rescue back in the day

 

I usually like to post positive articles but the fact that the rescue situation is getting worse everyday is something that cannot be ignored

 

Rescue Back in the Day

 

I can remember many years ago – and I do mean many – that ‘rescue kennels’ were not the norm.  The RSPCA is almost 200 years old and was the one most people knew about, chasing them in age is Battersea and the NCDL (now the Dog’s Trust), both well-established but not familiar names to most people ‘back in the day’.  The age of the smaller rescue kennels began to materialise some fifty years ago, they were mainly breed specific and few in numbers.

The dogs that needed rescue spaces were also very different then. They were dogs that genuinely needed rescuing, stray dogs, abused dogs, neglected dogs, all in need of tender loving care and a good permanent home. The small percentage that came from pet, or companion (as I prefer to call them), homes were usually due to family bereavement. Handing a dog in to rescue that was badly behaved or biting would have been met with guidance on how to train the dog. But ‘back in the day’ things were very different, and forgive me if this doesn’t sit well with some but it’s a fact that people only got a dog after very careful thought, children had to learn to respect the dog, and it was brought up as a well-mannered member of the family. The purchase price of a pup, as a companion, was small enough for it not to be very profitable for breeding, the choices of dog food were small, pet shops were few and far between and they sold food, beds, collars and leads, there may have been a ball or a dog toy but the emphasise was on providing what a dog needed and not on how much money could be made. And, dare I say it, there were no designer dogs, one breed crossed with another and costing a fortune. If a dog had a problem people didn’t rush off for trainers, behaviourists, canine psychologists, etc., They worked it out for themselves. Dog clubs were for like-minded people to get together with well mannered dogs to exchange tips and make new friends.

I know times change and nothing ever stays the same but, before I am shouted at for being a spoil sport or for not understanding how the modern dog world works, let’s have a look at what we have today.  The dogs coming into rescue are mainly from private homes where they have been bought with little knowledge of how to look after them. The dogs have been given everything that could be purchased at the pet shop but they have not been taught good manners or respect, they are like unruly, bad-mannered children! Breeders, and pet shop owners and dog traders (yes, they exist) are making money. Trainers and behaviourists are making money, some deservedly so and others because they take money but don’t solve the problems. Designer breeds are making a fortune, shock fact, whatever the breed they are dogs, they are not super models. And what happens when a dog is worth a fortune? Enter the new breed that is a major the threat, the dog thief!

As with any changes some are good and some are not so good, but the problem with the changes in dogs and rescue is that those dogs have never been given a choice. They don’t ask to be born, they don’t ask to become a ‘special’ breed, they aren’t born wanting to compete and they aren’t born destructive with furniture or biting. If they are no bred compatibly its not their fault, if they don’t win or look perfect, its not their fault, if they are stolen and end up with a life of misery ITS NOT THEIR FAULT. I don’t have an answer – well I do but it would never be allowed to happen – but I do know that dogs that really do need rescuing from a life of neglect, abuse or consistent breeding often struggle to get a rescue space because the kennels are full of dogs being ‘rescued’ from homes.

It’s time for pet stores to stop trying to sell a new dog owner everything imaginable that they don’t need, for trainers/behaviourists, that don’t have the experience to solve a problem to admit it, for breeders to only breed for replacement stock to keep a good line going, and not to do it ‘commercially’, e.g. make a living from bitches turning out endless litters of puppies. It’s time for many more changes if we want to be the nation of dog lovers we used to be known as.

Will it happen? Probably not in my time and I find that so sad because although no spring chicken I hope to be around for a long time yet, and I really can’t see a lot of the dogs in the UK getting a better deal in that time.

Comments

  1. John Tompkins20 February 2022 at 14:41

    a lot of those inexperienced trainers/behaviourists are working at rehoming centres and making a real mess of it. The judge potential owners without ever speaking to them or meeting them.

    ReplyDelete

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