Adopting a Staffy in Bournemouth: rescues, costs and the law

The number under the short answer is worked out live, and our Bournemouth Staffy page links each dog to the rescue that has it. Most are adults, and the two rescues that had Staffies when we checked are both within about 4 miles, so meeting one is a short trip from Bournemouth, Christchurch or Poole.

Rescues see a lot of Staffies. PDSA puts it plainly: many rehoming centres "see more Staffies than any other breed", and Dogs Trust's breed guide is a good place to read what the breed is like before you meet one. That a Dorset charity exists mainly for them says the same thing locally.

A breed description, such as The Royal Kennel Club's "highly intelligent and affectionate especially with children" (breed page), only tells you so much. Staffie & Stray says it takes in more difficult dogs, so ask how the dog in front of you copes with strangers, other dogs and an empty house, and how it has been in foster or kennels.

An adoption fee goes towards vet work already done. Staffie & Stray Rescue's dogs come flea treated, wormed, microchipped, vaccinated and neutered, and Margaret Green Animal Rescue says its fee goes towards neutering, vaccinations, worming and flea treatment, health checks and microchipping. Older dogs from Senior Staffy Club cost £120 with 5 weeks' insurance.

Buy a puppy and the microchip is already in, since breeders are legally required to chip by 8 weeks; the neutering and remaining jabs then land on you. Setting up a medium dog costs about £531 including those, PDSA calculates, and running costs are at least £83 a month after that, on top of the £400 to £3,000 Blue Cross quotes for buying a puppy.

Staffies tend to be long-lived. A Staffordshire Bull Terrier puppy can expect 11.33 years, by the Royal Veterinary College's VetCompass life tables from UK vet records; The Royal Kennel Club gives over 12 and Dogs Trust 12 or more. You won't usually know what a rescue dog's parents were tested for, so raise these with the rescue:

• Inherited conditions. Two DNA tests are on The Royal Kennel Club's list for breeders: hereditary cataracts, which cloud the eye, and L-2-HGA, a metabolic disease that affects the brain.
• Skin and hips. Itchy skin from allergies or demodex mites is a common Staffy complaint, PDSA says, and it wants hips scored before breeding because dysplasia leads to arthritis.
• Breathing and teeth. Noisy or laboured breathing and badly placed canine teeth are both flagged for show judges in Breed Watch.
• Behaviour history. Not a health test, but just as useful: ask what the rescue knows about how the dog reacts to other dogs, and whether a behaviourist has worked with it.

You don't need a big place: The Royal Kennel Club rates the breed fine for a small house. Exercise is about an hour a day, which PDSA treats as a floor rather than a ceiling. Staffies dig and jump, PDSA warns, so a low or gappy fence won't hold one, and the rescues here ask for a secure garden: Waggy Tails a secure rear garden, and Staffie & Stray, in its 2021 criteria, a private and secure one.

Their attachment to people can turn into separation anxiety, PDSA adds, which is why Waggy Tails's 4 hour limit matters: work out the middle of your day before you apply. And if a Staffie & Stray dog is not social with other dogs, its 2021 criteria ask you to keep it on lead at all times, so think about where you will walk it.

Children are a dog-by-dog decision. Waggy Tails and Staffie & Stray Rescue won't rehome to families with children under 6, and Senior Staffy Club won't place a dog where there are children under 5.

No rescue sells a Staffy. You apply, the rescue picks the home that suits the dog, and an adoption fee is paid once the match is agreed. Puppies are uncommon, so being open to an adult gets you much further, and our Bournemouth Staffy page and Bournemouth puppies page show every one available now.

Buying instead? Registered litters are on The Royal Kennel Club's "Find a puppy", and Dogs Trust notes some vets offer a consultation before you buy. Be wary of anyone selling "merle" Staffies: the colour has been barred from registration by The Royal Kennel Club since 5 January 2010, because the gene carries a risk of deafness and poor sight. An advert you think is a scam can go to Report Fraud, which replaced Action Fraud.

Staffies are not on gov.uk's list of banned types, so you can adopt one with no paperwork beyond the usual. The rules that do bite are for the XL Bully: in England, since 31 December 2023 it has been illegal to breed, sell, advertise, gift, exchange or abandon an XL Bully or let it stray, and since 1 February 2024 illegal to own one without a Certificate of Exemption (gov.uk). Gov.uk judges whether a dog is a banned type by its looks, not its breed or name. Rehoming an XL Bully is itself illegal, so none appears on LocalPetFinder. The law section below has more.

Staffies turn up at the other rescues near Bournemouth too. Margaret Green Animal Rescue's dog centre at Lincoln Farm, Winterborne Kingston, about 14 miles away, rehomes by pre-booked appointment after a phone call and a home visit or Zoom call. Our guide to dog rescues near Bournemouth compares every rescue we list, and the Staffy page shows which of them has one today.