Ok, horrible topic but has to be considered. (Apologies - am a bit down from thinking about this, please can someone give me some light?)

I live alone with my two dogs (14 & 8). Should I (God forbid!) be hospitalised or worse, I am preparing profiles of them to stick on the front of my fridge. By contract, they should return to their breeder 5 hours’ drive away. My family live 5 hours’ drive in a different direction. No rescues, including breed specific or breed club rescues, are accepting new dogs.

Friends and neighbours - would possibly care short term, but long-term for an infected person’s dogs? My family might take them on in the short-term, but probably not long-term, and travelling to collect them might be problematic (for the police if no-one else).

The only “official” information I can find is that the local authority is responsible for the care of the pets of such people. I haven’t dared ask them yet what that would mean, kennels I guess, or the pound (at best).

Who among the breeders here would regard travel to collect a dog they bred, whose owner had been stricken by this plague, as essential travel, and would so collect?

Or is euthanasia the best or only answer?

I am virtually in the same situation as, although my husband is still living, he is an ex stroke patient and has to be watched all the time.   He's mobile but has cog.reasoning problems.  We have no children to step in.  Thankfully unlike before when all our hounds were home-bred, our current two were bought-ins.

I have already made arrangements with somebody in my main breed to take them (she lives roughly 10 miles away), with the breeder of my Whippet, to be involved.  My neighbours have contact names and numbers.    As time has gone on (and my Basset's health has deteriorated) I honestly believe he'd be best euth. as I don't think anybody would take him on.  He's 10.5 and my Whippet 11 (and other than her corns, in good health, so far).  Obviously I hope nothing like that happens, but I don't think my husband would be ok to look after them.  He'd be hard put to look after himself, to be honest.   Oh and the breeder of my Basset has vanished off the face of the earth.   I've not had contact with her for years and she lives/lived? the other side of the country in any case.

I believe everybody should have arrangements in place for the 'what if's' that may so often happen!!   Once done, we can forget about that sad sitution!!

Have you though about joining a local dog walking facebook page? You might find a local dog lover that you could make a reciprocal arrangement with, if either of you go into hospital the other will look after the ill persons dogs. Doesn't even have to be a dog walking page, just post on your local community page. A friend of mine done this and actually made good friends out of it too.

Whilst getting through the bathroom, I thought again about your situation (sorry if my post wasn't very helpful!!).   If either or both of your dogs are purebred, most Breed Clubs have Rescues and it might be a good idea, perhaps, to contact them to see if they can help, or make suggestions.   I would just say that hard as it is, with elderly dogs it might be kinder to have them put down, terrible as it is to think about!   I know this would have to be a decision I'd need to make with my Basset as he is now.   If he can't end his days by MY fireplace.

About a month ago I thought of this and phoned my local kennels where the dogs sometimes go and asked if she would pick them up if I became very ill. OH has alzheimers. Then it would give my daughter a breathing space to sort something out. She lives 200 miles away. Whether the kennels would still be able to do this now that it has all become so much worse I do not know, but I did try to think about it. the breeders I hope would do their best to find good homes.

Thank you all very much for your suggestions.

Where I am with this at present is:
1. Do my best to avoid getting ill in the first place (and avoid hospitalisation if at all possible)
2. Contact their breeder for their input, including discussion of euthanasia (the 14 year old has some chronic health conditions which may make him difficult to rehome)
3. Talk to neighbours and dog-loving friends about temporary feeding/watering/letting out (assuming that if I have the disease, my dogs might well be regarded as “contaminated (soft surfaces)”)
4. Contact council dog warden to see what they can add
5. The breed club website states that they are not taking in any more for rehousing, however they may have some useful suggestions

Depending on the results of the above, a further action plan may need to be developed. Since Admin have red-starred this, I will update further when there’s anything useful to add.

I saw a timely advert from RSPCA promising to look after your dogs and find them a home if you pass away. I am aware that RSPCA is a dirty word in some quarters but this might be worth looking into. Cannot see dog warden being much help.
Louise

Be very careful when signing up to the RSPCA Home for Life Scheme. The wording had been changed & now reads

"The Home for Life scheme means that, in the event of your death, we'll care for them,then do all we can to find them a happy home and someone special to look after them"

Which basically means if they cannot rehome your pet, it will be be PTS

The wording used to be" and we will find them a happy home", however this tied them into keeping unhomable(in their eyes) pets for the rest of their lives. Unhomable can be because of age, manageable health conditions, unpopular breed etc

I personally know of one owner, who signed up under the old wording, who sadly passed away suddenly after the wording was changed & whose 9 month old puppy was presented to a vet the day after she died for destruction by the RSPCA inspector, on the grounds of not being homeable. They made no attempt to rehome the dog taking straight from the owner's home to the vet. Fortunately the vet did not comply pointing out even under the new wording, they had made no effort with the dog & had no grounds to destroy the dog. As it happened the owner's son got involved & adopted the dog via the vet, who took the dog from the Inspector & got him signed over to them.

Just a heads up re relying on the RSPCA Home for Life Scheme

Please, do not give instructions for your dogs to go to the RSPCA. Despite their much advertising, they are not committed to keeping your dogs alive. The Dogs Trust are a different story.

I am a breeder, live along and I have 6 dogs. The same concern has crossed my mind.

First I would contact the breeder of each of your dogs. If you've signed a contract then that's the person you should contact, for, god forbid, the worst happens. Just discuss and form a plan with them. That's what I'd expect of my pup owners, and some have already been in touch . But, for the short term, should you become ill with the virus and need to be hospitalised, you still need to have a plan. I would be looking towards local friends or neighbours that you trust, totally trust. Discuss with them. Once you have a person/persons in place, inform them of where details about food, feeding etc will be kept (I have instructions on my fridge!), you also need to write down a briefing of each dog, dos and don'ts. And, of course, they need to know where a key will be kept.

Planning ahead results in an easy mind. It's been a bit mammoth for me but, I have short term, and long term, plans in place. I am not going to be ill 'cause it's too difficult to be so, but, should I succumb to this hideous virus I am happy that my dogs are going to be looked after, and to my wishes. Stay safe and stay well.

Hope all goes well for everyone at this worrying time.