There are about 30 charities in the UK bringing in dogs from overseas, and we believe that there are several people on the island doing the same thing.

Most imported dogs come from Romania according the UK’s Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Commercial imports of dogs from Romania increased in 2020 by 51%, with 29,348 dogs brought into the UK.

Significant increases in imported dog numbers have also been noted for Hungary, Poland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Russia and Greece.

Foreign dogs are rescued for the best of reasons but not always with the best results.

Many of these animals have been free-ranging street dogs, living with no restrictions, and it takes a great deal of time and patience to help them fit into life as an indoor, family dog.

Another issue relates to the potential risk of a dog brought from overseas harbouring diseases that are not found in the UK, and this could have an impact on dog welfare in general.

Dogs are also able to carry several different zoonotic diseases - i.e. diseases that can spread from animals to humans.

Whilst dog ownership usually has beneficial physical and psychological health benefits, dogs who have unknown histories have a higher risk of carrying, and transmitting, zoonotic diseases such as MRSA, leptospirosis and salmonella.

It has come to light recently that another zoonotic disease called brucella canis is becoming more and more prevalent in the UK.

The disease has a range of symptoms, including infertility and lymph node inflammation.

It is thought that most infected dogs come from Romania, but the disease is also present in other EU member states.

Dogs cannot be cured of the disease and are infected for life, and vets will recommend euthanasia because of this.

If you are thinking of rescuing a dog from overseas, it is worth remembering that there are literally thousands of dogs looking for new homes in the UK’s rescue centres, such as the Dogs Trust and the Blue Cross (and, of course, we have many here at Ard Jerkyll).

If you look at the ManxSPCA’s website or visit our kennels, you may not see the dog of your dreams straight away. Some of the dogs who come to us are not formally advertised for adoption because we have a list of potential adopters looking for that type of dog.

We have had several toy dogs gifted in to us recently, always a popular breed, and they have all been rehomed without the need to place them on our website or on Facebook.

If you are interested in a particular breed or type of dog, but can’t see one currently in our rescue kennels, please complete a ’home finder questionnaire’ (available on the adoption pages of our website) and hand this into the kennels team.

They will then do their best to match you to a suitable dog when one is gifted into us.

If Staffies are on your list of favourite breeds and you have room in your life for an older dog, then please consider Mischief who is 14.

He came to us because his previous owner’s circumstances changed and she couldn’t afford to care for him any longer.

He is playful and fun-loving - a typical Staffie in that he loves everyone and simply wants to be man’s best friend.

We think he would really benefit from living with an older, female dog who could help him settle into a new life.