Haven of canine comfort for dogs waiting to be adopted

Galway’s Town Hall Theatre will host a special screening of the classic Disney animation All Dogs Go to Heaven next week to raise funds for the Connemara-based dog rescue Madra.

Thanks to the good work of the volunteer organisation, all dogs aren’t going to heaven as soon as they otherwise might but new arrivals at Camus could be forgiven for thinking they had, given the quality of care and facilities provided by the shelter.

Madra – which is short for Muts Anonymous Dog Rescue and Adoption – is the Ritz Carlton of dog rescues. Dogs are brought to the shelter from a variety of sources and are assessed on arrival, after which they are treated by a vet. They are vaccinated, wormed, microchipped and neutered and undergo a process called temperament testing.

Residents are housed in purpose-built, insulated kennels with adjoining outdoor runs and overhead infrared lamps to keep them toasty on long winter nights. The dogs are walked individually a minimum of three times a day and the kennels are supervised around the clock.

Despite the plush facilities, the organisation recognises that a species that craves affection and that thrives as part of a human pack has needs that cannot be fulfilled within the confines of the shelter. Accordingly Madra has a creditable record in finding homes for its residents.

Under the management of registered dog trainers Marina Fiddler and Tara Nic Dhiarmada, Madra finds suitable homes for rescued dogs that come into its care within an average of one month of arrival and re-homed more than 600 dogs last year.

“It’s just not right to keep a dog in the kennels for longer than six months and we have a cut-off point at that stage when we make a really big push for a dog to be re-homed or at least make sure it gets a break in a foster home,” says Marina.

“They can get institutionalised and left behind and could be here for years if they stay longer than that, so we will try to find a home for them in the UK or make a huge effort to advertise looking for a home on message boards or the internet.”

Certain breeds can be harder to find suitable homes for than others and there have been a few characters at the shelter that have ended up staying for longer than the six-month cut-off point. Two Staffordshire Bull Terriers, Dillie and Matilda, were residents for more than a year but enjoyed regular breaks in loving foster homes during that time.

Finding suitable homes for dogs at Madra and matching the right dog with the right owner can be a fun process that Marina says she enjoys.“It’s like playing matchmaker with my friends,” she laughed. “It’s kind of fun. We do home checks to assess suitability but there are no rigid rules and nothing is ruled out, whether it’s an apartment or a home with no garden or fencing.”

For more, read this week's Galway City Tribune.