Here’s everything you need to know about rescuing a dog while in the UK.
Everybody who has ever looked into it knows that rescuing a dog while in the UK is not the easiest thing. Places like Battersea and Dogs Trust have relatively few dogs, and the dogs they do have are oversubscribed. However, recent years have shown a growth in the number of shelters the UK has to offer, which makes the option of adopting locally much more viable. Depending on the type of shelter, they
ome even import dogs from abroad, so you are getting both options in one, though this depends on the type of rescue.
Historically, it was almost impossible to get a rescue dog in the UK, so shelters abroad (such as in Eastern Europe) saw the demand and started facilitating adoptions to the UK, including organising transportation, dog passports, and vaccines. Therefore it is not necessarily more complicated to rescue from abroad, in fact, it can be even easier (with the dog delivered to your door!).
This means that two options are available to you if you decide to rescue a dog: you can either adopt from the UK or abroad. I don’t particularly recommend one over the other, they are both incredibly valid options and honestly, I looked at rescues all over for the perfect dog, and mine happened to be in North Macedonia!
That being said, there are pros and cons to each choice.
Pros for within the UK (Cons for Abroad):
1. You can meet the dog! This is a huge one. Having the ability to go to the rescue centre before officially adopting a dog, meeting them and assessing their personality, is a huge plus. I adopted mine from a picture on Facebook! Having the chance to meet them will give you an indication as to behaviour, energy levels, aggression, socialness, etc. If you can, go back more than once to meet your potential dog to get a better sense before you adopt!
2. You can view the rescue. This means that if the rescue is local to you, you can view the rescue before you decide to adopt from them, to ensure that you are happy with the standard of care that is being taken with the dogs before choosing to support the organisation.
3. Local Rescue Back-Up Packages. Most rescue organisations provide adopters with post-adoption support packages, including advice on helping the dog settle in and training. Of course, this is best offered if the rescue is local to you, however this can all be done remotely as well, so this is not absolutely essential.
4. Easy Transport for Your Dog. When you choose to adopt locally, this means that your dog has a far easier journey to get to you than if they were travelling from abroad. This saves them a lot of stress and will help them to settle into your home more quickly. However, long term this should not impact on your dog’s well-being or relationship with you.
5. You have to wait for less time. As the dogs are already in the UK, trans-continental transport does not have to be arranged, which can take a long time, meaning your dog can come home sooner after you have chosen them.
6. Costs! Rescue dogs cost far less than breed dogs, that is known, but they still do come with a small cost, as it is expected that you will cover the dog’s costs while in the rescue organization (normally around 300), plus sometimes a donation to the rescue. Though UK rescues may request more of a donation than ones abroad, you will not have to pay the travel costs associated with bringing a dog to the UK from, let’s say, Eastern Europe (also around 300), meaning the price to rescue a dog is cheaper from the UK, albeit marginally.
7. Best of both worlds? More and more rescue organisations are appearing across the UK who rehome dogs from the UK but also bring dogs over to the UK from abroad, meaning that you can still support rescue organisations abroad and have your pick of many different types of dogs, but you can also benefit from all of the above pros to rescuing in the UK.
Cons for within the UK (Pros for Abroad):
1. Very competitive. This is the biggest issue with getting a dog from a UK rescue. As these rescues are big fish in a small pond (rather than small fish in a big pond, as it is abroad), there may be multiple (many!) people interested in the same dog (especially if it is a puppy!). The organisation will then choose the most suitable applicant – which means that if you are not an ideal adopter (i.e. if you have kids, work full time, travel often, or have a small garden) then it will be harder to get chosen.
2. Very demanding. For the same reasons as above, these rescues can afford to request higher standards in a potential adopter than otherwise may be the case, including that you have a fenced-in garden, that someone will be home with the dog nearly all the time (which means no one who works from an office!), no young kids, and that you take time off work to help your new dog adjust, to name a few. This is of course to ensure that dogs go to the best home possible, but it can mean that if you are not the ideal applicant (I wasn’t either, don’t worry!), it can be hard to find a rescue organization that will let you adopt in the UK.
3. Better funded. This can be a pro and a con but I am going to put it as a con as it means that they are more easily able to meet their dogs’ needs, whereas many rescue organisations abroad struggle to stay open, meaning that when you adopt from them you are helping them to continue to stay open and provide their crucial services to more dogs.
4. Often have limited dogs. As there are less stray dogs in the UK than there are abroad, there are less dogs in shelters here, meaning that there can be more limited choice, even taking into consideration all of the shelters at once. Abroad, however, there are thousands of dogs looking for homes, meaning your even more likely to find what you are looking for.
5. Behaviour/health issues. Due to the fact that there are fewer stray dogs here, the dogs that rescues often have available (excluding those that import foreign dogs) are often given up because they have behavioural issues or health issues. This is not across the board for any means and it should not deter you from looking at your local rescues, but it is definitely something to bear in mind.
Conclusion
That is not an exhaustive list, every organization is different regardless of where they’re located, but this gives you a general sense of what to expect from your experience rescuing from an organization from the UK or abroad, and will help inform your decision about where to look. Again, I recommend searching for the right dog first and foremost, which could come from anywhere. Check out our list of recommended rescue organisations in the UK and abroad here.