21/02/2023
On the day that APDAWG meet to discuss the crisis in UK rescue, there is an ongoing discussion across social media which demonstrates perfectly why the current system of foreign rescue will never solve the root problems.
A TikTok video shows the owner of a UK rescue (currently banned from the importer scheme) illegally entering a property in Romania to remove four week old pups from their shelter. The mother and other stray dogs are present.
A woman whoâs mother lives near the property claims to have been feeding the animals for years before asking the ârescuerâ to remove the pups.
The pups were removed and taken to be rehomed abroad and the mother was left, not neutered and with a male stray ready to be impregnated again.
The rescue claims they couldnât âcatchâ the mother yet the video shows the mother beside the ârescuerâ at their car and in easy reach of the ârescuerâ.
Iâm told other young dogs were also scooped up, believed to be a previous litter from the same bitch, but the older dogs were left in situ.
Personally, I do not understand why, if they had to be moved, the pups and mother were not taken as a group! The mother was friendly and close enough to be caught but they seemed more intent on filming the âbreak inâ to post on social media.
Had they genuinely not been able to catch the mother, bedding for warmth and food could have been supplied until the pups were older! They had shelter and there are means of creating self dispensing feeders which can be refilled when necessary and as the dogs had lived there peacefully for several years, they were obviously not in immediate danger.
As before, this is a scenario I see time and again in Bosnia, Serbia, Romania and no doubt elsewhere. âRescuersâ post of finding litters of pups but rarely the mother. In some cases the mother will genuinely have become spooked and despite the rescuers best efforts she wonât be found but very often they have no interest in the mother, cute pups are easier to rehome and, depending on the transporter, cheaper to transport! Either way, the result is always the same, a fertile, intact bitch left to become pregnant again now her pups have been removed.
Over the years I have spoken with many rescuers both here and abroad and sadly there are those who are short sighted and interested only in importing dogs as the solution. Itâs a rare breed of rescuer who realises that the problem must be addressed in the origin country, especially now with our own rescue crisis.
Recently Iâve been sent several posts from Romania where, for various reasons, shelters have begun to euthanise a larger number of dogs.
Itâs a truly heartbreaking situation and as an animal lover you instinctively want to save every animal from suffering but I also see the bigger picture and that infuriates me!
For over 10 years millions of pounds and Euros have been sent abroad to help with the problem of stray animals. Hundreds of thousands of dogs have left Romania alone to travel to other parts of Europe and the UK yet numbers in public shelters have not decreased.
Despite hundreds of fundraisers to âbuild sheltersâ, how many registered, well constructed shelters adhering to local requirements exist abroad? How many engage with the local community, have open days or educate locally? How many free run sanctuaries have been built for dogs to safely live out their lives?
Two thirds of the dogs in Monks Bunks were apparently foreign and dumped there with behavioural issues! Wouldnât those dogs have been happier living out their life running free in a Romanian or Serbian sanctuary rather than shut in a excrement strewn kennel or dead?
Does anybody in rescue honestly believe that importing van load after van load of dogs is, alone, going to make a difference? Time has proven it doesnât work! The number of strays has not decreased despite a dramatic increase in numbers being exported and yet few see any reason to change or they âclaimâ to be making a difference by neutering a minimal amount of dogs each year.
Every rescue I have spoken with acknowledges that foreign rescue is rife with scams, dogs being bred for rescue, scenarios being staged for social media to elicit more donations, paperwork faked and dogs being abused and killed whilst in the care of a rescue.
Years ago people were in denial and refused to accept that rescue was anything other than amazing animal loving people helping to alleviate the suffering of animals abroad.
How many more years will it take before people say enough is enough and demand that action is taken to ensure the suffering of these animals for profit or vanity projects is brought to an end?
It says much that some of the better shelters built abroad have been financed by private money (proving it can be done) but these tend to operate as collection centres. They are rarely created by animal lovers and instead are businesses very aware of the vast profit to be made.
Likewise the transporters who have financed the purchase of vans, sometimes several and at a cost of circa 30k per van.
These businesses need the flow of rescue dogs to continue otherwise their investments will be worthless.
Itâs my belief that this has contributed to the increase in posts screaming out for fosters, sometimes the dog is on-route and still has nowhere to go and of rescues continuing to import despite having dogs already here in kennels or with fosters, the conveyor belt must keep turning or the whole system will collapse.
And what better way to keep it turning than to ensure a constant supply of cute pups.
Cat The Vet RSPCA (England & Wales) Dr Lisa Cameron MPDogs TrustAnimal and Plant Health AgencyDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Marc the Vet
