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A neighbor wants to adopt a dog and found one at a shelter/rescue in New Hampshire. She said she was told she couldn't adopt because she lived in Massachusetts.
Is this true? I volunteer at a no-kill shelter as an adoption rep in Mass. and I've never heard of such a restriction. Can someone please explain? I haven't been able to find the info on my own.
Location: RI, MA, VT, WI, IL, CA, IN (that one sucked), KY
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I don't know about NH dog rules, but MA and RI are pretty strict. I've inquired about a few fosters housed in CT and elsewhere and wasn't eligible because of heartworm regulations. I suspect adoption rules might be similarly restricted.
Thank you. Sounds like I may have to call the NH State House to ask. I tried finding the answer on their website, but like any governmental site, it's not always user-friendly.
It is not New Hampshire's call it is Massachusetts. All dogs must be quarantined before they can be adopted into the state. Most out of state rescues do not want to deal with the hassle and expense of that. Massachusetts started this as with the rise in southern rescue dogs being brought up lead to a huge jump in dog diseases, mainly heartworm.
There are plenty of rescues here in Massachusetts following the rules. I just adopted a wonderful dog from here last month https://dogorphans.com/
I remember when our dog came up from Tennessee. She was on a transport with about 50 other dogs and arrived on a Wednesday. They all went into isolation at the rescue and on Saturday, those that could went home with their furever families or their fosters.
It is not New Hampshire's call it is Massachusetts. All dogs must be quarantined before they can be adopted into the state. Most out of state rescues do not want to deal with the hassle and expense of that. Massachusetts started this as with the rise in southern rescue dogs being brought up lead to a huge jump in dog diseases, mainly heartworm.
There are plenty of rescues here in Massachusetts following the rules. I just adopted a wonderful dog from here last month https://dogorphans.com/
Dogs can't get heartworm from other dogs. It's only spread by infected mosquitoes. Could be another disease they are afraid of.
I've volunteered in rescues in both Massachusetts and Florida and the difficulty adopting from an out of state shelter is indeed due to MA quarantine rules. I never knew the reason, but heartworm makes sense. Although dogs can't get it from other dogs I expect they can still tamp down the spread by identifying the heartwork positive dogs and make sure they get treatment before letting them out into the state to be munched on by mosquitoes. I see it as a compromise to still allow in rescues from other states but trying to mitigate the impact of the spread.
I can't understate how common heartwork is down south. Between cultural differences regarding the care of animals and the number of northerners that move down and only treat their animals for part of the year (down south you have do it year-round due to mosquitoes being year-round), I was astounded at the number that we took in that were heartwork positive in Florida.
I've volunteered in rescues in both Massachusetts and Florida and the difficulty adopting from an out of state shelter is indeed due to MA quarantine rules. I never knew the reason, but heartworm makes sense. Although dogs can't get it from other dogs I expect they can still tamp down the spread by identifying the heartwork positive dogs and make sure they get treatment before letting them out into the state to be munched on by mosquitoes. I see it as a compromise to still allow in rescues from other states but trying to mitigate the impact of the spread.
I can't understate how common heartwork is down south. Between cultural differences regarding the care of animals and the number of northerners that move down and only treat their animals for part of the year (down south you have do it year-round due to mosquitoes being year-round), I was astounded at the number that we took in that were heartwork positive in Florida.
But if the OP lived in NH, adopted a dog from a NH rescue, moved to Ma. no one is going to tell OP to show the papers of the dog as they cross the border between the states. Even licensing the dog in Ma, all the town cares about is a rabies certificate. People travel back and forth between Ma and NH all the time esp with second homes and bring their dogs. I dont see the difference.
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