FAQs

A home check is a visit by an experienced volunteer to make sure your home is a safe and happy environment for your rescue dog. The home check is also to confirm that your adopted dog would be a good addition to your family.

For dogs in Cyprus, we ask for a donation of £785 towards the vet care required to get your dog ready to fly. SPDC arranges all the travel and legal paperwork to import your dog for you. (The adoption fee is payable in two instalments: a deposit of £400 on return of contract after the successful home check, and a second payment of £385 payable 2 weeks before your dog travels.)

For dogs already in the UK, we ask for a donation of £400.

No, all SPDC dogs travel on the EU passport scheme and therefore do not need quarantine.

Yes, we have no set rules on who can and can’t adopt a dog: we home check and assess every home individually. Each dog is continually assessed, and we test our dogs with other dogs, cats, and children, to know what type of home they would suit.

Yes, you can. However, we would need to see adequate provisions were made for your dog whilst you were at work such as doggie daycare or a dog walker.

SPDC offer Rescue Back Up for Life. If for any reason you can no longer look after your dog, SPDC will take your dog back into our care and find another suitable home. Sometimes this involves the dog living with a foster family until we can find a permanent home. We offer this so that no SPDC dog should ever end up in a UK rescue centre.

All of our dogs are vaccinated against the core diseases: distemper, parvovirus, adenovirus, and leptospirosis, using the Eurican vaccine. Eurican is a European equivalent of the standard yearly vaccines administered by UK vets, ensuring your dog is fully protected.

In addition, your dog will have been vaccinated against rabies (which is a legal requirement for international travel) and kennel cough, a common respiratory disease, especially in dogs who have been in group living situations. Rabies vaccination is not required for UK-resident dogs, but it’s a necessary precaution for international adoptions like ours.

We recommend that you schedule your dog’s annual booster when due at your local vet, who will guide you on the best course for future vaccinations. Your vet may also advise whether kennel cough boosters are necessary, depending on your dog’s exposure to other dogs in environments such as kennels or daycare.

If a dog is over 12 months old and hasn’t yet been spayed or neutered, this procedure will be carried out as part of their routine medical care when they arrive at the sanctuary. We aim to ensure all our dogs are neutered/spayed before they go to their new homes, provided they’re old enough. For dogs under 12 months, the procedure is delayed to allow for proper growth and development, which is important for their long-term health.