The Pandemic's Impact on our Resources

In the latest Breed Council magazine (which was available at Crufts - www.gsdbreedcouncil.co.uk/) we were invited to inform their readers about how the global COVID pandemic has affected our rescues. This article is now available online below and please note that since the article was written we now have 90 dogs in our care.

THE PANDEMIC’S IMPACT ON OUR RESCUES

From the German Shepherd Dog Welfare Fund

Written by Debbie Hill (Chairman)

When the government first declared a pandemic back in 2020, we anticipated that it would influence the pet world as surely as already seen in the human one. People began working from home and a well-known celebrity tweeted that lockdown would be the ideal time to adopt a dog. On the face of it, this sounds like a great idea, but it wasn’t fully thought through. We arranged a committee meeting and evaluated the developing situation. We expected that we would see a rush of dogs needing to be rehomed as the situation returned to normality. This would be compounded by the usual level of neglect and abuse that being increased by the increased level of ownership.

However, as much as we prepared, we weren’t’ ready for the reality of it.

It started as we started receiving an ever increasing number of enquiries from people suddenly wanting to adopt our dogs. As a rescue charity, we decided not to rehome during the pandemic unless it was to someone known to us. I personally went from taking five calls a week (if I was lucky) from people wanting to adopt, to approximately twenty calls a day. In a sense this should have been a dream come true, but in reality these well-meaning people were not ideal homes for our dogs.

One caller wanted to adopt a young female in our care. During the conversation, I asked what his working hours would be. He stated that he worked from home, so I followed up with whether he would be going back to work when lockdown was over. He repeated that he worked from home. Eventually I quite forcefully asked “when lock down is over, and you go back to work, how long will you be out of the house?” Ten hours per day was his response, but it would be OK because he’d convert the outside toilet to lock her in while at work!

Another call came from a young girl, who sounded in her young teens. She enquired about adopting a dog, and I replied that I had to speak to her parents. Within a few minutes a disgruntled gentleman called us and made it quite clear that I’d disturbed his work and that he’d given his daughter permission to adopt a dog. He then explained that a dog would keep his children occupied while he worked. I apologised, and explained that I couldn’t let a minor adopt a dog.

Not to be put off, he then asked about a particular dog, one totally unsuitable for homing with children, so I informed him of that. After stating how ridiculous that was, and proceeded to ask that if a dog was going to bite, did it matter if it bit a child or adult? A bit taken aback by that, I replied that I was sure he’d see it differently if his child were bitten.

Not to be put off he wanted to know more about the adoption process. Like many rescues we take great care to try and place dogs in suitable environments and with the right people – this is not only for the adopting family’s safety, but for the dog’s well-being as well. So I explained our process and the reasoning behind it, but he was unimpressed and asked if I actually wanted to rehome any dogs! I tried to explain why; it’s not enough to find a willing home, but to also ensure that it is right for the individual dog’s needs. We'd toughened our criteria on adopting our dogs to help this. For example: all adopters must complete a short online course. Not only does this give the prospective adopter more knowledge on dog ownership but also demonstrates their commitment.

It continued like this for several months. Dogs became difficult to come by and so the cost of puppies skyrocketed. Some pet owners, and the already established rogue breeders saw a way to make a quick buck and mated their dogs with no health checks and no thought to where these dogs would go. All they wanted was the £2,000 (and often more) per pup.

One well known rescue I spoke to said they didn’t have any dogs in as the demand had become so high. In comparison we still had all our dogs. After a few months the calls lessened from people wanting to adopt, instead they were gradually replaced by people wanting to rehome their dogs. One example was some seven month-old puppies with issues because they hadn’t been socialised during lockdown. 

In another notable example an owner arrived at the kennels with her 9 month-old male German Shepherd. As she took him out of her car, he flew at the kennel girl and grabbed her arm quite forcibly. The lady explained that this was why she couldn’t keep him. After asking why he was like this, she blamed the lockdown, so she hadn’t socialised him. That reason did come as a surprise because walking our dogs was one of the few reasons we could leave our homes. Unfortunately this poor dog doesn’t really stand much chance of being rehomed because he isn’t safe, so he will stay in our care for the rest of his life. 

Once people returned to their place of work demand for our services continued to increase. When asked the reason why they were relinquishing their dogs, the answer was often a change of circumstances, most notably going back to work.

Surely they knew they would have to go back at some time.

The situation continues to deteriorate. We now have over 80 dogs in our care, which proves quite a strain on our limited resources. We’re a relatively small charity despite being one the first dedicated charities for this breed in the country. We receive no aid from official sources, and so are reliant on donations from generous members of the public. We also undertake to never euthanise a dog simply because it can’t be rehomed. We believe that every dog – despite any behavioural or health issue – deserves a chance at a decent life.

For us the saddest aspect is how many of these dogs can’t be rehomed because of their lack of socialisation. Most reputable breeders will take dogs they have bred back, or at least help but the back street breeders really are not interested. However, they are not all from back street breeders. Some reputable breeders bred more than they should because of the soaring demand, so are not able to take them back. This week alone, we have taken dogs in nearly every day and three today as I write this and I cannot see this easing any time soon.