Have you considered what would happen to your Italian Greyhound if you were suddenly incapacitated and unable to provide the care that your dog needs?

If you do not have a trusted friend or member of your family who can help with emergency care for your Italian Greyhound in the event you are incapacitated, e.g. through sudden illness or death, you can name The Italian Greyhound Rescue Charity as the emergency carer for your dog. This a free-of-charge service that the Rescue operates to ensure that all IGs are looked after in all kinds of unforeseen circumstances.

Making the IG Rescue the emergency carer for your dog

If you would like the Italian Greyhound Rescue Charity to provide emergency care for your dog in the event you are incapacitated, please fill in our Future Emergency Care Form which is available to download as a PDF or Word document.

Regardless of whether you wish to make the IG Rescue the named carer for your dog in the event of an emergency, we recommend to all Italian Greyhound and dog owners to make an emergency care plan for every eventuality, and make your friends and family are aware of what that plan is. See our guide below.

Making a Care Plan

Making a care plan is simple and can be done quickly. Follow our simple steps below.

1. Prepare an information pack on your dog(s)

Prepare an information pack on your dog(s). For each dog it should include:

• Name
• Date of Birth
• Sex
• Breed
• A clear photo of your dog showing the whole dog
• A close-up photo of the dog’s head, plus photos of any distinguishing markings
• Microchip Number & Registrar
• Contact details of your dog’s registered Veterinary practice
• Details of all known health issues such as allergies and illnesses
• Details of any medication required including the name of the meds, dosage, administration instructions (including a photo of the dispensary label can be helpful) and where the meds are stored
• Any other details that may help someone to better care for your dog appropriately e.g. if your dog is dog-reactive, afraid of cats, dislikes children, should not be let off lead, etc.

2. Include details for named emergency carer(s)

Identify a trusted person (e.g. family or friends) and ask if they would be prepared to care for your dog in the event of an emergency. Once agreed, add their contact details to the information pack on your dog:

• Carer Name
• Carer Phone Numbers: Mobile, Home & Work
• Email Address
• Home Address

3. Give contacts access to the emergency care pack

Once you have your emergency care pack, make it accessible to your friends and family.

• Print a copy and leave it somewhere easily accessible in your home
• Share a copy with your named emergency carer(s)
• Save a copy online that can be accessed from anywhere e.g. on a cloud storage system such as Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud, etc.
• Tell your friends and family that the emergency care plan exists and where to find it
• Send an electronic copy to your trusted friends and family

4. Keep the emergency care pack up-to-date

Check-in with the named emergency care contacts at least once each year to make sure that they are still happy to be named as emergency carers for your dog(s).

Update the information in the care pack as necessary, e.g. if there are any changes to health issues or medication requirements, and send updated copies to your contacts.