Not all shelters are equal

ADOPT A DOG: Be sure to shop around.

DEAR David,

It seems to me you are the perfect person to address this issue if you have not already.

We Brits tend to be natural animal lovers, dogs in particular. But do some animal rescue organisations take advantage of this?

There is a huge inconsistency within the animal rescue community in my opinion. Some will ask for a donation of whatever you can afford and you will get a dog that is neutered, inoculated with all legal papers in place, including a full pet passport and microchip.

Others can place you in a position where you have to pay for a considerable part of this and stipulate what you are expected to pay as a donation to the charity. I recently heard of the situation of some friends in La Marina on the Costa Blanca whereby they fostered a dog to help a charity out in an emergency and paid all the costs for feeding it.

They subsequently became very attached to it and decided to adopt. It was only then that they found themselves having to pay for injections, all documentation, a chip registration change and neutering at a considerable financial cost.

What do you think about this? For my part, if someone decides to adopt a dog they should be sure to shop around and learn exactly what is involved as there appears to be no obvious guidelines that ensure a standard and consistent approach in governing these charities, meaning they could end up paying more than expected.

Joan Terry, Alicante

Hello Joan,

I am of course more than aware of situations in which some wonderful people devote their time and often their own money to save animals’ lives.

They have to pay rent and certainly various types of food, cleaning materials and of course veterinary assistance.

Animal shelters need money, when we all enjoy holiday and festive fare at Christmas the dogs and cats still need to be fed and cleaned.

For example, Triple A here on the Costa del Sol urgently needs new members to sign up and pay €5 per month and unless they receive help they may have to close, what will they do with the 500 dogs at the shelter?

Support your local rescue shelter once you have checked on their standards

David

 

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