They always look like they think they are going for a walk happy... Until they get to "The Room"

Our dog was first in a L.A. shelter and shortly before he was to be destroyed,
a private animal rescue center took him. He was there for a while too, although
I don't know how long. He did have a medical condition (cherry eye) when
we got him, and I had a rather large vet bill for getting him in shape, but he's been the most gentle and sweetest dog we've ever had.

At another shelter, I saw a cute wheaten terrier who was returned three times by families with kids because he played too rough with the kids. I talked my older neighbors into getting that one and they too had a loving caring dog until it
died of natural causes.

I would not discredit shelters that easily.

Conditions in different shelters, including wherewithal for treatment, varies widely, and the descriptions in this letter aren't especially representative of either of the large city shleters I've been associated with. Granted, both in Seattle and Madison, we've been well funded, have had a solid volunteer base, and have had the capability to provide decent veterinary care.

Cage Agression
Most of our dogs do not become cage aggressive -- and we don't destroy dogs for this reason alone, as it is not (one hopes) relevant to what their post-adoption lives will be like. I think there are a couple of reasons for this. One, our dogs get a lot of social contact -- each dog is taken out to a play yard in the morning and evening (unless weather conditions prevent this) and are walked multiple times throughout the day by volunteers. Two, our shelter is designed so that kennel doors don't face each other. Most other shelters house dogs so that kennel doors face each other, and, understandably, dogs can develop hostility toward the dog across the way and, by extension, toward other dogs. Cage aggression does not at all mean that animals will be aggressive toward other animals outside of the cage. If dogs do show some aggression toward other dogs when not confined, we ensure that they are adopted to homes where there are no other dogs present, and make sure that adoptive owners are aware of behavior that has been observed and the ramifications for the dogs future (for instance, trips to the dog park are probably a bad idea). Uncontrollable aggression toward other dogs is generally rewarded with euthanasia, but we do our best to work with our foster community and with breed rescues (where possible) to rehabilitate.

Aggression toward humans, on the other hand, is not tolerated, which has actually been something of a public relations snag at times (though not as problematic as adopting out dogs who are likely to bite people would be).


Kennel Cough
Yes, we do have a lot of kennel cough at our shelter (and upper respiratory infection in cats). Dogs showing signs of kennel cough are placed in an isolation wing and treated with antibiotics for two weeks -- as much to reduce the spread to other animals as to treat the kennel cough in itself, which usually resolves on its own in otherwise healthy animals. If these animals were already available for adoption when they started to show signs of respiratory infection, they will continue to be available, though precautions are taken re: transmission to other parts of the shelter and adoption into a household where dogs already are present. The big expense for treatment of kennel cough is not the antibiotics -- we treat with generics that only cost a couple of bucks a day even for a very large dog -- but the cost of housing the animal for a longer period of time. Demand for dogs is high enough that we never euthanize because of respiratory infection. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for cats.

As For Other Shelters...
Well, like I said, all shelters are different. Many are not fortunate enough to have our financial and personnel resources, and many serve communities where supply of shelter dogs far outstrips demand (as is our situation with cats), and difficult decisions have to be made. I know that shelters at comparably sized cities in the California central valley, for instance, have to destroy many times that number of dogs that we do every year. Every community is unique in terms of the particular problems it faces.

As For Accidental Puppies...
As far as I'm concerned, if the pup is going to end up in a shelter anyway, by all means take it in. The only caveat to this is that when we take in litters of puppies they are almost sure to be adopted (and quickly, if they're not pit bulls) and we usually are able to convince the owner to let us spay the mother for a nominal fee. If they never come in contact with us, there's a much higher likelihood of another litter down the line.

As to problems with the critter -- separation anxiety and the like -- there is absolutely no guarantee that animals who haven't been through the system aren't going to have these problems. Every puppy has the potential to be a disaster. On the flip side, you can go to a shelter and find an adult dog who's already been through housetraining and their terrible twos (which, in my experience, usually peaks around a year of age in dogs).

Oh, and re: communicable diseases... Except for kennel cough in dogs and upper respiratory disease in cats, we have a very low incidence of infectious disease. Core vaccinations are given at the time of admission (as well as vaccination for kennel cough in dogs, which helps to limit the severity of disease, if not the prevalence), and animals who are at all suspicious for the nasty diseases are tested immediately and isolated if positive. We check all puppies for titers against parvovirus and they are isolated until they show that the are immunologically competent against the disease. We do occasionally take in a single pup and very occasionally a litter that is positive for parvo, and we have protocols in place to prevent infection of other animals. In the five years I have been associated with the shelter I now work at, there has not been a single instance of parvovirus being acquired by a pup while in the shelter.

On the cat side of things, we very, very rarely see panleukopenia (nee "feline distemper"), and have never documented transmission of it in the shelter. We test all cats for FIV and feline leukemia, and either euthanize or transfer these animals to a special rescue that deals with infected cats.

Oh, and we are constantly dealing with ringworm in cats -- but this is something they come in with, which we know because we culture every cat for ringworm at the time of admission. And we treat every otherwise healthy culture-positive cat for ringworm, although it is a wicked pain in the ass.

Thank you! Very thorough, much appreciated.

I definitely haven't ruled out getting a dog from a shelter. (And we still have to rule in getting a dog, at all, before we take any further steps.) That's somewhat reassuring about getting an accidental puppy though I take your points about it being questionable whether I'd actually be rescuing it from anything (if the puppy is likely to be adopted fast if it gets to a shelter) and the spay/neuter element.

Again, impossible for me to say what conditions will be like down your way. Here in Madison, though, all puppies get adopted, and our loss rate for pups is at least as good as (and very likely better then) yer average backyard.

Of course, we're a little long on pit pups and a little short on 10-week-old labs. One- and two-year old labs, though, we get plenty of...

I've very concerned that the rescue services will be hurt by the deep financial depression we are in because people won't have the money to spare to fund them. My son still is not able to work following his surgery and has very little money. He buys foods for his two very big dogs before he buys food for himself. I'm trying to help his until he gets back on his feet and able to work. I admire his devotion to his dogs.

BBB

there are reports that pet abandonments are ramping up rapidly, though I have seen no conclusive documentation of this. Given that all charities are getting pinched by both the increasing poverty of the previous donors as well as the lack of function of the credit markets it should be expected that pet rescue organizations are have a tough go of it. The expected result would be to dispatch all abandoned pets rapidly, there is no other option.

Butrflynet tells me its a serious problem in some California areas where the mortgage crisis has thrown people out of their houses with no place to go for themselves or their animals. So sad.

BBB

Well there are plenty of reports out there where pets get abandoned in
foreclosed houses. Owners get so distraught over losing their home that they
sometimes just leave the pet in the house.
It truly is a pity how animals are treated in these times....
http://homebuying.about.com/od/4closureshortsales/qt/10208_ForclPets.htm

remember that in New Orleans this also happened, people left locking their doors with their pets inside. Most of them were found in time, and pet rescue organizations vowed that never again would pets be forgotten about in an evacuation..... but the behaviour of people was what it was and we can expect to continue to see the same behaviour.

IMO, part of the problem is the 72 hour rule. If people can salve their conscience with the idea that the animal will be adopted, then they're more likely to simply abandon their pet.

Thank you for this thread, Robert. I do volunteer work for the SPCA in my state. It's the most rewarding thing I've ever done.

I love the purrs and barks of approval I get from the animals there! I also love the wonderful people I've met there, both the staff members and other volunteers. I've found that people who love animals have good hearts!

I can't even begin to describe how great it feels when we get good feedback from the people who have adopted our animals. (We have counselors who talk to potential adoptees, so we try to insure that people aren't just making a "snap" decision to take an animal home.)

Just last night, I was at a fundraising event for the SPCA. One guy came up to our booth with his dog and said, "I just want you to know that we adopted our dog from you fourteen years ago. " The dog looked great! Even though he was fourteen years old, he looked so healthy! It was obvious he was a beloved pet.

That happened several times last night. People would come up and say, "We got both of our dogs from you and we just love them," or "we love our cat that we adopted from you, she's the boss of the house!"

We have some wonderful animals at the SPCA. Of course, the thoroughbreds deserve to have a good home too. But I wish more people would consider adopting an animal at a shelter. They so appreciate having a good home.

As we say at the SPCA, "Adopt a friend for life."

That was a very uplifting post, Lambchop, and I also hope more people
consider adopting from shelters.

Thank you, CJ. I hope so too!

Sozobe, if you're interested in adopting a dog, I would strongly suggest that you visit your local SPCA. Of course, all shelters are different. Even each SPCA is different from one state to the next. Where I live though, our SPCA has a wonderful, experienced staff and we've got some great dogs (and puppies too!).

I've never seen any of our dogs turn on each other.

Plus, we spay and neuter all of the animals that we have available for adoption. They are up to date with their shots too. So you're getting all of that for a very reasonable fee (much less than you would pay a breeder). Also, if you adopt a dog from us you are automatically eligible for a free training class to help you train your dog. We even give you a free bag of dog food too!

The only thing is, we do require that you take the dog to a vet for a check-up within three days of adopting him. (But a basic check-up isn't expensive.)

Like I said, I can't vouch for all of the SPCA's in every state, and the one in your state may differ from mine. But it's definately worth checking out!

wow. talk about coincidence.

anyways. yeah.

it sucks that my dog got pregnant 2 weeks before her scheduled spaying.

but i got another amazing dog out of it. i guess it makes it better.


he can clear 5 foot fences and jump onto 7 foot ones.

win somke, lose some.

funny, when i go to shelters i looks specifically for mastiff/pitbull types. too bad i cant adopt them all.

huh. best dogs in the world hands down.

I've told this before, but it won't hurt to repeat it. I knew a man who lived in the country near a large university which nestled in the northern fringes of a national forest. College students are really bad about dumping dogs when they graduate, and the animal has become "inconvenient. The man i knew used to drive up and down the road, and talk to residents, especially farmers, in order to identify loner feral dogs, or packs of feral dogs. Then he found them and shot them. He'd take them to the roadside, and make pay phone call to the state agency which collected road kill. (In an area like that, with so much wildlife around, there was quite a bit of road kill.)

What he did was humane. The dogs he killed otherwise faced a life of nearly constant fear, slow starvation and debilitation from disease. Absent his private program, no one else was going to do anything about it.

i wish i could ******* adopt them all.

yes ima a ******* loser.


there was this dog at the nspca, she was so beautiful. i sat at her cage for about an hour, and she kept rubbing against my fingers, and it was heartbreaking.


life sucks. oh well.