Moterhomers and lifts off Site!
I have just been reading the reviews of Cirencester and there was a rather critical reply to a review (last April), about a motorhomer asking for a lift to take their dog to the vet off another motorhomer, not a caravanner (in my view understandable in the circumstances) then stating that they had "seen this onsite before where motorhomers go round asking for lifts to various places off caravanners", as if it is a common occurrence!
Is it something that motorhomers often do? I walk, cycle, take the bus or occasionally the train and have twice used the park and ride, but have never asked anyone on site for a lift and find it difficult to believe that many other motorhomers do either, unless of course it is an emergency.
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Not something I have ever come across. We have been motorhoming for about 10 years now and nearly always select sites that are either close to public transport or within walking distance of places. We have also used taxi's in the past although this can be a bit hit an miss depending on time of day and how big the place is. Unless I actually knew somebody it wouldn't cross my mind to ask for a lift. We were once at the Brecon site and Margaret had a medical emergency and was taken to Abergavenny Hospital but we had to find our own way back. We got a taxi eventually, no such thing as a 24/7 service in that part of Wales, and it cost £40. Clearly at Cirencester a taxi would have been an option.
David
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The owners of the dog tried a number of taxi companies but it was on a race day and apparently it is very difficult to find one on race days, so very reluctantly, asked their motorhoming neighbour, who had a car with them as well, for a lift.
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I think there are a lot of things to be drawn from this. (I have read the review). In thirty five plus years of touring, campervan, tow car, Motorhome, we have never been asked for a lift by another person. But we have on occasion offered one if we had the room and going in the right direction😁
Awful experience for the dog owners, and hopefully it is now resolved with the pooch back in good health. Lesson one is if you have a dog with you, and staying for any length of time, know where the local vets are. One of our Airedale’s collapsed in Wells next the Sea with an at the time undiagnosed heart condition. OH knew where the vets was, and set off carrying him there, me coming on behind with our other two. A very kind person in a car saw my OH, knew there was an emergency, and gave him and the semi conscious dog a lift. That person saved our dog’s life. Thankfully it all ended well, we got superb treatment, the dog lived another four years. Smart phones will tell you where a vet is located, where the parking is, and if two people go, one can be dropped off regardless of the size of any vehicle. Non dog owners might not realise that a good number of taxi firms won’t take pets of any kind, so you do need to be pro active. Some places run pet taxis.
If I saw an injured dog, would we offer help? Yes if my vehicle could get the dog to treatment as quick as possible. I’d do the same for an injured child of course as well, dropping them off wherever. Would I offer a lift (outside of COVID risks) to anyone on site? If we had got to know them a bit and they had no transport (ie left MH on site) then yes if we had room and were going same way. Knock on the door, just wanting a non emergency lift? Probably not, their outfit choice and how they use it is their choice. But we have never ever been asked, only offered.
That to be honest it is a ridiculous review in some ways. It isn’t reviewing the site at all, just indicating how unprepared the dog owners were, and how they really should have put the dog first, packed up and driven to the vets themselves. Even with an awning, untether, drop the lot, quick pack up, ask Wardens to keep an eye on stuff, and go. I would say from the review that the milk of human kindness wasn’t flowing either, but it’s only one side of the story. We are the kind of people who would help if we could, but anyone who travels with children, old folks, pets needs to do a bit research or at least use a smart device. We have used vets in at least a dozen different locations, all over UK. Never had an issue getting to one.
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All the motorhomers I ever met were independent , self reliant people. They impressed me by where they went and how they looked after themselves - even a thousand miles from home.
At the top of the Overseas touring section is a link to a map showing hundreds of vets located all over Europe which members have found, visited, and used - under their own steam. I think those Motorhomers could manage to drive a dog one mile to a vet in Cirencester themselves, without needing someone to take them.
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There’s a pet taxi service not far away, and two vets within half a mile of Cirencester Park. (All hail the mighty Smart device🙂) There’s no racecourse in Cirencester, that’s at Cheltenham🤔
The dog owning reviewers haven’t covered themselves in glory on this one. The review puts the pitched up motorhome first, and the dog care second. But I will be generous and say it sounds like they were panicking a bit, understandable with a possibly distressed howling animal. We are old hands with animals doing unplanned things on holiday. Two vets in Cornwall still had us on their records years after we first went, such is life with Airedales and Labradors🤨
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When somebody or something close to you is injured or in dire need of a vet or doctor then I can see where blind panic sets in and all sense flies out of the window.
As Ttda said in her post the owner of the dog wasn't really prepared for any emergency. Club sites always have emergency numbers printed at reception. They had an immediately available form of transport and should have used it. Why couldn't they have asked their neighbour to watch out for their things whilst they hightailed it to the vets?
Mind you, if I had of been asked I would have considered the dog first and foremost, gave them a lift and then "discussed" their unpreparedness with them later.
As to the OP's original question, whilst we have never been asked to provide a lift from site we have offered one before now. In Spain a few years ago a German couple had a mechanical problem with their car. We were happy to give them a lift to the shops and/or do their shopping for them.
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I’ve lost count of the number of rescues of one sort or another we have helped with down the years. OH once carried a semi conscious Clumber Spaniel all the way up the cliff side track at Lantic Cove (😱), we both pushed an elderly gent stranded in his very heavy (flat) battery powered wheelchair all along the Esplanade at Fowey, we have done umpteen drags out of mud on CLs with our 4x4s, (why don’t folks look at the ground before driving on🫣), we’ve rounded up escaped bullocks, herds of sheep, a lone cow out wandering through Callington late one night, and my proudest moment, shepherding an inquisitive (thankfully gentle) porker on the loose at the Great Yorkshire Show back into a loose box with nothing more than a picture and an umbrella……here piggy piggy🤣 The only sensible creature around was the porker, everyone else close by panicking. Last month was our badly bitten dog groomer neighbour, bandaged up and driven up to A&E!
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There is a site that we have regularly used in southern France where the town is 30 - 40 mins walk and it can be very hot. On several occasions we have been offered a lift into town by British and Dutch caravanners but have never asked. Actually we know the owner well having done some translation work and have a standing invitation to use her car (maybe it’s a Company car?). I have only borrowed it once though.
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We may be unusual, but we have a cat, not a dog. On one occasion, when we had a motorhome, we were at Chirk CAMC site, many years ago (when prices were not as eye-watering
) and our cat became ill. All we thought about was how to get the cat to the local vet, nothing else. It never occurred to us to ask anyone with a car to drive us to the vet. First thing we did was ring the vet and explained the situation; they said they'd see us right away - we were there less than 10 minutes later, keeping everything tidy at all times stood us in good stead that day 
The cat was looked after very well and lived to tell the day. I wouldn't have wasted precious time getting her to the vet by knocking on doors asking for a lift. We had wheels, we used them. The cat was our foremost priority.
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