The Paw project UK

JuliaThom11

If you have children and have had to watch CBeebies in the last few years, it can be really difficult not to call them the Paw Patrol!  

Onfadh

I have two dogs that I adopted through the Paw Project, and I cannot fault them for their assistance in both cases.

I adopted Cosmo in April 2022, after spending weeks reading up on the organisation and going through all the posts from previous adopters on Facebook. Everything was explained in great detail at every step of the process and my numerous questions were answered patiently and clearly. 

My boy was around 9 months old when he arrived, having been born in the rescue shelter in Romania after his mother was rescued from a kill shelter while pregnant. He was a skinny, smelly scrap of a pup who was terrified of his own shadow. I'm not going to say that his transition into family pet was all hearts and roses, because it wasn’t. It required hard work on both sides, but has been totally worth it to see him blossom into a confident, loving member of the family. 

In December I then made the decision to Foster Cosmo's sister, Star, who was still in the rescue back in Romania. Having been in the shelter for over a year and a half, her transition was harder on everyone and we hit a few stumbling blocks. Again, The Paw Project were there every step of the way, even when it looked like we were going to have to hand her back. Thankfully those days are behind us and she's now a happy, permanent part of the family. 

I've had rescue dogs from the UK before and Rommies are completely different, especially if they have never lived in a house before. I would urge anyone who is thinking about taking on a dog from abroad to do their research, talk to other adopters and talk to the wonderful ladies from The Paw Project before making any decisions. If you make the decision to go ahead, you will become part of a supportive and knowledgeable community who are more than happy to share experiences and helpful information. 

WSan

I have adopted a dog from Paw project UK recently and I have only good things to say about this rescue.

 The home check was very thorough and I received a lot of information from the volunteers about what to expect from rescuing an over seas dog, which can be very different from a UK rescue dog. The advice I received was sound and professional and I was made aware of rules and regulations to keep the dog safe on arrival, plus all the information I needed for support and advice with behaviour and training,  should I need it when he arrived. 

Tracking information was provided when the dog started his journey to me. I was kept in contact with the drivers on the journey from Macedonia across Europe to my home. He arrived in good health, fully vaccinated and treated for fleas and worms.

After care is brilliant as there is a whole Facebook community of adopters who are available for support and advice, as well as the volunteer admins and organisers.
 It was like joining a new club where everyone shares their experiences and stories. Seeing the photos and reading others stories was so heartwarming.
I would definitely recommend the Paw Project uk as a rescue organisation the whole process was easy and our dog is a wonderful addition to our family. 

southwestdog

I was recommended the Paw project by a neighbour who had a lovely rescue dog from them. She went out of her way to find the details and pass them on to me which I took to be a good sign. I started following them, I was also following a few others. But the Paw project stood out to me.

I saw a dog and thought that’s my dog! There were loads of photos and a video of him. And a very accurate description. If anything, they undersold him!

The whole adoption process was thoroughly efficient and informative. The support is there right from the beginning. and the information for the journey was spot-on. My dog arrived within five minutes of the ETA! 

He was understandably a little bit confused on arrival. But within 12 hours it was like we had in forever. He’s now been with us for two months and he is just the most amazing dog. He loves everybody and every dog, sleeps well at night and loves his cuddles.

 During my home check the worst case scenario of an overseas rescue dog was fully explained to me. And I was expecting to have a dog that would need a lot of time, space and training to make comfortable in the home situation.
I had previously had a dog from a puppy who developed fear aggression due to some bad experiences with other dogs whilst out on walks. So I felt in a good position to cope with anything that might occur with an overseas rescue.
My dog has been with the rescuer from a puppy and is a year old. He has been well taken care of and not mistreated. I can imagine that adopting a dog that has spent a long time on the streets would be a little bit different. So I encourage everybody to research the dogs background.

The Paw project work with a couple of very kindhearted dog loving heroes in Romania. They also rescue a lot of litters and have puppies for rescue.

I chose overseas adoption because could I see that some of these dogs can spend their entire lives in a shelter through no fault of their own. Lovely dogs that deserve a good home. There are not enough, foster placements in the UK to save these dogs. So they can only be booked on the happy bus if somebody is prepared to offer them a home. And maybe it takes a special sort of person to give a home to dog they’ve never met. I thought I can’t change the world, but I can change the world for one dog.

I didn’t even bother trying to rescue from a UK rescue group. Many of my neighbours and friends who are very similar to me, retired with dog experience, really struggled with rescuing a UK dog. Some gave up and bought a puppy, which they didn’t really want to do.

I avidly follow the  Paw project adopters page and the majority of the dogs are not like #SophieFromRomania. And if they were, the support would be there. two months later, my adoption chat is still open, and the ladies regularly check in to see how he’s doing.
Full rescue back up is definitely provided. Simone and the team do the absolute best for all  the dogs that they bring into the UK.

I highly recommend the Paw project and shall be forever grateful because I have the best dog ever.

TWG

We've had our Paw Project pooch for 8 days now, just been to the vets to get her checked out and all good. The support and advice we've had from the charity is outstanding and couldn't say a bad word about them. All you have to remember is your new pooch may not be what you expect when he/she arrives and we've had rescue dogs before from the UK and there are always things that happen. You have to remember give your pooch time and space if that's what he needs and it will be so worth it. And and problems you have ask Paw Project, we have our own chat from our dog aswell as the group chat. Someone is always there to help and guide you. They do a wonderful job in very difficult and stressful situation, hat off to the and well done to them all xx

Mnoee

Anyone else think it's slightly suspicious that today there's been six new members with high praise for this organisation?! 

Glad it worked out for the OP, however! 

southwestdog

Mnoee said:

Anyone else think it's slightly suspicious that today there's been six new members with high praise for this organisation?! 

Glad it worked out for the OP, however! 

Not very helpful!

For your info, a adopter found this thread, while googling the Paw project.
they posted the link onto the adopters Facebook chat group. Some of us adopters thought it would be useful for there to be replies from people who have actually adopted through the Paw project. 

Not just negative Nellies and keyboard warriors with an opinion they want to share. Rather than actually answer the question posted.

Mnoee

southwestdog said:

Mnoee said:

Anyone else think it's slightly suspicious that today there's been six new members with high praise for this organisation?! 

Glad it worked out for the OP, however! 

Not very helpful!

For your info, a adopter found this thread, while googling the Paw project.
they posted the link onto the adopters Facebook chat group. Some of us adopters thought it would be useful for there to be replies from people who have actually adopted through the Paw project. 

Not just negative Nellies and keyboard warriors with an opinion they want to share. Rather than actually answer the question posted.

I did think it may have been linked elsewhere, and people encouraged to post positive reviews, yes. I don't doubt that they're genuine. It just looks bizarre to people who've been using this forum for years - the post hadn't had replies for ages, then six people register just to praise it? That's definitely abnormal for this forum! 

TripleH

@juliathom11 if you read the responses, none of them name the rescue service you had an experience of. They were unaware of it. They also did not say avoid it either. The suggestion was to proceed with caution of the unknown.

It's good that you had a good experience and I will say my friend initially had a good experience with the rescue charity she worked for as a volunteer (she got her second dog from there).

Lul65

I adopted from the Paw Project and it ended in disaster. They advertised a human friendly, lead trained, happy dog who had no dislikes. A deeply traumatised dog was delivered to me. The driver, who she bit, tipped her out of the crate and onto my kitchen floor. I gave her several days to decompress from the journey but it became apparent that she was too traumatised to be touched and there was no way I could get a collar on her. I subsequently found out that her advert that I had initially seen on Facebook was an old one written when the dog was 4 months old. I received her when she was 9 months old and the advert did no longer describe her true self anymore. I called in a dog behaviourist to assess her and he was appalled that The Paw Project described her as happy and friendly. 
I ended up having the dog for a while but was never able to touch her. She hid in the corner of the room for most of the days and nights. I contacted Simone, the founder of the paw project and she was just a dreadful bully who was too quick to blame me....I guess because its easy to blame us unfortunate adopters when things go wrong. My solicitor found out that they are not a charity, they don't have a licence to sell and transport dogs and in his opinion it was all about funding Simone Pattyson's (the founder) lifestyle......I paid her directly for the dog and she refused to give me a refund. I was devastated from the whole experience and  the poor dog had clearly been misold to me.