[Rescuemomma]

Ok, I need opinions here, am I being to harsh?

For the last 10 years I've been running a rescue focused mostly on Italian Greyhounds, especially those from puppy mills, back yard breeders, or with special needs (often the more adoptable dogs I send on to other groups so I can keep my focus on the dogs that need me most!).


Right now it's no secret I'm very stressed and emotions are running high. Everyone knows how passionate I am about the dogs I rescue - Of course I don't keep them all, I actually keep very very few of the dogs I rescue, or I couldn't have saved so many! 99% of them I rehab and place in foster homes until forever homes are found, or straight into good forever homes.

I got a call this evening from a lady saying she'd found a little boy IG with one of my rescue tags on him. He just went running into her house scared to death! She said he was skinny as a rail, his nails where overgrown, and he was filthy. I couldn't think of a dog I'd adopted out that matched his description - So I sent a volunteer to pick him up, clean him up, and send me a picture. Then I knew immediately who's dog it was, and I'm very upset.

I really went out on a limb for this family. We had a very long talk before I agreed to let them take him I was VERY clear that they needed to get an ID tag with their information on him ASAP, and they needed to keep working to get his nails cut back, as the quicks where quite long when he came into rescue. It was a very young, very healthy, very highly adoptable little dog I turned others down for because I thought they'd be the right home. They've had him about 2 months.

Now this isn't what really fired me up. In addition to that, not only did I spent over an hour very carefully going over my adoption contract with them, but I know both me and his foster mom really stressed that he was just a pup and needed more socialization to learn to be a well adjusted social IG. That he'd become spooky if that didn't happen. We also both really stressed he was never to be left outside even fenced in unattended, and if anything happened and he did get loose, they needed to immediately let me and his foster mom know so we could organize a search party! They where also to call Animal Control and check if he'd been picked up and report him lost so if he was found he'd be returned home instead of taken to the shelter (AC where they live does that as long as they're licensed as they where also suppose to do!).

From what I've been told and understand so far, it sounds like he's been out for awhile, and NONE of these guidelines where followed. I already checked with animal control, I already checked the classifieds, and I've already spoken with his former foster mom to see if she'd heard anything. Nothing.

I'm sorry but I'm really feeling like being a bitch here. I've got him safe and sound in a temp foster - And I'm thinking I'm just going to tell her to keep him there for a week or so and say nothing to the people that adopted him. If they don't call me or his foster mom within the next day or two, I'll consider that abandonment and terminate their adoption contract. As it is, I always reserve my right in the contract to repossess the animal for any reason - And I have plenty of reasons not to return this dog to them! And they better have a DARN good reason why he appears so neglected and why they haven't followed ANY of the guidelines or requests we had even though we where extremely clear with them what we expected if they expect us to let them have him back!

Reality is - I turned others down that I know if I contact will HAPPILY take him, and I know the volunteer I had to call late at night to go get him so we could sleep easy knowing he was safe tonight has been wanting to adopt another IG from me as a companion to the one she already has - and may very well want to adopt him herself. I turned down several other really good homes. I'm not going to even take the "we where out of town" excuse because not only did I make sure they understood that any pet sitter they hired needed to understand the same guidelines I set for them on his care, but the former foster mom doesn't live to far from them is a licensed pet sitter - And offered free services for a year with the adoption, so if they went out of town, they should have called her to come in and take care of him while they where gone! Any way I look at this, they didn't follow their end of the agreement!

I know I'm being a real bitch here, but this is a very young dog, he has no street sense, he could have easily been stolen, hit by a car, attacked by a coyote, there are alot of things, especially in the area they live in, that could have happened to him, and I'm really angry that they've so far made no attempt to let us know, and the dog has been safe and sound with my volunteer I had pick him up for several hours now!!! I'm really not feeling like they deserve to have him back! I know in their shoes I wouldn't be happy to have the rights to my dog taken away - But at the same point, if any of my dogs ever got out, I'd be frantically posting flyers, calling animal control, posting notices, and getting the word out! I've seen zero efforts on their part, and aside from keeping my ID tag on him, they followed NONE of the guidelines we set! At the moment I really am not feeling like they deserve to have him back!