ABOUT US

Golden Retriever Rescue Ireland was founded in 1994 by Sandie Bissett, and was run and funded single handedly by her for 10 years. After she spent Christmas 2004 with 14 Golden Retrievers in her house it became clear to Sandie that she could not continue and in order to secure the futures of the breed she has loved and owned since 1974, she enlisted the help of friends in the UK and so Irish Retriever Rescue UK was born.

The very nature of Golden Retrievers and their reputation as the perfect family dog has meant that they have become victims of their own popularity courtesy of gross over breeding. Couple over breeding with the seduction of that beautiful ball of fluff that is a Golden Retriever pup and here we are...with the number of rescue Goldens in Ireland reaching almost epidemic proportions.

We are currently rehoming over 100 unwanted Golden Retrievers a year from Ireland, which is more than a one person job. In fact, we do not show all our available dogs on the website for the very reason that our UK Rehoming Co-ordinator is constantly inundated with general enquiries, making it difficult to accommodate the number of calls received about the adoption of specific dogs.

Our Goals

To assess, rehabilitate and rehome all the dogs in our care to forever loving homes.

To raise the profile of Irish dogs as a viable option for those considering re-homing in the UK.

To raise funds to allow us to continue rescuing these dogs and transporting them to the UK.

To fully vet any potential home.

To match each individual dog to a prospective adopter.

TO GIVE EVERY DOG A SECOND CHANCE AT LIFE, LOVE AND HAPPINESS

 

Dogs come into our Rescue for a variety of reasons, some are surrendered by their owners because of changes in their family circumstances, others are abandoned and are collected by Dog Wardens and taken to the Pounds. Whilst IRR focuses mainly on GRs, a few cross breeds also come into our care. On average, IRR rehomes over 100 dogs every year.

All the dogs are examined and spayed/neutered and microchipped by our vet in Ireland and pronounced fit to travel with professional dog transporters to the UK. On arrival they are placed in foster care, for a minimum period of two weeks. Some need longer due to either medical or behavioural issues which can take time to resolve or quite simply because the right home is not immediately forthcoming. This allows the fosterer to assess the dog who may need time to settle into their new environment before their true personality fully emerges. It is important that their interaction with children and other animals, especially cats, is fully evaluated, where possible, to ensure they are placed in the most appropriate forever home.

All of our fosterers are themselves experienced owners of Golden Retrievers, others are trainers and behaviourists whose specialist skills are invaluable in rehabilitating a dog. Regardless of the role they play, our fosterers are all totally dedicated to their charges, treating them as their own until they go to their forever homes, they also provide us with constant reports and updates.

Based on the information given by fosterers, a dog is placed in the home best suited to their needs - this will not necessarily be on a first come first served basis. As a testament to our method of assessment and rehoming success, our dogs are never ever returned to the care of IRR because of inappropriate rehoming.

IRR's involvement does not stop once the dog is in their forever home, follow up visits and advice is freely available for the lifetime of the dog. All dogs are rehomed under a legal contract stipulating that should the new family be unable to care for the dog for the remainder of it's life they will be returned to the care of IRR.

IRR holds a Reunion every year where we have the opportunity to meet a lot of the dogs who have been rehomed by our Rescue.