Im sure this sort of post has come up before but i just had to air my views. I'll apologise now as this will probably turn into a rant :-)
I've just looked at a few rescue centre websites and am absolutely astonished. I'd say 2/3 of them are staffies (!) and some of the reasons why the animals are there is truly unbelievable; 12 yr old collie - owners are moving abroad!!!!! So why dont they take dog with them? Or not go until they havent got a dog. How can anyone part with a dog like that just cos they want some sunshine. GGrRR, i can feel my blood pressure rising!
Another example; 2 year old whippet; back in centre because owners didn't get on with him. He had some behaviour issues. I should think any dog in rescue has issues. If they were cruelly treated or if they were dumped by owners then its perfectly understandable that it wont be all plain sailing and a certain amount of time will be needed just to show the dog love and attention and reassuring them. Do people not understand???
Just wish money was no object and i didn't have to work, then i could re home all those poor little love's and give them a lifelong home they deserve.
Thanks for listening.x

I think everybody on here gets upset to see the number of dogs in rescues and the reasons why.

Some of the issues that come along people certainly dont understand and wouldnt necessarily have expected.  I myself have rescued two dogs - one had extreme behaviour issues that I had no warning of and never having owned a dog before found it extremely difficult.  I could understand why in this instance people may have given up, the second dog I rescued I was told was fine healthwise but overweight - he turned out to have a severe heart murmur, severe hip dysplasia and severe arthritis  - all meaning large vet bills and medication costs for the rest of his life - again some people would have to return in this case the costs are enormous.

I'm with you and just cannot understand sometimes why there are so many dogs in rescue centres but I have to say I have learnt so much in the last two years about dogs their behaviour and training that up until that time I had not even considered so am not surprised that when people truly believe they are doing a good thing in taking a rescue dog they sometimes regret their decision.

Maxine 

The reason so many dogs are in rescue is simple, too many dogs bred indiscriminately + too few responsible owners = full rescue centres, add to that farmers being paid to diversify in to puppy farming in a certain part of the country and you have a massive problem.

As a rescue coordinator  you'd be amazed at some of the reasons I hear for giving up dogs, best one this year so far, Owner " my dog keeps running off so he has to go" Me "can't you walk him on a lead" Owner "I haven't got one", Me " I can send you one free of charge", Owner " No thanks I don't think dogs should be on leads".

Would be funny if it wasn't true :(

Robert, that is absolutely outrageous. How do you keep your cool with these type of people? When i look at rescue centres i feel guilty for having bought my dog from a breeder. However because of my skin i needed a non moulting dog and unfortunately there are never many of those to be re homed. Always get cats from rescue though so i have done my bit in the past.

I'm sweetness and light on the phone, as soon as I finish the call I go in the garden and smash the place up :D

You shouldn't feel guilty, a rescue dog isn't for every one, I've bought a puppy my self, I wanted specific qualities in my next dog, I could have waited for the right one to come along in rescue but made the decision to buy instead.

Myself I feel a bit guilty about having a pedigree dog when there are so many in rescues but before I got my dog a breed I had wanted to have for 15 years but never thought I would have, we went to rescue homes we needed a puppy because we have cats but you could not get to even see a puppy and the vetting and home check was so strict that we came away feeling very deflated,so my husband said go for it and we got our dog..but this year to give something back on Boxing day me and my boy went on the annual sponsered walk and raised 200.00 for Dogs Trust and we took a bin bag full of food and treats. there were about 200 dogs and owners and everybody had a good time and they all wanted to know about us. So it was just a small gesture to make me feel a bit better, think I will be there again this year !!!

agree with you there Robert - 'keeps knocking children over'/ 'moving house'/ 'allergic'.... oh the times I've had to bite my tongue...
end of the day, I'm just there to help the dogs.. s*d the human beings!

It would break my heart if i had to take any of my animals to a rescue centre. Im sure a few are legit - for example an owners death, but even then if someone in my family died i would do everything in my power to keep the pet. its not the animals fault the owner has died. If i did have to take an animal to be re homed i would be embarassed and ashjamed to say it was because we were moving house. its an absolute disgrace. Robert you deserve a medal to deal with those type of people!

I understand entirely Fred's Mum, but you can always help out by fostering, I know you might think helping one or two won't make a difference but it will certainly make a difference to the one or two you help.

me and my parents tried to get a dog from the rspca, but we were told we weren't allowed one because my parents worked too much. i was 16 and i was at college, but i was only at college for about 4 hours a day so was home a lot. the reasoning for not letting me rescue a dog, was that i was 16 and could quite easily lose interest and give the dog back, but could come back when im 18! surely i could still lose interest (not that i ever would) at 18 or 30 or 55! what really annoyed me was i had just done 2 weeks work experience for them and they knew me. they gave us a list of rescue centres and we phoned the closest one to us, and they basically said the way they rehome is that they decide what dog they have is best suited to us and we dont get much say on breed, size etc! this really p***ed my dad off, so we ended up buying a puppy. needless to day 6 years on i still have that dog and another 2 dogs aswell that i have had from pups. imo 3 dogs who needed a loving home could have had one with me but we weren't even given a chance. i understand they need to do whats best for the dogs when rehoming, but we only got as far as reception, no talking or discussing. rightly or wrongly, i wouldn't go to rspca ever again, mainly out of principal. not saying i wouldn't go to another rescue though as i did work in a boarding kennels that also was part of a rescue and do know how important it is for dogs to have a second chance. i also have heard all the escuses under the sun as to why the owner is giving up the dog, and also why people who had rescued a dog from us bought it back the next day.

My sister in law recently got a gorgeous 12 month old otterhound cross from our local RSPCA. We went with her on one of her visits and at least 80% of the dogs in there were staffies that had been picked up locally. on the estates around the centre I see loads of young families or older teenagers with staffies, in fact I rarely see a different breed around there. I'm sure many are wanted and loved pets but can guarentee many of these owners have not researched the breed or prepared for a dog so when the novelties worn off they end up in rescue. Some of the reasons for some of the dogs being in there is unbelievable e.g pulling on lead and a 10 month old pup was returned for chewing and weeing in the house - ITS A UNTRAINED PUPPY - WHAT DO THEY EXPECT!! It must be frustrating in the 1st place for a dog to come into rescue but when a rehomed dog is returned in must be even worse! I did get my current dog from a breeder but would love our next dog to come from rescue.

Just seen a poor little staffy pup about 12 weeks out walking with his scummy, droopy jeaned, chav owner. No lead on and appeared to have mange around it's face. The pup  tried to approached my dogs but the owner lashed out at the poor nervous little mite. It quickly went back to heel .The lad looked at me as if I should be impressed. The path we were on quickly leads to a busy road so I asked if he was going to put it on a lead " Naa it knows it better do as it's f*****g told". And so it was gone... I wondered if the poor little thing would be better off dead than with him.
Another poor little staffy.

The problem is that when people buy a pup especially they very rarely look past the first few months of it's life of how they will implement a dog into their lives, apart from the fact many buy from 'breeders' whom don't ask or think is this owner going to be able to cope with the training, time and adolescent stages?
 

People when buying a pup should work out beforehand what happens if working hours change, if a divorce were to happen, if we were move to a smaller place? Are they planning for a full 12-15 years of caring for this dog? In most cases NO!

For all these scenario's, if we have a child the child automatically comes with and arrangements are made, be it a childminder, grandparent, friends, but when it comes to a dog, who is supposed to be a part of the family, they soon become expendable and are very expendable if you look at the rescue figures.

As a breeder I always look longterm and have often turned potential owners away whom I feel do not look beyond that first year, we all know things change, work and hours the main criteria for change and if they have no back up plan then they have no pup, as life-changes need to include the dog, most of the time they don't and to be honest many don't try hard enough to keep the dog. :-(

Like with many things today, it is a throw away society. :-(

P.S. I know there are many heartbreaking stories when the dog is desperately wanted but circumstances just can't let it be so, so please don't think I'm speaking of cases like this, but there are more stories of careless ownership as to why a dog is now in rescue.

I wanted to help out and foster dogs from our local BlueCross but have been turned down as they have said I will not give the dog up again and they are saving me from myself, I know they are right so have to make do with helping fundraising and helping outwith walking and such.
Some of the reasons people give make me so mad, like 18mth old Dobie to big and boisterous, well what did they expect, if people did some research before buying and used a little common sense we would have half these dogs in rescue. I know that we all say the general public need to be educated but if you look at a rottie puppy at 8 weeks and think its going to stay cute and cuddly then imo you dont need educating you are plain stupid. I cant count the times I have been asked when I am breeding from Skye because they would love a miniture rottie(she is smaller than a lab as she was starved as a puppy and never grew to full size) and a really surprised when I say never because "You could make lots of money as she is rare" yes and I dont see her as my own atm and a whole list of reasons why I would never breed from her.
Mary

My son came home from work the other day shaking his head saying an eighteen year old lad at his work has just got  a flat with his pregnant girlfriend and they have bought a blue staffy puppy. He said but don't worry mum I told him in a few months time when its chewing everything and peeing and pooing everywhere to let us know and you'll give it a good home!!

Made me smile muffymoo :-) Bless your son for recommending you for the future.
As i said before about 2/3 of dogs needing re homing in our local area are staffies.  Suppose these chavs that get hold of cheap poorly bred dogs cant be ar*ed to go to the RSPCA or have been turned down as suitable owners so just get a puppy. To them it's the latest toy and fashion accessory. Makes me livid.

It's a lot like people with children in my opinion!  lots seem to think it's great to get pregnant, have a baby and then ...... oh no, can't cope with being woken in the night, not fitting in with adult routines, need to be taken care of when they are not at home.....   I could go on, but believe me it' s not going to get any better so it's down to the few responsible people to pick up the pieces and foster or adopt!
Edited to say: and breeders to breed for the right reasons as humans should only have children that are wanted and going to be cherished.

my brother has a staf and I must say at first i was wary she is an old lady now very overweight I may ad very spoilt they got her when she was young  she has never liked other dogs so is always walked away from them. but people kids cats and other animals she is brilliant with, sadly my brother and his wife can't have kids and I dread the day she dies but I know full well that it will be another staf that he rescues, in fact probrably my nephews dog same proplem girlfriend got pregnant, got house at 8 months gone paid a fortune for staff (beats me where they get there money from) she now can't cope and is left outside most of the day unless my brother and sisterin law kidnap it for a few hours.  Why are people like this.