The best dog rescues in Kendal and South Cumbria, compared

Animal Rescue Cumbria is Kendal's own rescue, a charity that has grown since 1972, on a rural site at Grayrigg. It takes in unwanted and lost cats and dogs, and its dogs are on our Animal Rescue Cumbria page. You can't drop in to look round: its phone lines are open from 12 noon to 3pm, and you meet a dog only by invitation.

Its adoption guide sets out four steps. You send an enquiry about a particular dog, with as much detail as you can, and it contacts you if your home looks a good match. If you rent, it needs a letter from your landlord saying you may keep a dog, and if you have had pets before it may ask your old vet for a reference. Then you meet the dog, walk it round the shelter's field and spend time with it in the dog playground, bringing your own dog along if you have one.

It never lets an animal go home on the first appointment: it asks you to sleep on it, and it may want to meet the whole family or visit your home. Adult dogs are generally neutered first; a puppy goes home under a signed agreement to neuter it later. Every dog has started its vaccinations and is microchipped, and it arranges 4 weeks of free insurance. The fee is £300 for a dog and £350 for a puppy, and it is not refundable.

Retired Greyhounds South Lakes has rehomed ex-racing greyhounds since 2004 from Beech Hill House in Witherslack, between Grange-over-Sands and Kendal. It has no kennels: the dogs live in the founders' home, and it is run by volunteers with no paid staff. Its own history says it left the Greyhound Trust in June 2020 to become independent. Its dogs are not on our pages yet, so look on its own site.

To adopt, fill in its enquiry form and phone for an appointment to meet the dogs; it is closed on Tuesdays. Once you are sure a greyhound is for you, you send photos of your garden boundaries before the visit to choose. It asks a minimum non-refundable donation of £250, and each dog goes home with a martingale collar, a lead, a plastic box muzzle and 5 weeks of free insurance. On cats, it says it has homed many ex-racing greyhounds with cats: what matters is the dog's temperament, not whether it raced.

Over the Lancashire border, about 20 miles south, Animal Care Lancaster Morecambe & District has been a charity since 1978 and rehomes dogs, cats, rabbits and other small animals from Blea Tarn Road, Scotforth. It runs on appointments only, and its dogs are on our Animal Care Lancaster page.

You apply on its form and wait for its animal manager to call; if you haven't heard within 7 days, the application hasn't succeeded this time. A successful application earns an appointment to meet the dogs, and you can reserve one there. A home checker then visits to make sure your garden is secure for that dog. It asks you to visit the dog 3 times within 5 to 7 days, so check you can make the drive, then you take the dog home for a week's trial and adopt at the end of it.

The minimum donation is £150, and Animal Care Lancaster keeps ownership: if you can't keep the dog, it goes back by prior arrangement, or to a new home Animal Care Lancaster has vetted.

Wolfwood is a small wildlife and dog rescue at Ellel, south of Lancaster and about 23 miles from Kendal. It says many of its dogs were abandoned to the stray system, and they live in privately owned kennels, so viewing is by appointment only. You phone to meet a dog and chat to a member of staff, then spend three separate full days out with the dog before you adopt. Its dogs are on our Wolfwood page.

Its conditions are clear. It won't rehome to someone out at work full time unless the dog can go too or gets regular breaks, gardens must be secure because many dogs can jump 1.5 metres, children must be old enough to understand basic do's and don'ts, and you need time for one to three hours of exercise a day. It publishes no fee, so ask when you call.

Eden Animal Rescue has cared for animals since 1995 at Moorlands Head Farm, near Temple Sowerby, about 23 miles north of Kendal, and it never puts a healthy animal to sleep. It does not rehome animals outside Cumbria, so it suits Kendal and Barrow homes but not Lancashire ones. Its dogs are on our Eden Animal Rescue page.

It says it finds homes for its animals rather than animals for homes. You request or download its questionnaire and send it back with photos of your home, garden and fencing; renters need written permission from the landlord. If a dog suits you, you meet and walk it over a set period, bring any dog you have to meet it, and it visits your home before deciding. The minimum donation is £250 for a dog, or £380 for two, unless the profile says otherwise.