That makes sense to me

I was accused of being callous and uncaring because I would prefer not to see Irish dogs taking up rescue space in this country when there are still dogs being pts here for lack of rescue space/proper homes.

I've explained my arguments and got some people to think again about whether or not it is actually such a good idea to import...so I'm happy to leave it there

Re the Dogs Trust - they have a new Rescue Centre in Dublin so they will be bringing dogs to the UK, its well known they move dogs around their different centres.

I dont think anyone should be condemmed for having an opinion

Oh ok, was just when you said she 'scoured rescue centres looking for the kind of dogs she wanted and could not find anything to suit' that it was on her part that she didnt rescue, not the actual rescue.

I think finding the right dog is very important... but i just dont think it is as hard as people sometimes make out... even if it does require a bit of patience.

Sorry - got confused by your first sentence?

Do you mean that I did not imply the rescues turned her down?
I had no intention of implying that - she could not find anything to suit - that was intended to mean that she was not able to access the dogs or she could not find the dog she wanted. It was what she said to me, and that is how I took it, knowing how many rescues work.

In the first post i took it that she looked for a suitable dog, but couldnt find one. Then in your reply, i thought you were saying that you didnt know exactly why should didnt find a suitable one but then you gave reasons why rescues turn down people so took that as what you thought was most likely to be the reason

Nope - not to be taken that way....just saying what I knew and throwing possibilities out there as you had expressed surprise that she could not find what she wanted.

While I sympathise with the plight of unwanted UK dogs stuck in rescues,taking Irish dogs does NOT open space for irresponsible breeders to dump into rescue.They don't go NEAR rescues,it's cheaper on fuel to throw their unwanted on the street - or in one case that springs to mind of 2 St Bernards,tie them to a stump in the middle of nowhere and leave them to die slowly and horribly of starvation.(They weren't found in time)With a population 1/10th of the UK Ireland has more than 10x the number of unwanted dogs.It's not just irresponsible over population that's the problem (although that doesn't help) It's the desperate lack of good Irish homes for dogs.Too many are against neutering (because they're Catholic and birth control is against the teachings of the church -heaven help us!) I don't know what the thing is about fencing a dog in.I have 2 acres of garden securely fenced for my dogs,they have free access to this through their own door from the house.I have often been told that it's "cruel" to not allow them to "run free".AND that it's "unnatural" to let them have the run of the house.
There are of course Irish who are very good,loving and responsible dog owners.But they are the minority.
In the UK the minority are the irresponsible,the cruel and the ignorant.Should a dog die because it wasn't born in a pet loving society? The UK rescues who take Irish dogs only do so when they have the room,they still put the local dogs first.

Thanks for that HiHoSilver ~ it's really interesting (although sad) to hear it from the Irish perspective.

I had no idea that there would be any religious/birth control element in the decision as to whether to neuter or not ~ I'm quite gobsmacked that it would a consideration Does this apply to farmers who so control the breeding or non-breeding of livestock ~ or are they all allowed to mate & breed willy-nilly & to hell with the blood stock & breeding lines?

It's such a shame that the situation is dire in Ireland. Is there a large feral dog population? If so, is anything done about it?

It's hard to know the number of ferals as the Irish also seem to be reluctant to put collars on their dogs.There are loose dogs everywhere - which are strays/abandoned?Personally-having had bad experiences in the past-I now only stop to pick up a dog if it is a)chronically thin b)obviously distressed c)injured d)I saw it being dumped/thrown from the window of a moving car.
All of the above have happened in my experience.The missus moans at me but I've found a way to deal with her.I come into the house leaving the dog in the car.She knows by my face now and I leave her to bring the dog in.If it's already in bandages she mutters about vet bills and flies around making a bed in the crate we keep for such emergencies by the fire.VERY rarely we find a home for it with friends.Otherwise when it's fit the dog goes to a rescue that will ship the dog out of Ireland.Italy,Sweden,Germany,Netherlands or the UK.The situation here is parallel to that in third world countries.The majority of rescues are run by foreigners who,I'm sure, had no intention of sacrificing their real lives to animal rescue when they came here but if you care about animals it's impossible to do turn your back on it.Once you start how do you turn your back and walk away?The Irish,per head of population,are among the most generous when it comes to donating to foreign disasters but giving to animal charities here?It's pathetic.Some of the pounds try to do their best for the 5 days a dog has to live.They even have appeals to the public for bedding for the dogs!Others are hellholes and the wardens sadistic b'ds who are friends to neither man nor beast.The ISPCA aren't as bad as the RSPCA-yet-but they're working on it.Ignorance posing as expert in a pseudo police uniform.The best that can be said for dealing with the dog problem is that private rescues are growing in number slowly and are doing their best.The Dogs Trust have been the single biggest help with their sponsored neutering scheme.The unfortunates picked up by the dog wardens have only 5 more days of misery before slaughter.
The Catholic objection to neutering would be funny if it didn't have such tragic consequences.

So sad to hear that the situation in Ireland is no better now than when I used to spend a lot of time there as a child (my grandparents had a farm) Thinking back, I don't think the people I met back then were particularly cruel as such - they didn't go out of their way to hurt animals, but they certainly didn't view dogs in the way I did and as far as collars/leads, vaccinations, worming, training etc went - it was non-existent.