Well, that was the plan.
In March 2017 Kellie Fairhall and Courtenay Scarlett founded For The Love of Our Frenchies (FLOOF) a dedicated French Bulldog rescue. Fast forward to July 2018 that "one dog a month" has become 30 dogs rehomed, with 11 in foster. Currently the rescue is taking in 6 dogs per month on average.
FLOOF has always been different to other rescues. We will seek out and buy Frenchies at risk from the "selling sites", often having to act quickly if there is a genuine welfare concern. Some of the conditions we see the dogs kept in, are just plain appalling.
Sadly many of the rescue dogs come with "baggage", and it can be tough to find a "perfect match" home for them. Often dogs have been abused , used as breeding machines and then discarded. These dogs need long term support, even after rehoming.
Some dogs come with a full history, medical records and all the doggy accessories......others are just handed over, with not even a lead and collar.
All surrendered dogs then go to a homechecked and registered foster home for two weeks. for a full assessment Even though FLOOF has over 100 registered foster homes, it's always hard to place dogs that require either dog free, child free or cat free homes. New applications are always welcome (apply here).
FLOOF always considers rescued dogs to be untested for cats , dogs and children - unless we are told otherwise by the previous owners. The dogs needs come first, followed closely by the safety of our foster families.
As long as there are no serious health issues, most dogs can be rehomed after two weeks. Quite often FLOOF are able to organise neutering within this two week assessment period. The foster families are always offered the chance to adopt their rescue dog. If they decide not to , the dog is offered up for rehoming on social media and the FLOOF website. All applications are considered, but have to offer the dog what it needs. The key tip for applicants, is to read the whole post. What the dog really needs is always there in the text - dog free, child free etc etc.
Like most rescues, we do charge an adoption fee. Although this recoups some of the money the rescue has spent on the dog, we usually make a net less on each dog we rehome.
FLOOF is run by a small army of volunteers. They are split into teams to run the weekly auction and fundraise , deal with surrenders, transport the dogs, maintain our records and accounts, organise homechecks, run the website and social media platforms and rehoming. The teams come from all walks of life and backgrounds , the thing that binds them together is that the dogs come first. If you have any spare time to help out apply here.
Running a rescue is a complex task, there are no guides or books to help. Some of the situations we deal with change rapidly. It requires a great deal of patience at times. We are still learning.
It's staggering sometimes to see how generous our supporters are. We have had some awful situations to deal with recently, and without the generosity of our supporters and our sponsors - a few of our dogs would not be alive today.
Going forward this year, FLOOF will become FLOOF UK French Bulldog Rescue a registered charity. This will allow better opportunities for fundraising and tax relief. The more available funds we have, the more dogs we can take on. It is frustrating that we currently have to decline dogs, because our piggy bank is empty.
Kellie Fairhall
Founder, For The Love Of Our Frenchies.