Imported Rescues

Carlosmum

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We have a 'rescued Romanian'. OH wanted a young dog following the death of his last terrier. We approached loads of rescue charities, but most said the would only re-home a dog to us as we had bitches and most that were available were staffy types.
S* came through a small charity in East anglia, who had an English contact in Romania, she had been saved from the kill shelter and brought to the UK. We were told she had had boiling water poured on her belly, we were shown photos of her looking very sore. Showed them to the vet at her check up to be told they were actually urine burns. She was about 6 months old when she came to us and is now a lovely dog ( 2yrs) and my OH adores her.
 

CorvusCorax

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Just following the story of one of these dogs on the run.
If a dog repeatedly avoids human contact/won't be caught/doesn't want to take food directly etc etc etc, why do we think it is a good idea to transport dogs like this over a gruelling/traumatic journey with strangers and including vet and port checks (no one has explained the logistics of this yet.....), expect them to settle in a normal busy pet home in an urban environment and want to force these dogs into repeated unwanted interactions? Is this 'love'?

I can appreciate we all in our lives can acquire dogs with issues. I just don't understand why anyone would willingly transport one over hundreds or thousands of miles.
One of mine is pretty aloof but his desire/instinct for food/company and interaction/prey (ball, play etc)/warmth etc overrides this, as it should in any domestic dog.
I'd walk away from a puppy that showed no interest in/an aversion towards humans, that's a big red flag, not deliberately choose it as a pet.
 

ester

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I think people think they should be grateful to have a home so they wouldn't leave.

The dog CC mentions has been out on cambridgeshire streets since at least the 22nd. He's been sighted quite a lot of times. I actually spotted it first as his dogs lost poster described him as beige and black which he really isn't! But as it moved on it's become apparent he was a romanian street dog who hasn't 'had his name long enough to know it'.
 

Dobiegirl

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This has just come up on my fb feed, this dog came from a rescue that loses quite a few and they have been told where this dog is but as yet have failed to do anything. This just makes me so incredibly angry, these dogs are nothing like dogs in UK and need a completely different approach, some of them will always need careful management.
 

splashgirl45

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couldnt agree more CC, it would be so much less stressful for the dogs if they were PTS in their own country. taking a street dog into rescue is commendable but its like taking a wild animal. trapping it and sending it to another country and then expecting it to settle and be grateful for a roof over its head. why are theyso surprised that the minute they see an opening or a fence they disappear..
 

scats

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I groom a Kokoni who came over from Romania last October. When I first met her she was a very anxious dog. The owners have done an amazing job with her. She comes to see me every month now and she’s like a different dog. She’s come out of her shell and she’s absolutely loving her life. I try not to have favourites but she’s definitely up there!
 

ester

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This has just come up on my fb feed, this dog came from a rescue that loses quite a few and they have been told where this dog is but as yet have failed to do anything. This just makes me so incredibly angry, these dogs are nothing like dogs in UK and need a completely different approach, some of them will always need careful management.

Do you mind pming me which rescue DG?
He's definitely travelled around a fair bit it would seem from the sightings.
(Also to note we had one out for a year that was trapped just recently, owners didn't want it back).
 

Dobiegirl

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Do you mind pming me which rescue DG?
He's definitely travelled around a fair bit it would seem from the sightings.
(Also to note we had one out for a year that was trapped just recently, owners didn't want it back).
Ive pmd you Ester, well I hope so as its all changed now, let me know if you havent got it.
 

planete

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When I was helping with lurcher rescue we regularly had UK dogs gone feral that had needed to be trapped. The only one to go AWOL did so while being transferred from one vehicle to another by the dog warden and had to be re-trapped a couple of weeks later! The ones that came as fosters all settled down happily and went on to be family pets with no mishaps. If you can keep them safe long enough, ie a few weeks, to settle into a routine they seem to adapt very well. People dealing with these dogs do need to be clued up though, you'd never let one loose even in an enclosed space like a garden at first for instance and the set-up has to be proof against things like doors left accidentally open. I was regularly struck by how adaptable dogs could be as a rule providing they had not taken against the human race in general. They will retain their street know-how but a bit of cautious management by their new owners can give them a happy life.

I am not against rescuing dogs from anywhere. The problem is not the dogs but the humans involved who are either greedy and unscrupulous or ignorant. In an ideal world we would manage to neuter and educate widely enough to achieve a world with no uncared for dogs. In the meantime, for me, a dog in need is a dog in need.
 

splashgirl45

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a lot of the problems are due to lack of dog sense when people are adopting. this applies to anywhere in the uk as well but the worry for me is the foreign dogs are mostly very pretty and much more appealing to first time dog owners than a staffie or a lurcher who are very common in rescues over here..as someone said above a foreign dog who was nervous etc has been turned around by knowledgeable dog owners, unfortunately for the dogs this is often not the outcome..
 

Ouch05

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I have two from abroad Crete and Portugal both came over at six months old now over two, love their very bones. Never a sign of aggression from either Happy running off the lead or walking at our side.

we are a professionally couple with no children we devote all our time to our girls.
Our experience with the blue cross left me in tears, never again. So when I found the first one and the experience was great a few months after we got the second.
They are our world, for us we just wanted a dog to love, walk and spend time with breed, age or sex was Not an issue even willing to take on issues or medication but no we were either turned down because of my job or even when we were half way through a three hour drive to see one which they knew we were coming for they gave it to another person who walked through the door before us
 

Dobiegirl

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I have two from abroad Crete and Portugal both came over at six months old now over two, love their very bones. Never a sign of aggression from either Happy running off the lead or walking at our side.

we are a professionally couple with no children we devote all our time to our girls.
Our experience with the blue cross left me in tears, never again. So when I found the first one and the experience was great a few months after we got the second.
They are our world, for us we just wanted a dog to love, walk and spend time with breed, age or sex was Not an issue even willing to take on issues or medication but no we were either turned down because of my job or even when we were half way through a three hour drive to see one which they knew we were coming for they gave it to another person who walked through the door before us

My sister adopted 2 from Spain, adopted about 2 years apart and the rescue was run by some ex pats who had the dogs live in their homes. Both dogs were as described and are lovely dogs who she loves dearly, sadly one of the ladies is terminally ill so they have given up the rescue.

I would never put any one off adopting from abroad but for goodness sake do your homework dont believe everything on their page as there are a lot of scammers out there who deliberately play on peoples emotions.
 
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