Letter: Rescue centre does its utmost to place dogs in correct home

She specified that action be taken to find dogs a lasting home and urges rescue centres to do more to find these dogs the right home so that they are not bought back.

She also states that one of her major concerns is that not enough time and work put in to match the needs of the dogs and the prospective owner. She also urges rescue centres to be very honest and careful about the placement of these dogs.

Anne Browning is possibly a good dog trainer, but she obviously has no idea of the work that rescue centres put into the welfare of the dogs that are in their care, or how difficult it is to manage the increasing influx of dogs that are arriving on the doorsteps of rescue centres. I can only speak for our local rescues and say what a wonderful job they do.

We small rescue centres have not the mega marketing facilities to fund us so consequently we struggle, but all the dogs are well fed/warm at night have good food and all the veterinary care they require regardless of cost. If we do not have funds we appeal through the Shropshire Star and your readers (what a wonderful lot) come through and help us.

All homes are thoroughly vetted before the prospective owners come to see the dog or they come/choose and wait till the home visit is done. We assess the home situation before letting the dogs go to new homes and we use a dog therapist.

A qualified trainer/therapist is often there, but some problems do not manifest till the dog is in a home situation and you can never get that at kennels – so how do you get around that problem?

We are always honest about our dogs but the knowledge we pass on is only what the old owner has given to us, and while I agree that there is a small risk that you will have a dog with a problem, the vast majority of people are more than happy with their new "friend" as the testimonies on our website will verify.

We have a set of guidelines that we adhere to when vetting a suitable home but on saying that we placed an very old Jack Russell with a lovely couple of pensioners that were in a flat but were out walking her every day. Its called common sense.

Caroline James, Craven Arms