Would you ever... - Dogs - - Page 5 - City-Data Forum

jj68 · 11-21-2009, 01:59 PM

I'd like to add my 2 cents. This is a difficult issue because as one poster said, we don't live in a perfect world. I agree that we really don't know the persons situation and therefore should not judge. If I was faced with what some have been faced with, I would be beside myself, but can see how someone could be forced to give up their pet. Not everyone has a support system kind enough to help out and there are still too many people in this world who think pets are disposable. Most people I know are exactly that way and simply can't understand the bond I have with my dogs.

Having said that, I adopted 2 of my dogs from shelters, and the third I picked up on the road when I caught her owner dumping her in a secluded area during an ice storm. I think shelters are wonderful and thank goodness they exist. I suspect most do a wonderful job screening potential adopters, as I was thoroughly screened by one shelter who told all applicants they would make unannounced visits to make sure the dog is being treated well, the shelter where I adopted the second dog wasn't quite as thorough, but they knew me already. However, I don't think all shelters are as thorough in screening applicants. I can tell you that a former co-worker of mine had adopted a dog from her local humane society just one day after her previous dog died at her hand (this is a dog she had constantly complained about and said she did not like). She even told the shelter this and said she hoped that this would not affect her ability to adopt the dog as her boys needed to have a dog. What she did not tell the shelter was that in addition to the dog that had just died, she ran over another of her dogs (she had let this dog run lose - didn't have a fence and blamed a neighborhood dog because as she put it "that neighbor dog taught my dog to chase cars and if it wasn't for that I wouldn't have run over her"). In addition, she also had sent her inside cat outside into a pack of dogs (that she knew was there, and she knew what the result would be, but the cat was bothering her so this is why she sent it outside) only to be torn apart. She complained that she had to listen to the cat screaming as it was torn apart by the dogs. Nothing in any of these situations was her fault and she would tell these stories as though she was the poor victum of all these circumstances. Yet the humane society happily adopted a dog to her. My point of telling this horrible but unfortunately true story is that I or anyone else who worked with this woman would have been better at evaluating this person and determining she was not eligable to adopt (or buy) the dog than the humane society was. So really, there is no rule as to what is better, it depends on the circumstance. Sometimes an individual will be better equipped to decide and othertimes a shelter will be better equipped - it all depends on all the factors involved and how dedicated each is to being thorough in researching the applicant.

SoHoVe · 11-21-2009, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrs1885

Without knowing the situation you really can't judge them.

I got a call from a guy locally in tears a while back. The sheriff's office knocked on his door and told him he'd been evicted, his home was foreclosed. The only catch? It wasn't his home. He'd been paying his rent every month on time and the owner had been spending it on God knows what and let the mortgage go. The bank foreclosed and the renter had never been told. Until the sheriff's office showed up at his door and told him he had an hour to get out.

That is exactly the situation one of my coworkers found herself in...she and her husband had been renting the same place out in a rural area for a number of years. They had 8 dogs. By the time they were told their rental was in foreclosure they had less than a week to find a new place THAT WOULD TAKE EIGHT dogs. Maybe if people aren't seeing the foreclosure problem first hand they don't realize how bad it has gotten in some areas. On my old cul-de-sac of 8 homes FIVE were foreclosed within the last two years(three within the last 12 months). Houses that were selling for 310k 4 years ago are now selling in the 90's...investors have very little interest in holding on to these properties and people are literally finding themselves on the street. Vegas is largely a working class town (unemployment is around 18% ATM I think)...when your landlord walks away with your deposits and you were living paycheck to paycheck due to having your hours cut at work what options are there??? It takes awhile for these people to save the funds for first/last month rent and a deposit...typically that is the 3500-4000 dollar range to get a decent place. They were rightfully expecting some of that money back to apply to a new place. The shelters there are under tremendous stress right now and they are seeing breeds shelters commonly don't see like bull mastiffs. I worked in a vet clinic there and cannot even tell you the huge increase in euth and owners who were finding themselves with no alternatives. VERY VERY SAD. However for those in a position to adopt now is a GREAT time... lots of wonderful dogs out there who really don't have issues other than their owners misfortune. Not only did I adopt one of the BC's from my co-worker who had no place to go I also adopted a shelter dog several months before my departure from the city.

Its a very sad situation for both the dogs AND the owners.

Here is a youtube video one of the shelter (I think SPCA) vounteers put together addressing the problem. However it is some what GRAPHIC...some may not want to watch.
I think they did an awesome job with it though and it should be a public service announcement everywhere.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3blwtJNO4M

latetotheparty · 11-21-2009, 05:48 PM

EXCELLENT video..... a few scenes were difficult..... but the message could not have been better.........

Dashdog · 11-21-2009, 06:38 PM

While I would have to be past deaths door to give up one of my dogs I do realize not everyone has the same emotional ties to a dog that I do. Is that wrong? Who am I to make that judgement on another human? I think we judge people too fast and sometimes the people that are giving the dog up are perhaps being honest with themselves. Maybe the new place they are moving too is small and the dog needs alot of exercise and they are being honest with themselves in saying with a couple young kids they just do not have the time to have to take the dog out all day. Who is anyone here to judge the situation with so little info about it?

I think people that feel dogs are best rehomed by shelters and rescue groups live in a fantasy world as that is no guarantee the dog will not end up in an abusive home , face it there is no 100% guarantee. I think too many groups have their own idea of what a perfect dog owner is and if you do not match you do not get a dog. Yet ask 100 of these groups what the most important issue is about being a good owner and you will probably get close to 100 different answers so then who is to say which one is correct? As a result of this great homes are often over looked and the dogs spend a lot longer in the system then necessary. I know too many excellent dog owners that were rejected for stupid reasons by rescues. The family that finds a home is not really taking a home away from a shelter dog as their dog would other wise end up in the shelter which I am sorry but I feel is a big trauma to a dog.

If I was interested in a dog being given away by a family I would go meet the dog so I can evaluate it myself and also check out the home it was living in.If I liked the dog and felt it was a match for my situation I would have my vet check it out.

A good friend of mine works in the hospital with me and she got a great dog from an elderly woman. The woman was a frequent patient and had a dog that would jump up and it would tear her skin and she would get awful infections . Her skin was very fragile was was her immune system from years of being on steroids. The doctors told her the dog had to go,well she had mentioned it to my friend and my friend decided she could take the dog. Did it break the old ladies heart to do so? You bet it did but her life and staying out of the hospital had to come before her feelings about the dog. If she died of an infection where would that leave her dog? Not only did my friend get a really nice dog but a a good friend in the elderly woman. She would take the dog to visit her often and no it did not confuse the dog as I think having a younger owner that did things with him made him alot happier in the long run. Both she and the old lady got to enjoy this great dog until he died a few years ago.

Dash was given to the humane society and the story was his owners were moving and could not take him ,but I feel the real story may be that he had some aggression that they did not want to deal with but I will never know which was the truth. Am I mad they gave him up for either reason? Heck no as he was a fantastic dog ( the aggression issues were an easy fix) and for 11 years I got to love him and enjoy him . Had they not given him up I would have missed ever knowing him so to who ever dumped him possibly because they were moving all I can say is Thank YOU he was a very special dog right up until the end.