Desperate For Love (Perth)

[Dave-o]

A few months ago I was in a position to foster or adopt a dog, which would've been my preference over getting a puppy. I got in touch with Desperate for Love as they're always posting on Facebook with "Must re-home urgently" posts.

One of the volunteers did a home visit, said everything was fine, fences are high, enclosed yard, I have the means to financially support a dog and can work at home part of the week. I've had a number of dogs and cats in the past, so it's fair to say I have the knowledge to care for a dog. Everything seemed positive.

After a couple of weeks of hearing nothing I chased them up, and about 2 weeks after had an email from them saying they had "nothing available". That was a few months ago.

It left me baffled - all the discussions in Perth about the number of dogs needing a home, and when I try and adopt one there's nothing available? I did state a preference of a Collie, preferably in younger years as I live an active lifestyle, but was open to fostering any dog if necessary.

It's left me confused about the plethora of posts I see daily on Facebook about dogs needing a home.

Has anyone experienced anything similar?

[Maddy]

Do you have cats or any other requirements that might limit the sort of dog you can take?

A quick look at their FB and one minute ago, they're still desperately trying to find a foster for a lab cross

[_PL_]

I can't guess either, it could be anything.

Your home visit assessment is only as good as the person who does it and what they've been instructed to check. And how they communicate that back to the rescue. Might be best to just call for an answer. :) Or try another group. S.A.F.E. has been around over ten years. Meaning they have probably perfected few things. ;-)

[mita]

You started a thread in February .... where you said you were interested in getting a border collie or cross via rescue. But then said you'd found one (from a breeder?) that was 1 week old, to be delivered at Easter. Did you get that baby?

[Dave-o]

Yep, I started looking at the start of the year, originally planning to rehome a rescue dog. After a few weeks I heard about a litter from a breeder so opted to get a puppy instead - he's now 11 weeks.

The guy from the rescue centre seemed very positive during the home visit, which was why I was surprised when they had "nothing". I said a collie would be a preference but would willingly consider anything, even for foster. I have a cat (who's used to dogs), and my back yard isn't overly large (but I live opposite a dog park and a few minutes walk from the dog beach). I have to say I was really disappointed, but perhaps they had their reasons.

I'm simply curious if other people have had similar communications, especially as they're constantly claiming dogs are desperate for re-homing, and I've seen them in the city and at various shows collecting money.

[Maddy]

Yep, I started looking at the start of the year, originally planning to rehome a rescue dog. After a few weeks I heard about a litter from a breeder so opted to get a puppy instead - he's now 11 weeks.

The guy from the rescue centre seemed very positive during the home visit, which was why I was surprised when they had "nothing". I said a collie would be a preference but would willingly consider anything, even for foster. I have a cat (who's used to dogs), and my back yard isn't overly large (but I live opposite a dog park and a few minutes walk from the dog beach). I have to say I was really disappointed, but perhaps they had their reasons.

I'm simply curious if other people have had similar communications, especially as they're constantly claiming dogs are desperate for re-homing, and I've seen them in the city and at various shows collecting money.

Even if it's used to dogs, the cat may very well be the issue. Although there is always risk when fostering dogs with other dogs, that risk is higher with cats and if anything were to happen to the cat, it has the potential to cause all sorts of mess for the group.