Transporter Guidelines

To be a transporter you must: have access to a vehicle that is road-worthy, have a valid and current full driving licence, your vehicle should be taxed, insured and with a current MOT; be able to securely transport animals preferably by way of crates; be friendly and approachable; be reliable, confident and comfortable transporting unknown dogs and other animals.

1. The Animal Team will, once the entire run is covered, set-up a group chat with you, the rescue and our Transport admins.  Each party will be asked to enter as much information as possible regarding the animal/s in question, including collection and drop-off/hand-over points.  You will also be asked to add your vehicle details in it along with your mobile number.
2. Please ensure if you have paperwork travelling with the animal that you DO NOT forget to pass this on to other transporters if you are only doing a part of the journey.
3. Please check with your insurance company that you are insured to carry an unknown animal.
4. NEVER take your children along on a run unless they can be kept totally separate from the animal/s you are transporting.  The rescues involved must be made aware of this before you agree to do the run.
5. The only time we would be happy for you to take your own dog/s on a transport run is if your dog can be kept completely separate from the animal/s you are transporting i.e. in an estate car where crates for transporting dogs are secured in the boot area and your dog/s are in the main car area. NEVER EVER expect to transport your dog/s and transporting dog/animals together.  If you cannot keep them separate then you must NOT take your own along.  It is not safe for you, your dog or the animal/s being transported.  We do not care if your dogs are friendly, nor if you have been told that the transporting dogs are, if you cannot keep separate and safe for the entire journey DO NOT BRING YOUR OWN DOGS ALONG.  If you need to, the rescues involved must be made aware of this before you agree to do the run.
6. You should also never transport more than one dog at a time unless you can securely (separate crates, fitted dog guard separating boot area from main car area) and safely keep them separated.  If a crate is not available you should make adequate provisions to ensure the safety of you and the animal whilst driving i.e. seat belt clips and harness.  Transporting dogs, particularly those who are already stressed can be a highly emotional and stressful procedure for some of them.
7. We advise that you have a spare slip lead with you on a transport run – ideally have a spare as well.
8. Don’t forget if you are on a long journey both you and the animal are likely to need a bit of leg stretching and toilet break/s.  If you are transporting more than one dog, do not walk them together however confident you are they are happy with each other.  Never allow any dog you are transporting off lead.
9. We would always advise that if transporting more than one dog, crates are used for all animals to avoid any spur of the moment incidents with dogs losing their cool and lashing out at each other. Being transported can be traumatic to an otherwise non-aggressive dog, and to avoid any incidents you HAVE to take precautions.
10. IF YOU DO NOT FEEL COMFORTABLE TRANSPORTING AN ANIMAL, IF YOU ARE NOT GIVEN WHAT YOU CONSIDER ADEQUATE INFORMATION ABOUT THE ANIMAL YOU ARE TRANSPORTING OR ABOUT THE RESCUE / ORGANISATION YOU ARE TRANSPORTING FOR, IT IS YOUR RIGHT TO SAY SO. If this situation occurs and you do not feel comfortable addressing it yourself, please feel free to contact one of our Transport admins and we can take-up your concerns direct on your behalf.
11. If you experience any issues or concerns when transporting an animal, you should in the first instance bring it to our attention in the group chat.  We will always try and work with transporters and rescues involved to deal with any situations arising, but we cannot help if we aren’t aware there has been a problem.
12. As a transporter, you are NOT the RBU provider for a dog/animal, nor in our opinion do you have any rights to make a decision over the animal or its future.  Any decisions that need to be made that are over and above what is necessary in order to simply get an animal from their A – B points safely, are the sole responsibility of the receiving rescue.  We will always act as an intermediary group in a dispute between rescue and transporter, so if this situation occurs you should make contact with one of our Transport admins at the earliest possible opportunity.
13. Fuel will be paid the day prior to the run at our current rate.  The rescue will ask for your mileage and will send it to you direct.
14. Always have a bottle of water and a bowl in your car when transporting.  You never know when the dog/animals you are transporting will need to rehydrate, particularly as you cannot foresee traffic situations or other delays.
15. You should always ensure that you clean the areas that an animal has frequented after each transport run to avoid spreading diseases or contagious illnesses. A mixture of 30 parts water to one-part bleach on crates, seats etc. should kill the Parvovirus.  This mixture should be left on surfaces for ten minutes before being rinsed off.  All blankets/beds should be washed.
    Step 1: Remove the hair
    Take the blankets outside and shake them thoroughly.  Getting hair off the blankets takes more time and effort, than removing the hair on the cover.  Be patient and keep shaking until you are sure that all the hair is removed.
    Step 2: Soak the blankets or foam insert from beds
    You should not directly wash the blankets in the washing machine.  Before you wash them, you should soak the blankets in warm water to kill the eggs and insects hiding in them (to kill the Parvovirus if it is a risk factor, soak for ten minutes in 30 parts water to one-part bleach).  If using bleach to soak, empty bath and refill your bathtub with warm water and a mild detergent.  Put the blankets in the tub and let them soak for some time.  If washing a bed with a foam insert, you should wash the foam insert in the bath and use a soft bristle brush to work up the detergent.  The cover can wash as in Step 3 below.
    Step 3: Wash the blankets
    Remove the blankets from the tub and spray some stain remover on the stains.  Now, put them in the washing machine along with some mild detergent and wash them.  After you have washed them, you should let them dry completely.  If you want, you can use a dryer to dry the blankets.
16. The Animal Team’s aim is solely for the purpose of putting volunteers in touch with rescues that need help moving an animal.  We can assume no responsibility whatsoever for any transport run, homecheck or assessment requests placed on the group/s or spoken about in private, nor subsequently any incident that may occur as a result of a transport run, homecheck, assessment, foster placement or any other assistance you (as a member) provide The Animal Team or a rescue via The Animal Team.
17. We reserve the right to remove any individual or rescue whom we believe has either caused a dog/animal to be put at risk or has not abided sufficiently to our rules or group ethics.  We will always endeavour to speak to all parties involved in any situation to ascertain the facts, but our Trustee’s final decision is just that – FINAL.

As a transporter, it is your responsibility to check the route before you accept the run or part of it, to make sure there are no tolls, congestion charge areas or emission zones (which have to be paid in advance) where you will have costs to incur.  If we are given advance notice of these charges and that you would like them to be paid or a contribution made – please pop a message in your own transport chat and we will approach the rescue to see if they can help.  We will also assist if needed provided the charge is booked and paid for in advance of the run.

Whilst we understand it is a shock to receive a penalty notice; we, nor the rescue, will be responsible for, or will contribute to, any fines received at a later date through lack of advance booking by yourself.

Some hotels are now charging for parking so please make sure you check this before making arrangements to hand-over on those premises.

If you are unsure about any charges and when/where they are enforced, please ask our TR admins who will check for you.  As it’s not just London who have implemented traffic fees, most of the major cities have introduced different levels as well.

I’m sure you will realise as a Charity our funds are limited so we cannot afford to pay towards fines that could have been avoided.  We’d much rather any money we have go towards helping animals in need.

Electric vehicles: Once again, it is your responsibility to check the route on your section of each run to ensure (if your vehicle is fully electric not hybrid (dual fuel)); the mileage your vehicle is capable of doing after each charge; that there are charging facilities available and you know their location and accessibility.  This must be confirmed BEFORE you undertake any longer distance run, as remember, you will have a rescue animal on-board and we cannot cause them any stress by you not being able to complete your journey in the expected and agreed timeframe.  Especially if there are handovers along the route. Nor by causing you unnecessary distress by finding yourself stranded and unable to continue.

If anyone has any comments, tips or advice not mentioned please feel free to contact us.