Charity gives more dogs a home during Covid-19 lockdown
WITH more people stuck at home than ever before during the first lockdown period, it was perhaps not surprising that animal rescue centres became inundated with enquiries from families looking to adopt pets.
This was most certainly the case for a charity in Fleet that works with local dog wardens and a number of private shelters in Portugal to re-home dogs.
DogsnHomes was set up in 2019 by Michelle Ballard and her husband Gary Baxter for the benefit of residents of the town and surrounding area to help them find the perfect rescue dog for adoption.
The charity has rescued and rehomed 151 dogs to date, including Woody, adopted by astronaut Tim Peake who agreed to become a patron for DogsnHomes.
Co-founder Gary explained how during the first lockdown more people than ever before approached the charity looking to adopt.
He said: “DogsnHomes had about a three-fold increase in dog adoption enquiries during the last lockdown. We were being contacted on a daily, and sometimes hourly, basis by people who had always wanted a dog. They thought lockdown would be a good time to add some canine companionship to their life.”
Fortunately for the charity, and the puppies they are finding forever homes for, the Happy Bus transporters that bring the dogs to their new lives in the UK from a small number of private shelters in Portugal have been exempt from coronavirus travel restrictions.
This has enabled the charity to not only help bring dogs across to the UK, but to also continue supporting dog rescue work abroad by sending donated items from the public back on board the buses to Portugal.
Donations can include clean and unwanted leads, collars, harnesses, food, medications, treats and toys.
Like all organisations across the country, DogsnHomes has had to adapt elements of its service due to the pandemic. This has included the arrival process for the dogs.
Gary said: “Pre-Covid, our policy was always to put dogs into foster care when they arrived. This gave time for the dog to decompress from the long journey. Potential adopters would then visit the dog to adopt them.
“All of that changed with the Covid restrictions and now most of our puppies and dogs arrive in the UK and go straight to their forever homes. Fortunately for us, our partners in the Algarve give us a very good insight about their personalities and temperament. This enables us to match them to the most suitable homes.”
Other Covid-secure measures have also been brought in to ensure operations can continue, including home checks carried out by video platform rather than in person, and safe distancing being observed at all times during adoptions.
Although the coronavirus has seen an increase in people turning to DogsnHomes, the charity has also been contacted by a number of people over the last six months wanting to pass dogs on to someone else.
“We were surprised at the number of people who wanted to give away their dogs for re-homing. None of these were dogs adopted from us but we helped where we could. The social restrictions and imposed isolation affected a lot of people very badly and they felt unable to cope,” said Gary.
Although no one yet knows what will happen after the current national lockdown, DogsnHomes is expecting the number of adoption applications to rise once again.
Would-be adopters are asked to apply well in advance of when they want to adopt. Having a secure private garden is a prerequisite of adopting and living within a 30-minute drive of the GU52 postcode is preferable.
Donations for DogsnHomes can be dropped off at Morrisons and Pet’s Corner in Fleet, PK Pet Supplies in Church Crookham, Hook Vets in Hook, and Pets at Home in Farnham.