Rescues who don't homecheck

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Cute_Guineapigs

Cute_Guineapigs

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Hey

Are there any rescues who don't homecheck?

I know it seems a strange question, but I want to rehome rescue piggies, but I don't want a homecheck. I've nothing to hide, but I don't want someone to come into my house and judge me as a suitable owner. I will have a 120cm cage, and a playpen (measuring around 150cm x 90cm) in my room which they will be in for around 4-5 hours every day (and longer (around 8 hours) a couple of times a week). And they'll have a large outdoor run on grass during the summer months as well. I can provide a very good home for piggies, but I don't want someone to judge me on it. Are there any rescue centres who don't homecheck?
 
Please don't think they do homechecks to snoop :) It is more to discuss what you can do for them, vets etc. etc.
I've had them done and they just measured the pens, runs etc. asked us which vet we'd use - we never felt uncomfortable and were thrilled to pass so we could adopt.
If you ran a rescue and had nursed sick/neglected/abused piggies back to health or had very young ones for rehoming, wouldn't you want them to be sure of a nice place to call their forever home ?
Not many rescues would adopt to someone without some sort of check before.
Please don't be put off by it - it is sooo worth it in the end when you can go and collect your little furries x)
 
You have to understand that from a rescues point of view that seems a bit dodgy. Rescues don't judge you or your house, just the guinea pig cage and some safety aspects.
Some rescues are satisfied with just having pictures of your set up, but they must be your own and not taken from the internet, obviously.

Good luck with your search.
 
I always homecheck...
It's not to judge you at all... Its simply to check that you are who you say you are and that you have a good set up... You'd be supprised what some people think would be okay to keep an animal in...!
It's very informal... But I know I wouldn't re-home without a homecheck... Done by my self or another rescue... For example someone who adopted a pair of pigs off me had been home checked by the RSPCA earlier on in the year so I didn't need to homecheck them myself...
You've got to understand it's very un-nerving for a rescue to have some one refuse a homecheck...
x
 
Homechecks are not to judge, and if you can prove that you have a great setup and can give enough information, you shouldn't have a problem at all!
I have yet to hear about a rescue who doesn't at least enquire about your setup. I recently rehomed a piggie from a rescue and I had to give information and pictures of my hutch, explain where they were, how they were sheltered etc. It would have been very difficult to be homechecked as I was 55 miles away from the rescue, which is a long way to travel when you have lots to look after! You have to remember that some of those piggies will have no doubt been housed in cramped, unpleasant locations, and it is simply to make sure that that never happens again.

It sounds like you have a wonderful home to give to little rescue piggies, don't you be worried at all! :))
 
I can't quite understand why you feel so against a homecheck. It really is purely for the good of the animal after all. Like the others have said it's a no-brainer if you are the rescue with the animals best interests at heart. As a foster mum for animal rescue I'd be hearing big alarm bells if anyone said they didn't want to be homechecked!
 
I was worried about the homecheck I will have soon, I spoke to my rescue and asked all the questions I wanted and found out it was fine.

It is for the safety of the guinea pigs. I was a bit worried as my dad is mentally ill and they may say that animals are not safe in my house (although they are as I have budgies). They told me not to worry at all, they said they understand that people have circumstances and it's life, not everyone will have everything perfect.

They just want to make sure that I have everything ready for the guinea pigs so that when they arrive, there is no stress. They want a cage suitable for 2 guinea pigs as I only want two, they want the hay, food, water and hidies to be set up before they check. That is all they want to see.

I guess it can be a bit daunting and worrying, I know I was but I know that I will be a good piggie mother. I know you will be too and if anything happens that they would like you to change, I am sure you will do it for the cavies :D

Good luck with everything :)
 
I would also add that i'd be very wary of adopting any animal from a rescue that didnt request a homecheck. If they dont homecheck, who's to say that they do health checks, quarantine, sex accurately, bond properly or can offer practical advice or back up should you have any problems or worries. The homecheck gives you and the rescue a chance to meet eachother properly and give you both confidence that you are the right home for that animal, and that they are a reliable and reputable rescue as well. Good rescues will have done lots of homechecks and seen all kinds of homes! It's nothing to worry about :)
 
BeckyBee said:
I would also add that i'd be very wary of adopting any animal from a rescue that didnt request a homecheck. If they dont homecheck, who's to say that they do health checks, quarantine, sex accurately, bond properly or can offer practical advice or back up should you have any problems or worries. The homecheck gives you and the rescue a chance to meet eachother properly and give you both confidence that you are the right home for that animal, and that they are a reliable and reputable rescue as well. Good rescues will have done lots of homechecks and seen all kinds of homes! It's nothing to worry about :)
Click to expand...

I didn't think of that :)
 
Hello

If the reason for not wanting a homecheck is due to social anxiety problems of having unknown people come to see you, perhaps chatting to them over the phone or establishing a rapport via email would help. You would need to talk to them anyway in order to go through the adoption process, and meet them when you meet the piggies.

Once you have met the person who will come and check the cage size and set-up (it's never about your home, just the safety aspect for the pigs) hopefully you will feel more confident about letting them visit you. Most homechecks are a nice chat where you can ask any questions you have so that you feel more confident in your choice.

As said previously, would you trust a rescue that homed to just anyone who wanted the animals - there are lots of people out there who use animals as something other than a pet. It is worth getting your next pets from a reputable rescue as you will know they are sexed correctly, healthy, and not pregnant - free to good home adverts frequently come with a lot of problems.

HTH

Suzy x
 
Many good points have already been made and I hope some of them help you in overcoming your concerns.

I try not to think of my home visits as "checking" but rather the beginning of a happy relationship where guinea pigs are the common ground. They are a great opportunity to meet like minded peope as well as securing the future of guinea pigs in need.

Your concerns are entirely natural but any reputable rescue will be happy to describe the process to you over the phone/email and put your mind at rest.

Everyones home is different and we only have the welfare of the animals in mind. I've visited over 500 homes (:{) and everyone has made me feel welcome so I have always made every effort to make it a friendly and positive experience for all concerned.

Thank you for thinking rescue and good luck with whatever you decide.

:)
 
Without a home check how does anyone know you dont have a lovely collection of hungry pythons waiting for a free guinea pig meal - am pretty sure free to good homes on free ads can be taken advantage of in that way - sadly there are people like that out there. -m I too was worried about my home check - but they literally came in to check the piggies accommodation and check I knew how to feed and excersise them properly and they were off within 10 mins.
 
I think all this is great advice about what a homecheck means.

If you're still worried - why don't you ask to see a list of their criteria and ask what could you potentially fail a homecheck on?

I've had experience of this with two rescue hamsters. I used to keep my hamsters on woodshavings and to be fair, had absolutely no problems with it. The last hamsters I had before the hammie's I have now - were bedded on woodshavings, never got ill and lived to be 3-4 years old. I've now discovered that some rescues are completely against it and that's fine too. I started keeping hamsters prior to the days when we all had the internet in our homes.....it was just a case of me doing what I'd always done. When I adopted my two rescue hammie's I switched to megazorb which was completely fine. It's not like I'm determined to use woodshavings! Equally though, the rescue didn't say 'you use woodshavings, you can't have one of our hammie's'. They did appreciate the lush cages they'd be living in, the excellent diet, the overall life they'd be having. They just said, 'we really don't agree with the use of woodshavings, and for us we won't rehome unless you can agree to change bedding to something else like carefresh or megazorb'. I said that wasn't a problem, ordered in two mega sacks of megazorb, and they said great! Actually saved me some money. Megazorb is well cheap! :))

I think it works both ways. Obviously, they are coming to make sure you can provide a great home, so it's best to find out exactly what their understanding of a great home is.

If it's an anxiety issue, maybe someone else could be home to do the homecheck with the rescue?
 
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