A dog on the side of the road hurt after being run over by a car, a dog in the pound old and crying, a dog that has been in the pound for years and is losing hope.
As a rescuer, the first thought is we must help them: let’s get the hurt dog to a vet, let’s take the old, vulnerable dog out of the pound into a boarding kennel, let’s find an adopter for our depressed dog. It is what our head and heart demand, and I am sure that if you are reading this blog, you will think the same.
We may see these three dogs in one day along with many others with new dogs arriving each day all needing help. A vet appointment is made; our dog starts feeling much better but the invoice from the vet is £700 for a broken leg and an infection, no mention yet about the cost of follow-up appointments. We take the old dog out of the pound, but the cost of boarding kennel is £150 per month. We find an adopter for the depressed dog, but the cost of preparing the dog and taking him to the UK is more than £600 for neutering, bloods, vaccinations, passport, export veterinary certificate, traces, and transport.
Helping dogs – expensive emotionally and financially
The biggest worry for any charity helping dogs is financing its activities. Helping dogs is a very expensive business, emotionally and financially, and it is getting more expensive every day with new forms and requirements that need to be processed for a dog to travel. Without hard cash, rescues’ hands will be tied before not too long.
Buying a dog from a breeder could cost at least £900, with some going onto thousands, but somehow it is expected that rescue dogs should be “cheaper”, as if you were buying a second-hand car. That is wrong on every level.
Rescuing a dog from Spain needs to be done knowing that it may not be the cheapest option for you, but that is the best option for a dog with no hope. We should not expect dogs to be cheap; dogs come with many benefits, but also lifelong costs that start at the time of adoption.
Every single rescuer will have had to, at one moment or another, get money out of their own pocket to ensure a dog has a home to go to, to ensure that vets, transports, and boarding kennels are paid, to ensure that the dog is safe. Rescuing dogs is not the best life choice for any volunteer: it takes away from them emotionally and financially, but they do it, we do it because we love dogs and they need us fighting their corner. Without this support, this sacrifice, thousands of dogs would spend their natural lives in pounds with many being culled to make space for the many hundred that continue to arrive at pounds every day.
Why your support is so important
So, if you love dogs, remember to support your rescue emotionally and financially.
Learn about the real cost of preparing a dog and help them, if you cannot adopt, by donating. Any contribution will make a huge difference.
You can be the difference between rescues continuing to work or giving up altogether, and if they are forced to do so, who will look after the dogs?
