FOSTER HOMES NEEDED 

​Do you feel you could open your heart and your home to a dog in need?

Fostering is a good way of helping a dog in need and also helps you to find the dog that suits your lifestyle.

The rescue pays all the bills for that dog. We help with training and support for you.
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Please have a look at our foster form to see if you could help a wee dog in need like Olive here. ​

Olive with her furbrother in her new home

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Help us build our own kennel.

We've some exciting news at Staffie Smiles Rescue, we are building our very own kennel space for a long-term dog currently in our care.

As a small rescue, we've never had a kennel of our own. However, we've found in recent times there is greater demand for long-term kennel spaces. Long-term boarding at a private kennel is a HUGE expense, with one dog alone costing us £2700 so far this year.
One of our team members is very kindly donating a piece of her garden and we have big dreams of building a kennel here with space for up to two dogs.

Not only would our own kennel help us save vital funds but it would also be in the best interest of our harder-to-rehome dogs. Especially those who would benefit from a quieter space and being closer to our volunteer team for walks and cuddles everyday. Our behaviourist will continue to visit on a regular basis for training and rehabilitation.

Please note, that this is not a permanent solution for long-term dogs, our intention is very much to rehome these dogs once they are ready to be rehomed. This is only a small project but it will make a massive difference to these dogs and to our rescue.
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We know this is a big ask of our supporters. Especially as you've already shown us so much generosity in these difficult times. Any donation towards our kennel is greatly appreciated.

Donate Here

​Meet a few of our beautiful dogs looking for their forever homes. 

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Robbie 
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In a foster home

meet me

​Archie (female) 
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in a foster home 

meet me

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Adopt me

Foster me

View our dogs

Please note:

Please read all the following information before applying. 

• ​​We only re-home our dogs in SCOTLAND.
• We have co-ordinators covering the Edinburgh/Perthshire/Dundee/Angus and Borders, however we rehome throughout mainland Scotland.
• We are sorry but we are not able to re-home any of our dogs to homes that have children under the age of 12 years old.
• We don't re-home our dogs to homes that have un-neutered pets unless there is a genuine medical reason for this.
• We rarely have dogs that we are comfortable placing in a home with cats. Please read the dogs individual profiles to see if they state they can live with cats.
• ​If you are interested in adopting or fostering, you MUST fill in an application on our website.   
• Please can you provide as much details as possible about your circumstances on your application. This includes experience, work commitments, lifestyle. This all helps us understand your life and helps us match you to a dog.
• We will only contact applications that suit our dogs needs best. Sadly, we do not have the time to contact every application that we get in. Once we receive your application one of our volunteers will then contact you for a chat if we feel you match one of our current dogs or one we have coming in. If you do not hear from us within 12 weeks, please assume you have been unsuccessful.
• The adoption process/finding the right dog for a family can take some time. We will not be pushed into hurrying this along because you want a dog now. Please only apply if you are able to wait on the right dog coming along to join your family.

We are a VERY SMALL rescue, run entirely by VOLUNTEERS who have our own families and work commitments.
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We run this rescue in our spare time. Please be mindful of this when contacting us.

We do what's best for each dog in our care. This takes up a lot of our time and we are not always online.

Once home checked, we will keep your details on our records for up to a year as we get new dogs in all the time. 

Please note that we will not reserve a dog or mark your interest in a dog until a home check has been completed and passed.

Our Adoption Fees:
Puppy (under 1 year old): £300.00
Adult (1 - 8 years old): £250.00
Oldie (9+ years old): £130.00

This is just a few of the things we do each day/week to keep the rescue running. ​

• Read and reply to hundreds of emails every week
  
• Dealing with urgent appeals for dogs in need that need saved. 
• Walk our dogs in kennels.  
• Transport dogs from kennels to their foster home, vet appointments etc 
• Calling potential adoption / foster applications.
• Arrange and oversee home checks for each one of our dogs. 
• Update dogs' profiles on Facebook, website and social media platforms.
• Deal with each dog's vet requirements and appointments 
• Manage 3 private Facebook groups - Foster/adopt/volunteer
• Fundraise, apply for funds and grants 
• Network, making new contacts to help the dogs 
• Liase with trainers and behaviourists 
• Attend events to raise awareness, education and fundraising 
• Supporting our adopters and fosterers online and face to face. 
• Maintain our book work/paperwork, pay bills and balance books so we can continue to help more dogs as a charity. ​W
  

 We hope this shows you a small understanding of what we do behind the scenes to keep this small rescue running. 
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 Thank you for all your support, we really do appreciate it. 

​ SSR Team

Why pound dogs?

A dog pound is a facility where the local Council hold stray dogs found in their area, these dogs have been picked up by either Local Authorities or by the Police or been given up by their owners.

The name poundies
Poundies are dogs that are abused, dumped, abandoned; unwanted souls that find themselves with 7 days to live, in generally appalling conditions. Named ‘poundies’ as these conditions are council pounds across the UK that are ‘home’ to these dogs awaiting their death.
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The dog will be kept there for 7 days. After 7 days, the dog will become the responsibility of the kennel. Due to the sheer volume of SBT’s arriving in Local Authority ‘pounds’, compared to other breeds of dog the SBT’s are frequently the ones that never get rescued and are left ​in the pounds when the dreaded ‘put to sleep date’ arrives. 

About us

How we started

Our rescue Staffie Smiles Rescue or SSR was founded in October 2012 by a few staffie daft folk that met while volunteering for other rescues. Our love for these dogs ​is what gave us ​the drive and determination to make a ​difference to the future of these poor abandoned souls. 

We are a group of staffie lovers from all over Scotland that have now come together to help save the lives of SBT and SBT crosses that end up in pounds across the UK through no fault of their own.

​After being made aware of what happens to these dogs and the fate that awaits them we decided as a group we wanted to do what we could to help them. Starting a rescue was a ​huge step for us and as we found out it is a long, hard, emotional and sometimes very frustrating process. But we do this for the dogs and we always keep that in our thoughts when things get tough. 
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After running the rescue successfully for 2 years, we applied for charity status. In October 2015, we became a Scottish Registered Charity SC045602. Our rescue is growing fast and we are thankful for all the help and support we receive from our foresters, adopters, volunteers and the public without this we would not be able to ​help these dogs the way we do. 

We are Not for profit

We are a non-profit organisation that relies completely on donations from adoptions and fundraising events so that we can ensure that any dog we help to save has all it need for a healthy and happy life this includes,  vaccinations, neutered, spayed, micro chipped, training, food, bed, lead, collar, rescue ID tag, and that they are treated for any illnesses before they are re-homed. These funds also allow us to save other dogs that are sitting in the pound waiting for help. 

We have a board of trustees who oversee the management of the rescue, making sure the rescue runs within the charity's guidelines and manages the finances in the best interests of the charity. 

Our committee are responsible for the day to day running of the rescue. They oversee the movement and care of the dogs, promoting responsible dog ownership, arrange fundraising events and much more. 

As a team we support each other, this helps us to get through the ups and downs of rescue life. Saving a dog doesn’t just end when we have pulled that dog from a "put to sleep list"  This is just the start of long a process but our drive and determination to help these dogs keeps us going. We work together so the rescue can then do what it was set up for, to save ​the lives of our beloved staffies.  

We are all volunteers here

SSR is staffed entirely by unpaid volunteers who like you have jobs and family commitments. They give their free time to help save these abandoned dogs and give them a future.  

No one receives salaries or expenses. All fund raised go to helping the dogs.  

We now have coordinators covering the Edinburgh/Perthshire/Fife/Dundee/Angus/Aberdeen/Borders area and a few other areas within Scotland.  

​Our volunteers help the rescue with dog walking, transporting, fundraising, social networking, supporting fosters and new adopters as well as supporting each other.  

We are always looking for new volunteers to join us.  If like us you can spare a few hrs a month to help the dogs then please contact us. 

Meet the team

George  

Social Media
​

Rachel

Fundraiser,
Co-ordinater

Edinburgh & Lothians

Nicola 

Committee member
Treasurer 

Edinburgh & Lothians

Ann

Fundraiser,
​Social Media 

Paula

Committee Member

Lothian & Scottish Borders

Shirley 

Trustee

Fife & Kinross
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Karen 

Trustee

Edinburgh & Lothians
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Ian

Social Media
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Heather 

Committee ​member 

Dunfermline
& Fife​

Sharon 

Trustee

Dundee​
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Get in touch

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions. 

Latest events

Have a look at our latest upcoming events.