I WANT TO VOLUNTEER AT THE CENTRE. HOW DO I GO ABOUT IT?

(AUG 2008) RECENTLY WE HAVE HAD A DELUGE OF VOLUNTEER REQUESTS, FOR WHICH WE ARE VERY GRATEFUL, AND WE ARE SPENDING TIME GOING THROUGH THE APPLICATIONS AND TRAINING THE VOLUNTEERS.

IN THE MEANTIME WE WILL NOT BE RECRUITING AGAIN UNTIL JAN 2009.

MANY THANKS ALL THAT HAVE APPLIED.

Stray dogs are the responsibility of the local council. Your local dog warden should be contacted, as they will not only take the stray dog to the designated kennels, but will also keep a record of all lost and found dogs in the area. This means there is more chance of an owner being reunited quickly with their lost dog.

You can contact them by ringing your local council and asking for the dog warden. 

 We regret that we are unable to take in stray dogs at West Hatch. We do not hold a licence to board them, and once we have accepted them it then often proves difficult to get them back into the care of the local council.

If there is no dog warden on duty at weekends in your area, then you need to contact your local police station. In the absence of a dog warden, it is the responsibility of the local police to deal with strays.Please do ring us to report a lost or found dog. 

You need to telephone 0300 1234 999. When you ring this number, your call will be answered by a controller.

They will take details of the complaint, and all calls are treated in the strictest of confidence. They can then pass details on to the Inspector covering that area. The call centre is very busy, and you may sometimes be asked to wait in a queue. Please hang on. Your call will be dealt with as soon as possible.

We look at each dog as an individual, and assess how long it can be left alone.

If a dog has been used to being left for a certain amount of time, and has never had any problems, then we will re-home it to a working family.

We do however require that someone is able to pop home during the day to let it out.

Older dogs are often quite happy to stay at home, and have few behaviour problems.

Unfortunately, the majority of dogs that we get at the centre cannot be left alone for long.

Many dogs are handed in for chewing, barking, messing, or just becoming distressed when left. In these cases, we have to look for a home where someone is at home most of the time. This way the dog can gradually learn to be left alone.What we don't want is for anyone to take on a dog, only to find they have to bring it back due to problems we could have avoided.

Each dog that comes to the centre has a thorough temperament test before being put up for homing.

Part of this test is to ascertain how comfortable the dog is likely to be when handled and cuddled. We also test for guarding of food, toys and treats.  If the dog shows that they are uncomfortable in these situations, then we cannot take the risk of re-homing them around young children.

A large number of the dogs we get handed in, have been brought to us because they are either not comfortable around the children, or have resorted to snapping at them. Even if it was not the fault of the dog, we still cannot take the risk of returning the dog to a situation where the problem could re occur. The last thing that we want to happen is for the dog to have to be returned due to problems, or for someone's child to get bitten.We therefore do err on the side of caution at all times.

 We don't have a set fee, as the welfare of the animal is the most important thing. We do however appreciate a donation towards the running costs, as we receive no government funding and rely solely on donations. 

The first thing you need to do is telephone the centre. Someone will have a chat about why you need to re-home your pet, and firstly see if they can offer any advice to enable you to keep it. If there is no alternative, they will take your details, and add them to the waiting list. We are full most of the time, and can only take in new animals once one has been re-homed. This applies to most species.

 It is difficult to give an exact idea of how long it will take to get your pet into the centre, but we do try to take urgent cases as soon as we can. We can also offer you other numbers to try, in case you can find a place at another centre more quickly.

 As soon as we have the space, we will telephone you to arrange a date for you to bring your pet in. This usually needs to be within 2-3 days, as spaces get taken very quickly.

We have a separate page on our site, PLEASE CLICK HERE.

IN CASES OF CRUELTY, NEGLECT OR IN AN EMERGENCY TEL: 0300 1234 999 (24 HOUR)