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Lost dogs
It must be terrible to lose a dog and not know what's happened to him or her. Do owners know how the system works and how to find their dog? Some dogs go to the police, others are picked up by the dog wardens, some are brought in by members of the public. Often they are a long way from home so a lost dog enquiry won't necessarily find them. During weekdays, normal working hours, all reported stray dogs are fetched in by the local borough council dog wardens. They're caught and transported to a designated kennels (us in this area). They're photographed, checked for microchips and then booked in. The council has the responsibility for the dog for the next 10 days. During that time, if the owner turns up, he or she can pay a fee to the council and get a Dog Release Form - when we see that, we give the dog to the person producing it. The council have satisfied themselves that this is the proper owner of the dog. After 10 days, if no one has claimed the dog, it's handed over to us. If the council wanted to have the dog destroyed, (because they thought it was dangerous) they could do and we couldn't do anything about it. After the 10th day it's up to us though and we have a non-destruction policy and our focus is 100% on happy endings!
Some of the dogs are a bit screwed up by everything that's happened to them and we have a very laid back R and R programme - recovery and rehabilitation. It usually works. Although it does take a time - we have a little staffi here who is only just o.k. with people she doesn't know - it's taken eight years though!
By the way, Sigmund is still here. One of our volunteers took him for a long walk at the weekend and he loved it. But all the people looking for dogs to adopt passed him by - why? I haven't a clue. He's not overly big. I love the stripes. And his expression and his good nature. I do hope someone comes for him soon.
And the 'wild' dogs? They've settled down a lot - super with us and the blue husky eyes are fathomless - it's call of the wild stuff and I wish they could be taken to somewhere remote and turned loose in a forest. These two would survive and go to live with the wolves maybe. Or they could be trained as sled dogs and work in a team - I bet they'd love that. O.k. I'm just dreaming. What is going to happen to them? I don't know. They are still classed as dangerous dogs by the authorities and their fate is in the balance.
We've had a super young dog brought in this weekend, she's a massive girl, jet black and a bit like a huge wolfhound. She's stressed though - full of milk and obviously just had puppies. Where are my babies? She paces up and down and wants to get out and run back to ..... where? Wherever her puppies are. I guess they're long gone though.
Please come along and have a look through our dog adoption gallery - www.petsamaritans.co.uk
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16/02/08 18:01