Giving up a Husky

Important Notice: To all those considering giving up your dog for adoption

If you relinquish your dog to us for whatever reason and (after assessment) we agree to take it in, please understand that this is a PERMANENT arrangement. We cannot foster, kennel or look after your dogs on a temporary basis. Once your dog has been assessed by one of our volunteers and we have agreed to take it in, it will be collected by us, the dog will be further assessed over a period of time and rehomed to a suitable permanent home as soon as possible. It is important that you realise this and do not come back to us months later asking for your dog to be returned. This will not happen – the dog has already suffered the trauma of being rehomed the first time. It would never be in the dog’s interests for that to happen again and it is in the dog’s interests which concern us, not the humans.

Giving up your Siberian Husky – Husky Rescue

If you contact us because, for whatever reasons, you feel that you cannot keep your Siberian Husky, we will try first of all to identify clearly the issues which have led to the decision to rehome. It may well be that with the appropriate advice and support, you might find it possible to keep the dog and manage your situation more effectively. Between us, SHWA volunteers have many, many years of experience in dealing with this wonderful but often challenging breed and sometimes the right advice at the right time can make all the difference! This is not always the case however, and whatever the situation, our volunteers will always have the best interests of the dog at heart!

Here is some feedback from one of our Facebook Group members who was worried she would have to give up her Husky, but sought advice from the group first:

“I really want to thank everyone who commented on my post for help before. I just got home and my beautiful Ty was lying down in his crate, really settled, I did a couple of bits and pieces in the kitchen and then opened the door he didn’t even want to come out! He loves his new hideaway. I took a load of bits of advice from you all and I can’t thank you enough. Ty, myself and my neighbours are all so much happier and in such a tiny space of time! Thank you all for your advice I can now continue to keep and love my beautiful boy”

Where it is obvious that there is no realistic possibility of the situation being resolved, you will be asked to pass ownership of the dog to SHWA-UK by completing and signing a Relinquish Form. You will be asked to pass on all documents relating to the dog (KC papers where appropriate, vaccination certificates, pedigrees etc.) at the time of handover. As a matter of normal policy, the whereabouts of rehomed dogs is confidential.

If you are 100% certain that you wish to rehome your Siberian Husky, please download our Request to Relinquish Form (Word document) from the Giving up a Dog menu. Complete the form and email it as an attachment to us at: shwauk@btinternet.com Once we have received your form, it will be passed on to your nearest area co-ordinator who will make contact with you and arrange to come and assess the dog.

Please Note:

• If the dog which you wish to rehome has aggression problems towards humans, or is unusually aggressive towards other dogs, we will not be able to take it in. (see below)
• We also need to know if the dog has any health issues. Obviously we cannot take in dogs with serious ongoing health issues which are likely to make it difficult or impossible to rehome them. (see below)
• We also insist that any dogs being relinquished to SHWA have up to date vaccination certificates. This is because the dogs are fostered in the homes of our volunteers and we cannot put their own dogs at risk by introducing unvaccinated dogs into their homes
• SHWA-UK is not a business – we do not have “opening hours” or paid staff and our volunteers are working from their own homes in their spare time. Please respect this!

Aggressive dogs & Health Issues

Aggression – If the dog which you wish to rehome has aggression issues towards humans, or is unusually aggressive towards other dogs, we will not be able to take possession of and rehome him / her.

At this time we do not have a secure rescue kennel. Nor do we have access to specialist canine behaviour therapists. All the dogs we take in are fostered by our volunteers in family situations and we cannot take the risk of our volunteers, their families or dogs being attacked and injured by foster dogs under assessment.

We recognise that the stresses within the family leading to the dog being given up for adoption can have an effect on the dog’s personality, so we do assess each dog that comes in thoroughly. An initial assessment is carried out in the dog’s existing home to ensure that the dog is safe for us to take in. It is then assessed over a period of time (minimum two weeks) by the fosterer so that we can “push all its buttons” and get an accurate assessment of the dog’s temperament. Some are understandably frightened and disoriented by the changes happening in their lives, or have an issue that is easily soluble – these we work with and allow them time and space to adjust and overcome their fears.

Occasionally, owners relinquishing their dogs have lied to us about their dog’s temperament and once the dog has come in we have quickly realised that the do not have the resources to undertake the necessary long-term therapeutic work to change its behaviour, or that the behaviour has an insoluble medical cause. In such case, unfortunately we have no option but to put the dogs to sleep. Some people feel that a welfare organisation that euthanises aggressive dogs is wrong, but the simple reality is, without a dedicated secure kennel and a dedicated staff of behaviourists (both of which are well beyond our meagre resources) we simply have no choice. We just cannot put our fosterers and the families and pets at risk of possible serious injury.

Health Issues – We will generally ask for a Vet report before taking a dog in so that we can satisfy ourselves that the dog does not have any health issues which are likely to make it difficult or impossible to rehome. If we feel this is the case, we will not be able to take the dog into our care