A Welsh Stray and Abandoned Dog Rescue has reached a “crisis point” with the sheer number of dogs in their care.
Hope Rescue, based in Llanharan, is currently fully staffed with over 154 dogs, more than they have ever had in their 16 years. All of their available foster homes are also full.
Not only are you dealing with an overwhelming number of dogs with health or behavioral problems, but you are also seeing an increasing number of owners handing off their own pets as “fake strays,” meaning they have to turn others away.
Read more: The dogs rescued from a raided Welsh puppy farm and now ready to adopt
As a result, since January, the center has received 7,200 requests from people looking for pets but only accommodated 211 dogs.
Vanessa Waddon, founder of the charity, said, “We knew this was coming, it’s the aftermath of the pandemic, the huge increase in the number of dogs being bought during the lockdown. The more dogs that are bought and bred, the more likely it is that more dogs will come to us. “
Kit Kat and kids the Labradors are former puppy farm dogs
(Image: WalesOnline / Rob Browne)
Many of the dogs that come to Hope Rescue are not easy dogs, she added, which means they will need additional resources to support them before they are suitable for reintegration.
This includes those who come with behavioral or health issues, or sometimes both, which means they stay at the center longer. Because of this, many rescue workers cannot take in new dogs as they take care of the more difficult pets.
Jess was brought to Hope Rescue as a fake stray
(Image: WalesOnline / Rob Browne)
Ultimately, this means that rescue centers like Hope Rescue must regularly turn dogs away unless they have an appropriate foster home available.
Vanessa said, “It is heartbreaking that dogs are unnecessarily euthanized by the vets that we would of course normally take in, but we just can’t because of the amount of dogs we already have in our care.
“It’s heartbreaking for us, the owners and the vets.”
Vanessa says the current situation is the result of the perfect storm caused during lockdown, with low welfare breeders or a change in circumstances after purchasing a dog.
Hope Rescue in Llanharan is at a “crisis point” as the owners continue to sell dogs as “fake strays”
(Image: WalesOnline / Rob Browne)
This is the reality that many rescue workers will long face, she warned.
“We work very closely with other rescue workers, but even they are busy and cannot raise additional funds.”
Hope Rescue takes in a quarter of all strays in Wales and looks after six local authorities – Merthyr Tydfil, Torfaen, Blaenau Gwent, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Bridgend and the western half of the Vale of Glamorgan.
More news from team dogs can be found here.
“It’s a big commitment,” said Vanessa.
“We currently have over 7,200 dog applications and it’s not that we don’t have the dogs, but people are looking for simple family dogs and we just don’t have those types of dogs right now.”
Betty the Bichon Frize is around 5 years old
(Image: WalesOnline / Rob Browne)
The biggest problem dog rescue centers face is fake strays. Here an owner pretends to have found a stray in order to skip the waiting times for the rescue.
Vanessa said, “Fake strays responsibly jump over people who are waiting and asking for our help. The vets put dogs to sleep that we might have been able to help.
“People tell us to take their dog with us, and when we say we can’t because we’re full, people often say, well, we just take him to a police station and pretend he’s a stray. “
The problem with fake strays is that the rescue center has no information about the dog’s background and whether he has any health or behavioral problems.
Hope Rescue is a registered charity that rescues stray and abandoned dogs from six local authorities in Wales
(Image: WalesOnline / Rob Browne)
Since dogs like Hank the Lurcher are turned in as fake strays, rescue centers have no information about them, which slows down the adoption process
(Image: WalesOnline / Rob Browne)
This makes it so much more difficult for them to get back home as they need to be properly assessed before they can be put up for adoption, which means they will stay at the center much longer than necessary.
As a result, the center made the difficult decision to suspend new applications for dogs through November.
Explaining the impossible situation, Hope Rescue went to their Instagram page to explain, “Like many other bailouts, we have reached a crisis point.
“With 154 dogs in our care in our rescue center and our foster homes, for the foreseeable future we will only be able to accept dogs that can move into a foster home without any problems.
“The demographics of dogs that emerge after a pandemic has changed. Many of the dogs we have have health or behavior problems, or often both.
“These are not the kind of dogs that can be re-housed quickly and they need the time and space to support them and prepare them for success. Not being able to help these dogs will break our hearts, since they are. ” very dogs that need our skills and experience. “
Little Vince was a fake stray too
(Image: WalesOnline / Rob Browne)
They added: “We have a backlog on adoption applications and have decided to put the applications on hold until November.
“Since January we have received 7,200 applications and 211 new dogs. We are inundated with applications and follow-up messages and phone calls and we really have problems.
“We need to prioritize those who are patiently waiting to bring them together. Most of them understandably want family dogs that we just don’t have right now.
“This will be our world for the foreseeable future and it will be a major concern. If you could help us with a donation, we would be very grateful.”
Here you can donate to Hope Rescue.
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