tried adopting a rescue dog.

[Giles90]

The shelter really treated you wrong. You could have just kick the dog out in the street if you were a bad person and who know what would happen. It is not your fault or the dog's fault. It is just you were misinformed by the shelter and it is wrong.

[TsPoet]

Yeah, you were treated wrong. I do get it on their side, they do get people who just don't try and are a PITA. So, they are reacting to them not you.
I think, though, that they treated you wrong in giving you the dog in the first place. I, too, once rescued a dog. i was told he was "wonderful with other dogs". He wasn't in my house more than an hour when he attacked my elderly little male... he hated male dogs. He got along famously with my female dog, they would have been best buds.
I had to take him back, my old guy, like your cats, were my responsibility and I couldn't keep the new dog. I loved the dog I tried to rescue, I picked him out carefully after talking with the foster mom - I wanted an agility dog and he would have been perfect. But, the foster mom in my case, like yours, either purposefully or accidentally miss-represented the new dog's personality to me.
You did right, and I hope if you want a new dog that you try again.

[Tri Girl]

I'm so sorry that you went through all this. If you had known he wasn't good with other animals, you wouldn't have taken him in because it wouldn't have been fair to your original fur babies.
What a rotten woman at the shelter for treating you that way. Shame on her!!

Thank you for taking the time to bring him back to them and to give him another chance at a forever home. I hope they will be honest in the future so he can find just the right place to spend his days.

Don't give up on adopting another baby. The right one will find you!

[beccaB]

Smilingcat, I have a lot of respect for you for realizing it wasn't going to work and doing what's best for the dog. Sooner or later the rescue organizations dishonesty will have legal implications for them. I have a dog who I have had some real struggles with, and I committed to working with a trainer. I chose to do that and it has been good for me , and a very good confidence builder and learning experience. I will say, without telling too long of a story here, that the problems we had with our dog caused some huge complications in my life. It has not been a picnic, I will say that! I think you did the right thing.

[trickycoolj]

Ugh, I'm so sorry you had this experience! It was the shelter's responsibility to either fess up that he needs to be an only dog family or that he wasn't actually tested with other kritters and children. Unfortunately I've seen this trend in the Seattle area with a few ultra condescending rescue organizations as I consider adopting my first furball myself. I realize they want to protect the animals but they can't chastise those that want the same good things for the animals!

[2wheelr]

I shudder to think what could have happened if your cat didn't have quick reflexes, and I also shudder to think what that dog could do to a small child. If I were you, I'd find out who she's running the rescue through and make sure that dog, (and probably many others) aren't being pawned off to unsuspecting families.
I love animals, I have 2 beloved dogs and a cat, a bird and a flock of chickens. I think of each as a beloved family member. That being said, a dog that is a danger needs to be kept away from those who cannot defend themselves. If a dog is placed in a home with small children, children that act like normal children, running and moving in twitchy unexpected ways-a dog that has a loose wire could kill that child just out of fun of the chase and catch.

Report that rescue, you could save the lives of many cats, small animals, children, and even the dogs, that if they wind up in the wrong home, hurt someone, can suffer a horrible fate.