Puppy Love: Tipperary's Haven Rescue host dog adoption day

Love was in the air at The Haven Rescue’s Valentine’s Adoption Day last Saturday.

The theme of this year’s event was rejects for rehoming. Tipperarylive visited Muddy Paws in Nenagh to meet the pooches in need of a forever home and the volunteers who care for them.

The Haven’s Jenny Nolan told the paper that although the dogs have been rejected from their homes, they are all lovely pets.

“Our theme is rejects for rehoming because they have all been rejected from somewhere.

“They have come from anywhere and everywhere so some of them are from Wexford pound, from Dublin City, Dublin county pound. Some of them are owner surrenders,” said Jenny.

Human crisis, dog consequences

According to Jenny, many dogs were bred during the Covid-19 pandemic to meet the growing demand.

Many people buy dogs without considering the breed and the needs of their new family members.

Once everything went back to normal, many people found they could not manage a pet.

Other people were affected by the housing crisis. A great many landlords do not allow pets.

This means many owners are faced with a situation where they have to choose between their companion or a roof over their heads.

This was the case for a pair we met at last week’s adoption day.

“Casey and Andy were… their owner was in their house for ten years, and then she was being evicted so they came to us. Obviously, she never thought she would be in that situation, but now she can’t find a house that would accept dogs, so they have come to us,” said Jenny.

These factors are causing a huge problem for rescues.

Caption: Guinness was not at the adoption day but is looking for a home

“So, where do all those dogs go? We can get 15 to 20 surrender requests a day. And where do you put 15 to 20 dogs every day? It’s a crazy volume of dogs,” said Jenny.

Support

Even if you could not take in a dog, you can support The Haven in their work.

Jenny says that people can pay for or toward the rescue’s vet bills.

All animals who come through The Haven need vet work like worming, chips and vaccinations. So, it can get very expensive.

You can volunteer, either at events like the adoption day or for walking on Saturdays.

“We do walks on Saturday. Some of the girls here come up to the house, and they take some dogs and bring them off on walks on Saturdays to break up the monotony of being in a kennel or whatever,” said Jenny.

The Haven is looking for photographers to take pictures of their dogs for profiles.

If you cannot do any of that, Jenny says to share the rescue’s posts on social media. A big seller for the rescue is their calendars. You can find them in pet shops or contact the Haven directly.

If you are interested in helping, you can contact The Haven Rescue on social media for further information.

Adoption

If you are in a position to adopt Jenny asks that people do a couple of things first.

“So, we want to know that they have thought of the type of dog that they are going to get. Lots of people live in apartments and think oh yeah I want to get a golden retriever.

“Realistically, long-term that is not going to work unless you can put a large amount of work into it.

“So we would suggest something like one of the greyhounds or lurchers that will sleep and chill out all day,” said Jenny.

Greyhounds and lurchers make lovely pets.

Caption: Rodney sporting his lovely red coat at last weekend's adoption day

Contrary to popular belief, they are lazy dogs.

Jenny says they sleep all day and probably won't want to walk in bad weather anyway.

The second thing adopters need to consider is the next ten years and chat with everyone involved.

“If you are thinking you might go off to Australia in a year, don’t adopt a dog.

“Don’t leave them with Mam and Dad because Mam and Dad may not want that dog,” said Jenny.

Jenny asks that people be patient with rescues.

The volunteers you speak to have full-time jobs and are giving their time to caring for these animals.

“We do this in the evenings, on our lunch breaks, and before we go to work so you do need to be patient with the process,” said Jenny.

One resident we met, Whisky (pictred above) has been with the rescue for two years.

Although wearing a muzzle for the photo, Whisky is a good girl.

She just might have helped herself to the pet shop’s stock.

“She is great. She just needs a home that is going to listen to our behaviourist and support system we put around her,” said Jenny.

Fostering

The Haven always needs foster homes.

They take dogs from around the country, both surrendered and from pounds. Jenny says that if they can help, they will, but space is an issue.

“Unless we have foster homes or unless we have boarding kennels or kennels somewhere to put these dogs, we can’t accommodate them. Otherwise, there is physically nowhere to put them,” said Jenny.

As a result, The Haven are restricting what animals they can take in. They are prioritising pound dogs because pounds are obliged to take in dogs even though they have the same space problems as rescues.

Jenny says that pounds are overwhelmed, so they and other rescues are doing their best to take in as many as they can.

“If they don’t have kennel space through no fault of the staff or the dogs it will come to the stage where dogs are going to have to be put to sleep in pounds because there is way too many,” said Jenny.

CAPTION: Could you offer Zebo a home?

Jenny says that many dogs are being sent to the US, but that process takes time. In the meantime, people can if they wish to care for the outbound dogs. For those who do not think they could foster long-term success, this might be the perfect way to help.

We met with the foster families of abandoned puppies, Luna and Lucy. Thankfully, both pups are on their way to their forever homes.

But, for the time they were in foster care, they were well-cared for and much-loved.

Surrendering

The Haven asks that anyone who is surrendering a dog ensures that at a minimum, the animal is chipped. This is a legal requirement, but if your pup came from a backyard breeder, they may not have been chipped.

CAPTION: A volunteer walking one of the lovely pets in need of a home

All dogs should have at least their puppy vaccines and an annual booster. Ideally, they would also be neutered.

The Haven would also like to say a big thank you to Muddy Paws for hosting the adoption day and their ongoing support.