Don't tar our dog centre with the same brush (From Bucks Free Press)

Don't tar our dog centre with the same brush

6:41pm Friday 3rd September 2010 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
• Comments(0)

THE process to deal with stray dogs in the Wycombe District has changed and because of this some of our dog welfare charity’s supporters incorrectly think we no longer want strays.

We are conscious of the ‘backlash’ the RSPCA is receiving after saying they can no longer take in unwanted pets as they need to concentrate on cruelty cases. We do not want Stokenchurch Dog Rescue to be ‘tarred with the same brush’.

The police are no longer responsible for dealing with strays and it rests with the local councils and us. It is the national system of handling strays that has changed and not our welfare charity’s policy – we are just following new rules set by Government.

Prior to October 2008, we could take in all strays handed in, either by dog wardens or the public. If an owner could not be found, we kept the dogs for seven days before they could be offered for re-homing. During the seven days we received a fee to cover kennelling costs from Wycombe District Council.

But now all strays have to go to commercial holding kennels for the seven days before being offered to rescue centres to try to re-home. However, as the dog wardens work office hours, we are allowed to take in dogs found in the evenings, over the weekend or bank holidays – but they must be sent on to the holding kennels as soon as practicable thereafter.

When a stray is handed to SDR we check if there is a microchip or name tag to try to trace the owner. It means a happy reunion and the owner pays us £30 for that day’s kenneling. That fee rises if we have the dog longer than a day.

The fee is set by Wycombe District Council who let us keep that fee. If we cannot trace the owners, we call the dog wardens acting for WDC who take the dog to the commercial kennels where they are kept for seven days, hoping the owner will call.

If the owner is not found they then call rescue centres like us to see if we will take the dog.

We take in as many as we can but in some parts of the country ‘unsuitable’ dogs are put to sleep. But Stokenchurch Dog Rescue is proud that we never euthanise a healthy dog.

For various reasons, our income has been hit by the new rules and so we welcome donations and need more fund raisers. Legacies and a few big donations in recent years enabled us to modernise our kennels, which were opened in the 1960s, but we still need help to keep going.

There are thousands of dog lovers in our district and we appeal for their help.

Geoff Perfitt, Stokenchurch Dog Rescue, Oxford Road, Stokenchurch