Are there any universal regulations regarding the time limits in reclaiming a dog given up for adoption by the owner to a rescue centre?

When a dog is given up for adoption maybe there should be a 'cooling off' period for people who ultimately tragically make the wrong decision ( they may be suffering from stress, depression).

When does a dog technically become owned by a rescue centre - no paperwork was signed by the owner?

Frankly the dog comes first and once relinquished tough. 

Let me tell you a true story about rescue

Woman rings up their GSD bitch is no longer wanted youngest child is allergic & doctor has told the family the dog must go, all family deeply upset so matter is urgent. So the family arrived Hubby, wife & three adult children all happy & smiling-the bitch is in the back of the car & handed over to rescue with no one in the family getting upset-suspicion No .1. Rescue lady asks you've left the youngest at home but up pipes one of the teenagers "no I'm the youngest"-suspicion No 2 Family drive off laughing & smiling still-suspicion No 3

Four days later the very friendly well adjusted bitch  finds a home with a family who already had a dog from rescue & whose older dog has just died aged 16, the previous rescue & bitch meet & hit it off straightaway & bitch leaves on the standard trial period.

17 days later original owners turn up all tanned & smiling-hubby gets out of car, marches up & bangs on rescue ladies front door(not the kennel office door)demanding his bitch back as the family cannot live without the bitch & they won't have been able to rehome her yet as it is peak summer holiday time & no one will want a new dog then will they. Rescue lady's hubby smiles(restraining himself from pointing out it is 9 o'clock at night) "Sorry Mr XXXXX your bitch has been rehomed & settled. By the way hope you  you had a nice holiday ?"& closes the door. Family drive off this time very upset obviously they expected to get free boarding for three weeks & to be albe to reclaim their bitch afterwards

Moral of this true story is the bitch was better off with people who cared more about her than a foreign holiday & saving on boarding fees

It's not fair on any dog to keep changing your mind & giving up a dog as others on this board have had to do should not be done on the spur of the moment & the dog does come first. If not enough thought is given beforehand then the dog is better off in another home

it beggars belief that they had the audacity to thing they could just drop off their dog and expect it to be cared for while they were on their jollies ...... and just walk back to re-claim the poor thing when it suited ..... well done to the rescue home for finding lovely caring owners who put the dog before themselves

Sadly there zre those who ahppily give up a dog when they go on holiday and get another on their return.

WHAT CHEEK!!!!!!!!!!! :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Funnily enough I heard  a similar story from my sister that happened last week.  A friend of hers had a Golden Retriever approx 6 years old that lived almost permanently in her garden staring in at the family through the door or in the kitchen at night. Hardly ever went for a walk but was alovely tempered dog, never barked. The owner decided that the dog had no quality of life and decided he would be better of with someone who could spend more time with him and exercise him . Arrangements were made with a breed rescue for him to go to an older couple with large garden and time on their hands, experienced dog owners who sounded just the right sort of people to give this dog a better life.
Last Sunday morning he was picked up and taken to his new home. By the evening the owner was demanding him back as her daughter had been crying all day. Understandingly hthe breed rescue lady was not happy and told owner not to ask for help again once the dog had been returned to her.
This owner made all sorts of promises that things would be different, the dog would be walked more etc I know things wont change once the novelty has worn off.

That's horrid - if it'd been me, I wouldn't have given the dog back, no matter how much the daughter was crying.  The mother is just setting the example that dogs can be left to their own devices all day (my biggest pet peeve of my brother, he's the same with his dog).  Not only that, but the dog had a chance at a better home - I'd have left it there.

There are some rotten people out there.

We had a very similar thing happen to us when one of our puppies was returned. We met up with them on a Saturday about 4 months ago and they said everything was wonderful and told us how much they adored the wee girl, she was 6 months old at this point. The following Friday at 9.30 in the evening they phoned to say that one of the kids couldn't cope with her boisterous behaviour and could we have her back. The desicion had been made without consulting the kids who were staying with friends. I got into the car that evening went and picked the we girl up and brought her home. The following Monday I had them on the phone asking for her back as the kids were distraught, I explained very politely that no they couldn't have her back as it would be too upsetting for her. They were furious and threatened all sorts. They didn't have a leg to stand on as I gave them a full refund and  I made sure all paperwork had been picked up, they hadn't even bothered to register her in their names. I had many phonecalls from them in the fortnight that followed begging and pleading with me to let me give her back. In the end I got really quite angry and told them in no uncertain terms was the little girl going back to them. The little girl in question is now adored by another family who fell madly in love with her.

There are some idiots out there. It must be so difficult to be sure you've found the right home for your babies. :-(

HERE HERE!!! Brainless
I agree.

I help out with dog rescue and ive had this before on numerous occasions.We took on a little 8 week puppy once and within a few weeks the lady was calling me saying she wanted the pup back.You can imagine that after a while of explanation from me stating she was not getting her back the situation turned nasty.It got to the point where the lady and her husband were threatening to come to our house and forcable take the pup back with violence.I told her to TRY IT. :) The police ended up getting involved and she had a warning.This was all caused as i found she had bred her female which was a rescue and had only had her for 2 weeks before she decided on puppies.The poor female dog was a failed police dog and the father was the local roaming dog.We were told the pups were GSD but the father since turned out to be a BC. :)

>We were told the pups were GSD but the father since turned out to be a BC

One of these GSD X BC wouldn't be sharing your home now would it, guiness? ;)

Returning to the topic though, I once had to rehome a dog and it was the hardest decision I've ever had to make. Not only did I feel tremendously guilty and responsible for not being able to keep her but I thought very long and hard before realising I had no choice. The idea of "changing my mind" and demanding she be returned from the happy new home she'd been placed in never occurred to me, despite missing her dreadfully, precisely because you shouldn't be making these decisions lightly in the first place.

Our pup came from a rescue centre and was given up by his first owners at 9 weeks old - not sure why they didn't take him back to his breeder. We were lucky enough to visit the centre 2 hours after they had taken him in and fell in love with him. He had to stay at the centre for a vets check and his first injections and for the home check to be carried out. In the meantime we had a phone call from the rescue centre to say the original owners had rung up to see if he had been re-homed and were told that he had and that they could only reclaim him within 48 hours of handing him in. Luckily for us that time limit had passed and he became a part of our family. I did wonder if they were genuinely interested in his re-homing or wanted him back to keep or if they had suddenly realised that his breeder might have taken him back and given them a refund!
I do however agree that there should be a short time limit for a re-think as often a problem can seem not so bad if you are able to step back from it and have a little bit of thinking space. Not all dogs are put in rescue because owners don't care about them there is often a genuine reason why a much loved pet can no longer be looked after by loving caring owners and it must be a terrible decision to make. Incidentally The Dog's Trust have special arrangements for people who are victims of domestic violence and will foster their dogs for them if the owners have to go to a refuge. Their website gives full details of this excellent scheme.