The Pug Dog Welfare & Rescue Association
Run entirely by volunteers & public donations
Adoption
We are fully open in a selection of regions to receive general adoption applications again, as well as for pug-specific homes appeals.
We are finding the need to re-home more pugs 7 years & over, as well as those with very individual, or special-needs, plus bonded-pairs, so we welcome all applications from dedicated, loving homes to match with all surrendered pugs in our care.
Please find full details for adopting as well as which regions of the country we are accepting general adoption applications from, in our Adoption section. Any Pug-Specific homes appeals can also be found there which are open to all PDWRA regions across England & Wales.
Fostering
Good foster homes are essential in our rehoming process, particularly those that can support age-related or special-needs, or accommodate bonded-pairs, as the number of pugs surrendered to us in these categories has been relatively high.
For specific areas of the country that we are accepting new fostering applications for, PDWRA provides ongoing support with vet costs covered. You may offer short or long-term care, for which the individual needs of the pugs will be matched to your home.
Our Fostering section provides full details and considerations for fostering, as well as the areas where we’d welcome new foster homes from, also where you can apply directly online.
Surrendering
Following our temporary closure last year, we have been able to receive pugs needing to be surrendered from our busiest region, the South East, parts of the South West, as well as Central & East of England, plus West & East Midlands and Wales. All pugs in our care are matched to our complete region-wide waiting lists for homes.
The difficult decision for that closure was to provide the best welfare solutions to the very high number of pugs in our care with the resources available to us. It enabled the escalation of specific applicants being matched to adopt pugs in our care, while reducing the number of those waiting for a home.
Please go to our Surrendering section for latest information and contact details.
Volunteering
There are a number of ways that you can volunteer to support PDWRA, including:
- Rehoming Coordinator
- Volunteer Area Coordinator
- Fundraiser
- Home Checker
- Transporting a Pug
- Something Else
We are open to applications from England and Wales. Please see our Volunteering section for more details of these roles and how to apply.
Pug Home Appeals
These priority Pugs need a home. Please read about these Pugs and apply to adopt online.
Could YOU Adopt Sister & Brother, Cindy & Sid
👏 ** TERRIFIC NEWS UPDATE: Cindy & Sid have found their HOME TOGETHER! ** 👏 ********** ORIGINAL APPEAL: Cindy and Sid are a bonded 6 year-old sister and brother. They are both neutered and looking for their forever home together. They both love children and are...
Latest PDWRA News
National Pug Day October 15th
Last week was that special day known as National Pug Day. Traditionally, it’s a day where we celebrate our beloved pug companions and no doubt give them a few extra treats… To commemorate the day, we did a special competition on our Facebook page asking our followers...
The Pug Dog Welfare & Rescue Association 2025 AGM
The Pug Dog Welfare & Rescue Association’s AGM will take place on Wednesday 15th October 2025, from 7pm – 7.40pm. The AGM will be held via Zoom, and we welcome as many of our supporters and members to attend as possible. We will be sharing an update of the...
The Importance of Keeping Pugs Slim, therefore Healthy.
As temperatures drop and Autumn/Winter approaches, our activity levels especially outdoors might reduce, with the potential addition of comfort and seasonal eating. So, it’s a good time to be particularly vigilant about our pug’s waistlines especially as weight creeps...
A Message from our Interim Chair, Kay Greene
Further to joining the trustee team as Interim Chair in mid-April this year, I thought you may find it helpful to have brief update from me about what PDWRA have been achieving these past few months. One of the most impressive aspects of our charities work which...
In Memory of Ralph
We lost one of our stalwarts of the pug world on 19 July 2025. Dear old Ralph who coped with a multitude of problems throughout his life but despite all, took and gave pleasure to those who came across him Ralph was surrendered in 2019 by a lady who saw him advertised...
Rebecca’s Story of Adopting Ozzy
We are a family of dog lovers who had dogs in the past, but when I had some health problems and we weren’t sure whether we had the capacity to offer a dog a long term home. We’d been a dogless family for several years and we were all yearning for the pitter patter of...
Meet our new Trustee
Iris hanging out with the kittens Meet our new Trustee - Anne McDonald My name is Anne and I’ve recently become a Trustee for PDWRA. This is a bit about me… I’ve been a dog owner from the age of four, my grandad’s dog had puppies and he gave me one for my birthday....
Loveday’s Father’s Bequest to the PDWRA
Loveday's father leaves his beautiful collection of ceramic pugs to the PDWRA. My father was a pug enthusiast for most of his life. Shortly after my parents married, 70 years ago, they welcomed a pug called Bunky into their lives and things were never the same again....
A Sad Farewell
We are saying a sad farewell and a huge thanks to Helen & Malcolm McKee - Voluntary Vet Advisors to the PDWRA from 2018 - 2025 Helen first became involved with the Charity in early 2018, when she made an initial approach to enquire about fostering. At the time,...
Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome
Written by Helen McKee, PDWRA Veterinary Advisor I am sure all of you, and anyone who has had a pug, is familiar with the term ‘BOAS’. It stands for Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome’. It is a large topic and there is much to discuss about the condition, but...
Emma’s Dewdney Fundraising
Emma raises funds for the PDWRA as part of her company's Volunteer Week! Over the past year, I’ve had the privilege of taking part in a few volunteer initiatives that have been both meaningful and memorable. One of the highlights was volunteering at a high school in...
Diana’s Tribute to Lottie
The life and times of Little Lottie, aka Crazy Girl, aka Stinky Minky. It was the 23rd of August 2018 when I pulled into an Asda car park in Newmarket to collect “the goods”, aka Lottie, an approximately 3–5-year-old fawn pug. She was my second pug adopted from the...
Donate to the PDWRA
The PDWRA is completely run on public donations and we wouldn’t be able to help the hundreds of pugs that are surrendered into our care each year without the help of our wonderful and generous supporters. Thank you!
Our vet bills alone run into hundreds of thousands of pounds annually and this is constantly increasing with the onslaught of inflation.
All help is greatly appreciated!
Friends of Welfare
Become of Friend of Welfare today!
Your membership provides us with reliable, much-needed and regular funds towards ever-increasing costs for Pugs in our care.
