Please help me get Bailey home.

When I read about Bailey's dreadful start in life in Ukraine (chained up outside in the freezing cold and fed scraps) and saw his sad eyes I felt compelled to apply to adopt him. He was living in Lviv which was under heavy fire and I knew what danger the rescue volunteers and dogs were facing. I collected him in Burton upon Trent from 'Paw Help UK' very late on Sunday 20th March after he had a 50+ hour journey from Ukraine, crossing into Poland and then through the Channel Tunnel and up to Staffordshire. After a couple of days, rumours started that other dogs in his group were being seized and put in quarantine. On Thursday 26th March, having spent 4 days bonding with Bailey and showing him a loving home life, I had a knock at the door and was told by 2 men from Cheshire East local authority that the rabies blood tests done by a Germany lab were fraudulent and they had authority to seize him and put him in quarantine. The only space available was in Bracknell- many miles from my home in Cheshire. The lab had been recommended to the rescue by the Ukrainian vets and was used for the first time as the usual labs in Ukraine could no longer do the tests. The lab took the animal rescue's money but gave fake results, they can no longer be contacted. The actual rabies vaccinations were done in October '21.

I was given the 'choice' of agreeing to pay for Bailey's quarantine, vets bills and transport or he would be destroyed. The bills are estimated at a minimum of £3,000 per dog. All the dog owners are devastated at their dogs being taken away, many owners have young children who had their beloved new dogs and puppies removed from their homes. Seeing photos and video of our dogs in kennels is heartbreaking. They are in stark kennels and cannot be walked and can't play together. Bailey was taken from Cheshire to Berkshire so it is not possible to visit him often and a new ruling states that no other visitors can cuddle and interact with him. He is very timid and scared of men in particular after his bad start in life.

I am initially raising money for Bailey but any addiitonal money will go towards the other 23 dogs as the total bill will be about £72,000. None of the new owners had anticipated these costs on top of the intial cost of getting the dogs safely to the UK.

We are also asking DEFRA to reconsider the 4 months quarantine period which feels unnecessary when from bordering countries Belarus and Russia are only subject to a 3 week quarantine (same as EU) and no blood tests. Ukranian refugees' dogs also have a shorter quarantine period and many can be quarantined at their UK home. Our dogs fall into a nightmare loop hole as they were brought over by a rescue organisation that means they do not benefit from the same help and flexibility.

Any donations, no matter how small, would be hugely appreciated and will help ensure we get our precious dogs home.

Initial photo of Bailey (was called Tomik) before I adopted him.

Bailey in kennels in Bracknell.

Bailey and Sarah-Louise in Cheshire

Bailey at home.

All the dogs that we need to get home.