When a dachshund is surrendered.
Any surrender usually starts with one of our coordinators receiving that initial email or phone call from a distressed owner. For anyone needing to surrender their dachshund to the charity, there is a huge range of emotions involved on both the owner’s side and the coordinator’s.
Every situation is different and we have to be there to support the owners through an extremely difficult time and decision.
Many tears can be shed by all parties and we must show great patience and empathy at all times.
The person could be ringing because their dachshund has to be surrendered after a death in the family. Sometimes a relationship breakdown means the dachshund has to leave its home. Now with the terrible financial strains on people, we are hearing from owners who have been forced to leave their homes and are unable to keep their beloved dachshunds with them
Such heartbreaking stories occur every day and for some coordinators, there can be a few of these traumatic calls daily. We cannot help but be moved by people’s difficult situations and will do our very best to support them.
Sometimes the calls we receive involve very difficult decisions which again break our hearts. we want to give EVERY dachshund a chance but when we are asked to rehome dogs with aggressive traits and a biting history we have to be extremely careful as to whether we can do anything for that dachshund.
This happened recently when the dachshund involved faced euthanasia if we couldn’t help. You can only imagine the emotions we go through in these situations especially if the dachshund is very young.
Then there is the anger and frustration we feel when owners demand that we rehome their dachshund immediately!!!! We explain the process involved and can face rudeness and intolerance in response but must maintain our calm and empathy and remember at all times that it is the dachshund we really want to help and look after and find the right outcome for.
Frustration is also felt when owners haven’t thought through the huge amount of time ownership requires and just want to get rid of their dachshund. It is annoying for us when such situations could be avoided by people researching the nature of dachshunds and the hard work and commitment necessary in their development.
Other calls can involve notifications from the police, with terrible stories about dachshunds being found in appalling conditions and used for breeding that need our help. Then there are the stories of neglect that affect us deeply.
We also need to finally mention dachshunds with medical issues that come into our care when owners are facing financial difficulties.
Next week we will explain more about the steps that follow after we have the owners’ permission to place their dachshund into a new home ………..
As you can see every day in the life of our coordinators is an emotional roller coaster and we must never judge the owners or their situations. We always keep the dachshund at the heart of everything we do and have taken on a surrendered dachshund to work extremely hard to achieve a successful outcome.
