allow any of my animals to knowingly be put in a position where they needed help and it wasnt available. I'm concerned about something going wrong with the healthy ones anyway as things progress
 

cbmcts

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I collected a dog from a rescue on Monday to trial him with the cat - he's never been in a house before so no idea what he would be like with the furry dictator. Early days but it's looking like he is far too interested in her :( but if we can't get him to the point of ignoring the cat, I'm happy to foster him for as long as I'm on WFH. At least he'll go back housetrained and a little more socialised as he's spent his entire life in a yard/kennels until now...

I too would be very worried if I had an elderly or ill pet at the moment. I completely get that we can't put animals above human health but it is scary thinking that we might not be able to access care for them. My local vets have plans to do video consults and deliver meds if required though so that's reassuring and I'm pretty confident that they would PTS in an emergency - possible that you would have to hand the pet over in the car park (what they are doing now with anyone vulnerable to CV) so you couldn't be there at the end.
 

Aru

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vets are hopefully going to be listed as essential services.
The way a great many are managing to keep their staff and clients safe is to do curbside drop off.
So dogs handed over outside to nurse who then uses the hospital slip lead, they come in for an exam and the vet does a phone call to the owner to decide the course of action. dog or cat in a carrier goes back out and we disinfect the area. food meds etc dropped off to the car or in some cases to outside owners' homes if they are in quarantine.
Minimal human contact means keeping everyone safe....and hopefully will mean less PPE will be required as we can just use gloves for the exam or proper handwash when we run out of gloves and hopefully not have to waste PPE by having to suit up to deal with potentially infectious humans.

I'm not sure how the large animal people are going to handle things though. Especially when the push is on to reduce ppe use to save it for the human's hospitals.

No one wants to see animals suffer from lack of availability of care....but there are likely to be times when its life-threatening emergency-only care as many vets are likely going to lose staff to the virus(self-isolation of 2 weeks puts a lot of strain on a small team but is essential) and run skeleton chews throughout this.
 

HeyMich

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Yes, we are in a tricky situation.

One of the horses here is on loan as a retired companion. She's had various new health issues lately that we are struggling to manage. Her owner can't find anywhere else for her to go, so has suggested PTS. It would be heartbreaking, but possibly the sensible option. However, just this morning I found myself e-mailing her owner saying 'it's ok, she's happy and well looked after here, she can stay as long as she needs to'. Gah! I'm such a softie! So, her owner's lack of ability to keep her, has meant that our resources are reduced and our daily workload increase. Such a horrible and difficult time for so many!

.
 

Smitty

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Aru, I found your post No. 5 very interesting.

I have been concerned over a dog's ability to carry the virus so it is presumably best not to let them have contact with dogs outside of your household, nor to let people touch them?

Is there any way of removing the virus from your dog's coat such as medicated shampoo?

Am asking as I live alone with a very sociable terrier who likes nothing more than making new friends and I'm feeling anxious about people touching him as I worry I could then pick virus up from him.
 

Smitty

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And apologies Deb 1222 if I have derailed your thread.

I am sure there is going to be an awful lot more 'dumping' of animals as peoples ability to earn money is restricted by the virus control measures. The fallout for animals in this epedemic is going to be large I fear.
 

Aru

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Aru, I found your post No. 5 very interesting.

I have been concerned over a dog's ability to carry the virus so it is presumably best not to let them have contact with dogs outside of your household, nor to let people touch them?

Is there any way of removing the virus from your dog's coat such as medicated shampoo?

Am asking as I live alone with a very sociable terrier who likes nothing more than making new friends and I'm feeling anxious about people touching him as I worry I could then pick virus up from him.

Fomites mean they should be treated like a surface area that could have the virus sitting on it... so if they have been in contact with a person infected and shedding the virus. You would have to be unlucky to pick it up from a dog! but at the same time the risk is there so cannot ignore it completely.

I just wouldn't let my dogs mingle with strangers or their dogs until we know more.
Your dog shouldn't be approaching others either in case you got picked up the virus and started to shed onto him.
Social distancing. If your staying 2m away from people socialisation on dogs walks goes out the window anyway.

It's not reasonable to wash them down after walks and would be very hard on the skin.
 

Tiddlypom

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My equine vets posted this up yesterday. Horses can still be taken to clinic but must be handed over/collected in the parking area, whereas normally I’d take them into the assessment area myself. I have two horses who I would normally been taking up there for routine progress checks, but I’ll pass on those now.

In normal times my vet has been happy to provide additional phone advice for free as she sees them all regularly anyway. I am thinking instead of doing a photo/video session so that she can assess them remotely, and will expect to pay for that.

88E57CBB-60E5-4163-A53A-7296EA779858.jpeg
 

deb_l222

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With lots of people now working from home, some may feel able to help with fostering perhaps?

I think this is a good idea but there is a problem in that no-one knows how long this situation is going to last. Someone who is out of the house for 12 hours a day, now at home, fosters a dog. All good for the first month for example but then they get called back to work before the dog has found a permanent home. What happens to the dog then? It’s a difficult one.
 

deb_l222

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Fomites mean they should be treated like a surface area that could have the virus sitting on it... so if they have been in contact with a person infected and shedding the virus. You would have to be unlucky to pick it up from a dog! but at the same time the risk is there so cannot ignore it completely.

I just wouldn't let my dogs mingle with strangers or their dogs until we know more.
Your dog shouldn't be approaching others either in case you got picked up the virus and started to shed onto him.
Social distancing. If your staying 2m away from people socialisation on dogs walks goes out the window anyway.

It's not reasonable to wash them down after walks and would be very hard on the skin.

Funnily enough I’ve just cancelled my vet appointment with Willow for tomorrow. It was for my benefit as I’m still recovering from shingles and am considered to be ‘vulnerable’ because of it. I never thought about Willow’s ability to transfer the virus, I was thinking about myself sat in a waiting room full of other people.

Just thought I should add, Willow was only going for a 3rd check up following a limp weeks ago. She’s perfectly fine now. If she was still poorly, she would be going to the appointment.
 

Smitty

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Thank you so much Aru for that. I have a problem where I live keeping people at a 2m distance from me, never mind the dog?. Judging by peoples behaviour in my local supermarkets, I assume they just think there is a food shortage and not a potentially deadly and easily spread virus around.

When I have my dog on a lead there is invariably one that "just want's to say hello", even though my body language and the fact that I have pulled him into the side on a short lead to let them pass, doesn't deter them. Yesterday I was approached by an elderly couple with a Westie on a retractable lead. I waited in a large gap for them to pass but Westie ran over to say hello. Not being sure of the virus carrying implications I bellowed at the poor animal who quickly retreated. The owner assured me the dog was friendly and just wanted to say hello and I replied that was fine, but I didn't want any dog near mine. I was then told in no uncertain terms to be on my way??. I'm ashamed to say I reciprocated in kind!!

Deb l222: Another problem with fostering could be that you are perfectly healthy when taking a dog in to foster, but if that changes, then where does the dog go.

Also, I have fostered in the past and was always available to let people meet the dogs and spend as much time in my home as needed. That is going to be a problem for the time being and also are the dogs going to be carrying anything into your home if you do foster?

I am not surprised these rescue places have closed their doors for the time being. It seems to me to be they have few options in order to keep their staff/volunteers safe.
 

cbmcts

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I think this is a good idea but there is a problem in that no-one knows how long this situation is going to last. Someone who is out of the house for 12 hours a day, now at home, fosters a dog. All good for the first month for example but then they get called back to work before the dog has found a permanent home. What happens to the dog then? It’s a difficult one.

There's minimal/no rehoming going on now so no contact with potential new homes here or in kennels. And in my case, I wfh a couple of days a week normally. When I work outside of home I'm in schools or the office so that's not going to resume anytime soon! If I was back to a 'normal' work pattern, that would mean that normality is returning and if need be, a foster can go back to kennels. By rehoming/fostering now there's a space freed up in kennels, less stress if anyone goes off sick or volunteers can't come in. If I get sick, well there's the garden - not ideal but no different to if it was my own dog if that makes sense? In the meantime a dog gets a break from kennels, house training, one on one attention and a chance to see what they are really like in a home - that in itself means that placing them is more likely to be successful first time. I'm really hoping that I can use this time to sort out this dogs obsession with the cat and if I can, he's staying for good :) If not, well he's had a nice time, seen a bit more of the world and (hopefully!) learnt that cocking his leg indoors is not acceptable!
 

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A woman at the yard told me she wants her 80-odd year old non-horsey mum to take charge of her bolshy aged horse (multiple health issues) if she dies from cv. (She’s perfectly healthy) She was horrified when I said I’d leave instructions for mine to be pts if anything happened to me. He’s an older boy, has chronic arthritis and is on daily bute. I’d hate to think some idiot doped him up and started riding him. There are worse fates than death.
 

ihatework

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I had my much loved 14yo Labrador put down. He was teetering on the edge and CV19 was the deciding factor. Whilst heartbroken I’m actually relieved that I could choose when, where and how for him.

Ive considered short term fostering a dog but just don’t think I can commit to it, my best friend is a single parent and hospital consultant in the front line - I’m doing quite a lot of childcare for her and just don’t think I can risk an unknown and potentially tricky dog in the house ?
 

Aru

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Now is not the ideal to be getting a puppy or to have a litter on the ground if I'm honest (mine all have confirmed homes lined up and a waiting list still left for the record, they also will not be leaving until they have the 10 week vacc..But I still don't consider this ideal timeframes)

A lot of vets are going to be swinging into emergency only over the next few weeks or being shut so only the emergency centres are open-the financial strain may be quite high when thats the case.
We can't run a practice without staff and already most vets have low staffing levels.We also can't expose staff to a human health risk so minimal human interaction is expected of us....and we are expected to use as little ppe as we can to save it for the human health system.

Minimal use of medication and supplys that the hospitals need is obviously the priority. We won't be doing a lot of surgeries on dogs -emergency or other using the intubated gas and oxygen systems if theres a lack of oxygen at the hospitals causing humans deaths. Though at least we have some iv drug protocols from the old days we can fall back on.

Even getting a pup it's vaccine over the next few months could potentially be a challenge...Not to mention socialising them if theres a lockdown!

And I say all this after being a fool and adding another one to my house! Thankfully my brothers still agreed to paying any out of hours fees for her if needed!
 

Tiddlypom

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Aru, we went through the same though processes re getting a pup.

The plan was always to get the new-to-us dog friendly 3yo JRT fully settled in around the horses etc, and then to get a pup soon. Initially we thought that soon would be good as we will be stuck at home this summer so will have plenty of time for newbie’s training, then we thought of the vaccinations, socialising ete etc that will all be impacted on...

Bad, bad times.
 

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So sad, one of our terriers has a tumour and she initially picked up after pain relief and steroids, but has more or less stopped eating again now. I'm going to ring the vets in the morning, I'm hoping they might come out to the car, then at least I can hold her while the deed is done ?
 

deb_l222

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So sad, one of our terriers has a tumour and she initially picked up after pain relief and steroids, but has more or less stopped eating again now. I'm going to ring the vets in the morning, I'm hoping they might come out to the car, then at least I can hold her while the deed is done ?

Awww so sorry. Hope everything goes OK, or has gone OK.
 

Moobli

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I had my much loved 14yo Labrador put down. He was teetering on the edge and CV19 was the deciding factor. Whilst heartbroken I’m actually relieved that I could choose when, where and how for him.

Ive considered short term fostering a dog but just don’t think I can commit to it, my best friend is a single parent and hospital consultant in the front line - I’m doing quite a lot of childcare for her and just don’t think I can risk an unknown and potentially tricky dog in the house ?

So sorry :( It is never an easy decision to make but it is definitely preferable to be able to choose when/where and how.
 
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