What is WRONG with these Shelters???
 

I get an automatic e-mail sent to me for any yorkies that turn up for adoption. I just signed on with YTNR to rescue and foster here in the Bay Area of California.

An e-mail was sent to me this morning about a yorkie in Berkeley that was available for adoption through Adopt-a-pet. I e-mailed and left a phone message to the appropriate person within 1 hr. of receiving the e-mail. I expressed that I would like to foster this dog for ytnr for our excellent screening process and even had an interest in this yorkie for myself.

I got an e-mail basically blowing me off because they said they had plenty of interest in this dog already. If they did not adopt it out THEN she would call me....Well of course they have interest but their screening process at the shelter for a cute yorkie dog is NOT at all the same as ytnr rescue screening. Most people do not know the breed as we yorkie lovers do.....

I even offered to drive up today ( 1hr drive) to get her and still no answer. I thought shelters want to work with rescues so far I am not impressed with them..........:(
Rizzo & Sydney's mom forever

That is how most shelters work, rescues get the dogs if they are ill or have problems but the shelters will adopt out if they can. It is a way for $$$ to come into the shelter. They usually work on a city/state budget and there is never enough $$$ for them either.

One thing our rescue did was to work very closely with the vet who called on the shelter to give us heads up on dogs and we also have a great relationship with the person running the shelter so we got the first call for any Yorkie that couldn't be adopted over just the other small dog rescue. We came to the shelter all the time and we always took the yorkies/yorkie mixes whenever they called.

There is nothing wrong with the shelter, this is how the system works. While I might not like it, it is the way it is done.

Have you written all the vets in the area and also dropped your card off at the petstores/groomers/trainers (anything pet related) etc so if someone is ready to give up their yorkie they come to you before the shelter.

P.S. You have to understand shelter workers are overworked and unpaid and don't work for you. If you are going to rescue from a shelter you have to take the emotion out of what is happening and realize they deal with awful people and awful situations all day, everyday.

Was interested in little Fifi myself.....
 

Cindy,

You bring up some valid points I am just frustrated that I could not even be considered for a possible adoptive mom myself outside of the rescue issue.

As far as making connections with pet related communities, vets etc I have not done all that yet because I just got started but i will. Well I just hope she gets a great home no matter who takes her.

Rizzo & Sydney's mom forever:)

Same happen to me. Bummer :(

Tell everyone you know you're looking for a puppy. That's how I got my baby. A friend had a friend who had a friend who's yorkie had babies. I paid for all her vaccinations but that was it. I don't know who the daddy is but in shelters you don't either.

Good luck!!

I know it is tough but the one thing you have to repeat over and over to yourself is "I can't save them all". If you are going to be effective in rescue you will have to make some hard decisions...decisions that are not always popular....it is not about "we love these yorkies" better than anyone else but what can I do to make a difference in this world for these dogs. You have to determine what works for you and how you can make a difference. You have to decide if you are going to put the dog over human feelings first and live with your decisions. It is tough but so rewarding if you can do it. The first time you adopt one of your pups out that you saved, you will fall apart but if you keep to many of them then you are done saving anymore. You will shed many tears but it will also bring you great joy.

Start working on a flyer you can send to all the pet related organizations so they are aware you are in the area...sad to say but you could easily be over run with turn in's.

You can't worry about the one in rescue...it won't help you and it won't help your determination to rescue.

P.S. Going into rescue should not be a way to get a Yorkie...it should be a calling.

I work with a couple of different local shelters and have completely different experiences depending on which it is I'm working with. One shelter always calls me if anything like a yorkie shows up. The other doesn't call me, they are aware though ,I'm with rescue, if I get one of their dogs, I do it as an individual. Then I turn around and give the dog to yorkie rescue with this shelters knowledge.

I don't understand how the 2nd shelter will adopt out 5 dogs to me in one year as an individual but has restrictions on adopting out to rescues :confused: But, if that's how they want to do business, as long as they let me get the dogs out of there! It is a kill shelter, so you would think they would work with rescues more than they do.

It doesn't make sense why one will and not the other but have you talked to the director of the shelter? I have read many articles about some of these situations and many of the directors have given up in my opinion and it is sad. I will tell you that we walked the shelter every other day (we didn't wait for them to call us) and we also connected (wrote them letters and gave our names and phone numbers) with the other rescue's to call us if they saw a yorkie in the pound. We wrote our names on the cards (put on the front of the cage with the dog information) so they knew we would take the dog We also dropped off food snacks for the workers from time to time so they would think about us.

I wish I had all the answers but I don't...

I tried several times to adopt from city and county shelters in my area. From my experience, LA shelters are the worst of the worst and are extremely sleazy. I would call the shelter offices and they would let me know when I could go and apply for adoption, which was fine because I know they don't put holds on dogs, it's first come first serve so to speak. But when I received the ok from HQ, workers would give me the run around. Once they even put up the pups for silent auction which attracted many many people. When I inquired, there was no screening process, puppies went to the highest bidder. The shelter employee expressed how much she was against it, but since she was not management her hands were tied. Another time the lady at the front desk hid the puppy claiming no such dog was in the shelter. Again, I had already called HQ asking when he was going to be cleared for adoption and got background information on the little guy. I understand they are under pressure and overworked, but my experience goes above and beyond that.

I am only responding in regards to someone who belongs to a rescue organization. I to have been involved in auctions. It is the way it is.

Do they screen? Or is it common practice to just give the dog to whoever offers the most money?

I don't think it is $$$ just who picks the longest straw...Sadly many just deal with first come first serve. I am talking about city/state pounds. In my experience with Humane Society organizations and no kill they will do a little better job of the right dog to the right home BUT not as good as a reputable breed rescue.

I know in Tucson, they only had so many days to get a home for the dog and if the time came then they were destroyed...even if they were wonderful dogs. They knew that 50% of the dogs would come back from being poorly placed but at least 50% lived.

It is a hugh problem but many of these people have to get a cold heart because they can't live with themselves knowing what is going on. Some become mean and some don't care..but the ones who care have to bury their emotions after a while or not survive in this situation.

Many have their own pets at home and love them...they also can not rescue all of the animals. It breaks your heart if you walk the shelters all the time...

I understand that some workers have to freeze their hearts, otherwise their job would drive them crazy. But, that auction I know for a fact that it was a silent auction for bids for $$$ and not drawing of straws. They advertised it on the local news.

Ok I have to EAT Crow about the Shelter
 

Oh goodness I just saw this..I would love to know when this happened and what shelter did this...

Oh how adorable...now don't you feel ashamed about your bitching..:D:p:D Just don't forget they sometimes have a honeymoon period and you won't see her true personality for a couple of weeks. I can't wait to see her all cleaned up...wearing pink..:p