Adopting a dog

No harm done - I have had a wee fiddle and made an edit that means the photo is still there, but you have to click a button to see it. @Cuttings is highlighting something really important there, and whilst it does distress me, it does also need to be shown I think - we have very high welfare standards in this country generally, so many folks don't realise just how bad things are in other countries.

There have been a few added bonuses to this whole process - firstly, as you both say, knowing that we are bringing that we man into a loving home where the hardest part of his life will be going for a pee outside in winter, and ensuring he is away from those horrors is just lovely. Furthermore, the folk who transported the dogs over have been well fed and watered as they have travelled around the UK (bacon rolls aplenty!) and have also been given TONS of stuff to take home with them as they also work with children and families living in poverty - - so they are taking back everything from toys, sweeties, clothes, bedding right through to cleaning products.

They worked tirelessly to bring them over, sleeping in shifts in the buses whilst the other shifts were driving and looking after the animals and the sheer amount of videos posted along the way was incredible. At each and every drop off, they took photos with the new happy families, and they were often followed soon after by photos of the exploring their new homes. So, it was nice to see folks giving stuff back - the lady who is fostering my wee man even gave them a bed frame!

A final bonus for me was finding and connecting with an old pal and colleague; as this whole thing is done via Facebook Messenger, I had to join up (I am a luddite in that respect and haven't done the Facebook thing) - within a few hours, this old friend saw I was on there and got in touch. We worked together years ago, and although we did so in London, his home was (is) back in Scotland, and he travelled up every weekend to be with his wife and family. His wife got cancer, so he basically resigned on the spot to go and look after her and we lost touch, so it was nice to hear from him again. Better still, his wife's treatment went well and she has been clear a few years now

 

We did try to adopt here in the UK, but the barriers that are being put up by the charities are just nuts. There was one dog in particular who had been in a shelter for some considerable time; beautiful young lad, so we applied. Heard nothing, zilch. And that was the same story across the board. We did have some success with Dogs Trust, who at least spoke to us and had us in to meet dogs but the dogs themselves were not for us - and I am not saying that from being a choosy sod, it was more that they had really complex issues or needs that we would struggle to fulfill; no point in taking on a dog under those conditions as it would mean that the dog wouldn't be getting the best it could get, and that is not what we are about.

Clearly, this particular charity seem to think we are ideally suited, which is nice. hence why we went with them. The other charities can almost start to make you doubt yourself and your abilities as a pet owner, whereas these folks do the opposite.

I don't think I will be using FB a lot (not my bag really), but I can see the benefits for things like this.

 

Got to admit, I am bricking it now about the threat of lockdown. My wee man is sitting less than two hours away, but they cannot yet release him to me and here we are with the lunatics playing fast and loose with our lives again.

 

The law says he has to stay in the place he was delivered to for a minimum of 48 hours (some DEFRA rule apparently) which is the first hurdle - they also want to be sure that he will settle as an only dog and that needs him to be assessed which could take the next couple of days.

The problem is going to arise if the blonde buffoon and his mates impose a lockdown for a month - the danger there is that he bonds with the foster family and that is us stuffed. We're hoping it doesn't go pear shaped, but if it does I am at the point of giving up.

 

The charity are on the documentation as his importer, not me - I think this is because the adoption papers were not signed until Monday of last week and the transfer was starting basically the following day - - the vast majority were delivered to homes where the adoptions had already been agreed and people's details had been registered with the various authorities. There is also the concern on behalf of the charity that he may not do well without the company of another dog, so they want one of their volunteers to assess his behaviour before they finally release him.

The worry now is that it seems clear that the blonde idiot is about to lock us down for a month