We are based in Carrowdore just outside Newtownards, Co Down. However, we do not have kennel facilites that are open to the public. All our dogs are placed in foster homes in various locations. Carrowdore is where Julie (who coordinates the rescue) lives. Her home is the hub of the charity and is often referred to as Staffie HQ.
If your call is a general enquiry please ring during normal office hours - Weekdays 9am to 6pm and Saturday 9am to 1pm. If we are unable to answer straight away please leave your name, number and short message and someone will get back to you as soon as possible.
5. How do I know what dogs are available for adoption?
Click on the 'Dogs available' section on our website. Our new arrivals are announced on our Facebook page and then added to this section of our website shortly afterwards. Please note that all our dogs are assessed for a period of time before they become available for adoption. If their profile states that they are currently being assessed or on a home trial we are unable to take any enquiries or applications for them.
6. What does it mean if a dog is 'currently being assessed'?
All the dogs that come into our care are assessed in a home environment to determine what kind of family would suit them best e.g. whether they are suitable to be rehomed with young children or whether or not they can be rehomed with other pets. Assessment can take a few days, weeks or on some occasions months. If their profile states that they are currently being assessed we are unable to take any enquiries or applications for them.
7. What criteria do I have to meet to be considered for adopting one of your dogs?
Representatives of NISBTR carry out stringent home checks on anyone who wishes to offer one of our dogs a home. All of the information needed regarding our adoption policy and process can be found under the 'Adoption' section of our website.
8. What is the best way to register an interest in adopting a dog once it becomes available for adoption?
It is important that anyone interested in adopting one of our dogs reads the dog's full profile and our adoption policy and process on our website before contacting us. The 'Adopt a dog' section answers many of the questions that a potential family may have. If you feel that a particular dog would be suitable for your family please contact us via telephone on 07563 368 589 or send us a pm via our Facebook page. We do not have online applications forms.
We are very fortunate to receive lots of requests from individuals wanting to dedicate some of their spare time to helping out and from those who would like to get some work experience in the world of animal welfare. Unfortunately, because we do not have kennel facilities, we are unable to organise volunteers on a daily basis. However, if you would like to be added to our list of transporters or can offer your help by raising money for our charity please do get in touch. On occasions we post requests for help for individual fundraising events on our website and Facebook page, so please do keep checking for details.
10. Can families from ROI or anywhere other than Northern Ireland adopt from NISBTR?
Regrettably, mainly due to insurance restrictions, we are unable to rehome our dogs in ROI. Under exceptional circumstances we may consider rehoming in other parts of the UK. We do not rehome our dogs outside the UK.
11. Do you ever have any puppies available for adoption?
NISBTR assists in the rehoming of Staffordshire Bull Terriers of all ages. On occasions very young dogs come into our care. Puppies are wonderful for lots of reasons. However, they take a great deal of time, patience, consideration, training and care, and it may well be that a slightly older dog is more suitable to your family/home/work situation. Anyone wishing to adopt one of our puppies will need to demonstrate that they can offer all of the above before we would consider their application.
If a dog is suitable to be rehomed where there is a cat/s it will be mentioned in their profile. However, the vast majority of the dogs that come into our care will not be suitable to be rehomed to families with a cat.
