One of Dogs Trust Glasgow’s most overlooked pooches has finally found their forever home during lockdown – after spending a year in kennels.
Whilst rehoming was paused temporarily at the start of the coronavirus outbreak, rehoming staff were able to responsibly find their dogs the right homes through a virtual matching service – using video based home checks and socially distanced appointments, either at the rehoming centres, or by taking the dogs out to adopters homes.
As demand for dogs has risen sharply since lockdown began, this has meant many adopters have considered dogs that would usually have been overlooked.
One of the long-term lodgers rehomed between March and July, was Collie cross Fletcher, who spent a year waiting for his new home. But he has now landed on his paws with Fabrizio Infante, who has previous experience of adopting rescue dogs.
After noticing Fletcher on Dogs Trust Glasgow’s social media pages, he instantly set out to find out more and it turned out to be the perfect match.
Fletcher’s new owner, Fabrizio said: “My dream has always been to give dogs the best life, especially older dogs like Fletcher, who need another chance at being part of a happy home. When I saw a video of Fletcher online and enquired about his background, my heart melted when I found out he had been previously found straying by local authorities; and I wanted nothing more than to make him happy.
“Fletcher has settled in very well at home and we have spent lots of time on his training. He is a bit more independent now but still loves sleeping at my feet. Although he likes to take things a bit slower, he still enjoys long walks and playing hide and seek. Adopting Fletcher has been one of the most amazing experiences; having a dog in your life gives you more energy and a greater sense of purpose because of how much they rely on you.
“We do everything together, from going to the beach, visiting the countryside, or having BBQs. to It is safe to say lockdown would have been much lonelier without Fletcher and I am so grateful to have him in my life.”
Since lockdown began Dogs Trust has seen unprecedented demand for its rescue hounds. From 1-15 July, the charity ad 6,761 calls enquiring to rehome a dog. This is a 79.2% increase on the same timeframe last year. In just one day, the charity had over 1,000 emails from people enquiring about three Daschund puppies.
However, while lockdown has seen many of our longer-term dogs bidding Dogs Trust farewell and going home with their new families, there are still plenty of others still looking for their forever homes at Dogs Trust Glasgow, including Benji, a seven-year-old Patterdale Terrier, Benji is toy daft and on the lookout for an owner who is willing to spend lots of time playing and continuing his training too.
Sandra Downie, Rehoming Centre Manager at Dogs Trust Glasgow, said: “Lockdown has been a challenging time for us all, but we are so happy to see Indie finally finding their forever home during this time. We believe that a dog is for life, not just for lockdown so our team has done a fantastic job in matching dogs to the right families during this pandemic and we have no doubt Indie will bring lots of joy into his new family’s lives now and for years to come.
“We are grateful to players of People’s Postcode Lottery, whose funding has allowed our specialist teams of Canine Carers and Training and Behaviour Advisors to continue to give these dogs the best care and find them their perfect forever homes.
“But the work doesn’t stop here – we still have lots of dogs who are looking for their new homes so, if you feel now really is the right time for you to be getting a dog, take a look at our website to find out more.”
For more information visit www.dogstrust.org.uk/changethetale
