Adopting a rescue dog in Zurich

Family, Education, Health and Pets
21
Well-run ethical rescues, in Switzerland and the world over, are cautious in order to protect the animal. Afterall, the animal has already been let down, often abusively, at least once by the people who owned him. The job of the rescue is to make sure that it does not happen again.

I have seen horrors in rehoming gone wrong, when a naive, unserious, or simply underfunded rescue gets it wrong and the dog ends up, again, with someone who inappropriate.

Every time an adoption fails, the animal acquires baggage. Sometime so much baggage that the animal is so damaged that it becomes unhomeable.

Irresponsible rehoming is as bad as irresponsible ownership. It is not fair to the animal. Rescue is there to protect the critter, punkt fertig.

After a while doing rescue you see that many people are not fit to take on a pet responsibly. Some are well intentioned but clueless, and benefit from asssessment and back up from the rescue to learn how to care for their animal. But others, sadly, simply cannot be trusted with a sentient being.

In some, perhaps many, cases it is better for the welfare of the animal to be in a well run, well regulated shelter than in an inappropriate home. The goal of rescue is to find the right home, not just any home.

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Case in point, one I heard of recently. A rather naive new Verein brought a medically fragile cat to Switzerland and did not sufficiently assess the adopter. A few days later, the adopter wanted rid, immediately. This Verein had no 'Plan B' for the poor cat - no one in the Verein could/would take him in. With no place for this poor cat to go, the Verein shipped the cat back to the country of origin... a difficult 50 hour trip. So a medically fragile cat is put through 50 difficult hours to get here, dumped with someone who couldn't care for him, then 50 difficult hours back... the cat died on the return transport. All this could have been avoided if the Verein had better adopter assessment policies in place, and a Plan B for every cross border adoption.

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Yes, there is an adoption contract. And one starts out with the assumption that adopters adhere to it. But when it is learned that an animal is at risk due to breaking the contract, pursuing legal consequences is generally wholly down to the rescue, funded by the rescue. Legal challenges can quickly eat up all the rescue's resources, funds that should better go to caring for animals. Proper assessment of adopters is a better way to go. Find the right families, not just any family.

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ETA:

I will grant you, however, that some rescues do not communicate well with prospective adopters, leaving adopters feeling put off, or put down. That is a shame, and counterproductive. Often this is because the kind of person who cares so deeply about animal welfare to get into rescue work might not have 'people skills' too. Especially when the rescue is wholly volunteer run. I'd like to see more volunteers with good 'customer facing' skills become active - and I'd like to see some rather entrenched rescue administrators acknowledging that improvement might be needed.

22
Her last dog was also a rescue, and in the last years she spent thousands ( a lot of us know about the unforeseen costs ) on cancer treatment.

The lady was very apprehensive about the 2 week trial, in case she had to give the dog back, but as it turned out the new dog is a smashing little thing.

She also messed up the import ( she didn't import basically ) so 'fixed' it by getting a new invoice, post dated, mailed to her from DE, then on the aforementioned day, drove back into DE with the dog, did a U-turn and declared it at the border.

23
Quick question, though: I love dogs, have had dogs for decades but cannot have one, right now (not enough time). So, I was looking for an organisation that needed experienced dog walker volunteers. But wherever I looked, they had no need. And that was pre-pandemic Do you know a place that needs (experienced) dog walkers and cuddlers?

24
It's true, for some years now there have been fewer opportunities for volunteering in Swiss Tierheime. Part of this is because much of the work previously done by volunteers is now done by Praktikants, students working towards a Tierfpfleger or FBA degree. And of course now the pandemic essentially emptied many Swiss shelters, so need at present is low.

I took a quick peek at some of the ZH Tierheim, and many said that they have no need, in fact one said they have 'mehr Zweibeiner als Vierbeiner'.

TBB in Basel runs a pretty impressive volunteer walking program - I see no mention on their website that they not taking volunteer applications - perhaps that might be a place to look? But they only have one dog listed on their rehoming site, so who knows if there is need, or not.

Perhaps another idea:

Some of the rescues that take in dogs from outside of Switzerland do not have kennels but rather use foster families. (Animal HappyEnd springs to mind...) I wonder if there would be need for someone to help out a fosterer from time to time? You might write them, or other similar groups, and propose such a thing.

Or, 'Nachbarschaftshilfe Zürich', connecting people in the area who need help with those willing to offer it. You could offer to walk dogs in your area. Sometimes a senior, or someone recovering from an illness, might need help - help, temporary or longer term, could make all the difference, to both human and pet. There is a mention of Tierbetreuung help, btw.

https://www.nachbarschaftshilfe.ch

The world of volunteering seems to be changing, across many spectra. Traditional organizational volunteering seems to be increasingly replaced by professionals, but opportunities still exist at a more personal level.

I applaud your wish to help, and hope you find an opportunity.

25
Another thought re: volunteer opportunities:

A friend is in Greece right now, helping a small independent rescue there. She goes several times per year, this is her 'holiday'. She is experienced at socialising street cats and dogs, a project for which the staff really don't have the time they wish. A socialised dog or cat has a better chance of finding a home.

While many 'voluntourism' programs do more harm than good - this is a personal arrangement. My friend went to the island one summer to laze about in the sun, found a sick stray cat hanging out in her holiday flat, took the cat to a vet who then put her in contact with the rescue, found kindred spirits... and thus began her involvement.

If you holiday in places where there tend to be large homeless animal populations (which is much of southern and eastern Europe), maybe find a way to combine your holiday with helping out?

26
This is the shelter: https://www.hundefreunderumaenien.com/

Email: [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])

They are affiliated with: https://www.tierschutzverein-weil.de...ImTierheimWeil

No idea about the language, I guess only German.

27
I'm happy that it all worked out for your neighbor, but I do want to point out to the OP that another improperly imported dog likely will not be so fortunate. There have been several stories of seizure and euthanasia in the papers lately. Rabies is the issue, the Veterinäramt takes a hard line on animals imported without sufficient proof of rabies vaccination.

OP, be aware that every dog in Switzerland must be registered in the federal database within 10 days of acquisition. You have to see a vet to do that, and the vet is supposed to check that everything is in order. A vet is a mandatory reporter; if a dog is found to have been improperly imported, especially without rabies vaccination, he must report the animal and owner. Not doing so could land him in a lot of trouble.

Several of the sad cases where a dog is seized started as emotionally driven spontaneous decisions to take on the dog. Someone sees a stray, or reads a dossier of a homeless animal abroad, or buys from a Dark Side dealer. In countries where rabies is a problem there is usually a 21 day wait after vaccination before the animal can be brought to Switzerland, and in these spontaneous acquisitions the buyer/adopter is too emotional to wait those 21 days to do it properly. And the poor animal pays the consequence.

Do not leave anything to chance - because you, and more importantly your pup, might not get a second chance. Learn how to import, and double check every step along the way. It's not difficult, you just have to pay attention to details.

28
Another thought on volunteering:

On my way to looking for something else, I found 'Project Grizzly', an effort by Schweizer Tierschutz STS, looking at the benefits of keeping one's pets as one ages, in Altersheim or in private households

http://www.tierschutz.com/grizzly/

More here:

https://www.age-stiftung.ch/fileadmi...zzly_de_v2.pdf

I wonder if it might be worth contacting STS to ask if they know of any matching services to connect seniors in need of help with their pets with people willing to help out?

29
If I were running any service to connect dogs and people, whether a dog shelter to place a dog, or to accept helpers to come in and cuddle or wash dogs, or mixing and matching people to walk the dogs of others, I would want to make it a requirement that the person had first attended one of the theory courses . I don't know whether the organisations do look at that, or not, but I imagine that anyone applying would increase their credibility by having completed such a course.

30
A recent adoption inquiry reminded me of this thread. So as an FYI to the OP:

A prospective adopter wants to bring his future dog to work with him. While usually that is an upfront rejection from the rescue I volunteer with, in this case we were prepared to consider this adopter due to other circumstances that meant a uniquely good fit with the dog.

Since the dog would spend much of the time at the potential adopter's workplace, of course assessment of the office environment needed to be done in addition to the usual home assessment.

The employer refused to allow the rescue to do an on-premesis assessment. Which I understand, as many offices have confidentiality/security policies.

So the application assessment had to be stopped.

If the potential adopter could propose an alternative solution - suitable doggy day care, or a dog sitter, for instance - he might still be considered. But while he is looking for an alternative care option, another family has come along who do not have this complication. If that second family prove an equally good fit with this dog they will be chosen over the first potential adopter.

Just a heads-up into the kind of complications rescues see when a potential adopter wants to bring the dog to work. If you find a rescue who will entertain you as a potential candidate even with your work proposal, do make sure your manager is on-board if the rescue requires an assessment of the office. (Not all rescues are that thorough. Although they should be.)

And of course have a Plan B for suitable dog care ready to go.

Again, good luck with your search.

31
A bit late to this post but we had a similar experience when adopting. We wanted a large(ish) adult dog that was already in Switzerland. Ultimately we got our sweet girl from this organization https://www.helpforanimals.ch/

They were great and took great care of the animals and the process.

Here are a few other links I collected and monitored in the process. Note, this took months and it was pre-pandemic. Happy to help in any other way and I hope you find your pup!

http://www.petsinturkey.org/looking-for-a-home/

https://www.citydogs4streetdogs.com/adopt-a-dog/

https://www.animal-happyend.ch/hunde...r-schweiz.html

http://www.spa-annecy-marlioz.com/adoption.htm

https://www.hundepension.com/fotogal...ndevermittlung

https://www.anibis.ch

https://www.tieronline.ch/hunde/vermittlung/schweiz

https://www.hilfdemtier.ch/

32
Hi, we adopted a rescue dog from Slovakia 3 months ago with the help of www.hilfdemtier.ch .

I was first checking various shelters in Switzerland but found very few or no dogs to be available for adoption and getting one from a breeder was not an option for us as there are so many animals in need all over the world.

Being aware of potential concerns with such organizations (especially in the last two years), I was very sceptical at the beginning but got a very good feeling throughout the process. We had at least three very long phone calls with the organization beforehand, had to send a video introducing us, the flat and our neighbourhood.

When the dog arrived in Switzerland we went to pick him up immediately and got a 3 weeks trial time in case it was not working out. In that case the organization would have taken it back and placed it at a "Pflegestelle". They took care of everything, i.e. it was checked for health issues, got a chip and the necessary vaccinations, was castrated, all in the shelter in Slovakia. Also they organzied the travel to Switzerland and the process of crossing the boarder, passport etc.

In the last three months he was with us now they contacted us three times to make sure all was fine and they keep offering help in case we need anything.

We paid a "Schutzgebühr" of around 650 CHF, they use that money also to support the shelters abroad (castration of street dogs etc.)

So in the end we and our dog feel very well taken care of and I can highly recommend that organisation to everyone who wants to adopt a rescue dog!