Ranting about stupid dog ownership

[Dogmama]

Why should that be tongue in cheek? Don't want to make the kitty owners mad? I detest the neighborhood cats that run free in my neighborhood. They are unlicensed, untagged, they go after the birds that nest in my yard, they use my garden beds as a toilet...

What she said!!!!

Around here, cats eventually turn into coyote food. Very sad to see "lost" posters when you know what happened.

My vet says indoor cats are seen for usual stuff - shots, maybe a UTI. Outdoor cats catch all kinds of stuff.

My cat is STRICTLY indoors. He loves it & doesn't try to go outside. I adopted him from the humane society many years ago & suspect that he's had his share of camping out. He was full of scratches from fighting. Apparently, he wasn't that good

[Dogmama]

This dog was not high energy, oddly enough. My friend just changed her mind. She's stupid, inconsiderate and has no heart. Dogs are for life. Another poster said something I loved - dogs are not shoes. You don't bring them home, find out they don't match your furniture & take them back. It's a living being, fer-cryin-out-loud. This dog was picked up as a stray, so there was zero information. I went with her to the humane society initially to evaluate this dog. (I have 25 years of dog training experience, so I know a little bit about behavior.) This dog was a sweetheart. I watched her sit & wag her little tail when other dogs walked by. She was curious but not obnoxious at all. She did not show fear to other people or children. Her leash manners were good.

This dog freaked at being taken back to the humane society. Another poster said that this was a good reason to put it down. Oh really??? Go to any vet's office & watch the freaked out dogs. I close my case.

During the week she had the dog, the dog did not soil her house, chew anything or bark excessively. She did dig, but it's over 100 degrees right now. I had offered obedience lessons, but during that time she had her "conversation" with her vet who told her that this dog was a vicious pit bull, would turn on her and needed to be returned immediately. My "friend" knows nothing about breeds. I told her to google pit bull & look at the picture. She didn't, because she didn't want to "get confused."

OK, enough of this. I'm going to ride my bike. I can tell it's going to be hills at full-tilt-boogie today. I have some emotions to work out.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Some Humane Societies are very strict about requirements for adopting animals.
I had to give THREE references and answer tons of questions, plus they said they might 'check up on me' later. (!) When I adopted my new Suki kitty last month, they said two other people had applied to adopt her before me...but were REJECTED. I got lucky.
The society tells everyone who adopts that if things don't work out well for any reason they should bring the animal back- that they'd much rather have the animal returned to them than have it live with an inappropriate match for an owner. There will always be people out there who don't take their adopting as seriously as they claim to, and who misrepresent themselves or their situation. It's impossible to know what goes on in these people's minds, but the reasons aren't as important as the animal's longterm wlefare. Best to make sure people know they can bring the animal back no problem- best for the animal.

[sfa]

Some Humane Societies are very strict about requirements for adopting animals.
I had to give THREE references and answer tons of questions

We had to do all of that and have a home visit where a volunteer came to our house and checked us out, made sure the place was safe, interviewed us about training and obedience, etc. At the time I thought it was a crazy amount of work to adopt a dog, but I can see why they need to be so careful. Not only does it reassure them that our home is safe but it let the potential adopter know that this is for serious and not something to take on lightly.

I know it takes a lot of volunteer power to carry out that level of inspection, but I think more animal rescue groups are headed in that direction.

Sarah

[GLC1968]

Yes, we went through a lot of inpsection and paperwork with all of our pet adoptions. For my first one, I had to get a signed letter from my landlord that pets were allowed because I was renting (and didn't own the place).

For our last adoption (our dog Charlie), we had to consent to a visit from the shelter because he was the third animal we were adopting in less than a year. They thought something was going on! Little did they know that we were just building up our little herd.

All the shelters are different though. The first one made me sign an agreement to bring the dog back if my situation ever changed and I couldn't keep her anymore (not gonna happen!). The place in NC told us that if we ever brought an animal back, they'd take it, but that we'd have to wait a minimum of a year before we'd be allowed to adopt again.

[andtckrtoo]

This dog was not high energy, oddly enough. My friend just changed her mind. She's stupid, inconsiderate and has no heart. Dogs are for life. Another poster said something I loved - dogs are not shoes. You don't bring them home, find out they don't match your furniture & take them back. It's a living being, fer-cryin-out-loud. This dog was picked up as a stray, so there was zero information. I went with her to the humane society initially to evaluate this dog. (I have 25 years of dog training experience, so I know a little bit about behavior.) This dog was a sweetheart. I watched her sit & wag her little tail when other dogs walked by. She was curious but not obnoxious at all. She did not show fear to other people or children. Her leash manners were good.

This dog freaked at being taken back to the humane society. Another poster said that this was a good reason to put it down. Oh really??? Go to any vet's office & watch the freaked out dogs. I close my case.

During the week she had the dog, the dog did not soil her house, chew anything or bark excessively. She did dig, but it's over 100 degrees right now. I had offered obedience lessons, but during that time she had her "conversation" with her vet who told her that this dog was a vicious pit bull, would turn on her and needed to be returned immediately. My "friend" knows nothing about breeds. I told her to google pit bull & look at the picture. She didn't, because she didn't want to "get confused."

OK, enough of this. I'm going to ride my bike. I can tell it's going to be hills at full-tilt-boogie today. I have some emotions to work out.

I did not say that this was a good reason to put the dog down. I said the Humane Society MIGHT consider this a good reason to put the dog down. Humane Societies in general are so overburdened that returning a dog and having that dog freak out, may be enough to have that organization decide that the dog is not adoptable and have him put down in the effort to save a dog who might be adoptable.

[Biciclista]

I did not say that this was a good reason to put the dog down. I said the Humane Society MIGHT consider this a good reason to put the dog down. Humane Societies in general are so overburdened that returning a dog and having that dog freak out, may be enough to have that organization decide that the dog is not adoptable and have him put down in the effort to save a dog who might be adoptable.

they are closing our county animal shelter! They have really dedicated staff there and have over 200 cats there right now..

[Dogmama]

I did not say that this was a good reason to put the dog down. I said the Humane Society MIGHT consider this a good reason to put the dog down. Humane Societies in general are so overburdened that returning a dog and having that dog freak out, may be enough to have that organization decide that the dog is not adoptable and have him put down in the effort to save a dog who might be adoptable.

I would hope that the Humane Society could recognize a dog freaking out in a strange situation vs a biologically problematic dog. Especially because this dog was going back to a situation that was unpleasant. I'm sure the dog recognized the scents, etc. It had only been gone a week.

[Trek420]

I'd believe it that shelter dogs recognize or remember the sights, smells and/or sounds of a shelter. I went to my local shelter to drop off extra/worn sheets, towels, old blankets as I always do whenever I have 'em. My mutt, who loves going anywhere in the car practically cowered in the back seat as if she thought she was going back. It's not even the same one she was adopted from.

[smilingcat]

Best not to take your animal to the shelter even for a visit.

Carson shelter in Los Angeles area has a bad reputation. If you walk onto their facility with your dog. They can confiscate your dog. Their assumption is that you took your dog there for drop off. Never mind about your dog helping you out with finding his new bud.

And if the animal is dropped off by the owner, the animal doesn't even get a 72 hour reprieve. They are put down that DAY. I hope I'm wrong but I've heard it from several people who deal quite a bit with them. And their policy keeps changing ever so frequently so no one really seems to know.

And yes cats and dogs have very good memory of good and bad. We've had rescue dogs returned to us and they knew my house was their home. Their new owners didn't want them after 6 month or so in one case and in another case the new owner, against our instruction not to over feed, allowed the poor golden to become about 120 pounds. She couldn't play any more or go for a walk so she was returned.

And two of our kittens we recovered, when they came back to my house, you could see in their body language, sigh of relief. Then they went and greeted all the other cats in the house.

[Trek420]

Best not to take your animal to the shelter even for a visit.

Mae wasn't in the shelter, she stayed outside in the car while I ran in. She loves going anywhere with me in the car. Sometimes she jumps in the front seat when I leave. She knows dogs can't drive, she's supposed to be in the back seat but normally just lounges on the back seat on her blanket.

This time when I came back out she was cowered on the floor of the back seat.

Then I reflected there are things we don't hear or smell but dogs can. Even though I thought she was yards away from the building she may have known.

Now this is one errand I don't take her with me on.