Adoption Procedure Update January 10th 2021

The UK is in a national lockdown once again following a long period of us being in high tiers. The latest lockdown isn’t likely to end anytime soon, we have more dogs coming into rescue so we feel we need to try to carry out some adoptions as safely as possible.

We had hoped to be able to open up applications to everyone but this isn’t going to be the case due to the lockdown and ongoing rise in cases in the UK.

Travel restrictions

The current guidelines state that members of the public should not travel but as a rescue we are allowed to travel for our ‘charitable purpose’.

We have decided we will revert back to transporting the dogs to their meet and greets as we did last year. Sadly this means distance is of course an issue, our fosterers have their own dogs and their other foster dogs to consider so cannot leave their homes for too long.

We have decided an acceptable distance for us to be able to transport a dog for adoption is maximum of 90 minutes.

This should work out well as it did before for most of the dogs in foster that are ready for their forever homes now. We will begin to post the dogs biographies over the coming days. As always please do read their biographies carefully and only apply if you can fulfil their needs. Some of the dogs will need further behaviour training following adoption and if the case you will need to ensure you can access these services in your local area via telephone or video call.

Home checks

We trialled Zoom home checks last year and actually we found them to work very well. As a rescue it is better for our own team to view the property and gardens ourselves. We were able to ask extra questions and answer questions during the home check, something that isn’t possible when we tap into a home check network.

We ask the potential adopter for 2 forms of identification and then cross check their address via Street View. We then ask them to start the video call from outside the front of the property so we can ensure it is the same house as on their ID.

We are able to fully check the home and garden including fences, gates and any unsafe items that could prove to be hazardous. As with any ‘in person’ home check some homes are unsuitable and this way we can quickly inform the applicant of the outcome.

Two of our team are present for each home check usually one of our adoption team and the foster parent.

Adoption procedure

Our current adoption procedure, please be aware Covid-19 is an ever-evolving situation so we may need to make further updates to the procedure.

Things to note

Although we are in lockdown, veterinary services remain open to help owners and their pets. Even though all of the rescue dogs will have recently seen a vet you will need to register the dog with your vet immediately. They will advise if this needs to be in practice or over the phone.

We do not accept generic applications or keep a waiting list as each dog is so different. Please do not complete an application form until a suitable dog becomes available.

Please can we remind not to telephone the rescue regarding adoptions at any time, you are more than welcome to email us with any questions- [email protected]