Description
If you are adopting a KGR you can make the donation here. We ask for a minimum of £310.00 (£60 of which will be refunded on completion of your dog training) – all of which goes to help other dogs.
Why do we ask for a donation when you adopt a dog?
Kent Greyhound Rescue is funded entirely by donations. Your donation helps fund part of the work we do, so that we can continue to rescue more dogs. We know there are homes for rescued greyhounds and lurchers in Kent, but the rescue and rehabilitation process can be costly. You will be part of our future and we will keep you up to date with our work – both the highs and the lows.
It costs (on average) £700 to rescue each of our dogs. We don’t pick and choose which dogs deserve a rescue place, and some dogs need extensive veterinary treatment or long term rehabilitation before they can be rehomed. None of our volunteers are paid, but kennelling fees and veterinary costs soon stack up for those dogs that needs more support to put their life back in order. We do not get a contribution from the racing industry.
Even healthy dogs have a significant cost and the vast majority of our dogs require neutering, vaccinations, and flea and worm treatments. While they are looking for homes there are private boarding and feeding costs.
The dog you wish to adopt has been assessed by us and matched to your family and living conditions via a home check. The careful process, carried out by experienced volunteers means we have a very successful rehoming records. There are very few failed adoptions.
All of our dogs are supported by lifetime ‘back-up’. Sometimes life changes, and families are affected by illness or changes in financial circumstances. We will always provide a safety net for our dogs. Rescue spaces are difficult to find, particularly for older dogs, but this will never be an issue for dogs rehomed from KGR.
Most of our dogs are rescued from dog pounds in Ireland, where they have 5 days to be claimed or find a rescue space. They tend to be one of the following:
- Young greyhounds that were deemed not good enough to race and left at the dog pound to be destroyed. These big innocent puppies are simply ‘wastage’ of the industry and deserve a chance to live.
- Ex-racing greyhounds, often returned from their racing career in the UK, repaid by a visit to the dog pound in the expectation they will be destroyed. These dogs are between 2 and 5 years old and often need significant veterinary care, ranging from tooth removal to repairing broken limbs. These dogs tend to be quiet plodders and are now proudly owned by lots of our supporters in Kent. We can often trace their history: the racing records, and the point at which they have been let down by the people that should be caring for them.
- We also rescue luchers (greyhound /whippet crosses) that have ended up in dog pounds. These dogs have been dumped by their owners. Most of these dogs are a result of over-breeding, and/or have been working lurchers that have been injured or are surplus to requirements. They are invariably in a very poor state of health, suffering from neglect, wounds and often terrible road traffic injuries. We are always amazed how they adjust to the life of a family pet with the most beautiful nature, despite the harsh treatment they have received.
Each dog removed from the dog pound has to be prepared for travel to the UK. This includes a pet passport which costs £85 and least 3 weeks kennelling or foster home care before he can travel. We have great support in Ireland and this is essential because some dogs need intensive long-term care before they are even fit enough to travel. Each dog travels following DEFRA guidelines which means we have to use an approved transport, which costs £80 for each dog.
If you look at the ‘happy endings’ section on our website you can see many of the wonderful dogs we have rescued – and 95% of those were on death row at the dog pound. We are good at matching the Irish Pound dogs (simply abandoned because they don’t make money) with families in Kent and it is imperative we keep doing this. Many people in Kent have supported KGR with their adoption donations and your donation will help us continue this work.
The adoption donation is only a small part of our fundraising and we are out most weeks of the year doing street collections and attending events. We would love you to bring your dog along to these events, to help with fund-raising and talking to people about the work we do.
