VENT about shelters/rescues...
 

Everyonce in awhile I will contact a rescue, with interest in an animal. Usually this involves me not just filling out an "application", but really taking the time to tell them about us and our home and our animals, the pros and the cons, so they'll be able to make the best decision for the animal in question.

RARELY do I ever hear back. :confused: :( :mad:

I COMPLETELY understand if they don't think our home sounds like the best fit, but as DESPERATE as rescues and shelters are for support and interested adopters, I would think the LEAST they could do would be to answer with a generic, "Thank you for your interest, but Fluffy has other needs at this time..." ---or WHATEVER! :mad:

And I read the same thing here over and over...that people apply for pets, or donate towards shelters, or go out of their ways to offer support and interest....and never hear back...at ALL.

That is so weird to me. And yes, it annoys me. :mad:

I know!! we tried adopting this sweet little dashaund mix at the local shelter and they said..we have to see if your qulified this and that but they don't respond..meanwhile the poor dog was sitting in this cold little cell all alone. ok I understand you don't just give a dog to random people but atleast call us back.

I agree, they put your through so much, it becomes discouraging.

I understand that the concern is for the dog, but do they want to adopt them or don't they.

yeah..they just make you feel like theres competition to adopt. Like am I not good enough to take this dog and save it from being euthanized cause the shelter ran out of room.

Or worse yet! That you are so unfit that euthanizing is a better alternative.

I tried to adopt a english bull dog puppy from a rescue, and they told me that I did not qualify because a have child under 12 yrs old living at my home which I found ridiculus. I asked if they could reconsider since my stepdaughter has been around dogs of all sizes and breeds her whole life, but they said they have to follow the rules with no exceptions. This was the third time I had tried to adopt a pet from a rescue. I understand they want to the dogs to go to loving good home, but when excellant pet owners like myself are being turned away it makes you wonder.

Really makes you wonder if they are just in it for the money!!

I agree...some are too strict but I suppose they do have to have some kind of rules. However, my friend was turned down several times just because they don't have a fenced in yard. Well...they live full time in their motor home so of course they don't have a fenced in yard! I helped her find a Yorkie mix in a local shelter and she was able to adopt him with no trouble. Little Tater is now living a wonderfully spoiled life with my friends and he's spending his winter in the Florida Keys...we should all be so lucky!

OMG let me tell you about my story i wanted a cat forever and for Valentines my hubby said i could get one so we searched forever and found no litters anywhere i really wanted to adopt one so we went to petsmart for the adoption center Caws we had to go to 4 petsmarts and finally i found the cutest kitten ever he looked like a tiger grey black and white i said we would like to adopt him. They gave us the application to fill out so we did. after we were done they started with the interrogating asking if our parents had animals we both said yes both have pure bred dogs his mom has a chocolate lab my mom a miniature schnauzer then they asked us if they were neutered neither were so we said no OMG they went off on us!!!!:eek: First off it's not my responsibility to neuter our parents animals then i lied and said we didn't have any kids which at the time my son was 3 almost 4 because if we had any children under the age of ten that would disqualify us and they even called his mother to see if we would be good pet owners:eek: after an hour and a half they finally let us adopt him but they wanted us to adopt this old half dead cat with it saying our soon to be cat had lived with this cat it's whole little life i said no i only want one then they weren't sure if they wanted us to have him because we didn't want the other one to OMG give me a break!!!:eek: finally the sale was final they made us do our shopping there (kitten supplies) and told us we had one month to have him neutered or they would come and take him from us. I was so distraught about the whole thing i just wanted to smack the lady i can provide a good loving safe home to him and she was freaking out! Needless to say we got him neutered and he has had a wonderful pampered life. Some of these people just urk me i can see some of the process but my heck give me a break!!:thumbdown

It's unfortunate that you all have had such rotten experiences with shelters/rescues. Our county shelter here is tough that way too, but fortunately I've not been refused. I have adopted 3 dogs from them in the past, but this time I went with a rescue group that my friend volunteers for. She found Tinkerbelle for me on the Petfinder website (ugh - I know:eek: ). and I was the first person to contact the rescue group. The lady was happy to hear from me and because I already had a dog and had adopted previously from the county humane shelter, they didn't even do a home check. She just called my friend, got a good report, and I got Tinkerbelle. Yeah for me :teeth: So don't give up on them. I'll mention this to my friend and see what she has to say about why they don't contact those they turn down. Doesn't make sense to me that any of you were refused. And it would be nice if they could send out a little card or something saying thanks for your interest.

No fenced yard!!! That's funny, no exception to the rules!! Seriously, from what I understand these are special need dogs, many have been abused and aren't good with children, so they have the "no children rule", but this isn't true for all.

We were told, first you have to pass the test for that particular dog, then it's a first come, first serve rule. Animals pictured in newspapers and television adoptions generally get loads of calls with many people passing the requirement of a good home so then it's decided by who was the first to apply. Many times they are hoping you will offer to take an animal that wasn't featured in the "ad."
Nancy

I can understand you being angry and dissappointed but you have to look at it from the rescue's point of view. These people have seen too much and many of them are very skeptical. They are also volunteers with jobs and families and just don't have the time to be as polite as you might like. They are concentrating their efforts on what they feel is important. Sure, it would be nice if they at least acknowledged your request but maybe they just don't have the time.

If you really want to get first crack at a shelter or rescue, offer to help them by volunteering in some way. I can't foster but I help by doing home visits and I may be helping with phone interviews. Some of these breed rescues may be too strict with their standards for your liking but they have their reasons. Many of the rescues have issues and they don't want to take any chances on the dogs not working out and having to rehome them yet again.

I'm sure those of you with kids, have great kids but then again, did you ever hear someone tell you that their child is cruel to animals? Some parents turn a blind eye to their child's faults. I'm not trying to anger anyone. I'm just trying to explain things from the rescue's point of view.

Talking about this issue, I really have something to say. I for one have never bought a puppy until now. I had always adopt and took strays home. When I came here, I didn't want to buy one either thinking I can give a nice home to a dog that needs a home and is sitting in the shelter waiting for an owner so I looked at the petfinder for weeks and put in applications...nothing came back to me, not even a yes or no or in process and each time I checked, the dog's picture is still on the website so I call and call..most of the time no one answered and it went in to voicemail. Finally one day I got a call and the lady was pretty rude when it comes to me staying in a condo. She ask and ask if my condo allowed dogs and I am like yes because my condo do allow dogs. Needless to say, I was told to wait and never got a call back. Then, I tried the yorkie rescue. Again, it was all about me living in a condo and again, no return calls, no one told me its a yes or no and kept me hanging. The reason about me living in a condo is because they cannot guarantee that their dogs won't bark but I am at home 90% of the time. If not, I have a friend in the same building that can be with my dog and if she is not available, I will look for doggie daycare or in-home boarding and that will be the leftover 10% that I will be out. I gave them my honest description that I am at home, the dog won't deal with anxiety because I am at home, I will bring them out for walks, hubby and I have decided never to have kids, etc but I really find the whole experience disturbing. On one side, they are encouraging people to adopt and poor innocent dogs are being put down and time is running out for them but on the other side, I think these people are taking so much time to scrutinize people who sincerely want to provide a secure and good home to the dogs in 'fear' of them being abused again...I just find the whole thing weird. I would really like to adopt in the future when I am going to have another dog but I don't think its fair when people say you are rejected because you live in a condo...again, it is pretty degrading when people say that to you and my condo is a nice new building, not some crappy ones.

I tried for 7 months or so before I got Tootie and again for 3-4 months before I got Hopey.... I applied at least 8 times and NEVER got a response from 7 and the other told me I didnt "qualify" because I had other animals???? what person would love and care for them more but one who already has pets.....

This is interesting. I have also tried to adopt from Petfinder and have never gotten a response. All of the dogs I have had prior to this were rescues.

A couple of years ago my husband and I saw a Maltese mix puppy featured on tv and wanted to adopt him. You had to apply in person so we traveled in freezing cold weather on terrible icy streets to apply because we thought there would be very few people going out in this weather to apply. We thought we had an excellent chance of getting this puppy. They told us there were only like 4 applicants and our application looked really good. We were really hopeful. Their usual practice was to take applications for 24 hours but because of the weather they changed their usual practice and took applications for a week. They got tons of applications. We had an great fenced yard and are huge dog lovers. We have both always had rescue dogs and kept them their entire lifetimes. This wasn't a snap decision, we had been searching for the right puppy for 2 years. Needless to say, we didn't get the puppy. I cannot understand why they extended the deadline for applications when I know that they had at lease one excellent applicaiton (ours). We were so disappointed at that point that we decided to find a breeder and buy a puppy. I don't regret that decision now since we got our Yorkies. But I just don't understand their adoption practices.

Well, my original vent was just them not replying to applicants in any way, even a FORM response...

...but I'll jump in on the venting about strict requirements, too. :D

I do understand that SOME dogs NEED a fenced-in yard....and some are NOT suited to living with children....etc....but by not considering each dog or family on an individual basis, I think they really keep a lot of dogs from going to happy homes.

For instance, since I've been applying for animals, I have had a six/seven year old son. Well, this child, from BABYHOOD, has been so good and patient and loving and gentle with animals that I have had people who work intensely with animals tell me that he reminds them of THEM when they were young. Everyone always tells me they think he'll be a vet when he grows up, etc.

And no, I don't have a fenced-in yard, but my yorkies don't go outside off-leash anyway, because of hawks etc. in our area!

Our dogs are members of our family. They are incredibly loved and spoiled. I know that shelters can't know or tell that from a mere "application", and that's why I take the time to write a long email to describe what life is like at our house for our pets.

I know they're busy. But not even replying to people to say THANKS isn't exactly fostering positive relations with the people who are TRYING to help these animals. It's pretty sad when good people get so frustrated trying to rescue that they just throw up their hands and BUY a dog.

i think the applications are way to long anyone can lie about past animals
and they can have there references lie
i always see dogs i would like to adopt but there applications always turn me away

we adopted a shepard mix 2 years ago
they called our neighbor for a reference and asked her a tons of questions they they asked her how much money we make (how rude is that !)
she told them she had no idea that its our business
after a week the dog ended up not working out we called the shelter asking them where to bring the dog and such we told them Brownie didnt get along with it
and they said you have other animals this dog is listed as not getting along with other dogs !!
i was in shock
this dog was like 60 pounds at 8 months it could have eaten Brownie thank god they were wrong Brownie took several bites out of him and he just turned upside down wanting to play !
i think they make rescuing to complicated thats why i end up buying my dogs
i would get a rehomed dog tho

I hear ya'. I have worked in rescue before and sometimes I was astounded by the people that we would turn down. Then people wonder why so many people buy instead of adopt a dog. It can be so overwhelming and humiliating if the group says no. One bad experience can turn people off for a lifetime! I understand the need to make sure that he dogs are going to good homes, but we also have to realized that people don't have to be as dog crazy as we are to be a good home. Does that make sense?

I think it's ridiculous that some homes aren't considered because there are children in them. I understand if it's a very small dog and the children are very young, they might hurt the dog by mistake or if the dog is not good with children but if there's no problem then I think those homes should be considered. Children can be very therapuetic for dogs and vise versa and they can form great bonds. I think it's great when a child grows up with their puppy/ cat or just any animal in general. When I was little I had a talking bird that was my best friend. He mimicked words and did lots of tricks and he loved me. It was one of the best experiences of growing up.

We adopted a guinea pig from a shelter that was over three hours away. There is a TERRIBLE over-population problem with guinea pigs, and they are very hard to rehome. We paid $40 for it, and were willing to drive into another state for this animal at a time when gas prices were off the charts...even though we could have just driven down to the local pet store and bought one for $12.

And the grilling was insane. In fact, she called my vet and he completely went off on her b/c of the personal nature of the questions she was asking, which he felt violated confidentiality laws...even though obviously we had nothing to "hide".

Completely agree.

A couple of other things I had on my application for the Maltese puppy mix (that was turned down) were that I am retired and home all day, no kids and we willingly paid enormous vet expenses to keep our past dogs comfortable in the elderly and sick years of their lives, and we gave vet references (which were excellent). I even listed the dogs that I had adopted from their rescue in my application and they were actually vetted at THEIR vet. So all they had to do to check vet references was to look in their own files. One of my rescued dogs that I vetted there lived to be 20 years old and very healthy in my care (she was poodle/pug mix). Our income was no issue here either. I also had on there that we crate train our dogs and our home is already puppy proofed. After we were turned down I came away from this experience thinking that someone was already getting the dog and putting this little guy of TV was just for show.

We didn't have to go thru any of the grilling that others mentioned, but I guess that was because we were never going to be considered in the first place. Out of the 4 applications that they got for that dog, I felt that ours would be way up there at the top of the consideration. I felt really bad by this whole experience. All I could wonder is who the heck are they looking for to adopt this puppy????

I've just applied to several rescues in the hopes of finding another yorkie (3 yorkie rescues). We'll provide a very loving home and our animals come first. But, who knows if we'll be accepted??? It's wait and see...and hope for the best.

I don't think people who try and try and try to adopt deserved to be drilled. I know they have seen a lot of abuse cases but it is not us that did it. We are the ones who wants to give the innocent dogs a new lease of life. By the rate things are going, it is the innocent doggies that are suffering that are the real victims, not us, not the shelter people.

I don't think people who try and try and try to adopt deserved to be drilled. I know they have seen a lot of abuse cases but it is not us that did it. We are the ones who wants to give the innocent dogs a new lease of life. By the rate things are going, it is the innocent doggies that are suffering that are the real victims, not us, not the shelter people.

I tried for 6 months to adopt a yorkie from a rescue and I was turned down. I am an animal control officer and that was not good enough because I did not have a fenced in yard. So finally we got one as a stray at the shelter that no one claimed. But that was probably because of the condition he was in. He was full of worms and had a broken pelvis and dislocated hip. But he is doing good now and spoiled at my house. Most shelters have a list of people wanting certain types of dogs and they call them when a dog comes in. And I can tell you from experience that small dogs go out of the shelter as fast as they come in. Rescues charge so much to adopt one and you have to go through so much that it is easier to buy from a breeder then go through the hassle.

I will never attempt to adopt a dog/cat from a rescue group again. We have always had pets, treat them really well, with the best food, puppy training classes, spay and neuter, etc. and we are not even considered because we don't have a fenced yard. Even have references from well known trainers and vets in our area, but makes no difference. Well, my cat NEVER goes outside under any circumstances and our dogs are out only with us present and on leash. They would rather a dog be put down than let us adopt one because we have no fence. Yet, we have a neighbor, who 'technically' has a fenced yard. (It really isn't, but is a fenced area where they grow vegetables). They have had 3 dogs they adopted. All were kept outside and allowed to run loose. One disappeared and the other was hit by a car. Yet they were allowed to go adopt the 3rd dog. Go figure!
This really gets me stirred up. These people are more interested in following some rules that really don't determine how good a home the pet will go to than saving a life. Grrrrr....I could go on forever!
Ellie

I guess we all have felt rejected from these groups. I had two rescues in the past. One lived for 17yrs the other 16yrs. We rescued them from our local pound. When I deceided to get a Yorkie I applied to several yorkie rescue groups. Yorkie rescue was one. They never even got back to me! Neither did any of the others so I bought one! How can they continue to beg for homes and always ask for donations when they can't give you the time of day!
I wonder if they really know how many wonderful, loving homes they are losing because they never respond.
I see the same pictures on their site for over a year! Why are these dogs not placed yet?

Carol & Buddy:aimeeyork

Here is Tink's half-brother. If I had the money and space, I would take him too. He was surrendered to the rescue society by the people who bred him along with six other babies and two breeding females. At least they got the mothers away from the breeder. This rescue group was great. It's too bad others are not. So I'm singing the praises of Bullies n Friends in Baraboo, Wisconsin.:yay_jump: :bravo:

http://search.petfinder.com/petnote/...?petid=7575800