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I find rescues also to be hit or miss. I was an ideal adopter. My mother is home at all times, we have a large house with a fenced in yard, a good vet, good references, and decades of experience with dogs. None the less I found rescues with invasive questioners, unresponsive to inquiries or declined us for asinine reasons. I think there needs to be standards for rescue organizations that if they go crazy with criteria for adoptions they lose their accreditation and funding.
That being said I found a few good rescues and adopted a great poodle companion for my Moyen poodle Sari.
Other than animal control shelters, which get taxpayer funding (and which are very unlikely to be overly intrusive in their applications) rescues and shelters are not funded by anyone but donors. A name like Humane Society or SPCA does not mean affiliation with HSUS or the ASPCA. These national organizations do not fund any local shelters. As far as accreditation goes, that would apply only to 501c3 organizations, and I have no idea what their standards are. There would be no other accrediting agency for animal rescue.
As a thought, you can find shelters on petfinder.com (search by zip code just below search for animal). If they have a website it will be linked on their petfinder page. Often websites have downloadable adoption forms, and/or list their adoption policies. This might give some idea of how reasonable they are with potential adopters.
And keep in mind, just because a question is asked doesn't mean they'll have a very narrow standard of the "right answer". They might just be trying to weed out the real scumbags or idiots, and believe me, they're out there.
But perhaps the donors should know whether the rescue group is being run in a reasonable manner. I know I would not want to donate to some of the crazy rescue groups I've seen.
Welcome to the world of ridiculous. I also adopt from rescues but they have gone nutzoid. I was looking for a smooth hair terrier. Not only did I find the perfect dog but he had the perfect name which was Kosher, being Jewish I said now that is perfect even though I don't keep Kosher. I called the rescue which was located in Georgia and I had to have a home inspection. I informed them I lived in Connecticut and they said we don't allow out of state adoptions. I have never been so insulted in my life. At that time I just had to put one of cats to sleep after I spent an obscene amount of money to try and save her life. I'm talking double digits before the comma. I have excellent vet references to say the least and one from a very famous animal hospital in New York City. Quite frankly I don't believe these rescues are really looking out for their clients. I see the object as finding them a good home with people that will love and take care of them forever. I'm beginning to think they are all animal hoarders as I don't see how some of these questions are relevant.
I was on petfinders.com for several months and I found most rescues have "We do not adopt out of state. This made me really sad. I live in N.C. and found the perfect little maltese in S.C. and they let us come pick him up after I had a good phone interview.
Well,for those rescues that actually perform home checks, it's unreasonable to expect them to come out and actually do it. I'm sure another smooth-haired terrier could have been in Delaware looking for a home.
My answer in the past to the "what brand/type of dog food will you feed" question: "Dog food".
Unless I've been made aware of digestive issues in the potential adoptee, anything beyond the above answer is none of their &$@*!%# business.
One thing you have to understand though is that these dogs live in the homes of the people involved in the rescue and often for a very long time so I don't think it's unreasonable at all for someone to want to know that a dog they've cared for as their own will be well cared for. If you were going to place your own dog in another home wouldn't you want to know if he's going to be well cared for?
Dogs don't have to be fed top notch food. Not everyone can afford top notch food and that doesn't mean that they are not good pet owners. But if someone tells me that they feed their dog Ol Roy I will wonder if they have the means to be pet owners and if they care enough to take good care of their pets. That may sound elitist but in my experience people who will buy the cheapest food possible for their dogs are also the ones that will give them the cheapest care possible overall. They are often the ones that will put a flea collar on their dog when they are full of fleas and not take their pets to the vet when they are sick. Of course it doesn't necessarily mean that. Some people just don't know about proper nutrition. I didn't when I adopted my dogs. But the fact that they choose to feed total junk food will give me food for thought and lead me to ask other questions. If the adopters are good overall and the only issue is the food maybe they just need some education. To me it really comes down to how responsible and devoted they are, not so much the food in itself. I do think asking what potential adopters feed their pets is a legitimate question because it is their business. I care a great deal about my fosters. Some stay with me for as long as two years and I want to know that they will be well cared for. What's so wrong about that?
I have a longish story about some strange dog owners I saw at Petco, but the relevant part here is that, until the employees there talked to them, they'd been feeding their dogs sliced deli turkey. As their entire diet.
Not as much with Ape and Bo because they came from the same place.
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