November 12 2008
Our assessment with the Blue Cross
Tagged Under : animal charity, blue cross, blue cross dog training in bromsgrove, blue cross mandy jones, Cross, dog, dog fostering, kim hamilton, mandy jones bluecross, nala, the blue cross
We have now received this email from Mandy Jones at the Blue Cross:
Hi Heatheras discussed, details are:The external behaviourist will arrive at Bromsgrove in the morning of Tuesday 18th November.You and David arrive at the centre for 2pm. Kim Hamilton our Chief Executive will be there and also Neil Edwards the manager of the Bromsgrove centre and myself.The behaviourist will talk about the assessment and what they feel we should be looking for in terms of the right home for Nala.After the meeting it is likely the behaviourist will want some time to reflect and think about their report, so as I said, it is quite likely that we will not be able to make a final decision on the day. We do not know how much time this will take and don’t want to pre-empt how the behaviourist may like to work, so to some extent we are in their hands on this. Once we have their report, we will make a final decision regarding whether or not we will be agreeing to you adopting Nala.As discussed, we will help you with your expenses so if you keep a record of your mileage we can reimburse at the normal volunteer rate. If you do have to come back again, we will help you with expenses for that trip too.I look forward to meeting you both next weekKind regardsMandy Jones
This does worry us slightly. We were initially told that we would be treat fairly like any other member of the public and I don’t know of any other potential adopter who needs a written report from a behaviourist in order to adopt a dog. They are not allowing us to see the dog before the assessment begins so we will have to get to know each other again during the assessment.
We also feel that because of the people who will be in attendance that it seems very similar to the situation of Thirsk when we went for a training session and the decision had already been made for us to either adopt Nala or hand her over to the Blue Cross. We hope that this is not the case however it does make us rather nervous as there seems to be very striking similarities.
We will keep you posted with any further information that we receive.
Heather,
We are making every effort to reassure you that the assessment process will be completely objective by inviting along senior members of staff and an independent animal behaviourist, as well as our own staff who have worked closely with Nala over the last few weeks.
The process you will take part in will be the same as all our other adopters, most of whom have never met the animals before. The written report is an additional measure to reassure you by clearly outlining the expert advice from people who have many years of experience in understanding animals and their needs.
As we have said from the beginning, our only intention is to find the best possible home for Nala where she can have the happy and secure future that she deserves. Your concerns are completely unfounded and disappointing to all the staff here who have made every effort to fit in your requests around their normal work helping all the other animals in need.
Laura
Reply by Admin:
Laura, we are totally shocked by this comment. Our concerns are not entirely unfounded as you say, as the training session we went to proves. The Blue Cross had already made their decision that we either adopted Nala there and then or hand her over and adoption was only an afterthought. That was confirmed by Steve Goody. That was why Denise Young was attending the session. That is why we felt that there were similarities.
The point we were making with regards to a written report from the behaviourist is that, the statement from the press office differed to what was happening to us on Tuesday as other adopters do not need a written report.
“Your concerns are completely unfounded and disappointing to all the staff here who have made every effort to fit in your requests around their normal work helping all the other animals in need.”
As we have said repeatedly, we are not doing any of this to cause anyone upset. We are not attacking the Blue cross in any way shape or form. I apologise that the staff of the Blue Cross feel disappointed however, that was never our intention. We have concerns about this because of all of the past experience we have had and that is natural. For example, if you were hit by a car, would you not feel nervous around them for a while afterwards? We have been to one other meeting held by the Blue Cross, and that meeting was the training session which I have already explained above.
We also find it disappointing that, after we have done our best to do the right thing and have merely posted our own opinions and concerns on this site, the press office seem to be attacking us for that and saying that the Blue Cross is disappointed in us. Why is that when it is plain to see why we are nervous? I simply cannot understand.
You have also said that all of this is in the best interests of the dog. We have animal professionals such as vets and behaviourists saying that the things that have happened are not in the best interests of the dog. So we asked you about it and you refused to comment and told us not to focus on the past.
We will continue to try our best to adopt Nala as we know we can offer the best home for her and will be present at the centre next week and, as mentioned in the post we made, we hope that all will be well, and the process will be handled fairly. We have said that all along.