Do you think it's too hard to adopt a dog in Massachusetts?

1. 73

   tallglassofsassposted 13 years ago

   Do you think it's too hard to adopt a dog in Massachusetts?
   
   Sometimes I feel like the Animal Shelters here are keeping the pet stores in business.  As a dog trainer I've seen at least 10 awesome pet parents get turned away from the shelter empty handed and headed for the pet store in the mall.  I have even been turned away.  Me!  A dog trainer who also worked in a grooming salon, who's lived with dogs her entire life, and who had just recently lost a dog to an autoimmune disease to which I sunk a fortune into to try to fix.  Their reasoning... I was pregnant at the time and had a child under 4 with special needs.  It's always something.

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2. 60

   jimmycloudposted 13 years ago

   Do some rescues make it too difficult to adopt? I think that in an effort to find an ideal home for an animal, placement groups often overlook a good home. It's ironic, since you can go to the nearest mall's pet store and bring home.

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3. 80

   jenniferrpoveyposted 13 years ago

   I don't know about Massachusetts, but I do know that ridiculous requirements are not uncommon.
   
   For example, the local humane society here in Northern Virginia has a massive cat adoption questionnaire that includes 'does anyone in your immediate family allow a cat to go outdoors'. Yes, that's a disqualifying factor. Without taking into account, oh, the fact that the person trying to adopt might live in an apartment. Or that the family members, such as parents, might *live on a farm and the cat they let go outside might be a working animal*. Sigh.
   
   I've been told that some shelters disqualify people who state a preference for black cats because they assume you're a witch! No kidding.
   
   I was talking to somebody from another shelter, and they won't adopt cats to people who have horizontal blinds. Had I wanted to, I would not have been able to adopt from them because it's a violation of my lease to remove my landlord's horizontal blinds.
   
   So yeah. They ARE too picky and they DO sometimes keep the pet stores and puppy mills in business.
   
   I recommend that if you can't manage to adopt, you go to a reputable breeder directly. There are plenty of nice 'pet quality' animals out there and that way the person you're keeping in business is somebody making NICE dogs/cats/whatevers.

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