02 February 2001
 New Pets Placement Registration Scheme |
A new pet registration scheme called
Pets Placement,
claiming to save the taxpayer and unburden social services
has been set up with elderly or single people in mind.
Under English Law a dog is considered a person's possession, so that when a dog owner is hospitalised in an emergency (and there is no nominated placement to look after the animal), Social Services is duty bound to take on the responsibility of rehoming the animal. Pet owners register their animals with Pets Placement, nominating "their own" placement partners who would collect and care for their pets should an emergency befall them. These 'partners' could be neighbours, friends or relatives. In a recent case in Oxfordshire, an elderly lady was rushed into hospital, but it was two days before it was known that she had three dependent dogs at home alone. Unfortunately the lady had no arrangement with friends or neighbours to look after them and thus the onus of finding homes for her three pets fell upon social services. After locating the inoculation history of the three dogs there was the major task of finding suitable kennelling, one dog eventually having to be placed with a Dog Warden as its inoculations were not up to date. This exercise took a further two days. Commenting, Dennis East of Pets Placement, said: "When social services have to become involved in rehoming animals, it is a clear waste of taxpayers money and, even more to the point, social workers are already under enough pressure without the problem of rehoming people's pets". "Another important point is that the cost of kennelling the lady's dogs is also borne by Social Services if she cannot afford to pay for it herself." "Without doubt all these facts underline the importance of the new Pets Placement registration scheme". The concept of the Pets Placement scheme is being warmly welcomed by heads of hospital departments. "They appreciate that our clients will not only be carrying an emergency card informing them that there is a dependent pet at home" Dennis East said. "It also give the relevant contact details to ensure it will be collected and cared for immediately". Owners can register three pets for a "one off" fee of just £7.50. An activation pack is supplied to the owner which includes a donor type card, stickers and "good neighbour" postcards, so that when an emergency strikes, Pets Placement can be summoned to step in quickly and take charge of placing the animals with the nominated placement partners for the duration of the crisis. |