I tried to find a funny picture of a hobo kitty but this one grabbed my heartstrings...so sad
Posted on 01/29/2012 7:56:10 PM PST by Altariel
No Pet For You Want to adopt a dog or cat? Prepare for an inquisition at the animal rescue.
eople who rescue animals can be reluctant to believe anyone deserves the furry creatures. Some rescue groups think potential owners shouldn’t have full-time jobs. Others reject families with children. Some rescuers think apartment dwelling is OK for humans but not for dogs, or object to a cat’s litter box being placed in a basement. Some say no to people who would let a dog run around the fenced backyard “unsupervised,” or allow a cat outside, ever.
It used to be that people who wanted to get an abandoned or abused animal went to the local pound, saw one they liked, paid a small fee, and drove home with a new pet. Since the 1990s, however, the movement to reduce animal euthanasia and the arrival of the Internet have given rise to a new breed of rescuer. These are private groups, or even individuals, who create networks of volunteers to care for needy animals.
(Excerpt) Read more at slate.com ...
We’ve adopted from an agency whose contract goes so far as to have you give permission for them to “drop in” unannounced and check on the pet in the future. I don’t have a problem with that. So many people “adopt” pets for nefarious reasons — training attack or fighting dogs, for one.
We rescued three feral kittens in August, and tried to find good homes for them. Nobody who responded to our ads seemed to be good potential owners for various reasons. So now we have seven cats instead of our original four.
I tried to find a funny picture of a hobo kitty but this one grabbed my heartstrings...so sad
I just got done adopting my 3rd dog. The first dog I got from Bideawee in Wantagh NY. He was an older rescue Sheltie Terrier mutt that lived with my family 13 happy years. The process was quick and painless. They did call my references to make sure I wasn’t lying. The next dog I got from North Shore Animal league. This was a bit more involved but we got a Black Lab mutt. A bit more intrusive but we made it fine. We had him for 11 years.
After he was gone we decided to get another dog. Since I moved off Long Island Bideawee and North Shore were a trip so we decided to go local. We used Petfinder and heard of a Massachusetts group holding an adoption event at a local Tractor Supply. They had 15 puppies for adoption at $600 apiece. We thought we arrived early only to find we were number 33 on the list to see the dogs. We left empty handed and the rescue left with $9,000.00 for a day’s work. We went to our local shelter and it was sad. All the dogs were older and most were Pitt Bulls. We did not want to have a short relationship with an older dog and I did not want a fighting breed. We then went to another rescue and got the third degree for a dog we thought would be good.
We eventually ended up at North Shore again. We adopted a female Jack Russell puppy. The adoption cost us $300.00. They did have a question process and some of the people turned down were pretty mad leaving the place. How could they, who do they think they are, that type of remarks. Looking at the reactions you could see they probably shouldn’t have a pet.
If you want to adopt just look around, ask around. Out there is a some dog looking for a good home.
When I visited a local rescue/shelter I wandered into the feline free range room and big older tabby cat wandered over and jumped up in my lap and went to sleep. Well, you know I melted right then and there. I've never had a lap cat. Well, it took me a little over two hours to get out the door with him. He was special needs, returned to the shelter 3 times previous and had quite the checkered past. So after his horror tales I still adopted him. He and I were a perfect match! None of the old behaviors ever became evident and he lived out his senior years in comfort.
I eventually volunteered as a foster home for this rescue and it has been a rewarding experience. Last year there wasn't a month I did not have kittens under 12 weeks in my care. It has truly been fun. Lots of good stories of my own personal experience.
This little shelter adopted out nearly 1,000 animals last year! And they often take in the overflow from other shelters or dog fighting/puppy mill busts in the state. The fosters rehab and adopt out as quickly as they can. But, they are also careful with the animals that have issues.
>Then don’t expect a free pet.<
Rescue/shelter animals are anything but free.
It might be instructive for you to define abusive.
>I’m just going to throw this out there: if an animal is rescued from an abusive environment, what purpose is served by sending that animal to the next person who walks in the door? Why not just put the animal down?<
It depends on the person. Does the person work? Perhaps s/he wouldn’t be the best home for a pup, but what about an adult dog? A cat? What if s/he shows a relationship with a dog walker? Don’t have a fenced yard? What if s/he walks the dogs on the leash for exercise? Does s/he have a solid history as a pet owner?
Do rescues all do follow ups? I know they don’t because I’ve served on 2 boards - one did, one didn’t because they simply didn’t have the manpower.
Pet rescue people need to guard against the trap of thinking only they are capable of pet ownership. Sadly, many who embrace rescue adoption suffer from control issues.
My opinion, YMMV.
I support and help out our local golden retriever rescue. And I don’t even qualify (on paper) to adopt a golden from them because I don’t have a fenced yard. I have told the president, who is a friend of mine, how silly that really is, since what it means is that my dog always goes outside accompanied by me and is never left alone out there. But they are one of the more reasonable organizations I’ve known.
The problem is that some of these groups are run by people who are fanatics, and some are quite reasonable people who just care about animals. Some of them probably started our reasonable and became fanatics after dealing with bad situations. And some of them think people like me (hobby breeders) are the enemy. Heck, some FReepers think I’m the enemy.
But, something has happened in our society and many people cannot draw a line between pets and people, and this is what you get. It can be almost as difficult to get a pet as it is to adopt a baby, and some places are passing laws that also blur the line.
Granny, what a sad story! I had one die of bone cancer. She went really fast too, just started limping and in 9 days we had to put her to sleep. Very sad, dogs seem to get cancer pretty often.
While an elderly person might not be a good fit for an exuberant puppy, I think a middle aged dog (5 or 6 years old) would have been a good fit. To be honest with you, while I avidly support our golden rescue and usually mention it first when someone calls me looking for a dog (I currently am not breeding because we have a restrictive breeding law here) I will say that sometimes hobby breeders have perfectly wonderful adult dogs they are willing to part with who are trained and make wonderful pets. I have placed adults myself, either because they came back to me because their original homes didn’t work out, or because a potential show dog didn’t work out for me. I DO screen homes, and SOME breeders are just like the groups being discussed in this thread, but certainly not all are. It’s another avenue for someone looking for a nice adult dog. It might have worked out for your friend. And I”m really sorry he had to go through that. I know my dogs are always a comfort to me. (and fwiw, I would have agreed to take the dog back myself if he had needed me to, it’s part of my contract, altho I would have also allowed the daughter to if she wanted to—I don’t think this would be an unusual arrangement).
That is exactly what I did. The North American Dachshund Rescue puts an adopter through weeks of interviews as well as a home visit. I worked via a local shelter. They did ask me to visit “my” pet on site several times so that they could watch our interaction. Of course there was paperwork and promises to be kept plus $300 fee. $300 - dog under five years of age. Fees are less for needy seniors or pets with special needs.
Rescues generally aren’t free. I paid $185 each for my two new dogs. They have been neutered, one had a hernia surgery, and they have had all of their shots and wormings. That would cost about $185 anyway, if not more.
“want a cat? Leave a can of food outside, the local representative of the kitty union will be along shortly...”
So true! This is basically how the missus and I acquired our second kitteh, a tortoiseshell stray we named Patch who’s probably lived in our neighborhood longer than we have. She’s probably the most affectionate cat I’ve ever seen.
Apple, our first cat, came from San Jose Animal Care. It was not a hard decision to take her; as soon as the shelter worker handed her to my wife she gave her a head bonk. We had the good fortune of finding a coupon on their website that would allow us to adopt any cat for $10 (normally a young adult cat such as Apple would be placed for $60), and it’s hard to find better entertainment for that price. :)
All but one of my animals over the years as been rescued. The other was a pure breed Persian who thought the world revolved around her but was otherwise a good cat. Bought her at a pet store.
The rest, all but one where found on the side of the road as kittens in cow country (it was common for city folk to dump unwanted litters) or from craigslist type listings.
The dumped/craigslist cats/dogs where/are great animals. they have respect for us. You can tell some have lived a hard life. One, gets very worried and starts pacing the house howling if my wife so much as packs a box. We suspect he was left in a house for a long.. long.. time after the people moved out. Likely got kicked out and could not take him with.
Anyways.. The last one came from a “shelter” we hoped through their hoops (kids really liked him. I hated the anal probe) brought the dog home once we where “approved”. My son was sitting on the floor watching TV.. Dog walked right up to him from behind and bit him on the arm.
The rescue group who gave us the anal probe apparently never bothered to make sure the dog was good with kids.
They where decent about it, and gladly gave us a refund for the dog and re-placed it with a adult only family.
Is it true that urban animal rescue is dominated by lesbians?
“I would NEVER agree to allow someone to come to my house to inspect it just to get a dog or cat. I am not real eager to allow anyone around my place.”
Nor would I. Sure, I understand the shelters want a good environment for the animals. I would bring along a few pictures to prove the backyard fence is in good shape and that I have also have a kennel, but in-house inspections are over-the-top extreme nonsense.
I’ll tell you another thing also irks me — some of the people that foster Australian Shepherds screen out prospects that won’t involve the dog in agility courses, specialized training, jogging lifestyles, etc. In other words, being a pampered household pet and member of the family simply isn’t good enough for the dogs to live fulfilled lives. Our dogs would disagree! Meanwhile, too many good and young dogs are put down for a lack of enough “perfect” homes.
A friend purchased a cockatiel for her grandson. The bird sellers required three visits with the bird at their store, an in-home visit, a signed contract, and a verbal agreement to use an organic bird feed sold only in their store. They won’t let the family keep the bird in their daughter’s bedroom and set very strict rules about the care of this bird, who, by the way, has a gimpy wing. As my friend said, she can buy a cockatiel on Craigslist for under twenty bucks and none of the hassle.
When we had 2-3 litters of Basenji puppies several years ago, we were very careful about where they were placed, but none of *this* insanity!
It sure sounds like it.
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