Dog rescue in the UK at the moment is at crisis point. All of the rescue centres are full , the council poiunds are under enormous stress and more dogs are being dumped on a daily basis.
So what can be done about it and why is it happening?
We have made great advancements over recent years with legislation surrounding microchipping and responsible dog ownership, however we are still stuck in this loop.
The Covid pandemic no doubt has a massive impact on the pet market. People found themselves forced to be at home and felt this was the right time to seek canine companioinship. The knowck on effect of this was massive, the puppy market sored, with huge prices being charged for puppies and demand far exceeded the market. This lead to a boom in breeding by both reputable, family and disreputable breeders. These new pups were then brought home to an artificially quiet environment and the situation prevented adequate socialising. Roll on a couple of years, people go back to work and we have a large number of dogs with an inability to cope with change and with significant behaviour problems, new owners who cant cope but also now simply dont have the time so they look to rehome. Simultaneously the demand for puppies reduces back to a normal level and many breeding dogs now find themselves turned out as they are no longer useful.
Rescues are swamped and the rehoming situation is further complicated by competion from foreign rescues bringing dogs into the country deemed to be in greater need of rescue than the UK bred dogs.
Is there a solution ? The answer is I dont know. I feel we need more education for owners to spot and manage behavioural issues, more control over importing dogs and more support from vets, pounds and other charities to work with these dogs .
LULU'S FRIENDS 