Animal rescue charity Spaniel Aid is celebrating a milestone: Bobbie (main image) is the 4000th dog rescued in nine years of activity by the charity, which is run entirely by volunteers.
However, celebrations are dampened by the charity’s inability to help all dogs in need due to their limited resources and the huge number of spaniels in need, with some facing challenges such as aggression, reactivity, or a lack of socialisation. Spaniel Aid says it is currently saying no to just under 50% of the requests to hand over dogs into its care.
Founder and trustee Nicola Kebbell says, “We don’t say no because we want to. If we could, we would take every single dog we were asked to take. We say no due to lack of foster space and the simple fact that sometimes these dogs have so many issues we simply cannot put them in a foster home. Our fosterers are absolutely fantastic but the majority are just like you and me, dog lovers who are simply wanting to help.”
While number of dogs taken in by Spaniel Aid has remained fairly consistent over the years, the number of dogs they had to refuse has increased due to a combination of factors – including the surge in dog ownership in recent years, leaving to a parallel increase in dogs requiring rescue services.
Another issue, Spaniel Aid adds, are “people who can look online and have a dog in their home later the same afternoon for a few hundred pounds, with no thought about whether they can provide the correct home for a living breathing animal”.
Bobbie, Spaniel Aid’s number 4,000, was among lucky the lucky ones. A three year old cocker spaniel, he was handed over because of the poor health of his elderly owners. Charity stuff describes him as a “normal, lively, excitable young cocker”.