Animal rescue charity cats and dogs

suzannewysiwyg

Hi, wondered if anyone has had any problems with any animal charities?

I.e paying a donation for an animal, based on what it says about it and then get it home and find out the write up was not true. Although the charity has made verbal assurances that it fits what the advert says.

for e.g

buying a dog, advertised as 'good with children' 'daft as a brush' 'wouldn't hurt a fly'. You take it home, and it bites your 12 year old son. (He ends up in A&E and needs stitches on his cheek).

When you take it back to the rescue (as per their policies) they refuse to refund your 'donation' (saying it was not a fee for the dog, but rather a donation towards food, kenneling etc for other dogs) , and tell you "you chose the dog", and it's "buyer beware". They then try their utmost to make you feel like an incompetent parent and incompetent pet owner, by saying you didn't give it time to settle in!

Any advice? Has anyone had similar?

Tia

neilmcl

So what exactly are you after?

At the end of the day, you paid a donation, you didn't purchase the dog so you can't expect a refund. Any dog, no matter how well-mannered, can turn and bite if provoked. The kennels do have a point about giving the dog some time to settle in to it's new surroundings and keeping an eye on it during this period. Dogs bite for a reason, nervousness, anxiety, fear, and yes aggression but before blaming the dog (and the kennels) have you considered the reason why the dog bit your child in the first place.

Is this your first pet dog?

shaun_from_Africa

Most, if not all animal rehoming places ask you to pay a donation for the upkeep of the place rather than paying for the animal itself so there is nothing unusual in this.
How long after getting the dog home did your son approach it? as any dog in unfamiliar surroundings with unknown people is going to be nervous.

One other point.
You say that your son was bitten on the cheek. This implies that your son's face was near the dog, something that you should never do with a new dog.

Don't kiss your dog or place your face at the dog's eye level before you've begun obedience training and established yourself and other humans in the home as higher up in the hierarchy. Dogs often perceive a face placed at their eye-level as a threat, and then bite.

http://www.paw-rescue.org/dog_guide.php

dunroving

Having taken in rescue dogs and also as a long-time supporter of dog rescue organisations, I would never let a child get close to a rescue dog (or any dog, for that matter) too soon after it has been rehomed.

There are too few details of the incident to tell how or why this occurred, but you have to let new dogs (especially rescue dogs or timid dogs) come to you, rather than the other way round.

Google "fear biter" for further information - usually it is fear that leads to this situation rather than aggression.

Re: The money issue, I think that is secondary.

moneysaver242

I can't speak for dog rescues, but i have worked with cat resuces.
Depending on the circumstances, the descriptions are often based on the previous owners description, which may not always be accurate (especially when they are trying to give their pet away!)
It's unfortunate, but its often the best insight we have as their behaviour in the shelter will be different to their behaviour once settled in a home.
As for the fee, this is a donation towards the vet bills and food/shelter costs

sheramber

you do not buy a rescue dog from a charity.

You give a donation, which is probably far less than the true cost of buying a dog, to the upkeep of the charity. A donation is not normally refundable

Without details of how the child came to be bitten no one can comment on that.

No dog can be expected to put up with abuse without objecting.

A dog in new surroundings, with new people who have expectations that he doesn't know about can be a confused and nervous dog. He may mis interpret a situation he is not familiar with.

A dog can take weeks or months to settle in to new home and feel relaxed.

A dog that is returned for 'biting' is a problem for a rescue as the dog now has a black mark against it - whether the dog was at fault or not- and is less rehomeable , so it is not surprising that they don't welcome you with open arms.

hollydays

Firstly. Ring the rspca and find if this charity is one of their ones on their list of rescues. Most rescues I visited mainly had staffies and jack Russell's .
Other so called charities will have a very wide variety of dogs which is unusual and may be an indication that something is not right.
A responsible charity are unlikely to put in writing " wouldn't hurt a fly" .

Did they give you advice about how to accustom the dog to your family?
How long had you had the dog and did an adult see what happened?

NotRichAtAll

Dogs are like humans, they to have problems, issues and even suffered abuse at the hand of previous owners. Did you pay a few visit's and try to familiarise yourself with the dog or did you turn up buy it and expect it to be your best buddy because you gave it a tin of pedigree chum? also if you think about it honestly no need to divulge on here but think hard about who was actually to blame for the dog biting your child...You,your child,the dog?
Am sorry your child has been hurt but not all rescue centers are like "give a pet a home" or "for the love of dog's"
you obviously liked the dog hence you picked it for rehoming, i think the advice you were given is correct "you did not give it enough time to settle in" making a full on fuss of the dog has probably frightened it and it's retaliated the only way it know's how.

SeduLOUs

When walking around my local kennels, the most they will ever commit to saying on the boards is "seems to be OK with cats" or "needs a home without children", but most say nothing at all or just the sweeping statement "history unknown".

It seems very strange for a rehoming centre to make very specific statements about the nature of the dog, especially things like "good with children" - most of the time it isn't that a dog has a problem with children, it's that children don't know how to act around dogs, and stick their hands or faces in the face of the dog which is a very threatening action to an animal.

I'm not saying anyone is at fault, but introductions between newly homed and possibly nervous dogs and young, innocent but inquisitive children requires caution, experience and patience.

missbiggles1

hollydays wrote: »

Firstly. Ring the rspca and find if this charity is one of their ones on their list of rescues. Most rescues I visited mainly had staffies and jack Russell's .
Other so called charities will have a very wide variety of dogs which is unusual and may be an indication that something is not right.
A responsible charity are unlikely to put in writing " wouldn't hurt a fly" .

Did they give you advice about how to accustom the dog to your family?
How long had you had the dog and did an adult see what happened?

I've never known any rescue kennels not to have a wide variety of dogs needing homes - why you should think this unusual, much less suspicious, totally defeats me!

SeduLOUs

missbiggles1 wrote: »

I've never known any rescue kennels not to have a wide variety of dogs needing homes - why you should think this unusual, much less suspicious, totally defeats me!

The kennels local to me are 90% staffies, 9% general crossbreeds, and 1% other 'pure' breeds where the owner has passed away and there's nowhere for the dog to go.