The Paw project UK

Scorpio33

Hi. Has anyone adopted from here: https://thepawprojectuk.com/

We are wanting to adopt a dog, but not sure how legitimate they are? Has anyone got any experiences with them?

sheramber

Never hears of them. 

They say all the right words on the website but that doesn't mean they follow through or they don't.

There have been many reports of rescues making such claims but it not happening when there were problems.

You may get an idea of how genuine they are by having a chat.  Make a list of all the points you wan to check.


Good luck if you do go ahead. 

Is there any particular reason you have chosen that rescue?

Scorpio33

Its my other half saw a dog on thier facebook page that she likes. They seem to be ok to me?

sheramber

Scorpio33 said:

Its my other half saw a dog on thier facebook page that she likes. They seem to be ok to me?

As I said speak to them and ask lots of questions.

Is the dog in the UK? If it is, is it in foster and has been assessed.

If the dog is being brought from abroad direct to you than be more cautious.

If it is in a kennel how has it been assessed for living in a house. Some of these dogs are quite feral and need a lot os adjusting to live in a domestic setting.
Can you cope with settling in a dog who is nervous after a long journey : being  cooped up in van, a totally alien environment to them. 
They say back up is available. What is that back up? 

UK rescues have  had to step in when placements have broken down and the original rescue refuse to take the dog back or threaten to return it to the country it came from.

If you have the experience / are prepared o deal with any problems that arise  then go for it, but with your eyes open.

There are some very sad cases in  Eastern bloc countries where attitudes to animals are very different. There is very little animal care from the authorities.The volunteers have an uphill battle.

My son lives in Romania with his Romanian fiance and I know from  her how bad the situation is there.

SensibleSarah

I'd be wary to be honest. Reading what is on their site and FB page, they aren't a rescue as such, with premises and a way to provide back up to the dogs they bring over if things don't work out. Anyone who will deliver a foreign rescue dog directly to you off a van, with no UK assessment of the dog first, and no time and space to decompress from the trauma of the 3-5 day journey before they meet their new owner, is not someone I would adopt from. 

Personally, I'd never adopt a dog I hadn't already met in person, taken for a walk etc and seen in the current owner or fosterer's home with my own eyes. Falling in love with a photo/video of a dog is easy to do - but it doesn't really give you a good view of the dog's real character etc. Not saying that you can do that in a quick meet and greet either, but it does give you more to go off and means you can ask questions of the person who really does know the dog well.

Sadly, a rescue dog brought from abroad with no back up if things don't work out has a very low chance of having a happy ending. Many end up being passed from unsuitable situation to unsuitable situation and lots are put to sleep, especially if they have any quirks or trauma (which most understandably do) and can end up in worse circumstances than they were before they came to the UK at all. 

One of my dogs is a romanian rescue. He was brought over at 4 months of age by a UK rescue that work with a shelter in Romania, then went into foster in the UK for a few weeks so he could be assessed before matching with the right kind of home. His adopter's circumstances later changed so he ended up needing a new home at 10 months, which is where I came onto the scene. Having learned quite a lot about how some 'rescues' operate with foreign dogs since then, I would never recommend the direct rehome route to anyone - there is so much that can go wrong! 

Personally OP, I'd recommend that you stick to a local rescue instead that keeps their dogs in foster homes if possible, or at the very least does a proper assessment of the dog before rehoming. Do you have a Dog's Trust near you? Or local independent rescues? 

TripleH

I have a friend who worked for a similar organisation. She stopped after having concerns about the long-term benefit of animals and because she got dropped in messy situations by poor organisation.

There was a blind kitten who kept getting rehomed by the charity to those wanting an Instagram pet but not gearedup to handling a blind cat. We would have adopted at a shot knowing ours would welcome in a lost soul but that there would be issues along the way....

elsien

If you want to see the time and patience needed with a Romanian rescue, have a look at #sophiefromromania on Twitter.

They tend to be traumatised, shut down, scared, never lived in a house, and need an awful lot of time and patience. All my dogs have been rescues but I wouldn’t have the time or the patience for the level of help that some of these dogs need. If you’re going into it do it with your eyes wide open.

Ms_Dee

I'd be cautious of any rescues you aren't aware of, but there are loads out there so it would be possible. 
I couldn't find anything bad about them, but also couldn't find much information other than their site and social media that they exist.

How you can do some research of a charity...
Search the website through Google and add scam after it, this brings up nothing, which is promising.
Search the website on: https://www.urlvoid.com/
Search the website on: https://urlscan.io/
These tell me that the server is located in Germany, it hasn't detected it as a scam site, but it hasn't detected it as anything either.
I like to check online reviews, specifically Trustpilot for most sites.
No reviews left on Trust Pilot: https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/thepawprojectuk.com
Check the website itself to see if it adds up: 'The Paw Project UK was founded in August 2021 by Simone' and the site domain was registered in Sept 2021 which could be correct. 
You can also search photos on Google Images and TinEye to see if they appear anywhere else on the internet, this can help make sure the staff members aren't just stock images and the staff names match etc. No matches is positive. 
Also check the Gov website to see if it is a registered charity: https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-search I couldn't find them but it would be easier with more information. They might not be a UK registered charity, I'd ask for their charity number and see their response.

I'm not saying to avoid them but I'm saying please be very cautious of anyone, especially where money is involved too. 

Best of Luck!

jenny_merch

I adopted with the paw project last November.  From start to finish the process was professionally run. My dog Dana came from Bulgaria.  She was spayed, chipped,  health checked and vaccinated and came with a passport.  Our vet agreed all was in order.  We were given a brief resumee of her life and approx age.  She had been tied up since a small puppy,  never lived in a home and when at 2 years became too boisterous, she was sent to the kill shelter.  She was rescued by the local worker who assessed her,  had her treated and then advertised her with the uk charity.  From the day we sponsored her until today,  10 months , we have been given help and support when needed, and it was explained to us that it could take up to a year for her to truly adapt. 
She arrived within 1 hour of the expected time.  We tracked her journey across Europe.  She was nervous on arrival, but soon settled.  But it was obvious she had never been trained but was intelligent.  Luckily we are retired and have invested some time in her and within days she walker calmly on a lead,  was house trained,  and started to calm. 
She is a lovely dog,  and we are lucky to have her.  All the owners from our vanload have a page,  where we swap information and updates.  
I think paw project is a well organised, reliable, caring and professional organisation,  and I would willingly adopt from them again.  
As a lifelong rescue dog owner, Dana is no better or worse than a UK rescue dog.  All dogs are different,  and it's up to the owner to bring out the best in them.  With the help of Paw project and the wonderful Luca in  Bulgaria,  we are very pleased we were able to save this dear soul from death. 

Scorpio33

Just to update on this - the paw project have been amazing! Our dog, Teddy is now a permanent member of our household and is very loved and is a very lovable dog. He has simply been perfect and you would not of thought he was a rescue dog. Can't recommend enough if others are looking for someone to adopt from.

JuliaThom11

I find it rather concerning when someone posts to ask a question about an organisation and some people take it upon themselves to write lengthy, critical responses of said organisation based on... nothing at all. Just random opinions. The OP asked if anyone had any experience of The Paw Project, not if anyone had unfounded opinions based on NO experience of them.

I have adopted a dog from The Paw Project so allow me to share my own experience. 

I found the site on Facebook. There are many charities focused on homing dogs in Romania. The situation over there for dogs is absolutely dire. A very few people who do love animals in the country have set up shelters and as soon as they can rehome a dog several more are found to replace them. Many of these dogs have never lived in houses (though it's amazing how quickly they can adapt). The charities support the shelters to rehome the dogs. You do need to do your research so well done for asking. I call them charities; I've no idea if they have charitable status, but there are many charities out there that have not gone through the process of registering as a charity YET. This does not mean they are not honest or effective. If registered charitable status is important to you, you can contact the Paw Project to ask. 

The Paw Patrol is run by some people (mostly women) in Britain via Facebook. They liaise with shelters in Macedonia and Romania to arrange the adoption of dogs, and sometimes cats, and they ensure the animals are vaccinated, health checked and spayed/neutered if old enough. They post pictures of the dogs and puppies with as much information as they have. 

I adopted Chester in February 2023. He was approx 2-3 months old when found with his sister on the streets and taken to a shelter. I went through a virtual home check and completed some adoption forms. I paid £450, I think (can't exactly remember!). That covered Chester's vaccinations, pet passport, microchipping and transport. All documents arrived with Chester.

Chester was 4.5 months old when he arrived. He was smelly, scared and anxious. He'd endured a 4 day journey in the back of a van. It is a big undertaking, but 4 months on and he's settled in really well. Paw Project prepared me for the reality with lots of information and advice by pdf and they are available for chats online.

Not every dog from Eastern Europe is #sophiefromromania but some are. Many of these dogs do require some support from behaviourists once they arrive. The Paw Project do give you a lot of honest information about the dogs but you can never quite know what to expect. It's a wonderful thing to do though and I'd not be without my pup. You can continue to go to them for advice and support and, they offer full rescue back up, but admit it can take several weeks for them to find a foster home. It's not something anyone should do without a great deal of thought and commitment.