"By reducing pressure on rescue groups" PetRescue claim their new Home2Home program is helping keep pets out of harm's way.
But how does bypassing the knowledge and experience of real-life rescue groups, in favour of an online, pet-flipping service, work out for pets?
Pudge
Sometime around the start of April 2022 a dog was accepted into PetRescue’s ‘Home2Home’ program. Pudge was in NSW, likely living with his surrendering owner.
A month later in May, Pudge was still available.
By June PetRescue were looking for help from rescues to take Pudge after a failed adoption.
And by July, PetRescue was starting to get desperate to offload Pudge to a rescue as he was starting to collapse emotionally after four failed homes - yes four!
An adopter who has gone AWOL, and a distraught, unwanted dog, Pudge was now in grave danger thanks to PetRescue's Home2Home program.
And then they sent Pudge on a flight to Victoria.
Five months after Pudge entered the Home2Home program, Pudge was again available for adoption, but now he was in Melbourne!
But the poor dog still wasn't safe, as his new carer decided he wasn't the right home for Pudge either. From the PetRescue article celebrating what a great job they did with him...
Except "Jack" is located in Victoria and took over care of Pudge after he'd already had a failed adoption or two in NSW, so the timeline has been fudged here a little.
Jack is not the surrendering owner, and should probably be a little offended that he's being held responsible for a Home2Home adoption gone wrong.
Months of time in care with 'Jack' - the unpaid, volunteer foster carer working for free for PetRescue.
A real community foster group would have paid for all vet visits, vaccinations and even stumped up for in-person training for a dog who was having such severe behaviour issues that they were failing multiple homes.
Did PetRescue contribute anything financially to Pudge's care during these months?
Sometime at the end of 2022, Pudge luckily found a forever home. But at what cost to him? SEVEN failed foster homes.
Rather than solve a genuine problem in animal welfare, PetRescue's Home2Home program continues to put pets at great risk. Rescue is more than photographing pets and writing cute profiles. Rescue is more than writing fundraising newsletters and social media posts. The skills rescue groups have to rehabilitate and match pets to new homes is invaluable and incalculable.
PetRescue should know this, but instead they continue to belittle and devalue the work of rescue, by allowing abandoning owners to flog their unwanted pets on the website - putting at-risk pets in even more jeopardy by preventing their owners from accessing the help of a reputable rescue group.
Hopefully, Pudge's home is a forever one. He deserves the very best home after his ordeal.
Home2Home hurts rescue. And no matter what spin they'd like to put on it, Home2Home hurts pets.
Further reading
(August 18, 2020) - PetRescue begins cherry picking surrenders; side-stepping rescue groups