Thursday, 19th of September

Over the last year we have built a relationship with a rescue in Sweden, Friends Forever, where they select dogs in our care who they feel they can find great homes for in Sweden, typically it is medium to large dogs like springers, lurchers etc that we can find difficult to rehome here so it is a great partnership. Sweden has a good history of responsible dog ownership. Dog breeding is controlled, most dogs are pure bred and having a dog is a financial commitment people do not take lightly. It is a legal requirement for dogs to be registered and permanently identifiable, preferably by microchip, from 4 months of age and dogs being transferred to a new owner must have their details updated within 4 weeks of going to a new home. As a result of these procedures, once caught, stray dogs can be reunited with their owners with in a couple of hours, meaning they have a low stray dog population.

Friends Forever contact us when they see a dog we have in our care and think they can find suitable homes for them in Sweden. This can be a difficult process for our volunteers, as we could have a dog in foster for a couple of months and then have to wave goodbye as they are loaded on to the lorry to make the trip to Sweden, it is a very difficult thing to do. These days are always full of emotion and there are many tears but in the end we know it is giving the dogs the chance to find a wonderful home. All dogs going on this journey are microchipped and have been checked by our vets and have relevant paperwork filled in. 

This time it was Maya & Carly that were making the long journey and we were all thinking of them and their foster Mammys today as we know it is tough on everyone. Ann a volunteer who fostered Ronald, a cheeky little character, who was rehomed to Sweden on a previous occasion wished the girls all the best and said "And who knows maybe she'll meet Ronald and tell him we still love, miss and talk about him all the time and give him a big hug and tell him that we are so happy that he's happy and being loved. x" Dodo the Lurcher had also been chosen, but one of our volunteers fell in love with Dodo and he has found his forever home here in Ireland. We wish the lovely Maya & Carly a safe journey and we know Sweden can offer them great homes. We can't wait to see the updates. 

Good Luck Maya x

Dogs from a number of rescues all set for the trip Sweden

Back at the kennels, Jimmy the Beagle was off to the vets to be neutered. And two of our kittens Aero & Twix were also being dropped to the vets from the their foster home to be neutered. When Eva collected them this evening, Jimmy was happy as ever, you wouldn't think he had just had an operation, but Aero & Twix weren't so happy and were quite drowsy. It should take just take a couple of hours to be back themselves. 

Aero & Twix are looking for their forever homes

Jimmy, last weekend on a day out from the kennels with one of our volunteers

The phones were busy with reports of stray dogs, one of which we were able to reunite quickly with her owners. We were also busy trying to find room to take in two dogs at risk of being put to sleep and helping owners try to rehome two more dogs. When we get numerous calls in a day looking for help rehoming dogs it can be difficult trying to prioritise those to help first, we only have room for so many dogs but being animal lovers it is difficult not being able to help them all. 

Coco a surrender to the kennels has come on in leaps and bounds over the last few weeks and we are hoping to get her into foster now so she is ready to find her forever home as soon as possible. 

There has been some interest in a couple of our kittens so we hope to get them rehomed in the next couple of weeks and bring our cat numbers down to numbers that are more manageable for our foster homes. 

We are busy deciding which Christmas fairs to attend this year to sell some of our Christmas cards & calendars, the first on the list will be in Knightsbrook Hotel in December. We have received some lovely photos for our photography competition. 

www.lasthope.ie
www.idonate.ie/248_last-hope-animal-charity.html