I understand why there are so many animal adoption rules...

[Blondy876]

but it's so frustrating. We are looking into adopting a puppy (we would like a lab. or retriever/poodle mix) but the agencies make it so tough. I grew up with puppies and dogs and I want my kids to have the same experience. But many of these agencies have rules that rule our family out. They won't adopt to a family with children under the age of 8 (I have a 6 and 16 month old), they won't let you adopt unless you have personally raised a puppy before, they won't let you adopt if you work full time. I really do understand the rules but its frustrating. My dh and I work full time but he would come home on his lunch break and since I am a teacher I am home quite a bit, especially during the summer. I have never raised a puppy alone but I have with my parents when I was younger. It makes me sad, we would be a great family for one of these pups and we are considered inappropriate.

Like I said I do understand the rules. No one wants to see one of these puppies that have already been through so much put through anything else, but I'm just frustrated.

 

[VSL]

I can kinda understand them worrying about the puppy being alone all day - even if your DH did pop back on his lunch break. I can see why you're upset though (I love dogs myself and mine died before Christmas - probably won't have another until my BF and I are living together/married).

 

[Miller1412]

I hear you. We went through the same thing trying to adopt a hound from a rescue and were turned down because my beagle was one month overdue on her shots. Even my kids are overdue by that long.

We ended up buying an AKC lab and she certainly does lead the sweet life. We love her, it's just too bad we couldn't have offered that to a dog that needs adoption.

 

[doxdogy]

We were looking for a rescue dachshund a few months ago for DH's former in-laws. I finally found one group to the south of us, that was great to work with and adopted the sweetest dachshund from them. He is now currently living the life of Riley. Her major concern was what would happen to the dog if they became incapacitated or passed away.

 

[Planogirl]

You could visit the city shelters if you don't have to have a purebred or adopt from an individual. I think that some of the rescue groups are overly picky and often way too expensive too. Good luck whatever you decide.

 

[nwdisgal]

How do people ever get pets? I understand wanting to put the pets in a good, safe home, but I think there is a point of reasonable vs. unreasonable.

We lived on acreage for a long time, and when I went to adopt a cat, the woman was trying to tell me that I was to keep my cat indoors - that is what they suggested. It wasn't mandated, it was just a strong suggestion. The reason she gave me was that letting a cat outside was considered cruel by the adoption agency. She gave me a multitude of reasons - at the top of the list was limited life span to cats that are put outdoors. I could use the counter argument that cats are natural hunters and it is cruel to keep them caged in - but I wasn't going to get into that fight with her. Then she asked if we'd had cats before, and how long they'd lived. I told her that yes, we'd had a cat, and that he died of old age - he was 18 years old (indoor/outdoor cat by the way). Then she started jumping on me because I didn't know specifically why my cat died except that he was very old. I was getting really annoyed with this gal, so I finally said "Does it matter? The cat was 18 years old and one day he just literally dropped over from old age. " (He was well loved until the day he died, and I can only hope I go that way.) I wish I'd had a camera for the expression on her face. I guess I was supposed to bring the cat in for an autopsy or something? I didn't tell the woman the cat was buried by his favorite hunting spot in the back yard. She probably would have hauled me in for not treating him to a formal burial at a pricey pet cemetary.

The cat I was adopting at the time was nine years old, and had been at the agency for a long time. I'm sure if the cat had been younger, the woman wouldn't have let me adopt her. We also had to sign a paper allowing the agency to do unannounced visits at our house to see how the cat was adjusting.

 

[Planogirl]

I won't ever allow unannounced visits at my home. I think that's just plain bizarre.

I think that the best thing is to just tell them what they want to hear. At least they don't do polygraphs yet.

 

[GoofyPrincess]

We tried to go through a rescue agency to adopt a greyhound and they were totally nuts. They told us that not only would they have to be permitted to drop in unannounced at our house throughout the life of the dog, but they would tell us which dog we would get. (Apparently they know our family better than I do and can pick the perfect dog for us). My husband started calling them the "Dog Nazis" (no offense meant to anyone - except them!).

We wound up going through a breeder and got a beautiful 4 year old greyhound who was unable to carry a litter to term. She now spends her days sleeping in the sun in our playroom - And is the sweetest dog ever. Looks like we found the perfect fit for our family without the experts! (And for free!!)

 

[inaminute]

We adopted our sweet Nikki from the Humane Society. We described who we were looking for and they helped us pick her out. She's not a purebred, but is the most sweet, loving, and smart dog I've ever seen! She absolutely loves everybody. She's a lousy watchdog, but she makes up for that in so many other ways!

When we adpoted her, we had to fill out an application and Nikki had to meet everyone in the family. They watched how we all interacted, we were interviewed, paid our fee, and were free to take her home. The only thing that upset me is that they didn't do any type of follow-up with us. I expected at least a phone call to see how she was settling in, but there was nothing. I was probably upset because she was doing so well, I just wanted to brag about her!

We're going to get another dog later in the spring--unless the perfect one shows up before then. And, we'll definitely go through the Humane Society again. We had a very positive experience and highly recommend them to anyone looking to adopt a pet.

 

[nwdisgal]

Here's the best part though - the original cat, the one I had for 18 years... was adopted as a kitten from the animal shelter. But he didn't start out there. He and his sister were being dumped off at the river bank and we eyewitnessed them being dumped. I quickly retrieved the kitties after the people who dumped them drove off. I was on lunch hour at the time and couldn't take the kitties with me, so we took them to the local animal shelter. I later decided to go back (after work) and adopt the cats. Here's the rub - not only did I have to pay to adopt them, but the Animal Shelter called my landlord (at the time I was living in an apartment) to verify that I could have cats. The landlord's like sure, she can have a cat if she pays the pet deposit $$$$$. I could only afford to pay one pet deposit (they charged for each cat) so the siblings were split up. So on my lunch hour I dropped two cats at the shelter and by that evening, I was out one cat and adopted the other one for a total of $600 ($100 for the adoption fee and $500 for the pet deposit I had to pay my landlord).

 

[nwdisgal]

We adopted our sweet Nikki from the Humane Society. We described who we were looking for and they helped us pick her out. She's not a purebred, but is the most sweet, loving, and smart dog I've ever seen! She absolutely loves everybody. She's a lousy watchdog, but she makes up for that in so many other ways!

When we adpoted her, we had to fill out an application and Nikki had to meet everyone in the family. They watched how we all interacted, we were interviewed, paid our fee, and were free to take her home. The only thing that upset me is that they didn't do any type of follow-up with us. I expected at least a phone call to see how she was settling in, but there was nothing. I was probably upset because she was doing so well, I just wanted to brag about her!

We're going to get another dog later in the spring--unless the perfect one shows up before then. And, we'll definitely go through the Humane Society again. We had a very positive experience and highly recommend them to anyone looking to adopt a pet.

Sounds like you had a good experience and that is how it should be.

 

[Planogirl]

Here's the best part though - the original cat, the one I had for 18 years... was adopted as a kitten from the animal shelter. But he didn't start out there. He and his sister were being dumped off at the river bank and we eyewitnessed them being dumped. I quickly retrieved the kitties after the people who dumped them drove off. I was on lunch hour at the time and couldn't take the kitties with me, so we took them to the local animal shelter. I later decided to go back (after work) and adopt the cats. Here's the rub - not only did I have to pay to adopt them, but the Animal Shelter called my landlord (at the time I was living in an apartment) to verify that I could have cats. The landlord's like sure, she can have a cat if she pays the pet deposit $$$$$. I could only afford to pay one pet deposit (they charged for each cat) so the siblings were split up. So on my lunch hour I dropped two cats at the shelter and by that evening, I was out one cat and adopted the other one for a total of $600 ($100 for the adoption fee and $500 for the pet deposit I had to pay my landlord).

Isn't that some sad irony.

 

[Taylor]

I was amazed when we got both of our cats from the Humane Society. I was asked less questions when I bought my last car. They want to see if we are "fit parents" for animals they will euthanize anyhow?

I was asked fewer questions when I wrote the big check for our new puppy.

 

[nwdisgal]

Isn't that some sad irony.

Yes. And I hoped the sister was adopted after that because they euthanized within three days.

 

[icebrat001]

It took 3 adoption agencies before we found one that would allow us to adopt. We had the cutest dog but he was nothing but problems. Later we found out that 3 previous people had returned him after being adopted. Yikes!

 

[TiggerStac]

I have adopted/rescued all 3 of my dogs. My first one was the the MSPCA and I picked hiim up while my DH was moving our stuff to our new house we bought. We went and saw him the night before.

Our second dog came from a local humane society. We brought our 1st w/us when we went looking for another. That day, another woman had a hold on him and was trying to make up her mind (a 10 week old full bred black lab). Finally she had made the decision to take him. The rescue was telling us how they wished we were adopting him, but she had been in previously and applied for him. Now she was being indecisive...needless to say, we thought he was going w/her. I got this hunch and checked our voicemail on the drive home (about 15 minutes from the rescue) there was a message that he was ours. The woman had decided against it...so we turned around and got him.

Our 3rd was thru a pug rescue. The woman who boards our dogs is a member, so we had an "in". We had spoken about it a few years ago..and DH finally agreed last april. So, I applied and spoke w/our "boarder" and she gave our recomendation...about 2-3 weeks later, we took a road trip to NJ to adopt our pug.

That is enough dogs for me...but for us, rescue/adoption is the only way to go.

 

[janette]

Some do make it very hard, our family is also considered unacceptable for a few different reasons and I just won't even try to adopt from most rescue groups.

I will and have adopted from local city shelters, these are dogs that don't have unlimited time. One of our dogs was already scheduled to be euthanized but instead went home with us, it's been about 7yrs now. She's one of the best dogs I've ever had.

Check out www.petfinder.com ; although many of the dogs listed are from rescue groups they also have listings from the kill shelters. They also have classified ads where people can put dogs that for various reasons need new homes.

Good luck in your search, there are many animal's that need homes and it's great that you want to welcome one to yours. I know that the groups have their rules in an effort to protect the animals but many of them seem to have gone too far.

 

[mrsstats]

My last 4 dogs were adopted from all different shelters. They claim they want references etc. No once did they contact anyone on my reference list, not my vet, no one. Not that I had anything to hide. We also work full time and come home at lunch to let our dogs out. Maybe you can get a dog that is already trained. I did and it worked out well.

 

[hiwaygal]

Have you tried talking to someone else in the organization?

I just "disassociated" myself from a rescue group because of the politics...but in my experience, there are "militant" adoption coordinators who think there is no better home than their own. Sometimes talking to someone else in the organization can help...

The group I adopted from only asks that we keep current contact information with them, and let them know if the dog gets lost (escapes) or if the dog has to be put down for any reason.

Good luck!!!

 

[lisajl]

We had a client of ours come into the clinic and tell us her dog had bitten her father.
This woman had adopted the dog from our local Humane Soc. She then proceeds to tell us how she beat the dog. Not just beat the dog but I mean literally go after it. She was not there when the dog bit her father so she took it out on the dog later. Not good.
Then I told her she needed to take it back to the Humane Society. She started crying and said she could not do that. She wanted it euthanized.
You should have seen our faces then. No, she did not have it done, yet....

So, please understand, it is the adoption agencies choice. Do not take it out on them They are trying to find the best home for these pets that have already been through a lot.
We have another client that wants to adopt a puppy from another local shelter. The shelter called to check on vacc records for the other pets this person owns. She is seriously overdue on all the pets.
(The owner gave us permission to let the agency know all the records).
The agency was not happy that this person was not taking care of her pets.
So, I doubt our client adopted the puppy.

Sorry....I agree with the shelters on this one.