5 Things I Wish Dog Rescue Groups Would Never Do

I am so glad to hear your thoughts on adoptions or not being allowed to adopt because. I have filled out forms that you would imagine a parent trying to adopt a child from India having to answer. I'm not saying you shouldn't get as much info as you can, but seriously asking who will care for the dog since you are ?elderly? and might just keel over?? I mentioned to my vet my struggles and she had been turned down from adopting a Golden retriever BECAUSE she had a seven year old child...... I did get to adopt an elderly dog, 17, George who did still have heart worms and would remain on meds the rest of his life;like me. Adopting him was one of my greatest achievements because he gave me what was left of his heart. Sadly, just after his first Christmas in a house with his own bed, he had to be put down because of throat cancer. I am thankful I was given the chance, four months, to make his life better because he certainly gave me his world of happiness and joyfulness.

I tried contacting rescues and shelters when looking for a dog last year. I was offering a happy, permanent home. All I can say is, “Get over yourselves”.

When adopting a dog a couple of decades ago, I went to the pound, pointed to a dog, took her for a long walk, paid the $35, and agreed to have her fixed. We had a happy decade together.

This time around I contacted a couple of so called ‘rescues’. They presented so many obstacles that I had to conclude that they would be much happier just keeping the dogs themselves. I answered a few Online personal ads, met a few dogs, handed over a handful of cash for an 8 week puppy with a health certificate and we have been living happily ever after. All without the drama of dealing with a ’rescue’.

How many of these people understand that they are creating a market for new puppies while their precious rescues sit in boxes?

Hi Lindsay, I have been involved in animal rescue all my life thanks to my mom :-). I am one of the less socially awkward ones but I totally agree you get some real non-people people in animal rescue. Regarding your point on people who return dogs, unfortunately, in my experience it is often simply because they don't want to deal with chewing puppies or the initial unsettled atmosphere in the house before the animal settles in. I agree that in certain cases its the best thing to do but in most cases that i've seen it's just lack of commitment very sadly. I agree with the rest of your points though - there is so much that can still be improved.

Hi there! I really appreciate your article on adoption places & procedures, etc. We had to relinquish our own pet (dog) a few years ago and it was VERY difficult. She had become very aggressive toward anyone approaching toys, food, etc. There was a biting incident which was severe and we felt we had no choice but to let her go. We had arranged to have her put down after a lot of soul searching. I/we couldn't bear to give her to a rescue society & learn later of an incident of someone--especially a child-- being bitten. On the morning of the arranged appointment, our vet backed out (he had never inquired about the situation & didn't know the full story) of putting our beloved pet down. Therefore we were forced to check out other avenues & gave her to the local equivalent to the SPCA. We wrote out pages of information, paid our $100.00 to relinquish her as well as signing away our rights to know what became of her. This was an excruciating process in an already painful situation. Then, once she had been posted for adoption, the writers out and out LIED about how she'd been treated!!!! How dare they assume that she had bitten because she'd been mistreated. I absolutely lost it & spent the entire night writing an email to them to CORRECT them of their idiocy. We loved our dog immensely--I still miss her terribly--. Anyway, they did change the write up. I trolled their site to keep an eye on her as best we could. The write up changed again, presumably because an employee had been bitten. Our sweet dog had gone from being an acreage dweller, to be confined to a small cubicle with very little attention. I think she became aggressive one day to whomever came to let her out of her crate. The last write up I read had changed to a home needing to be for adults only.....then, a week or two later, she disappeared from the website. I believe that she was then euthanized. My hope is that --- and this may sound cruel--- she was put down to rest; for her own well being as well as that of potential adopters. Vets and these organizations need to get on the same page because "behaviour therapy" does not always work and it is, often, the best thing to do. As well, I have a problem with adoption centers making you sign to return the dog to them if anything happens. I fell this is unfair to the dog too. He/she has a beloved owner and other humans attached and they go back to life in a kennel???? Ridiculous. Thanks for letting me rant.

I have fostered dogs, working with my local humane society. I quickly came to the conclusion during a recent search for a new pup that there are some good people who volunteer for rescue groups and perhaps get a bit of a power buzz going. I learned fast to think twice about how I responded to questions on applications. But I've seen that in other situations where people are donating their time for a cause; my husband and I experienced it when we volunteered in Louisiana after hurricane Rita, and my daughter experienced it when she volunteered for Habitat for Humanity. This spring I volunteered at my local Covid vaccination center and there was an extremely positive climate there. I learned this week that that positivity was the result of people at the top who were committed to making the vaccine recipients' experience "like going to Disneyland." It flowed from the top down.