Dogs Trust is the UK's largest dog welfare charity, each year we care for around 16,000 dogs at our nationwide network of 19 Rehoming Centres. Alongside this work our Freedom Project provides free temporary foster care for dogs belonging to families who are fleeing domestic violence within Greater London, Essex, Hertfordshire, Yorkshire and the North East.
The service was set up in 2004 and to date has helped over 1000 pets. This has only been possible due to the continual commitment of our volunteer foster carers who give up their time to help these vulnerable pets.
We receive referrals for dogs requiring temporary foster care because their owners are fleeing domestic violence and going into temporary accomodation, usually a refuge. Referrals are made by a domestic violence support service or by the family itself.
The client completes a form about their pet and we use this to match it with a suitable foster carer taking into consideration things like; age of the dog, size, if the dog has previously lived with children or other pets. The dog is then colected by Dogs Trust and taken directly to their new temporary foster home. We provide our volunteer foster carers with support via regular visits throughout the foster placement. At these visits we also take photographs of the dog which we send out with a progress update to the family.
This service is strictly confidential and the dog is always placed outside the area from where the family fled.
Average foster placements last between six to nine months ans in most cases we plan to return pets to their owners within three to five days of being requested.
