Rescue Back Up Policy

A New Leash for Life Rescue

Rescue Back up Policy

All good rescues will provide RBU/ Rescue Back Up for their rescue animals, be that a foreign or domestic rescue. If the rescue you are choosing does not offer RBU this is very risky for both the animal and the adopter. Some support and terms may differ from rescue to rescue so A New Leash for Life Rescue policy sets out the terms of our Rescue Back Up, gives clarity regarding our expectations from adopters and provides information on what support you and your dog or cat are entitled to from A New Leash for Life Rescue as part of their Rescue Back Up.

A New Leash for Life Rescue offers RBU for the lifetime of ALL our dogs and cats, be this on first arrival to the UK or even in some cases many years later. Changes in circumstances, unforeseen events and many other reasons mean this RBU is a safety net for our dogs and cats to ensure that they are cared for and rehomed under our own rehoming process; or with agreement from ourselves in extreme circumstances signed over to another rescue for rehoming.

Support is provided to you, the adopter, from the moment you decide to adopt a dog or cat from A New Leash for Life Rescue. This will be in various ways such as a dedicated adoption chat with one of the team, a chat with the foster of your potential adopted dog. You will also be added (where an adopter or immediate family member has a profile) to our closed Facebook community ‘Happy endings’ group where advice, support and guidance is always available. 

What you, the adopter can expect from A New Leash for Life Rescue  

• That you are given full details to the best of our knowledge on the dog or cat you are adopting. You will be given the opportunity to ask any questions of both the team and fosterer regarding the process itself and the dog or cat you have chosen to adopt throughout the adoption process.

• A New Leash for Life Rescue is a dual chip registered organisation on the PETtrac database for every dog and cat we bring to the UK. The chip of your new A New Leash for Life Rescue dog or cat will be registered to you on completion of the adoption by accepting the information provided, paying the adoption fee in full and signing of our adoption agreement. Pet Passports will be sent out in the post within 2 weeks. 

• A New Leash for Life Rescue has the benefit of access to some trained professionals such as vets, vet nurses, dog behaviourists and trainers to complement our extremely dedicated and experienced Admin and Trustee team. These individuals or organisations can help advise our adopters, so contact with A New Leash for Life Rescue in the first instance of any problems or issues is expected from our adopters. If, after advice from our volunteers you are still experiencing problems, we will help you source a suitably qualified local behaviourist to assist you. This will be at the cost to you, the adopter, but we are more than happy to support you in choosing the right one. It is extremely important any help you receive is from a suitably qualified professional that has experience with foreign rescues.

• A New Leash for Life Rescue will initially offer advice from their combined experience and their bank of professional volunteers, if this does not start to improve the issues raised, A New Leash for Life Rescue will help you to source professionals in your area that can offer help. If, after taking on board both the advice from A New Leash for Life Rescue and trained professionals, along with consideration of the time to work with certain issues, the situation does not improve or for any emergency situations, our adopters can expect A New Leash for Life Rescue to take the animal back into our care at the earliest possible opportunity.

• You can expect a professional, honest, and effective solution to any concerns raised

• After you adopt, our Team will check in with you in the first days and weeks post adoption to check how your dog/cat is settling in. We ask that you then update A New Leash for Life Rescue after 6 months and then annually thereafter. We will at times post on our page a reminder to adopters to send an update. If we do not hear from you we will endeavour to contact you for an update.

• As per our Rehoming Agreement A New Leash for Life Rescue reserves the right to reclaim the dog or cat should the adopter be in any breach of the conditions of the rehoming agreement, or should they believe it is in the dog or cat’s best interest. The adopter can expect to receive notice of these concerns, in writing, in the first instance.

• You can expect us to respond in the quickest time possible as volunteers. 

• Whilst we will work extremely hard to rehome any dog/cat as quickly as possible it is necessary to appreciate that our fosters and kennel spaces are in great demand and therefore time will be needed to arrange a placement for any returning dog or cat. Full support and advice will be given to you on how to manage the situation until such time we can remove our dog or cat, which as previously noted will be as soon as we possibly can.

• You will be updated on expected timescales.

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What A New Leash for Life Rescue expects from our adopters 

• That- A New Leash for Life Rescue is your first port of call for any problems or changes in circumstances or where the adopter is no longer able to care for the dog or cat.

• That-  A New Leash for Life Rescue is contacted in the first instance of an animal going missing. We provide detailed advice and support on the steps that need to be taken to facilitate your dog/cat’s safe recovery.

• That our adopters appreciate the stress and trauma encountered from travel, and transition from foster home to adopters home and that a dog or cat may not be themselves for a few days/weeks whilst they decompress. A safe space is expected to be supplied for your dog. Our adopters are expected to give sufficient time for our dogs and cats to settle into their new home environment after collection from their foster. That there is an understanding that the dog or cat may behave differently from when you met them in foster whilst they adjust. Time is usually the overriding factor needed for our rescues.

• That our adopters will NEVER sell, pass on without our knowledge or advertise one of our dogs or cats for a permanent new home (this includes to a friend or family member, or other reputable rescue) whilst we may be happy to agree this, it MUST be done through and with the agreement of A New Leash for Life Rescue. Temporary new homes, with the exception of holiday boarding/cover, should also be communicated to A New Leash for Life Rescue.

• The adopter will not remove the dual chip registration and will keep address and contact details up to date in accordance with our Rehoming Agreement.

• The adopter will provide updates on their dog or cat for life either by way of posting on social media, direct to a Rescue Team member, by email or by responding to our Post Adoption Team emails/contact.

• That the advice of our team or other professionals is followed, both in preparation of your new arrival and after. We have an abundance of experience that we are more than willing to share with you, but you need to be prepared to listen to advice and act accordingly.

• We will require that you manage your expectations of settling in a foreign rescue by reading all material that we supply, visiting our website, reading our New Adopters Guide and visiting the various resources we recommend, along with doing your own research.

• As volunteers we expect understanding that we will respond to you as quickly as we possibly can, this may not be on the same day but we will guarantee a response. 

• We fully expect adopters to read, understand and comply with our rehoming agreement.

• A New Leash for Life Rescue expects to be informed of any LIFE CHANGING illness or surgery, or indeed life ending decisions BEFORE they take place where this is appropriate and not of an emergency nature.

• That the adopter notifies A New Leash for Life Rescue of any change in permanent address and contact details, in order that we keep our database of information GDPR compliant.

• That the adopter understands A New Leash for Life Rescue do not provide refunds

• If you reach the stage of having to surrender your dog back to A New Leash for Life Rescue your dog or cat must be up to date with all vaccinations including kennel cough vaccine (required for kennels) and neutered as per our adoption agreement. 

Surrender Procedure

• You will have been in communication with A New Leash for Life Rescue prior to your final decision to surrender and you will have followed all advice and exhausted all solutions to resolve the issues that you are having that are leading to your decision to surrender your dog or cat.

• You will be sent a surrender questionnaire to complete giving a true and honest view of your dog; your reasons for rehoming and what steps have been taken to resolve the issues stated. 

• You agree to supply details including contact details of any professional support that you have received in order for us to make contact for an opinion on the dogs suitability to be rehomed or any additional interventions the dog may need in order for it to be deemed suitable for rehoming; particularly where it has been disclosed that there are severe fear or aggressive behaviours. 

• Once your surrender form has been received your dog or cat will be placed on a waiting list for a foster or kennel space. This list is prioritised by the team according to the severity of each situation. No dog or cat can be taken back immediately unless in an extreme emergency or where there is no waiting list and a foster space or Kennel space is available.

• When we are able to take back your surrendered dog or cat a date will be planned; you will be sent a surrender agreement to sign and it will be your responsibility to transport your dog or cat back to either a team member or fosterer in the Southampton area or to transport your dog to a nominated kennels in the Southampton area. If you are unable to transport the dog back to us yourself, you will be responsible for arranging transport and associated costs for the dog to be transported back to our care; foster or kennels.

• In extreme cases where an adopter is no longer able to care for their adopted dog and we have no availability to take the dog back, A New Leash for Life Rescue may suggest and give permission to an adopter to place the dog in boarding kennels or where the situation warrants such action, agree to sign the dog over to another rescue if they are able to accommodate and rehome the dog.