00:00The Newcastle Dog and Cat Shelter has been rehoming animals in the North East since 1896.
00:07The shelter helps animals that are lost, unwanted, neglected, abused or abandoned to find their forever homes.
00:16We used to be open to the public seven days a week, all day pretty much from early afternoon until later in the evening.
00:22The public would come in, they would view all of the animals on site.
00:25They would come in to reception and fill in an application form to show an interest.
00:31We would assess the application forms there and then.
00:33If they were suitable, or a good match I should say, we would send them down to meet the animal.
00:39And if that went great, they could at that point be home there and then.
00:43So it was a little bit rushed and it could be quite chaotic and I used to call it the mosh pit next door because it was busy all the time.
00:50And you didn't really get that kind of personal touch and there wasn't as close a relationship.
00:55So during lockdown, when the world locked down, it allowed us the time to stop and kind of reassess the way we did everything.
01:02So we had to move on to an online rehoming process at that moment.
01:07We weren't allowed public on site, but it actually gave us the opportunity to see how that could work and how it did work.
01:13And it worked really well.
01:14When the public were in and out all day, every day, they were just up a height all the time.
01:17Because especially animals that might struggle with strangers, if they've then got the public walking past them all day, it's a lot for them.
01:24And it just allowed us to have a better relationship with our rehomers and be a bit more personal with them and get to know them a little bit better.
01:33And although the process might take a wee bit longer, it actually works a lot better for the animals rather than people being able to make emotional decisions there and then.
01:41If you were successful to be the chosen candidate for the animal, of course, you get invited down to meet.
01:48Hiya, Roxy!
01:50Hiya, Roxy!
01:51How's it going?
01:53Hello!
01:54You're good.
01:55You're good.
01:56So dogs, I love to take off sites.
02:00Just getting used to a bit more out the site, away from the shelter.
02:08Because it's quite, if you think about it, it's quite hard for a dog.
02:12The smells, the noise, you don't always see the true character of that dog as well.
02:19The shelter is such an unnatural environment for an animal to be in.
02:22It's really difficult to assess their behaviours just in here without any prior history of what they would be like in a home.
02:28So we are assessing and, you know, judging their behaviours entirely from their behaviours in here.
02:34Well, even my dogs, when they come in, if they come in when I'm at work, entirely different.
02:40They're nothing like what they are in the home.
02:42So the correlation between kind of behaviours in a shelter and behaviours in a home can be entirely different.
02:47Which is another reason why we've been happy to close for public viewing.
02:54Because you're not really, a lot of people, you know, they want to see the animal in the kennel because they're looking for that connection with the animal in the kennel.
03:02But actually, there's many, many of our dogs in the animal you see in the kennel.
03:05Like a true representation?
03:06It's not. It's not a true representation of who the dog is.
03:09So I think it's better that, you know, we have the opportunity to get to know the dog a little bit better in various situations and then be able to pass that information on.
03:16Anybody who wants to re-home an animal, think about it.
03:21It's a commitment. It's not just, it's tiring.
03:26You've got to get them used to you. You've got to get used to them.
03:30And it can be expensive.
03:32You know, you've got to think about your budget's got to stretch to any emergency.
03:36These little guys need feeding, good food, not any old rubbish.
03:41There's training involved.
03:43You're going to lose bits and pieces of your furniture.
03:46The things that you did love might get broken.
03:49It's not their fault.
03:51You've got to put the commitment in to train them.
03:54You know, good girl.
03:56But yeah, do it.
03:57If you've got space in your home and in your heart,
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