Starlight Barking

[garrick]

Hello to all

Forgive me for putting this up because I know pretty much everyone on the forum is probably doing this. But just as a sort of 'belt and braces' exercise, may I stick in a gentle reminder about getting the message out about the dogs on individual Facebook pages, Twitter feeds and good old word of mouth as much as possible at the moment?

Do you remember the Starlight Barking in 101 Dalmations? One dog told another two, who told another five and so on.....we've got the modern day equivalent of that with Retweets, Facebook likes and chats in the supermarket.

The more people who are aware but are also asked to make others aware, the more chance all the dogs have. I'm thinking especially of Tyson and Bruce who really need us now.

I know the situation at CDH is pretty desperate so I'm nagging any followers I have on Twitter to keep pushing the message out. Wouldn't it be lovely if CDH had kennel space to spare over Christmas?

As I said, I know so many are already doing this - and doing a heck of a lot more than me - but I just wanted to flag it up, just so that no stone's left unturned.

Thanks for listening and have a great Christmas everybody - but especially all the wonderful pooches

[gsdcardiff]

I know that CDH can't put the dogs out to foster homes but is there any way that they could go to foster homes via places like Hope Rescue if people were ready to step forward with a foster place.

[prestyl]

Is there a statutory reason preventing CD fostering dogs out. Surely it is easier to find a foster place than a permanent home. A fostered dog will provide a more settled dog for adoption. In addition many fosterers fail at the first hurdle and adopt the fostered dog.

Known term fostering of dogs can be a very useful tool for smoothing out the peaks and troughs throughout the year.

Surely fostering or even loaning out to trusted and competent friends is a better option than euthanasia? Any thoughts?

[garrick]

I think it's a great idea & I'd be very happy to foster a dog from CDH over Christmas. I know they have to be very careful - the dogs are precious after all and they can't risk anything happening to them. However, perhaps 8 or 10 trusted volunteers might just be able to buy the dogs & the staff a bit of breathing space.
I have no doubts that the Friends committee would scrutinise everyone very carefully. Ultimately the staff & Friends have to do what they feel is right - but I'd love to help if it means no pts.
It'd be one house guest I'd be delighted to see this Christmas!

[gsdcardiff]

Me to, I'd foster for CDH. I love seeing the updates about the long termers going on a home visit and think that is absolutely fab. To see the dogs in a normal environment can give a real insight into their true character. This could really be helpful for the rehoming. Surely there must be a way to do this such as us asking Hope to take them and a group of us agreeing to take them on foster from Hope.

[Baglady]

Firstly, thank you to everyone who has shared our recent 'Dogs for Rehoming' poster on Facebook. It has had a staggering 1180 shares and hopefully will have generated some very positive interest in our dogs.

On the question of fostering, it's much more complex for a pound than for a rescue.....

If a rescue is full and has no kennel space, and no available fosterers, they can stop taking dogs in. Rescues can also decline to accept dogs if they are deemed unrehomable due to behavioural issues. The pound is obliged to take in every stray, regardless of age, type, temperament, and regardless of whether or not they have available kennel space.

In a previous life, I used to foster. Every dog I fostered stayed with me until a forever home was found, but a significant number of dogs were returned by fosterers to the rescue for various reasons.

If a foster placement does not work out and the pound is full - where does the dog go? If the kennels at CDH are full at the end of a 'known term' foster period, what happens then? The Council cannot keep kennel spaces empty for foster dogs who may be returned, that simply couldn't happen.

We and the staff at CDH have tried hard to find rescue spaces, especially for Bruce and Tyson, two of our long termers, but with no success. ALL rescues, certainly in Wales, are in a similar position to CDH, a predominance of staffies, and simply not enough homes.

Some local rescues have been able to offer spaces to our non bull breeds in the past, we are grateful to Friends of the Animals RCT, Hope Rescue, The Oldies, Four Paws, and Little Dog Rescue, all of whom have taken dogs from us previously, but they, like us, are struggling with the number of bull breeds in the stray dog population.

We will be keeping in close contact with the Home on a daily basis over the coming weeks, and if there is any possibility that any of our dogs may be at risk due to space issues, we will absolutely explore every avenue rather than pts, including home-respite if the Council will agree, and we will keep everyone informed.

Thank you all for caring so deeply

[seonlasil]

This is really worrying a lot of us vols. fingers crossed we can sort something out

[prestyl]

Until puppy farming and iresponsible breeding are properly controlled the only solution is to have unlimited kennel spaces for every unwanted dog and their numbers will grow exponentially. Obviously not practical. I am very angry that politicians are not prepared to grasp this nettle and sort the problem. Of course I prefer dogs to politicians because dogs do not lie nor do they pretend.

It is good to know that there are a lot of lovely caring people out there.