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Dogs Trust West London
Hi
Has anyone else had experience of visiting this place to rehome a dog?
I am so disappointed and frankly rather annoyed and will not be going back there again.
I posted on this forum a few months back saying that we as a family hoped to try to rehome a rescue dog rather than go down the route of buying from a breeder or (perish the thought) purchasing one of the gorgeous puppies at our local puppy supplying pet shop.
We chose to visit Dogs Trust the other day because it is nearest to where we live and easy to get to. What a disappointment. The staff did not seem to know what they were doing or where various members were to talk to us. We completed an application form but the staff member we eventually got to speak to didn't seem terribly interested in going through the appropriate dogs properly with us. At least not in the way their website suggest they do, when one starts the rehoming process. The two dogs we were originally interested in had in fact already been booked for rehoming, yet they were still available on their website AND their kennels didn't have anything on them to say otherwise. When we eventually saw one of our possible dogs being brought back from a walk, we were told rather rudely by one workers there, not to approach the dog whilst the volunteer walker was in charge of it at the other side of reception. Not that we would, but it was the way we were spoken to like we were kids or something. We were then promised a closer look at said dog once it was back in its kennels but we waited and waited and eventually gave up and came home. It was a weekend granted, but there were far too many people milling around with lots of children and I feel that the majority of people were just there for a day out and the people like us who were seriously wanting to speak about rehoming a dog were not really acknowledged. There was a very flustered lady on reception who could see that we were probably going to give up so well done to her for apologising on behalf of the workers there who were supposed to be available. Why can't they filter out those who seriously want to discuss rehoming a dog from other people who don't? Perhaps book in a certain number of people over a time frame for that purpose each day?
Has anyone else had a similar experience at this place? Can anyone living in London recommend anywhere else where you are treated seriously and with some degree of compentency? For example we haven't tried Battersea yet and to be honest are now thinking that they are all like this!
:mad:
Has anyone else had experience of visiting this place to rehome a dog?
I am so disappointed and frankly rather annoyed and will not be going back there again.
I posted on this forum a few months back saying that we as a family hoped to try to rehome a rescue dog rather than go down the route of buying from a breeder or (perish the thought) purchasing one of the gorgeous puppies at our local puppy supplying pet shop.
We chose to visit Dogs Trust the other day because it is nearest to where we live and easy to get to. What a disappointment. The staff did not seem to know what they were doing or where various members were to talk to us. We completed an application form but the staff member we eventually got to speak to didn't seem terribly interested in going through the appropriate dogs properly with us. At least not in the way their website suggest they do, when one starts the rehoming process. The two dogs we were originally interested in had in fact already been booked for rehoming, yet they were still available on their website AND their kennels didn't have anything on them to say otherwise. When we eventually saw one of our possible dogs being brought back from a walk, we were told rather rudely by one workers there, not to approach the dog whilst the volunteer walker was in charge of it at the other side of reception. Not that we would, but it was the way we were spoken to like we were kids or something. We were then promised a closer look at said dog once it was back in its kennels but we waited and waited and eventually gave up and came home. It was a weekend granted, but there were far too many people milling around with lots of children and I feel that the majority of people were just there for a day out and the people like us who were seriously wanting to speak about rehoming a dog were not really acknowledged. There was a very flustered lady on reception who could see that we were probably going to give up so well done to her for apologising on behalf of the workers there who were supposed to be available. Why can't they filter out those who seriously want to discuss rehoming a dog from other people who don't? Perhaps book in a certain number of people over a time frame for that purpose each day?
Has anyone else had a similar experience at this place? Can anyone living in London recommend anywhere else where you are treated seriously and with some degree of compentency? For example we haven't tried Battersea yet and to be honest are now thinking that they are all like this!
:mad:
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Comments
We work with this branch but about 200 other different rescues across the UK on www.dogsblog.com - might be worth visiting, seeing if you can find a dog you think is suitable for you and then contacting the rescue direct to discuss in more detail before you go along - it might give you a bit of time to have an appointment and spend some time with them one on one (or one dog/your family
Good luck!
Anyhow, maybe you could try Wood Green Animal Shelter - I had a dog from them back in 1984, and they were really helpful, it was from the branch in Hertfordshire where I used to live, but they do have one in London - http://www.woodgreen.org.uk/about-us/contact-us.html. Hope you can give a dog a loving new home soon.
Just go to Battersea then. You can't tar all animal shelters with the same brush after one bad experience.
Wood Green is a great place, my brother has rescued animals from there and helps to fundraise. He lives in Northamptonshire which is about 45 minutes drive away. London to Cambridgeshire is only an hour away in the car ....... but I suppose if you can't be bothered a good idea would be to google animal shelters in your area.
The merseyside retired greyhound trust make appointments with families to view the dogs, take the families on walks with the dogs etc. I'm sure a trust in London would be very similar.
I had the same experience as you did (but at DT merseyside, and as a volunteer), ie no staff around to get a dog out to walk, miserable staff who thought it was inconvenience for them me turning up to walk their dogs (it's 22 miles away from where I live). I gave up and started to volunteer walking the retired greys instead where it's much friendlier.
I've been having a nosey on that dogsblog website the past couple of days (posted by kbk9) and there's pages and pages of dogs needing a home. Although I suppose you'd think DT should be making it easier, also I completely agree with the idea of booking appointments with serious potential owners.
Hope you find a doggy soon
Although to balance it, the place we eventually adopted our Danny from couldn't have been more friendly and helpful
I just put it down to some of the staff being more animal people than people people,
I find your reply rather antagonistic. I never said I couldn't be bothered to go to Cambridge, just that it was difficult for us to get to easily. I have done a lot of research on Google and asking locally thank you very much.
Honestly some people on Digital Spy are so bloody rude aren't they? Perhaps you work for Dogs Trust....:o
Yes I agree but some of the rescues further afield whom I have contacted have immediately said they can't do home visits on us because we don't live within their catchment areas and that a lot of their dogs are in foster homes around and about, so if we were to go to Cambridge and were interested in a dog that was being fostered 10 miles further away it would become quite difficult and probably not something we could achieve in a day.
I hope I am not coming across as spoiled and too fussy. Of course I realise that the perfect dog for us is not suddenly going to land on our doorstep (although several years ago a beautiful lost Alsation pup called Katie did exactly that!) but I have to rely on my husband to drive me about and he is not too well at the moment so really we have to find somewhere fairly locally or around the London area.
Anyway it is interesting to see how others have been treated by rehoming centres. They do a wonderful job, don't get me wrong, but it sometimes appears that they want to make it as difficult as possible for people. Someone I work with went through a similar scenario a few years ago and got so desperate they ended up doing something they would originally never have considered, and that was buying a puppy from a pet shop because they were so fed up with the response and attitude of various rehoming places.
Have you asked at your local vets? They usually have a list of local rescue centres and they may be able to point you in the right direction.
I would agree with you that some centres shoot themselves in the foot by making it awkward and offputting. But some are great, so don't let one or two experiences put you off.:)
I hope you are not tempted to do that.:( If you saw the conditions the puppies are born and raised in you would really not want to support that practice - most puppies from pet shops are from puppy farms. None are from reputable breeders.
http://www.dogpages.org.uk/forums/index.php?showforum=27
Have you had a look here? It has private re-homes and rescue rehomes.
but I know, one has to consider where they have come from even though this pet shop is reputable with a local vet coming in weekly to check the pups and is the only one I know of who sells them via a pet shop.
We are going to the Mayhew in North London next. They seem to have the right idea about giving rehomers appointments to see them and to view the dogs rather than turning up with half of West London at the same time! Also they appear to encourage prospective rehomers to see the dog for bonding etc lots of times, taking it for walks and even bringing it home on day trips before one actually adopts formally.
Thanks for all your replies and suggestions. Much appreciated
Oh untwist your knickers dear.
What you actually said was the Wood Green was too far to go. I merely pointed out that it was only an hour away by car.
If you ask for advice you can't chuck the toys out of the pram if you don't like the advice given.
Anyway Button, it takes a toy thrower to know a toy thrower. As for the knickers, how do you know I wear any? :rolleyes:
I don't do the rolly eyes so here you are
Went to another lovely shelter on Saturday and found our perfect dog pretty much straight away with very helpful staff. Just waiting for the home check and she should be our's by the end of this month.
I always say to people who criticize a rescue, or felt their experience was lacking, that perhaps they might devote some of their free time as a volunteer and make a difference from within. Im sure the Dogs Trust would grab you to help out at the busy times.
Well done in finding a rescue dog and we look forward to photos etc.
I must say it seemed like a different place then to what we witnessed the other day but perhaps it was just a bad day for them. Your comments about volunteering are very valid but guess what? When my husband asked about dog walking and if there was anything we could do to help (perhaps offer an extra pair of hands at reception??
It's that kind of response that puts people off I am sure.
Fast forward to the RSPCA rescue and we could not have been treated better. Completely different atmosphere, efficiency, organisation. Unbelievable difference. They did exactly what it says on the can as they say and then some.
We also had an appointment set up with the Mayhew. Again, lady responds back straight away to our phone call. Very organised. Very interested.
I don't mean to diss the Dogs Trust at all but I feel they could learn from the RSPCA. OK so no rescue is going to let someone just take a dog out for a walk unsupervised who is perhaps aggressive, but we were encouraged to take for a walk the one we had chosen. We were encouraged to bond and be interactive with this dog from the start. At DT we were told not to approach the dog we were interested in when it came back from its walk with a volunteer and not even to look at it or make eye contact (this was in main reception). Why?? Also, the attitude of the boy who went off to put her back and to get her details was surly and rude. That was the point we just left. If you are not even allowed to vaguely look across the room at a dog that wasn't in its kennel and the time and you are interested in it, that kind of response or instruction is not likely to endear you to the dog or the staff!
Sorry about the long post! :eek:
On behalf of Dogs Trust, we would like to say that we are sorry that you and others have had negative experiences when visiting our rehoming centres.
As you can imagine, weekends are a very busy time for our centres as this is when the majority of people visit us. Unfortunately, Dogs Trust West London has suffered from staff shortages recently and thankfully these vacancies have now been filled; however, this is not an excuse for the way you were treated. If you’d like to e-mail me details of the date and time you visited, we can look into the staff working on that particular day and arrange a refresher training course if necessary.
Regarding the website, this is updated every 24 hours and refreshes overnight. If the dogs you chose were booked the day you visited, it is unlikely the website would have been updated yet. As to why the kennels signs were not updated, again this may be because the dogs had just been booked.
Every centre always needs volunteers but as you were told, we are inundated with those that want to walk dogs (as that is the fun bit). We would welcome volunteers for other chores (to help spruce up the centre, mow the lawns or clean kennels) as these jobs are needed too. Dogs Trust West London does have a Volunteer co-ordinator who is Bernice Craft and can be contacted directly on 01895 453 936.
If you or anyone else reading this ever have a problem with Dogs Trust in the future, please call us direct and we can make sure to look into any issues immediately. If we had known about your disappointment earlier we could have responded immediately to put your impression of us right.
We do hope that your negative experience has not put you off us for life. We do work hard to find all our dogs the right homes and last year we cared for approximately 16,000 dogs.
My contact details are 020 7833 5121 or Laurier.Nicas@dogstrust.org.uk. Please do not hesitate to get in touch and I will be sure to pass your information to the relevant person.
Thank you for your time,
Laurier Nicas
Digital Marketing Officer – Dogs Trust