Why Import dogs?

Surely we have enough dogs already in the UK needing homes without importing dogs from other countries?

Ok to improve blood lines I accept, but not for any other reason I can think of. Thousands or at least hundreds of dog are put to sleep that could have a home if people stopped imported any rag tag dog they feel sorry for

I have fostered & adopted Irish Collies, they are treated dreadfully in Ireland & would never find a home there. I would not want a rescue dog from within the UK as a good 75% are Bull Breed types & not a type I could ever live with.

My next foster will be coming from Romania & there unowned dogs(& some owned dogs )are rounded up in inhumane ways & then slaughtered after 14 days of starvation in the Public Kill shelters where they are neither fed or watered by the Shelter & only survive because volunteers take food & water to them. They are NOT PTS they are slaughtered by whatever means are to hand(including decapitation)in the presence of the other dogs

There is cruelty of such epic proportions abroad that makes anything that happens here nothing.

No one forces anyone to adopt/foster from abroad instead of from the UK, it is an individual choice & I chose NOT to adopt/foster from within the UK simple as that

Quote "
I have fostered & adopted Irish Collies, they are treated dreadfully in Ireland & would never find a home there. I would not want a rescue dog from within the UK as a good 75% are Bull Breed types & not a type I could ever live with.

Don't know where you got that figure from, seems an excessively high percentage considering the number of breed rescues there are in the UK.
Maybe you can point me to where it says that in any publication?

If I get another dog it will be a rescue and I'm 99.99% positive it will be a Romanian dog.

Why? Because none if the rescues that I have enquires at deem me a suitable dog owner because I work full time despite the fact that I have had 7 well adjusted, well behaved dogs, all raised from pups while I work full time.

That coupled with the reasons Dyanne stated re the treatment of the dogs in Romania has me leaning towards importing a dog.

Are you talking about just rescuing, or importing in general?

Dogs need saving wherever they are, does it really matter where the dog is rescued from?

Some people actually make their holiday rescue related too: Because my own 5 werent enough lol I'd love to go there... and come back with a local rescue, given I am a fan of the types of dogs they have there

Hi Tumbleweed while it could be argued we have plenty of dogs here that need rehoming, many dogs are found suitable temporary accommodation in rescues until they are rehomed.

Some countries have little or no rescue facilities and if as dog lovers we look at the whole picture, every dog rescued is a dog saved wherever it might come from

The lines I wanted were nonexistent in the UK, infact as far as anyone can see I have the only 100% Boss Hog/Iron Axehead bitch in the UK
Sometimes you just cant get what you want domestically, frankly I'd tell anyone looking to get into the breed here to at least consider looking overseas, I could probably count the number of people in the UK with decent stock on one hand.

I do see the logic of the original poster and to a large extent agree when it comes to rescue dogs.

I also see the point that in some countries, conditions are horrific, but importing the relatively few (in the scheme of things) for adoption here isn't going to alter those conditions.

I sort of see it as the more we rehome 'native' dogs, the more efficient our own rescues will be and so the more effective.

May be a naive thought, but it's how it seems to me

Many Mastiff breeders import from the UK and many export to the UK. Canada same.

Personally, I feel that until we no longer PTS dogs in Britain, we should not be taking in dogs from abroad. There is a dog PTS in Britain, in pounds, every 80 mins ( 50% are Staffies).

I am not saying dogs abroad should not be helped, but I feel more could be done if people donated to the people running rescues to allow them to educate, neuter and set up proper shelters. Taking a few dogs from abroad will not change the situation there, education and neutering programmes will.

I know of quite a few dogs who have come from abroad, they have ended up in local shelters or PTS because people were not prepared for dogs who do not understand them or have been street dogs. I would add that many are being taken into the country with diseases, leishmania being the more common one and in some cases being incorrectly vaccinated for rabies.

This is a common issue with puppies from puppy farms being shipped into this country too..... Pups are being smuggled in to Britain, having been vaccinated too early and in some cases not having been vaccinated at all.