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Region served | United Kingdom |
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Parent organization | K9 Media Ltd |
| Website | www |
DogsBlog.com is a UK dog rescue website founded by Ryan O'Meara and Kim Bruce, and set up by K9 Media Ltd. [1] It was launched in January 2007, [2] and has since found new homes for over 21,000 dogs via the website which provides a free service for 212 different rescue shelters. [3]
Ben, an 8 year old Shih Tzu, was the 2,000th dog rehomed via the website in May 2008.[ citation needed ] 3,000 dogs were resettled in new homes by November 2008 with a success rate of 75%; for every 100 dogs listed on the website, 75 were rehomed. Also during this period it had seen a big growth in web traffic, with a 334.98% increase in visitor traffic during the year. [4]
The 4,000 milestone was announced on 14 March 2009[ citation needed ] with both the 4,000th and 4,001st dogs, named Charlie and Millie, two German Shepherd cross Collie puppies. It was also announced at the same time that since its foundation, DogsBlog.com had relieved the animal welfare industry in the UK of more than £9,490,000 of financial strain. [5]
The 6,000th dog adopted via the website was Ruby, an English Bull Terrier cross Staffordshire Bull Terrier in August 2009. [6]
The website has worked with the national media in the United Kingdom to change the public opinion of dogs in rescue centres.[ citation needed ]
DogsBlog.com ran the UK's first National Dog Adoption Month in August 2008. Kim Bruce from DogsBlog.com said "The campaign aims to completely dispel the myth that rescue dogs need pity or sympathy or that dogs in shelters are somehow there due to problems in their makeup, physical or emotional." [7] A 227% increase in dog adoptions was noted during the month. [8]
DogsBlog.com is affiliated with more than 212 different partner charities and rescue organisations across the UK. [3] Notable partners include Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, The Mayhew Animal Home, various Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals centres, The Blue Cross, Dogs Trust, and a wide range of local and breed specific rescue societies. [9]
The beagle is a breed of small scent hound, similar in appearance to the much larger foxhound. The beagle was developed primarily for hunting hare (beagling). Possessing a great sense of smell and superior tracking instincts, the beagle is the primary breed used as a detection dog for prohibited agricultural imports and foodstuffs in quarantine around the world. The beagle is intelligent. It is a popular pet due to its size, good temper, and a lack of inherited health problems.
Pit bull is a term used in the United States for a type of dog descended from bulldogs and terriers, while in other countries such as the United Kingdom the term is used as an abbreviation of the American Pit Bull Terrier breed. The term was first used in 1927. Within the United States the pit bull is usually considered a heterogeneous grouping that includes the breeds American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, American Bully, Staffordshire Bull Terrier and occasionally the American Bulldog, along with any crossbred dog that shares certain physical characteristics with these breeds. In other countries including Britain, the Staffordshire Bull Terrier is not considered a pit bull. Most pit bull-type dogs descend from the British Bull and terrier, a 19th-century dog-fighting type developed from crosses between the Old English Bulldog and the Old English Terrier.
The Jack Russell Terrier is a small terrier that has its origins in fox hunting in England. It is principally white-bodied and smooth, rough or broken-coated and can be any colour.
Pet adoption is the process of transferring responsibility for a pet that was previously owned by another party such as a person, shelter, or rescue organization. Common sources for adoptable pets are animal shelters and rescue groups. Some organizations give adopters ownership of the pet, while others use a guardianship model wherein the organization retains some control over the animal's future use or care.
An animal shelter or pound is a place where stray, lost, abandoned or surrendered animals – mostly dogs and cats – are housed. The word "pound" has its origins in the animal pounds of agricultural communities, where stray livestock would be penned or impounded until they were claimed by their owners.
A puppy mill, also known as a puppy farm, is a commercial dog breeding facility characterized by quick breeding and poor conditions. Although no standardized legal definition for "puppy mill" exists, a definition was established in Avenson v. Zegart in 1984 as "a dog breeding operation in which the health of the dogs is disregarded in order to maintain a low overhead and maximize profits". The Veterinary Medical Association of the Humane Society of the United States defines the main characteristics of a puppy mill as "emphasis on quantity over quality, indiscriminate breeding, continuous confinement, lack of human contact and environmental enrichment, poor husbandry, and minimal to no veterinary care."
Blue Cross is a registered animal welfare charity in the United Kingdom, founded in 1897. The charity provides veterinary care, offers expert behavioural help, and finds homes for pets in need. Their pet bereavement service supports those who are struggling to cope with the loss of a much-loved pet.
The American Pit Bull Terrier (APBT) is a dog breed recognized by the United Kennel Club (UKC) and the American Dog Breeders Association (ADBA), but not the American Kennel Club (AKC). It is a medium-sized, intelligent, short-haired dog, of a solid build, whose early ancestors came from the British Isles. When compared with the English Staffordshire Bull Terrier, the American Pit Bull Terrier is larger by margins of 6–8 inches (15–20 cm) in height and 25–35 pounds (11–16 kg) in weight. The American Pit Bull Terrier varies in size: males are normally about 18–21 inches (45–53 cm) in height and around 35–60 pounds (15–27 kg) in weight, while females are normally around 17–20 inches (43–50 cm) in height and 30–50 pounds (13–22 kg) in weight.
An animal rescue group or animal rescue organization are dedicated to pet adoption. These groups take unwanted, abandoned, abused, or stray pets and attempt to find suitable homes for them. Many rescue groups are created by and run by volunteers, who take animals into their homes and care for them — including training, playing, handling medical issues, and solving behaviour problems — until a suitable permanent home can be found.
Victoria Stilwell is an English author, dog trainer and television presenter. Stilwell has appeared as a pet behavior expert and served as a producer on several international TV series including Dogs Might Fly, Dogs With Extraordinary Jobs, and Greatest American Dog (CBS), and is best known as the star and creator of the dog training TV show It's Me or the Dog. She is a leading proponent of positive reinforcement-based dog training tools and methods to provide pet behavior advice instead of traditional methods which typically employ multiple approaches including the use of pain, fear and intimidation. She is the Editor-In-Chief of the Positively.com website, the founder and president of the Victoria Stilwell Academy for Dog Training & Behavior, the CEO of the Victoria Stilwell Positively Dog Training (VSPDT) network of dog trainers, and other dog behavior institutions. In 2017, she received an OBE for her charity work.
Petfinder is an internet company that operates the largest online pet adoption website serving all of North America. The company reports that it currently lists “more than 315,000 adoptable pets from nearly 14,000 animal shelters and rescue groups.” A commercial enterprise founded in 1996, it is now owned by Nestlé Purina PetCare Company and reports that it has facilitated more than 22 million pet adoptions as of 2013. Most of the pets listed on Petfinder are dogs and cats, but they list all types of animals available from shelters and rescue groups, from small fish, reptiles and birds to horses and livestock.
Dogs Trust, known until 2003 as the National Canine Defence League, is a British animal welfare charity and humane society which specialises in the well-being of dogs. It is the largest dog welfare charity in the United Kingdom, caring for over 15,000 animals each year. Dogs Trust's primary objective is to protect all dogs in the UK and elsewhere from maltreatment, cruelty and suffering. It focuses on the rehabilitation and rehoming of dogs which have been either abandoned or given up by their owners through rehoming services.
A no-kill shelter is an animal shelter that does not kill healthy or treatable animals even when the shelter is full, reserving euthanasia for terminally ill animals or those considered dangerous to public safety. A no-kill shelter uses many strategies to promote shelter animals; to expanding its resources using volunteers, housing and medical protocols; and to work actively to lower the number of homeless animals entering the shelter system. 10% of animals can be killed in a no-kill shelter and still be considered a no-kill shelter.
The potcake dog is a mixed-breed dog type found on several Caribbean islands. Its name comes from the congealed peas and rice mixture that local residents traditionally eat, as the overcooked rice that cakes to the bottom of the pot would be fed to the dogs. Although appearance varies, potcakes generally have smooth coats, cocked ears, and long faces.
BAD RAP is an animal welfare and rescue group based in Oakland, California, devoted to caring for and improving the public image of pit bull terriers as pets.
Pet rental is the practice, usually administered by for-profit companies, of renting pets such as dogs and cats. Rental also includes animals who are hired out at a specific rate for a specific time. It is a controversial practice opposed by many animal rights advocates and has been banned in at least one municipality: Boston, Massachusetts.
Adopt-a-Pet.com is North America's largest non-profit pet-adoption web service that advocates pet adoption, gathering information from over 12,000 pet shelters in the U.S. and Canada, and presenting adoptable pet data in a searchable data base to facilitate pet adoption. Adopt-a-pet.com is registered in Redondo Beach, California, as Humane America Animal Foundation. The web site allows people to sign up to receive an email when a pet that satisfies their criteria appears in a local shelter. Adopt-a-Pet.com also contains information on pet care for first-time pet owners and publishes a newsletter. The web site also lists volunteer opportunities and promotes spaying and neutering of the pets.
NoToDogMeat is a UK-based animal rights charity which supports rescue centres in countries which have a dog meat and cat meat trade. The charity, which is legally known as World Protection for Dogs and Cats in the Meat Trade, also campaigns against the killing of animals in the fur trade. NoToDogMeat operates around the world.