Adopting Animals with or without Health Problems

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Kota1000

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Adopting is a tough decision, granted it's cheaper then buying purebred, but adoption animals often come with hidden risks and surprises.

Do you think it's better to adopt or buy purebred and better to get the problematic ones or the healthy ones?

If you have adopted or are thinking of adopting a rescue animal post below. Does he/she have health problems? Why did you adopt him/her?

Disclaimer: I am not a veterinarian but have experience shadowing for numerous hours.

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Find the dog you like that you can handle, whether it's health conditions, behavior mindset, whatever. Find the dog that fits you. Get the dog from a reputable source. This is a 7-17 year commitment. So find the dog that you can handle.
 
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I feel like everyone has their own opinion on this, and often it is a very strong opinion one way or the other. I'm not one to argue with someone just because they made a choice different than what I might make. I agree with bats, it's a personal decision that has many, many factors to consider.
 
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Buying a purebred animal isn't a promise for good health either. Any animal can get sick or injured. A reputable shelter or rescue group won't lie about health or behavioral issues they know an animal to have, but yeah, sometimes they just don't know. Neither option is wrong.
 
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I lost my rescue dog to medical/neurologic issues at about 7 years. He'd had behavioral issues for most of the time that I had him, but eventually ended up with neuro issues that I couldn't manage any more.

On the other hand, my extremely well bred (great bloodlines, Westminster champion lines, all health testing done, etc) pup is already showing signs of allergies/atopy at <18 months. She's also slightly OCD....

My less well bred purebred (my freebie dog) is almost 10 and had her first specialist visit this week - I suppose after almost 9 years of agility we were overdue for a soft tissue injury. Knock wood, she's had minimal issues.


Basically, no guarantees either way. I have insurance on both my dogs now to cover specialists and emergency care that I can't otherwise provide. Highly recommend.
 
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Just don't "buy" a dog from Craigslist or from the shady guy in the Walmart parking lot or any parking lot. It gets worse if there is some vague "vaccine history" that is only in Spanish from Mexico. And yes this happens multiple times a day...puppy from Craigslist or "I got him from that guy in the parking lot"... those come with the fun surprises.

Either research a breed that will fit your lifestyle, learn their possible health problems and find a reputable breeder to purchase from. Or adopt a dog from the shelter, tell the shelter staff what you are looking for... lots of energy vs couch potato, apartment dog vs I've got a big yard, etc...and adopt a dog.
 
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Fostering is also a great way to see if a rescue dog is a good fit before making the commitment to adopt!

Also, in my experience, mixed breed dogs are usually much healthier than most purebred dogs.
 
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To give a cat perspective on this, I think it is very hit or miss with the health problems when adopting a rescue.

We have adopted 3 rescue cats. Our first was 3 years old when we adopted him and was found as a stray outside. He has several health issues including arthritis (he is 6 now), bladder issues, and a food allergy that he is on a novel protein diet for and is mostly under control. We also adopted a 15 year old rescue a few years ago because I felt so sorry for her being surrendered to a shelter. We knew she had kidney disease when we adopted her and we supported her through it for 6 months until she really declined to the point that supportive treatment wasn't working. Our most recent rescue we adopted a year ago and fostered before adopting. She came to the shelter as part of a humane investigation case (came in with 20 some yorkies from one home) and we fostered her for 5 months while the court case was pending, and ultimately adopted her. She has a large patch of missing fur and scared skin (about the size of a dollar bill folded into quarters) on her back and a slight limp, but overall is the healthiest of the rescues we have adopted.

Just like everyone else has said, I think it is really important to find the right animal for you. When we met our boy, we fell in love with him right away. We knew that we couldn't NOT adopt him no matter what his issues were. If we knew then what we know now about his medical needs, I am pretty sure we would have adopted him anyway.

With a dog, there is probably more to consider in terms of breed that is right for your lifestyle (apartment vs. home with yard, city vs. rural setting, etc.) also thinking about if certain breeds are predisposed to certain medical issues (arthritis, breathing issues, heart issues, etc.).

Whether you choose a rescue or a breeder, I would highly recommend finding a reputable one that provides age appropriate vaccines and testing and will disclose any information about health and behavior that they can gather.
 
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To give a shout out to the rescues with known health issues... I have adopted two adults with know health issues. One was a 5 year old with CKD. Since there isn't really treatment available for kidney disease and her BUN was already in the 60s, she was a free hospice dog. The vet that the rescue used was very up front with me, I would suggest asking for doctors notes from rescues, and I decided to take her anyway. Once I found a diet she would eat and worked with my vet to balance it as best as possible, I cooked for her weekly and she was just like a normal dog. She lived for 16 months so I considered that success when she was given 1 at the time of adoption. And it wasn't expensive for me at all, a little extra time and a blood test when I could swing it to monitor the kidneys.
My current rescue on the other hand was 10 when she came to me with arthritis in her back and hips. She is on daily NSAIDs and biannual blood work would that get a little pricey if I didn't work for my vet now.
I would definitely rescue another dog with known health problems, but just know what you're getting into. I asked my vet prior to adoption what treatments were for CKD and the approximate costs so I would have an idea, so I would recommend that. At least you know what you're getting into.
 
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I'm a strong advocate for adopting or rescuing.

I adopted my first dog when she was 6 months old a couple years ago. She's a border collie (maybe bulldog? boxer?) mix. She was found as a stray, sat at high-kill shelter for a month where she was scheduled to be euthanized until a local rescue group pulled her. After I had visited with her and submitted an adoption application, the rescue called me concerned that she may have a neurological issue. She walked sideways, stumbled when she walked, and her legs buckled when she sat. They had her examined by their vet, who couldn't find anything wrong with her. I ended up adopting her, and took her to the vet that I work for, where we did x-rays and found out she had very bad hip dysplasia. I got her into agility to help improve her balance and coordination, and would have never gotten involved in dog sports of it wasn't for her. She's still goofy and her limbs are like jello sometimes, but I have seem so much improvement in her balance and gait since I got her. I swear there's something else not quite right with her besides hip dyspalsia, but her physical exam and bloodwork has come out normal. She's my special girl, and I can't imagine my life without her.
 
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No matter what you eventually decide to do: please seriously consider purchasing a pet health insurance policy as noted by @cowgirla.

No one can truly predict if (or when) an animal will experience health problems.

Healthy pets can become ill, infirm, disabled, or injured (just like human beings) no matter "how healthy or physically fit" they started out in life. There are no guarantees.

FWIW ... my cat's health insurance policy has already paid for itself many times over; and provides me with tremendous peace of mind. My monthly premium is about $20.00 (which is the same price as one large pepperoni pizza in my town).

I wish you and your (future) puppy or dog much happiness! :)
 
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I've worked at a municipal shelter (basically animal control) for several years now, so some long thoughts on this:

First of all, rescue animals and purebred animals are both great and both have their places. People tend to fall very much into one camp or the other, but I think that perspective lacks a lot of nuance. There are perfectly good reasons to own either, and there are positives and drawbacks to both.

Purebred dogs do tend to have a lot more consistency from animal to animal in general than rescue animals, you generally have much more extensive histories on them, you have a better idea of common diseases to expect out of them, and you know what their parents are like and what sort of temperament and energy level these animals may have. At the same time inbreeding may be an issue, you have to watch for unscrupulous breeders (I will add - unscrupulous rescues are totally a thing too so this is not exclusive to purebreds in the slightest), the diseases some breeds are predisposed to may be awful or the breed may have very short average lifespans, or a breed you're set on may be a poor lifestyle match for you/too expensive for you/difficult to find in your area.

The hard thing with most shelter animals is that the histories we have on these animals is sparse. If we get in a 5 year old lab the only thing we can reliably tell you history-wise is whatever medical procedures we gave him while he was in our care, and maybe circumstances around how we got the dog if we know it (e.g. If the dog was confiscated, or why the owner said they were surrendering it to us, etc.). In three years of working there we had an owner surrender bring in medical records exactly once (and they were several year old records), so it's often difficult for us to give you guarantees about the health of animals beyond the fact that they appeared healthy and sound while they were in our care.

They may look healthy from what we can tell but a lot of shelters are very strapped for resources and can't run the cadillac of diagnostic tests on every animal that comes in. We have had perfectly healthy looking/acting animals come in to our shelter and die in their kennels overnight from an underlying disease we didn't know about. On the flip side we've had some very suspect looking animals come in that ended up being totally fine. I have seen people adopt animals who died within a month of going home (mind you, these were usually animals that were in very bad shape and were adopted by someone who knew they likely wouldn't live long), and I have seen animals that I thought would die within the next 24 hours go to homes and live long and healthy lives with their new owners. There's a huge range, though I will say that overall most of our shelter pets go to homes and live fairly long happy lives. Shelter animals can be loving, sweet, dedicated lifelong companions with very few health problems. They can also not be, and the same goes for purebred animals.

For what it's worth - I've had purebred animals and adopted animals, and I've loved them all. Some of the purebred dogs I've had got pretty much every breed-predisposed disease possible and still lived to 12-14 years old, others have had virtually no problems and also lived to the same age. I have a cat now who I adopted from my work a few years ago and he was not a healthy kitten when I got him, but he is amazingly healthy now and a wonderfully loving companion that I wouldn't trade for the world. Purebred animals are not guaranteed to be healthy, but they also aren't guaranteed to be sick, and the same goes for shelter pets. Shelter pets aren't guaranteed to be bad pets, but they also aren't guaranteed to be good ones, and the same goes for purebred animals. Unfortunately a lot of this depends so much on individual animals that it's hard to make sweeping statements about either group. I think both make good and healthy pets in the right circumstances.

Something I will also add is that shelters get purebred animals in a LOT more often than people expect. I've seen everything from GSDs to Duck Tolling Retrievers to lhasa apsos to French bulldogs, all of whom came to us through no faults of their own.

Also, many breed specific rescues are in place and do good work too, and may be a good option as well. The nice thing is that many of these rescues keep their animals in foster homes for longer periods of time and tend to have a better idea about health problems and temperament and the like since they've been caring for the animals for longer.
 
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@vetmedhead said it very eloquently and I agree with it all. I have also had dogs from both camps as well as worked with dogs from both camps. And yes, any dog of any age, any breed or any background can come down with any level of illness or injury. If you're a younger person without a lot of financial flexibility or time outside of courses/work/etc, I would recommend against adopting a pet with known health issues. Work ups, follow ups, treatments, specialists, flare ups...they're all things that can add up quickly. I think it's far preferable at this stage of your (assumed) life to find a dog that meshes with your lifestyle but is also known to be healthy and free of behavioral problems. Like VMH alluded to, histories on rescue animals is spotty at best and they may even have been surrendered for a health issue that the person does not disclose to the shelter.

Something else to consider - many breeders may have adult dogs that are looking for "companion" homes after their show careers are over. Definitely worth asking if you find a quality breeder with a breed you like.
 
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Like VMH alluded to, histories on rescue animals is spotty at best and they may even have been surrendered for a health issue that the person does not disclose to the shelter.
This is very true. A fair number of our "looked normal at intake and died in kennel overnight" animals were ones that were surrendered to us by owners who knew the animal needed to be euthanized soon but didn't disclose that to us when they surrendered. :( Very frustrating because they sign a form when they surrender acknowledging that they understand the animal may be euthanized while in our care and it is sad knowing we could have intervened to provide that animal with a painless death if only we had been informed about its true condition.
 
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I currently have an adopted lab and a breeder-purchased purebred German shepherd. Both of my dogs are great, it really is about how you teach and treat them as an owner, more so than the dog itself (of course breeds have their own general characteristics). I will say my lab did not have any formal training before adoption and was harder to train than my GSD that I got at 8 weeks and started from the get go. If you are going to go with a shelter dog, bravo; I applaud you, but be careful to pick a nice, sociable, and healthy dog. If you are going to go with a breeder, pick a reputable breeder and not someone running a puppy mill out of their backyard. Also, if going through a breeder meet/play with the parents to test temperament and any other qualities you are looking for. Most importantly, have fun and enjoy your dog, either route you choose to go, with a little work, you will have an amazing companion.
 
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@vetmedhead said it very eloquently and I agree with it all. I have also had dogs from both camps as well as worked with dogs from both camps. And yes, any dog of any age, any breed or any background can come down with any level of illness or injury. If you're a younger person without a lot of financial flexibility or time outside of courses/work/etc, I would recommend against adopting a pet with known health issues. Work ups, follow ups, treatments, specialists, flare ups...they're all things that can add up quickly. I think it's far preferable at this stage of your (assumed) life to find a dog that meshes with your lifestyle but is also known to be healthy and free of behavioral problems. Like VMH alluded to, histories on rescue animals is spotty at best and they may even have been surrendered for a health issue that the person does not disclose to the shelter.

Something else to consider - many breeders may have adult dogs that are looking for "companion" homes after their show careers are over. Definitely worth asking if you find a quality breeder with a breed you like.
This happened to my roommate, although the dog was a mess behaviorally. Health wise, seemed okay. He came to the school through junior surgery, came off as quiet and well behaved (for a pittie surrounded by 10 other yapping dogs, we were impressed). He lasted a week with us. His separation anxiety was so severe that he barked all day if he was alone. It got to the point where he broke out of his kennel and absolutely destroyed her room.

Moral of the story: It can be a bit of a gamble getting any animal from anywhere. Personalities in shelters or breeding facilities can be completely different from what you see at home. Health problems appear out of no where or right after the shelter's 'free sick pet treatment within one week' type policy expires. No matter what, most vet students don't have time/money to correct and manage behavioral or even health problems. Certain health issues are easier to manage, but coming from someone who has dealt with it, behavioral issues are a whole different ball game IMO. I recommend you learn how to decode the little blurbs shelters and breeders will write about the available animals as well. Rambunctious can mean the dog is a bull in a china shop who doesn't know when to stop jumping on you, timid can mean fearful or even a bite risk, etc. You'd be surprised at the animals some rescues will re-home, and the fact that not all rescues give you the full story up front. My best friend's first dog was surrendered for biting the original family unprovoked....the rescue the dog ended up in gave my friend absolutely no info on the biting history. Guess what the dog did when she took it home?
 
You'd be surprised at the animals some rescues will re-home, and the fact that not all rescues give you the full story up front. My best friend's first dog was surrendered for biting the original family unprovoked....the rescue the dog ended up in gave my friend absolutely no info on the biting history. Guess what the dog did when she took it home?
This is a huge concern. We did rehome bite case animals on occasion, but the adopters had to sign a big stack of paperwork saying they understood the animal was a bite risk and we often had officers follow up on those adoptions to make sure there weren't problems. We had also rehomed a few animals against the advice of pretty much everyone on our team at the insistence of the adopter + our adoptions person (didn't always agree with their decisions) and it usually did not end well. We do a lot of euths for behavior and the public absolutely hates it most of the time. We get some vitriolic emails from citizens and rescues about how we're evil monsters for euthanizing animals that preferentially attack children and things like that, but that's part and parcel of being an open admissions shelter + animal control agency.

I recognize that most rescue folks have their hearts in the right place but they often don't want to consider the safety and health concerns of rehoming dogs with severe behavior issues and tend to lack the resources to follow up on those animals/adopters and make sure the animal is being adequately managed so it presents a lower risk to the public. I've had more than a few rescue people suggest to me that animals are perfectly adoptable if they're "just" animal aggressive, but those are the animals I tend to be most wary of since they often attack other pets and bite people when they attempt to separate the animals. There are a lot of nuances in properly rehoming aggressive animals, and it can be done, but certainly not with every animal and certainly not with every adopter.

It's unfortunate and unethical in my opinion that the rescue didn't elect to share that information with your friend. Adopters need to know what they're getting into first and foremost - and, having a previous bite history on record means if the dog goes into quarantine again for a different bite they may be automatically euthanized for it depending on the policies in place, which can be a gut punch for an adopter who didn't know about the original incident. These types of rehoming policies put more people and animals at risk and I think are unfair to the biting dogs as well, who oftentimes end up essentially being put into situations where they bite and then having the same outcome they would have had originally plus the added stress of something like a dog fight or being harmed in order to be pulled off a person they're attacking.
 
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I've been in both sides of the situation. I adopted my girl knowing she was a hospice case. She was in heart failure, very underweight, and cardiology gave her 4-6 months. I took out insurance on her anyway. Good thing I did, because she's still with me almost three years later, with a host of other very expensive unrelated medical problems.

My boy was a perfectly healthy 2yr old on paper from the rescue. They hadn't had him very long and he'd spent his life under a porch before then with no medical care ever. He turned out to have a multi drug resistant bladder and kidney infection, a ton of bladder stones, urinary incontinence (they didn't see him leak so they thought he was just marking and put a belly band on), and multiple different ages of hip fractures that will never heal properly and that cause him to be chronically constipated and painful. Again, I was very lucky I got insurance on him the day I adopted him and the company has covered everything since these were unknown issues. He was also calm and nonreactive at the adoption event but once I got him home he's reactive to cats, any strange dogs, and children. He's never bitten anyone but I have to be extremely careful with him out in public.

I love my dogs, but they are extremely time intensive to care for and I sacrifice going out a lot because they have special needs and I can't just ask someone to check in on them. I'm going to stress about them a lot during school, and I know that's an added stress I don't really need but I committed to them and they're my responsibility.

Now, most people are not nearly this unlucky with their pets (un fun fact, my previous dog also died suddenly at 9wks from a heart defect, no murmur or indication anything was wrong so yeah, I'm cursed). If anyone does decide to adopt or get a puppy or any other creature, they should just keep in mind what they're willing and able to sacrifice if they have to.
 
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There have been some great posts made on this thread! I'm going to chime in.

I have a rescue dog from Craigslist that came from a lady who asked a rehoming fee ($50), and she got him neutered and vaccinated while in her care. She found him and a pregnant pit mix abandoned on a country road where dogs are commonly dumped. So I wouldn't say all Craigslist ads for dogs are terrible, but you REALLY need to use your best judgement because a lot of BYBs use it. We met Jasper (dog in profile picture) the day we adopted him. He was pretty skinny and bald but happy. He turned into costing us a good bit of money figuring out his needs (severe flea allergy, atopy, etc). Now, you would never know he has bad allergies since Apoquel is easily available and less expensive. And ironically, our purebred GSD has no known health issues (knock on wood) and is turning 5 years old this fall. So, like others have said, a dog can have health issues no matter the breed.

If you want to use a breeder, please do your research. Just because they are AKC or whatever does not instantly make them reputable. Visit them in person, ask questions, see the facilities, meet the parents, and also know the breed (i.e. is the breeder going for looks over health? Big issue in GSDs and other breeds). Knowing what I do know after having both an adopted mix and a purchased purebred, I think I would adopt before purchasing from a breeder. Here's why:
  1. I worked with retired military working dogs, and you can adopt them in my area FOR FREE. They usually are older and have their ticks (maybe have allergies or need some patience adjusting to civilian life), but they can be wonderful companions and deserve a normal life. I have my issues with the organizations who adopt them out sometimes (another rant for another day), but they are tested with dogs, children, etc. and you can also get in contact with their former handlers sometimes and get some more information (like where they were stationed, neat photos, stories, etc.). Obviously this option is not for everyone.
  2. Petfinder or rescue organizations have so many purebred dogs in need of homes. So if you want a specific breed, do some searches on FB and Google. You are almost guaranteed to find a fit for your lifestyle and the breed you want. Also, there are some sweet mixes who definitely deserve a look at too so please do have an open mind. :)
  3. Fostering is a great tool! Most rescues could really use them. Or volunteer your time to a rescue. Again, they usually need some help (dog walkers, kennel assistants, etc.) You could easily find your dream dog and also help your community in the process.

I just think you can do all you can sometimes to pick a perfect, healthy puppy, and he/she can still have health problems. So, my two cents is to have funds set aside for some issues such as allergies, or preferably, have pet insurance as others have suggested. *I say this with no experience with adopting a dog or cat with any up-front health issues.* I know I would never have the adequate funds for severe health cases out of pocket, but I would love to foster. I also do not tell everyone they have to adopt instead of purchase from a breeder. I know some people really push that, but I just like to inform others about their options so they can decide personally what is best for them.
 
We do a lot of euths for behavior and the public absolutely hates it most of the time. We get some vitriolic emails from citizens and rescues about how we're evil monsters for euthanizing animals that preferentially attack children and things like that, but that's part and parcel of being an open admissions shelter + animal control agency.

Was this in Colorado (if you don't want to answer public, you can PM me)? I wouldn't be surprised. For how crazy good the shelter system is as a whole in Colorado, the public is not necessarily a huge portion as to why it is so good.
 
This is a huge concern. We did rehome bite case animals on occasion, but the adopters had to sign a big stack of paperwork saying they understood the animal was a bite risk and we often had officers follow up on those adoptions to make sure there weren't problems. We had also rehomed a few animals against the advice of pretty much everyone on our team at the insistence of the adopter + our adoptions person (didn't always agree with their decisions) and it usually did not end well. We do a lot of euths for behavior and the public absolutely hates it most of the time. We get some vitriolic emails from citizens and rescues about how we're evil monsters for euthanizing animals that preferentially attack children and things like that, but that's part and parcel of being an open admissions shelter + animal control agency.

I recognize that most rescue folks have their hearts in the right place but they often don't want to consider the safety and health concerns of rehoming dogs with severe behavior issues and tend to lack the resources to follow up on those animals/adopters and make sure the animal is being adequately managed so it presents a lower risk to the public. I've had more than a few rescue people suggest to me that animals are perfectly adoptable if they're "just" animal aggressive, but those are the animals I tend to be most wary of since they often attack other pets and bite people when they attempt to separate the animals. There are a lot of nuances in properly rehoming aggressive animals, and it can be done, but certainly not with every animal and certainly not with every adopter.

It's unfortunate and unethical in my opinion that the rescue didn't elect to share that information with your friend. Adopters need to know what they're getting into first and foremost - and, having a previous bite history on record means if the dog goes into quarantine again for a different bite they may be automatically euthanized for it depending on the policies in place, which can be a gut punch for an adopter who didn't know about the original incident. These types of rehoming policies put more people and animals at risk and I think are unfair to the biting dogs as well, who oftentimes end up essentially being put into situations where they bite and then having the same outcome they would have had originally plus the added stress of something like a dog fight or being harmed in order to be pulled off a person they're attacking.
The worst part is that my friend felt completely awful for bringing him back to the rescue as if it was her fault. I've seen far too many rescues rehome animals that either need serious work or honestly should be euthanized, or pass up perfectly good families because they didn't like a minute aspect of the application.
 
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Was this in Colorado (if you don't want to answer public, you can PM me)? I wouldn't be surprised. For how crazy good the shelter system is as a whole in Colorado, the public is not necessarily a huge portion as to why it is so good.
This was actually in TX! I think, personally, that the public is a double edged sword for pretty much every shelter anywhere. They can be great volunteers, fosters, donors, advocates, and supporters. Unfortunately they also often have a lot of misconceptions about what is good welfare for shelter animals, justifiable reasons for animals to be euthanized, what standard of care looks like and why it must be met, public safety concerns, etc etc. A lot of them do well with some education when they come in to volunteer, but it can be harder to reach those couch quarterbacks who never come in to your facilities but definitely think they know more than you about how shelters should be run and operated.

In general, I like the public. I can't even count how many lives have been saved because of their willingness to fund care or foster or network for the right adopter or transport animals to other locations. At the same time I know that if the public were allowed to make decisions for a shelter with no oversight there would be a lot more suffering, lower quality of care, and probably greater danger. To many people the thought of euthanizing even one animal is onerous. Our shelter director has gotten death threats before from people who felt we had no business euthanizing animals that absolutely needed to be euthanized.

It's a mixed bag, but my thinking is that being open about what you're doing and why makes it easier for everyone to get along and hopefully help one another meet their goals. If the public likes us and helps us out then they help us meet a lot of our goals - reducing euthanasias for time/space, improving welfare of our animals, reducing length of stay, improving our adoption rates. And having that relationship gives us the opportunity to help them meet their own goals, which for many people have massive overlap with what I just listed as the shelter's goals. The problem is that there's a line drawn regarding how well those goals can be met (for example, no matter how much we want to we will likely never adopt out an animal with five bites on its record) and how much our resources allow us to meet those goals.
 
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The worst part is that my friend felt completely awful for bringing him back to the rescue as if it was her fault. I've seen far too many rescues rehome animals that either need serious work or honestly should be euthanized, or pass up perfectly good families because they didn't like a minute aspect of the application.
Amusingly there are a few cat rescues that I wouldn't qualify to adopt from because my cat is declawed, even though I'm not the person who had him declawed and wouldn't have that procedure done on other cats. :rolleyes:

A lot of times if rescues have ridiculous adoption requirements I'll ask them to give their adoption screening to every single one of their employees and volunteers and see if they pass the screening. In general I think that's a good indicator of how frequently you're screening out perfectly good adopters for dumb reasons.
 
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Amusingly there are a few cat rescues that I wouldn't qualify to adopt from because my cat is declawed, even though I'm not the person who had him declawed and wouldn't have that procedure done on other cats. :rolleyes:

A lot of times if rescues have ridiculous adoption requirements I'll ask them to give their adoption screening to every single one of their employees and volunteers and see if they pass the screening. In general I think that's a good indicator of how frequently you're screening out perfectly good adopters for dumb reasons.

An extension of this, most of our customers in my family's stores came to us after going to an average of three shelters in the direct area. A chunk of them (maybe 20%) come because they were denied being allowed to adopt by the shelter. One guy told me the number one denial reason was because he and his wife were pregnant and the shelter didn't want to risk them bringing the dog back after baby is born. Several friends were denied because they were students living on loans.

Like, on one hand, I get the fear; on the other, shelter dogs missed out on great families

I think there are some shelter adoption managers that need training in risk assessment for their area of service.
 
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An extension of this, most of our customers in my family's stores came to us after going to an average of three shelters in the direct area. A chunk of them (maybe 20%) come because they were denied being allowed to adopt by the shelter. One guy told me the number one denial reason was because he and his wife were pregnant and the shelter didn't want to risk them bringing the dog back after baby is born. Several friends were denied because they were students living on loans.

Like, on one hand, I get the fear; on the other, shelter dogs missed out on great families

I think there are some shelter adoption managers that need training in risk assessment for their area of service.
Like honestly, I know you want animals to go to good homes but there is a level of nosy concern that is too much. Plus I think this experience will probably drive people away from adopting for most of the rest of their lives! I think some places don't consider the ramifications of the adoption approval process. Not to mention, I've seen homeless persons who were better caretakers of their pets than many of the pet owners I know, and seeing things like that makes me question if adoption criteria are truly set up to weed out bad adopters or if they're actually just set up to weed out people who they personally don't think should be able to have pets.
 
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Like honestly, I know you want animals to go to good homes but there is a level of nosy concern that is too much. Plus I think this experience will probably drive people away from adopting for most of the rest of their lives! I think some places don't consider the ramifications of the adoption approval process. Not to mention, I've seen homeless persons who were better caretakers of their pets than many of the pet owners I know, and seeing things like that makes me question if adoption criteria are truly set up to weed out bad adopters or if they're actually just set up to weed out people who I personally don't think should be able to have pets.

It's almost an ironic sense of superiority that people judge show dog owners for having, then turn around and do the same thing.
 
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I echo what everyone has said so far basically its a gamble either way. Often people think mixed breeds are healthier, but thats not always the case, sometimes they get poor health conditions from both of the breeds they are mixed with! I have had rotten luck with purebreds. My west highland white terrier had a stroke at 5 and my cavalier king charles spaniel has what seems like all the heritable breed disorders (heart murmur, syringomyelia, etc.). My horse is a QH mix and also has had many health problems! But I seem to be cursed with every pet I get, hence why I became so interested in vet med :p.

It's almost an ironic sense of superiority that people judge show dog owners for having, then turn around and do the same thing.

No kidding! I see this a lot, seems like they think that animal is better off euthanized than getting a potentially good home that doesnt meet one random criterion (like not having a pool) o_O.
 
No kidding! I see this a lot, seems like they think that animal is better off euthanized than getting a potentially good home that doesnt meet one random criterion (like not having a pool) o_O.


After being raised in the dog industry, it's one of my biggest critiques of the industry as a whole. Everyone thinks they know what's best for the dogs (be it legit breeders, shelter organizations, rights organizations, retail representatives, whoever), and no one else is right. Then no one works together and the dogs suffer.
 
You'd be surprised at the animals some rescues will re-home, and the fact that not all rescues give you the full story up front.

Oh no I wouldn't! :laugh: I have seen way too many animals in my almost two years out that are recent adoptees that are untouchable. Not "I'm a shy dog adjusting to a new home and I know you're going to poke me with something" but full out nasty. And often times the new owners are afraid of the pet, not working with appropriate behavior consult and just want to help an animal out. This is 100% not okay with me; I should have contacted the rescue organizations to give them a piece of my mind but did not want any sort of shtstorm to start. The biggest thing to me with these crazy behavior cases is that the animals are NOT happy, well-adjusted citizens. They are not happy in their lives and if drug therapy and heavy behaviorist intervention isn't helping...I personally think that animal is better off on the other side of the rainbow bridge.
 
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After being raised in the dog industry, it's one of my biggest critiques of the industry as a whole. Everyone thinks they know what's best for the dogs (be it legit breeders, shelter organizations, rights organizations, retail representatives, whoever), and no one else is right. Then no one works together and the dogs suffer.
And this is different from any other animal industry (admittedly at its worst)?
 
And this is different from any other animal industry (admittedly at its worst)?

I never said it was any different. I was simply saying this is my biggest issue with the dog industry specifically. Every industry right down to hamsters probably has the same problem.
 
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Oh no I wouldn't! :laugh: I have seen way too many animals in my almost two years out that are recent adoptees that are untouchable. Not "I'm a shy dog adjusting to a new home and I know you're going to poke me with something" but full out nasty. And often times the new owners are afraid of the pet, not working with appropriate behavior consult and just want to help an animal out. This is 100% not okay with me; I should have contacted the rescue organizations to give them a piece of my mind but did not want any sort of shtstorm to start. The biggest thing to me with these crazy behavior cases is that the animals are NOT happy, well-adjusted citizens. They are not happy in their lives and if drug therapy and heavy behaviorist intervention isn't helping...I personally think that animal is better off on the other side of the rainbow bridge.
We call that a "Transfer to Jesus".
 
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Really relevant quote (paraphrased slightly) from a vet that did a presentation at my school recently after being asked her opinion on euthanizing for behavioral issues:

"Extreme nonstop stress/fear/anxiety is a form of suffering. Euthanasia is a way to relieve suffering, and I believe it is inhumane to allow an animal like this to suffer for the forseeable future if no avenues of behavioral therapy/medication have been successful."
 
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Oh no I wouldn't! :laugh: I have seen way too many animals in my almost two years out that are recent adoptees that are untouchable. Not "I'm a shy dog adjusting to a new home and I know you're going to poke me with something" but full out nasty. And often times the new owners are afraid of the pet, not working with appropriate behavior consult and just want to help an animal out. This is 100% not okay with me; I should have contacted the rescue organizations to give them a piece of my mind but did not want any sort of shtstorm to start. The biggest thing to me with these crazy behavior cases is that the animals are NOT happy, well-adjusted citizens. They are not happy in their lives and if drug therapy and heavy behaviorist intervention isn't helping...I personally think that animal is better off on the other side of the rainbow bridge.

I've seen a few recently where the "rescue" even told the owners "tell your vet the dog just needs prozac." Yeah no, not a magic fix all by itself.
 
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My dog is adopted and we are seriously a great match. She does have problems with getting crystals in her urine, but for the past year it has been fully prevented with a special diet. She was pretty nervous at first and still isn't the best at meeting new people, but she is SO much better than what she was. I wouldn't trade her for the world!
 
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Man there are SO many things I want to say after reading through all of this!

First off, I have been volunteering at dog rescues for about 12 years and I have to say the number of times I'm spending time with a dog and say "how in the heck did YOU end up in a shelter?" is unreal. I would honestly say about half of the dogs that come through are already perfect family dogs with no behavior issues and maybe only need some basic obedience work (some that have been in homes before don't even need that!). And another solid chunk only have mild behavior issues that can easily be worked out with a somewhat dog savvy owner or dedication to working with a trainer. Every dog I have owned has been from a shelter and, other than maybe for a few of my "dream breeds," I would never really consider going to a breeder. There are way too many perfect dogs out there sitting in a shelter that deserve a home and are getting passed up because the owner thinks they want to raise a puppy so they can train it their way and that every shelter dog is bound to have some kind of issue. Which couldn't be farther from the truth!

Second, I may have an unpopular opinion on this thread regarding the whole euthanizing animals with behavior issues topic. But in my experience a lot of these dogs make excellent pets if you put the time into it. I really feel like a lot of shelters don't give some of these dogs enough of a chance to come around or don't really work on rehabilitating them or transfer them somewhere that will. On one hand, I get that a lot of shelters would rather focus their time/energy/space/funds on those that are easier to adopt out and are less risky, however on the other, it's hard for me to say that the dog with behavior issues deserves a chance at a home any less than the other dogs just because he took a little more time to come around. Especially if the reason he is acting that way is because of the abuse/neglect he has suffered and doesn't know what love from a human even feels like. I would probably take some time to come around and start trusting people too if that's all I've ever known. The dog my family has now spent his first 2 years of life chained in a back yard with little training and no socialization. Our family friends adopted him and he was a sweet dog for the most part, but they eventually found out he had severe resource guarding/territory issues. He was both food aggressive and overly protective of the mom and ended up biting all three of the kids pretty bad because they got too close to the mom when he was near her. Now, had we not intercepted and he been dumped in a shelter, he would have been labelled aggressive and at some shelters, put down. It has now been almost exactly 9 years since we've had him and he is so incredibly gentle that my 3 year old cousin could put his hand in his food bowl while he's eating and he would back away. All it took was a small amount of work on our part and he has been the best and and most loyal of any dog we've ever had. The last thing I have to say about this topic is, as someone mentioned earlier, that some dogs may act fine in a shelter and then been adopted out only to have new issues arise. While this does happen, I feel like I more commonly see the reverse. I have seen so many dogs that have been great pets come into the shelter system and slowly develop problems or weird behaviors due to the stress of being confined to a cage surrounded by 40 other barking, stressed out dogs all day, everyday. But then as soon as you take them away from that environment and give them some time to decompress, they become that same, sweet dog again. While I get that there are some dogs that are so severely aggressive/fearful towards people and are too far gone to save, I feel like too many are judged and given up on way too quickly.

Finally, I too am so frustrated with the application process at some shelters. I think the best thing I've heard yet was what @vetmedhead said about seeing if all of your employees/volunteers would even be able to pass! I want to adopt a dog from the shelter I volunteer at now but I am afraid to even ask the shelter owner because I live outside of the range they are willing to drive for a home check and I don't think I'll be able to get my entire family to come meet the dog first (which none of them are going to be caretakers of the dog and I'm only living with them temporarily anyways). So she would have to trust that my house is safe and I am a good enough dog handler to manage introducing the dog to my family on my own. Which, after volunteering for as long as I have you would think she would, but she's so strict that I really don't know. I've watched her pass up on giving some of our dogs a great home for the stupidest (not sure if that's a word) reasons, for fear of the dog being returned. The other thing that irks me is the number of dogs I've been interested in at other shelters, but can't adopt because I don't have a fenced in yard. I'm sorry, but you're going to pass up on an adopter who has been working in rescue for 12 years, owned several dogs, is good at training them, would never give up on a dog with some issues, wants to be a FREAKIN' VET and dedicate her entire life to saving animals, because she doesn't have a FENCE. I'm sorry, what?
 
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Wow, sorry I posted a novel... :whistle:

I don't think those who commented about euthanasia were speaking about dogs that will come around with some dedicated time and effort. Knowing them through these boards, they're more likely saying the dogs who most likely won't move on, regardless of time spent. There's also legal issues on ordinances in some cities or counties in regards to dog bites. Sometimes the shelters don't get to make the decision at all.

And, in the end, it's all about money. Which is better: spending the money on one dog's rehab or saving the lives of ten other dogs with the same amount of money? It's a hard decision for some shelters.
 
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I don't think those who commented about euthanasia were speaking about dogs that will come around with some dedicated time and effort. Knowing them through these boards, they're more likely saying the dogs who most likely won't move on, regardless of time spent. There's also legal issues on ordinances in some cities or counties in regards to dog bites. Sometimes the shelters don't get to make the decision at all.

And, in the end, it's all about money. Which is better: spending the money on one dog's rehab or saving the lives of ten other dogs with the same amount of money? It's a hard decision for some shelters.
Not to mention a lot of this comes down to resources and confidence in the adopters. Many people swear up and down that they have the time and resources and dedication to work through behavior issues with a newly adopted pet, but oftentimes they underestimate the work some problems can require to resolve or think the shelter is over-exaggerating the problem and that it will resolve when the animal leaves the shelter environment. We had a situation similar to this that ended with the dog in question (>100 lbs) biting a child on the head and being euthanized. That dog, I think, could have benefited greatly from a one person home with a very dedicated owner and no contact with children or likely other animals, but obviously that was not the situation he was put into by the new owners and it ended poorly for everyone involved and I think that dog was done a huge disservice by everyone involved as well.

Granted, shelters are incredibly stressful. I get worried about dogs that start to adapt really well to shelters after being there for a while. There's a reason we commonly track length of stay for animals in shelters, and a huge part of it is that in general welfare of the animals tends to go down the longer they stay with us (more exposure to stress, noise, infectious diseases, etc. etc. etc.).
 
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And, in the end, it's all about money. Which is better: spending the money on one dog's rehab or saving the lives of ten other dogs with the same amount of money? It's a hard decision for some shelters.
There are some very interesting metrics on this in terms of how animals move through your shelters and how resources are diverted among animals. Essentially it falls into a concept called fast tracking vs slow tracking. Fast track animals tend to get adopted quickly, and so tend to earn your facility net money on average (since you're not spending extra money on food/medical care/kennel space/etc.). Slow tracks tend to take longer to get adopted out (whether because they have illnesses/conditions that have to be corrected before they're adoptable, they have behavior issues that need resolution, they need to be fostered before they're old enough to adopt, they're just kind of ugly/not super cute, etc.) and thusly tend to cost you money to keep on average. If you adopt out enough fast track animals quickly enough, you can use those extra funds saved to spend on your slow track animals and essentially support/fund their extra time spent in your facilities. Some people are very good at this and can fund the crap out of some animals that need a very long time to get to the point of adoption. Many home-grown rescues, though, tend to not be as great at it and will have a tendency to pull a preponderance of slow track animals (because they break their hearts) and then subsequently run into funding difficulty because they are trying to support so many long term animals for so long. This problem is compounded since they often use fostering networks and will pay for any and all food/toys/veterinary care those animals receive, which can get expensive for smaller rescues that don't have a centralized veterinarian and the ability to pick up bulk supplies the same way that most animal shelters do. Rescues are a great place for slow tracks to go, though, but they need to be mindful of the resources they have available to take care of the animals they have pulled rather than take many animals at once (in a sense, they need to be mindful of their animal "carrying capacity", if you will, which will naturally be a bit lower if they're pulling solely animals that would be classified as slow track).

What's extra nice about this practice is that it reduces your average length of stay for your shelter residents (since you're pumping those fast tracks out), gives you better liquidity for available kennel space (so hopefully fewer time/space euthanasias), and can allow you to target resources effectively so that you can focus on reduction of infectious disease spread in your fast track animals (who tend to be highly susceptible animals like puppies and kittens) and focus on welfare improvement and enrichment for your slow tracks (since you anticipate those animals will stay with you for a while).

Depending on the place, some will also assign the bulk of dogs in general to the fast track and the bulk of cats in general to the slow track, since cat adoptions are often lower than dog adoptions and they can be difficult to move out quickly.
 
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@vetmedhead I feel like we could talk about dogs all day. Lol
 
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@vetmedhead I feel like we could talk about dogs all day. Lol
I knew as soon as I wrote my first post in this thread that I was going to be leaving novels here until someone politely asked me to leave. :p I'm just glad you're happy to enable me (and I'm happy to enable you!).

I'm just really into shelter medicine and could probably talk about it for decades. :oops:
 
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I knew as soon as I wrote my first post in this thread that I was going to be leaving novels here until someone politely asked me to leave. :p I'm just glad you're happy to enable me (and I'm happy to enable you!).

I'm just really into shelter medicine and could probably talk about it for decades. :oops:

I don't have a long enough attention span to read any of the novels in here...lol.
 
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I don't think those who commented about euthanasia were speaking about dogs that will come around with some dedicated time and effort. Knowing them through these boards, they're more likely saying the dogs who most likely won't move on, regardless of time spent.
I didn't mean to necessarily say that the people on here were saying that. I just get really fired up about this topic (obviously, given novel I just wrote! lol). I just always got so mad for example, watching animal cops and seeing a super happy, friendly dog, and then all the sudden they behavior test it and they're like, "but unfortunately for poor Bobo, he did not pass the food aggression part of the test and had to be humanely euthanized."

Some of these issues are such easy fixes or are only present due to the stress of the shelter and it kills me to know that had my dog ended up in the wrong shelter he would have had the same fate...and how many others probably aren't so lucky.
 
I didn't mean to necessarily say that the people on here were saying that. I just get really fired up about this topic (obviously, given novel I just wrote! lol). I just always got so mad for example, watching animal cops and seeing a super happy, friendly dog, and then all the sudden they behavior test it and they're like, "but unfortunately for poor Bobo, he did not pass the food aggression part of the test and had to be humanely euthanized."

Some of these issues are such easy fixes or are only present due to the stress of the shelter and it kills me to know that had my dog ended up in the wrong shelter he would have had the same fate...and how many others probably aren't so lucky.

What's the easy fix for food aggression? (Or any other behavioral problem?)

And why should resources be used on the dog with food aggression when they could be used on multiple highly-adoptable dogs? I feel like you acknowledge limited resources and then ignore them. If you put them towards one animal, you're preventing them from being used for another. Unless you can increase your time, space, or money, it's mostly a zero-sum game. If you save one animal, it means you're not saving another. Sometimes if you save one animal, it means you're not saving several others.

I don't at all mean that it's hopeless or that all animals with behavior problems should be euthanized. I'm just very wary of criticism that comes without practical solutions.

And it sucks, I know. I've spent a lot of time in shelters, and I've come across many animals that I know would thrive in the right environment, but aren't given that opportunity. I've also seen incredible efforts to get very difficult animals healthy and adopted. But what I haven't seen is anyone deciding that a pet doesn't "deserve" a home or turning down an "easy fix" to save an animal, at least not without good reason.

I knew as soon as I wrote my first post in this thread that I was going to be leaving novels here until someone politely asked me to leave. :p I'm just glad you're happy to enable me (and I'm happy to enable you!).

I'm just really into shelter medicine and could probably talk about it for decades. :oops:

Count me in as an enabler! I know you worked in animal control before vet school- are you planning on working in shelter medicine or a related field when you graduate?


After being raised in the dog industry, it's one of my biggest critiques of the industry as a whole. Everyone thinks they know what's best for the dogs (be it legit breeders, shelter organizations, rights organizations, retail representatives, whoever), and no one else is right. Then no one works together and the dogs suffer.

I think they work together sometimes (but not enough) on things like legislation and charitable programs. How do you suggest they work together?
 
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I didn't mean to necessarily say that the people on here were saying that. I just get really fired up about this topic (obviously, given novel I just wrote! lol). I just always got so mad for example, watching animal cops and seeing a super happy, friendly dog, and then all the sudden they behavior test it and they're like, "but unfortunately for poor Bobo, he did not pass the food aggression part of the test and had to be humanely euthanized."

Some of these issues are such easy fixes or are only present due to the stress of the shelter and it kills me to know that had my dog ended up in the wrong shelter he would have had the same fate...and how many others probably aren't so lucky.

Implementing a behavioral program, sticking to that program for the rest of the dog's life and having the human error component mixed in means that very, very few behavioral issues are "easy fixes." And honestly, you don't know how your example dog reacted for the food aggression test. Did he growl? Did he snap? Did he lunge and attempt to remove the nearest person's face? All behavioral cases are different and to say that something is "an easy fix" is pretty flippant.
 
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