NESSR NEUTERING POLICY

• All dogs rehomed by NESSR will be neutered unless there is a valid medical reason not to.

• Puppies will be neutered at approximately 18 months to 2 years depending on the dog. This cost will be borne by NESSR and is included in the adoption donation and is part of the rehoming contract.

• Dogs and puppies that have not been neutered before rehoming will need to stay in the North East of England to be done at one of our nominated veterinary practices. This is NON-NEGOTIABLE.

• It is NESSR's policy that all our dogs are neutered before they leave for their new homes, however if for some reason they cannot be (health reason or too young) we will not rehome an unneutered dog, whether fully grown or puppy to a home where there is already an unneutered dog.

• The reasons for this are:

* No accidental matings can take place

* To minimise the risk of aggression/behavioural problems where male dogs are rehomed together

• If your male dog is unneutered, we will not rehome a female pup, a male pup, an unneutered female dog or a male dog. This is so no accidental matings can occur or aggression/behavioural problems between dogs. We will consider rehoming a neutered female dog with an unneutered male, providing that the dogs get along.

• If you have an unneutered female dog, we will not rehome a male pup, or an unneutered male. We will consider rehoming a neutered bitch, providing that the dogs get along.

• We prefer whenever possible to rehome a dog with a bitch, the balance is more equal and you tend to find the dogs settle better.

• You may all have your own opinions on this, but this is our policy and it is NON-NEGOTIABLE. We won't enter into any discussion about it, this is done for the dogs’ welfare.

• Whilst we can't dictate to you that you have your dogs neutered, it is something that we strongly advise, not only from a health point of view, but to help stop the amount of abandoned and unwanted dogs finding their way into inundated rescues.

This has been our stance for many, many years and has worked well for all that time. It will NOT change in the foreseeable future.