My friend's husband has been looking for a Labrador or Lab mix (not a Labradoodle) as he said he looks & feels stupid walking Tinkerbell their Chinese Crested dog, because we didn't have any in The Rescue Home they went to the RSPCA, they told the manager they wanted a Labrador or Lab mix (not a Labradoodle) that is ok with young child, other dogs & cats (she has 2 children under 5 years old & 2 cats) A home visit was done & passed they were asked to come choose their new dog, the kennel staff bought 2 different Labradors & 1 Lab mix dog in to meet them, my friends choose a jet black Labrador called Diesel as the RSPCA told them he was 100% safe around young children & with other dogs & cats, they left walking Diesel to the nearest park & phoned their parents to bring their 2 children & Tinkerbell to meet their new dog. As soon as Diesel saw Tinkerbell he went crazy snarling & snapping at her, then when the children came close to him he bared his teeth at them, so they took Diesel straight back to the RSPCA explaining they can't keep him as he went for their other dog & was baring his teeth at their children, but the manager told them to take Diesel home give him time to settle in, reluctantly they took Diesel home as the RSPCA refused to take him back there & then. The next day Diesel saw the cats in the garden went to attack them & on the 4th day he attacked poor Tinkerbell, my friend's husband phoned the RSPCA later that day & told them Diesel is not safe around cats or other dogs & his children are scared of him & he will be returning him, the manager at the RSPCA told him "we don't accept unwanted dogs anymore", lets just say my friend's hubby let rip with a few choice words. Diesel is now in The Rescue Home & will be having a full assessment before we put him up for adoption - something we think was not done by the RSPCA.
Tina, many years ago [before I had my first Griffon] I adopted a tiny black and white kitten from the RSPCA. The said she was 8 weeks old and that was the age they wrote on the adoption papers, having first made me sign to agree to have her spayed. She would not - she could not eat. So I called out the husband of a friend of mine, who was a vet - he came round and said that the kitten was four weeks old maximum. He gave her various shots and advised me how to feed her, and luckily she pulled through, but when I got back to the RSPCA they swore blind that the kitten I adopted was 8 weeks old and had been fully weaned since she was 4 weeks old, and that their vet had given her a full check-up and her first set of kitten shots before they let her be put up for adoption. They also implied that the kitten David saw, in my home the evening I brought her home, was a totally different kitten to the one I had left there with not six hours earlier.
I am trying to remember what year it was that I adopted the kitten, and I think it was probably around 1974/1975. I know that I was not asked any questions at all - I had just turned up to see if they had any kittens and was taken to see a bundle of tiny black and white ones - far too many to have been just one litter. I pointed to one and asked if it was a boy or a girl - the woman picked her up, said she was a girl and went to put her back and I said I wanted to see her, so she grudgingly handed her over to me, and that was it. I would not give her back, said I wanted her, was made to sign a form agreeing to have her spayed, told I had to buy a cardboard carrying box from them, and agree to buy a litter tray and litter, plus some tinned kitten food [pointed in the direction of a local pet shop] - and had to pay £2 for the kitten. Quite a lot of money in those days, especially when people were giving kittens away, but I thought I was doing the right thing by getting one from the RSPCA. They never had any respect from me after that, especially when David told me how young the kitten actually was.
I have a 250 foot back garden & had 6 triple height handmade rabbit hutches all with runs & all empty, I went to adopt 6 rabbits off them only to be told you don't have enough room for 6 rabbits, after that I stopped donating to them every month.
I'm not a fan of the RSPCA at the best of times, but this sounds very odd, 1, the just let a dog go off with someone without being supervised on the first outings....then to refuse to take the dog back after these folk took it for a walk !!!!! Very odd!!!
We previously adopted a dog from a shelter before. We told them we had cats and small children. We even brought our kids in for a visit. They assured us the dog loved cats and kids. She literally wrecked our home trying to get the kitties.. She would growl at my oldest child. We tried for a month to make it work but in the end we had to take her back. I was furious that the shelter lied just so we would adopt. They would have much better success if they told the truth.
They sent someone round to their home to do home visit, they saw their 2 young children & their other dog plus the cats, think it was 3 days after the home visit they received a phone call telling them they had passed all home checks & an appointment was made for them to come pick a dog (they had previously looked round the dogs & asked for family dog) once they made their appointment which was at the weekend, they were shown the 2 Labradors & the 1 lab mix, the staff told them the Lab mix was a stray & didn't know anything of its back ground & the 2 labs were from another RSPCA branch & were told the black one had been bought up with children & other dogs, as soon as my friends said they will have the black Labrador they were ushered into the reception given paperwork to sign asked for payment then they were handed the dog & booklet on dog care. Its not the first time this branch as given out a unsuitable dog to someone, they had given a Staffy that was a hand over (I love Staffies think they are wonderful dogs) to a family with children aged 7 to 9 that staffy attacked the oldest child, within days of going home, the staffy had already attacked his previous owners child. so was totally the wrong dog to be given out to a family.
I am certainly not a fan of the RS, but I think both parties are to blame in this instance. The RS for not allowing introduction ‘before signing papers and the couple for not insisting they do so. This is a couple with young children under 5 yrs old, firstly most rescues wouldn’t rehome them an ‘adult dog,with little knowledge of its background and im surprised that they would just sign and take it on before getting to know the dog especially with young kids, bit irresponsible of them and the RS.
You be very surprised at how many rescue homes don't do introductions, its choose dog sign paperwork walk out with dog. I walked into the RSPCA on the 23rd December 1990 & walked out with a GSD after signing paperwork & paying the neutering costs up front, they gave me a voucher to give to my vets, I didn't know the history of this dog or if it got on with other dogs -luckily she did as I already had 3 dogs. Its not just the RSPCA there are other rescue homes that allow you to walk in choose dog & walk out with dog on same day, there is a "Second Chance" rescue home in Derby -should of closed down in June but are still taking in more dogs - they are often in my local paper for not doing home checks, you can walk in off the street without making appointment & walk straight out with a dog, after signing paperwork & handing over fees.
i think my local branch of rspca is great, but i have no love for "head office" rspca and the kennels they run their selfs.
When we adopted our third dog Henry from SSPCA we phoned up to see if they had any black dogs like lab or lab cross, to be told there was one brought in that morning, so we duly went to the home and eventually phone him, we asked what he was like with other dogs, and they let him out the cage and he ran past the other cage and was told he was fine with other dogs, and they let us take him away there and then. He hadn't even been introduced to our other dog. This we did ourselves, only to find Henry jumping the fence and chasing the cows, We did take them both back to the house, and a few days later they sorted themselves out, and we turned out a lovely boy.
