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Given the negative publicity, I highly doubt they will exist for long.....
And what's up with a pet resuce organization called "Moms and Mutts" refusing to adopt to homes with children? I would think with a name like that they would specialize in placements of dogs with families with children.
Again, they are screwing up royally.
I agree. I think Moms and Mutts will have a hard time after the negative publicity they are receiving.
The articles that I have read state that they do not allow small dogs to be adopted by families with children younger than 14 years old. In some situations small dogs and small children do not mix. The children may be too rough for the small dog and the dog can get injured. Or the dog may be too aggressive for the child. Either way I think with proper supervision and discipline young children can get along with small dogs.
I have a small dog, a pomeranian. She has grown up with my niece. My dog is 3 and my niece is 4. They get along well. My niece has been taught how to handle my dog. She knows the difference between playing nice and playing too rough.
And people wonder why there are so many "backyard breeders" and puppy mills out there. Because they have no red tape and a lot of people want the puppy and don't want to give out their entire life story in order to get one. In theory rescue groups are a great idea, but I believe that requiring everyone to fit into a particular category before being allowed to adopt a dog restricts the number of homes that these animals can go to.
And people wonder why there are so many "backyard breeders" and puppy mills out there. Because they have no red tape and a lot of people want the puppy and don't want to give out their entire life story in order to get one. In theory rescue groups are a great idea, but I believe that requiring everyone to fit into a particular category before being allowed to adopt a dog restricts the number of homes that these animals can go to.
Then take your happy self to a dog pound and get a dog...there is no excuse for backyard breeders other than instant gratification. I don't particularly care where you get the pet from other than from a backyard breeder - saving a life is saving a life.
We don't "require" everyone to fit into a particular income group or any other kind of group. I've never asked anyone to show me their tax return. Ask if they have a vet, yes - maybe their last 12 animals were killed by cars because they "don't believe" in restricting the dog to a leash. Ask to see their insurance papers on their home? Yep - because of the insurance companies restricting certain breeds, I'm going to make darn sure you and doggy don't get settled and then fine out that you're in danger of having your insurance canceled because company decided arbitrarily to cut labradoodles from the mix or whatever, or has a standing policy against insuring the bully breeds. You can tell me all day long you have Farmers Insurance - I want to see it, and I want to see your limits of liability, because ultimately, through the wording of the contract, the rescue is where the buck stops when everything goes south. Do I want a fence or a reasonable plan for exercising the dog? Yep. Do I want the dog inside, as a member of the family? Yep. Do I want to see if your small child is hell on wheels and might cram a bean up a dog's nose? Yep. Do you work 18 hours a day to make ends meet and have a car that might make 60 miles on a good day? Not a good candidate. Your resources are too thin. If you're doing all of that to support your family, you don't have the extra funds to make sure there is regular and emergent medical care, to spend on flea/tick meds, and more importantly, on heartworm medication, which is the most expensive of all.
Do I want a house that looks like it came out of Architectural Digest? Not hardly...I want a home that has the love and the financial resources and the dedication to take care of one of our rescues who may have had a pretty crappy life until coming into rescue - and if that's just too much for you, I'm sorry - but I won't take the chance that a dog's bad life could get worse or it could get bounced around because the adopter didn't think their lifestyle and future life challenges all the way through.
Most rescuers are quite passionate about the dogs they foster...we have a vested interest in seeing a totally successful placement. We've opened our hearts, our homes, and our wallets to these cast-offs - we WANT to see you succeed - and if that means being picky, well...I'm guilty as charged. My rule of thumb is - would I let one of my personal dogs stay in this home? Overnight? For a weekend? For a lifetime if something happened to me? If I don't feel the home is acceptable if the worst should happen to me, why in the world would I settle for less for another dog that probably came out of a less than ideal situation?
As far as the Ellen story goes, I feel there is quite a lot more we don't know - whether it involves personal vendettas or not, who is to say? But this IS an intelligent woman who has bounced three dogs out of her home and now says she didn't know what was in the contract...oh, please, her life is full of contracts....and someone is confused. She thinks she signed the contract but the rescue says de Rossi signed it.
There's 3 sides to every story, as mom said...Side A, Side B, and the truth, which is somewhere in the middle and which we may never know.
14 - for chrissakes, they are almost in high school. WAY big enough to handle a small dog. Any kid older than 10 would be.
I think after this story anyone with small kids won't even think about going to a shelter. Most families with kids are the ones with dogs. I know for a fact that when my kids are grown and I don't have to taxi them around, I don't think I may want another dog, hopefully the hubby and I can go out without worry about what to do with the dog.
I still feel that some of these rescue organizations can get a little too "big brotherish" with all the personal info they want from potential pet adopters. I understand they have emotional ties to the pets they rescue, but you have to put a certain amount of trust in the people adopting the pet to do what's best for the pet, or the rescue organizations may as well just hoard all the animals and keep them themselves! Sure, there are bad pet owners, but I don't think doing back ground checks and lie detector tests is the answer, and is only going to slow up the process, exclude good people from adopting, and result in less animals finding homes. Pet Finder has a link on their website about the Ellen scandal: Petfinder.com I found this quote off the pet finder website to be interesting-"Research, however, suggests that there is no difference in the success rates of the adoptions between organizations that screen heavily versus those that have more open adoption policies." So all this heavy screening, and turning families away because they have children under 14, or whatever other reason they come up with, isn't even leading to more successful adoptions!
I got questions.... why isn't the hairdresser saying anyting? or have I missed that. How do we know she really wanted the dog? How many time have people did things that they did not want to do for the boss...I just get the feeling that the hairdresser really did not want the dog...
Better question...why is Ellen the one doing all the begging and pleading? She didn't even SIGN the contract. Katie1 may have a very good point - in spite of the children's alleged weeping and wailing, did hairdresser take the dog to keep Ellen happy? Was it a spur of the moment decision?
For sbd78 lie detector tests? That's a new one - and the background check is to make sure you don't have an alter ego named Michael Vick.
The lie detector comment was meant to be sarcastic. But seriously, I doubt Ellen's hairdresser's family was running a dog fighting ring in the backyard, and they were declared unfit by Mom's and Muts.
Okay - I will tell a little story, then...it's sorta off topic, but I'll allow me some latitude!
I have a Rottie that will be 16 in February. When she was 12, her family had to surrender her due to divorce and the mom having to move her and several children into Section 8 housing, where the dog was not allowed. We had a friend of a member of the rescue that we were told was just the wonderkid owner, he would take this old girl and make her life heaven, blah, blah, blah...it was going to be a long, long transport and completely out of area...no way to do a home visit, nothing to do but trust...but one member took it upon herself to run a check on this guy's email address. Surprise. He was involved in canine pornography and had already promised this poor senior girl on a pervert board to the highest bidder. It was serious enough that the FBI got involved and he is now serving time for some other things that involve pornography, and not of the adult variety or the canine variety. I would never disgust you with the details.
Needless to say, I had a mini stroke and went and got her, and she has lived in our home for close to 4 years.
THIS is the reason rescues are careful...that dog's life and our reputation are at stake. NOT to say the hairdresser is involved in anything like this - but we have some folks questioning why rescues are so picky - because we don't know...we just don't know. And there are sickos and weirdos and just plain lousy pet owners out there.
As far as whether screening matters or not, I've no doubt based on the overall dog population you might have the same success rate with just picking out a shelter dog versus going through rescue screening...but we have assured ourselves that the pet will be taken care of in the best manner possible. We are their advocates and their protectors because so many came from bad situations. I would say this is particularly necessary with my breed of choice, the Rottweiler, or any of the other breeds that are in danger of being prohibited through breed specific legislation and wild-eyed fanatics, PETA and insurance companies. We not only want to make sure the dog has the best home, but that we have someone who can also be an advocate for our breed.
No matter who is right or wrong in this particular instance...whether de Rossi and Degeneres have used the media for their own cause, whether the rescue bent the rules before and aren't now, whether there's something we don't know and is none of our business.....these women - all of them, from Degeneres to the hairdresser to the rescue - do NOT deserve to have death threats from various factions. I say let the courts work it out if it's that bad...but it doesn't need to be tried in the public eye.
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