Can I ask WHY

[tzu_delight 2]

Why why is it soooo hard to adopt a dog from a shelter around here?! Not only do they kill the dogs if they don't find homes after soooo long but they won't let you adopt them without a vet reference. And that is even if you have never owned a dog! My friend was going to adopt this three year old from a shelter and put me down as a reference. She filled out the online app. then got an email saying without a vet reference she couldn't adopt?! Anyone have experience with adopting a dog? I have always got mine as babies so I don't know anything about it. :)

[Seastar 44]

Lots of people have been so stymied in trying to adopt from a shelter or rescue that they give up and get a puppy. Which is a shame. It seems that the requirements are more stringent than if you want to adopt a child.

[tzu_delight 2]

Well I am glad to see that it's not just her. It just blows my mind that they would rather put them to sleep than to let someone adopt them. Very heartbreaking! And the lil guy she wants to adopt is a shih tzu mix with something but he is a cutie.

[Maz&Oozy 0]

its the same in the UK, why they make it so hard is beyond me, I understand checks and making sure the pooch is suitable for the family but hey

[mom2Gizmo 24]

I don't think asking for a vet reference is unreasonable at all. But of course, if you have never owned a pet before, they should accept some other type of reference. I'm sorry, I just don't understand the problem here.

I used to work at a shelter. They asked for a vet reference and called the vet to make sure your pets were taken in and kept up to date. As long as your pets were up to date, we had to adopt to the family even if we weren't comfortable with the adoption. That doesn't sound too strict to me. And they were many people that were approved to adopt based on that that I had a bad feeling about. And usually that dog came back at some point. But the family passed the vet check call, so.....

The idea is not to get a record number of dogs adopted, the idea is to find good and permanent homes.

Three out of four of my animals were adopted from shelters. I've never had a problem. And those three were adopted before I worked at the shelter.

Edited June 25, 2010 by mom2Gizmo

[Maz&Oozy 0]

here they dont ask for a vet ref, well one I went to dont, but it was lots of other criteria's that make it hard for people to adopt a rescue pup/dog, I 100% agree with finding out info and making sure the dog is suitable for you, your family and your circumstances, but here in the UK so many dogs are destroyed every week because people are turned down, some for reasons like your fence isnt 6ft only 5ft... and a week later the dog was PTS, this is a case I know about, was such a shame.

I cant comment on a vet check, but what if its a persons first ever pet?? and theyve no vet, would that in theory mean they cant adopt a rescue??

Edited June 25, 2010 by Maz&Oozy

[tzukeeper 12]

I've tried many times to adopt through a rescue and turned down everytime because I had a son that was 10 years old. One of the dogs was still available over a year later. All of my dogs (8 well taken care of Tzu babies) were purchased from breeders with the exception of Emi. My neighbor just recently lost her dog to "old age", he was 17 years old. She would love to skip the puppy days and adopt an adult (Miniature Collie) but has been turned down by 4 different rescues. She has grown tired of their games and is now waiting for her new baby from a local breeder...he will be 8 weeks old July 10th. I don't guess I could provide a vet reference on any of my 8 dogs. They go only when necessary. I don't do "well check-ups" or yearly vaccines. I take my dogs to a rabies clinic that is sponsored by our local animal shelter. Over vaccinating is a concern for me and I have no intention of padding the pocket of a vet so that he can tell me my dog is healthy.

[mom2Gizmo 24]

I myself do not like to adopt from private breed specific rescues. I do in fact think they are often times unreasonable. However, I think animal shelters are the best place to adopt a pet!!

[tzukeeper 12]

I myself do not like to adopt from private breed specific rescues. I do in fact think they are often times unreasonable. However, I think animal shelters are the best place to adopt a pet!!

The rescues seem to have a foot in the door at my local animal shelters and are given first pick of pure bred dogs. None of the rescues I dealt with were breed specific. ;)

[mom2Gizmo 24]

when you are looking for a specific breed, and looking for a purebred, it does make things more difficult. It will take more patience and time to find your new family member in that case. When I am looking to adopt, I am usually just looking for a homeless dog that will fit into my family. I may be looking for a certain size range and maybe even gender, and one that is good with other animals but outside of that I'm just looking to adopt a homeless dog to share my life with. That makes my search a little easier I know. But again, it's not something that can be rushed. Patience is key. Here where I live though even if I were looking for a purebred shih tzu it would not be difficult at all. There are plenty of homeless tzu's looking for homes here. If I was stuck on a female it would make my search more difficult. Most tzu's looking for homes here tend to be male.

All rescues are different. If one has practices you don't agree with, there are plenty more to get in touch with. In this day and age and economy, there is never a shortage of homeless dogs looking for homes.

[tzu_delight 2]

I don't think it's bad at all they ask sooo many questions but it seems they are just making it difficult to adopt. I mean, she can give a vet that she is going to use as a reference but she hasn't had any animals before. I just feel sorry for the dogs. I told her to just look at breeders when she figures out what breed she really wants and go from there.

[mom2Gizmo 24]

I don't think it's bad at all they ask sooo many questions but it seems they are just making it difficult to adopt. I mean, she can give a vet that she is going to use as a reference but she hasn't had any animals before. I just feel sorry for the dogs. I told her to just look at breeders when she figures out what breed she really wants and go from there.

That's too bad. With a little patience she can find a rescue dog.

But yes, they should accept the name of a vet she is going to use along with a personal reference. Or they could even suggest a vet if she doesn't know of any and then accept a personal reference.

I feel sorry for the dogs too, but the shelters aren't the ones to blame.

Edited June 25, 2010 by mom2Gizmo

[Dakotah's momma 0]

When we were looking for a cat after our cat died we went to the shelter and the forms were so personal we said no. They do not need to know who visits me and how often and if they spend the night and how often. They wanted to know what we make as an income and on it went. I checked into this and it is not the state that wants that infomation for your county or your shelter. Needless to say we did not get one from there and went on to get ragdoll cats which we love dearly.

So that is all I know for sure is it is truly a shame since we do know what happens to these cats.

[mom2Gizmo 24]

I'm sure that is not the only shelter in your state that has cats for adoption???

At any rate, the animals in these shelters will definetely never have the chance at a home if we continue to scare people away from adopting from shelters. Please realize every shelter is different and has different policies. and for every person who has had a bad experience with a shelter, there are dozens who have had a good experience.

[Boo and Gidgys Mom 2]

WOW..... Things have sure changed over the years. It has been a long time since I have adopted from a shelter. I have adopted Dogs and a cat from a shelter, and never had to go through any of that. Like I said it has been several years though, because these pets lived long and happy lives, and I didn't get another until I got Gaboo ( from a breeder ) Back when I adopted there was a short wait after filling out an interest card. The card didn't have any questions that were personal at all. I think it was more to just hold the pet to make sure the owners had a chance to find their dog. I really don't see anything wrong with the idea though. I just think they need to give the dog more time before putting it down since the process will take time. Can't blame the shelter for doing their homework. I blame the fact that are so many irresponsible pet owners.

[mom2Gizmo 24]

WOW..... Things have sure changed over the years. It has been a long time since I have adopted from a shelter. I have adopted Dogs and a cat from a shelter, and never had to go through any of that. Like I said it has been several years though, because these pets lived long and happy lives, and I didn't get another until I got Gaboo ( from a breeder ) Back when I adopted there was a short wait after filling out an interest card. The card didn't have any questions that were personal at all. I think it was more to just hold the pet to make sure the owners had a chance to find their dog. I really don't see anything wrong with the idea though. I just think they need to give the dog more time before putting it down since the process will take time. Can't blame the shelter for doing their homework. I blame the fact that are so many irresponsible pet owners.

Amen!!!

[Carolina Girl 2]

Yep. I had a similar experience. I wanted to adopt from a rescue group. They turned me down because I do not have a fenced in yard. Out of the 3 rescue groups in my area, I do not qualify to adopt from any of them. The original dog that I wanted is still in "rescue" and has been there since 2004. ???? Don't get it, but that's their rules. I decided to go to the local shelter, meaning animal control. I was just going to look at first. Ozzy was there and was to be put down that day. He had been there for 72 hours. I took him home that day, no questions asked for less that $100.

I understand that some animals may need a fenced in yard. But some really don't. I do wish that rescue groups would look at things case by case. Things like this frustrate potential adopters, especially first time pet owners. And I do believe that this leads some people to get their animals elsewhere.

I really hate this for your friend........

[xr4man 7]

i was just going to say that there seems to be a difference between a rescue shelter and a state run facility. i think the private run shelters are a little too over cautious. i had to jump through so many hoops to adopt hunter. it started to anger me and made me uber determined to adopt him. they had no sense of humour and actually called every one of my references. then they came for a home visit.

then there was the state run facility. they pretty much only needed the adoption fee and that was that.

[tzu_delight 2]

Oooo Ok well, I will tell her to look into that! I do believe it is because of many irresponsible owners, but it is kinda hard for her on her part. I have never even been to a shelter before so maybe we can make a day of it and go look around.

[MisterMom 11]

I jumped through all their hoops, got approved THEN they sent me a contract that said t heycould drop by anytime for an inspection AND they maintained ownership of the dog.

I went and bought Brandi.

[tzuhouse 4]

It really is such a sad situation...so hard to understand!!

[msaeger 0]

The group we got our dog from asked a bunch of questions and said they would do checks and follow ups and made us fill out an application. So after we filled out everything they just gave us the dog and didn't check anything and we never heard from them again.

[Willow 0]

I used to volunteer at Chicago Animal Control and their standards are not too high...

You can be in and out with a dog in less than 2 hours for $65.

The only thing is that small dogs and puppies are adopted very quickly. Usually the same day they go up for adoption.

They do try to be cognizant of adopting to potential dog fighters, people who want baiting dogs or fighting dogs.

If someone sounds fishy to the volunteers showing the dogs it gets reported to the adoption coordinator. Its not the worst or best process.

Scooby was adopted through a private rescue after looking for a few months and being turned down due to lack of fenced in yard.

The private rescue did check our vet reference but not our personal references. We were pretty on top of things as far as having everything ready for a dog, having lined up classes and a vet, the works. I think they were impressed by all this and not as cautious. Additionally Scooby really was not doing well in his temporary situation and he needed a home fast. I don't think they took as much time to match him properly with us but assumed that with our dog experiance we could make it work. We have had little contact with them since, even when we were worried that he was not a match..they sorta wiped their hands clean of us...

[mimi07 19]

I had pretty much the same experience with the rescues. I was finally approved, but, the two dogs I was interested in were both placed already. They told my I needed to pick out a bigger dog, because I have fibromyalgia. They would not have even known about the fibromyalgia if I had not mentioned it. I wanted the little dog to keep me company on the days when I was feeling kind of down. These little babies are very theraputic.

I went out and bought a baby from a lady who just needed to be rid of them before the forth of July, because she was going out of town. Izzy was a little over 5 weeks old, which is way to young. If I had not bought her someone else would have and may not have taken care of such a small baby.

This kind of thing is what keeps the puppy mills in operation. There are a lot of people out there who tried a rescue first and were turned down, for one small reason or another. I know there are some folks out there who should not even ever own a pet, but don't punish every one for a few bad apples.

[eeyoredag 0]

I was told I didn't make enough money being on disability to own a dog and because I was in a wheelchair I couldn't take care of one. I did have some Ragdoll breeders that also said I couldn't adopt one of their babies because I was in a wheelchair too. I was kind of shocked by that. Just because my leg was amputated doesn't mean my brain was and I still have two working arms and one leg!! Tonka & Teddy don't seem to mind but Teddy was quite fascinated with my friends that had two legs when he was a kitten. It was cute.

I have had animals my whole life and have been responsible for their care for the past 30 years or so. My animals are my children and I take very good care of them. My Chihuahua passed away at 14 years old so I got Teddy a Ragdoll cat and then Tonka for his buddy because I couldn't do the rescue thing.

I totally understand the need for rules and what not but some take it too far and the animals end up being put to sleep because no one adopts them. There needs to be a happy medium in there somewhere.