yes maybe I came across wrong, or said it wrong probably....I do believe there are good reasons to rehome a pet, agression to children or even other pets in the home, death, illness, many random reasons that life could throw someones way. I find fault with the people who dont have the foresight to look into obvious life circumstances ie. moving, baby etc before getting a dog, and people who dont even try to fix the dogs behavior especially when they usually caused it and just decide to get rid of it and get a new one. That being said I consider rehoming through rescue or friends etc is worlds away from dumping your dog at a shelter! Big difference! In those cases it is usually better for the dog but dumping it at a shelter and telling themselves its best for the dog is just something to make themselves feel better. In my experience the true cases where an animal has to be rehomed are very few and far inbetween, but yes they do exist you are right, my bad for implying they dont. Its just been so long since I've seen one I must have forgot, no sarcasm intended.

I suppose I meant, there are the people who will abandon their pets at a shelter b/c they are moving, dogs old, deaf, sick,have allergies, going away,etc etc etc.....and the people who probably like you and me would never consider giving up our dog unless for some serious issues as the kind you mentioned, and even then would try to personally ensure it went to a good home. Hope that clears it up a bit, I ramble and am not good at putting all the thoughts running through my head down on paper...so hopefully no offense to anyone who had legitamite reason to rehome a pet, thats not the kind of people I am talking about

No offense taken by me Completely agree with all of your last statements. I can't imagine leaving a dog at a shelter because I don't want to put my kid on meds for dog allergies or because aging has happened. I probably just felt the need to comment because I am in the midst of a situation where I need to take in a dog that will surely be euthed and that means possibly (probably) rehoming one of my own. It's a sensitive subject for me, so I didn't mean to jump down your throat. My apologies if I came off that way.

 Quote: ben mcdonald

Quite honestly, our wonderful government and their many rules for transporting animals between states is part of the "problem". It's perfectly understood that sick and/or injured animals shouldn't be transported around. But then too it prevents any type of national volunteer network from forming to transport animals where they are wanted. Animals would stay long enough in a shelter to be evaluated for transport, and await the word for where they are going.

A volunteer picks them up and transports them to the next volunteer etc. Until they arrive at their destination. Some people say it would be a logistical nightmare, but I know what computers are capable of these days.

Selecting volunteers from a database within a determined route from point to point and coordinating pickup/drop off times would be well within the capabilities of a well written website/database system. Could even use the shelters as drop off and pickup points. It's that whole transporting across state lines thing that gets in the way.

Sorry, I'm fantasizing again that every pet finds a good home.

Ben, what you are talking about DOES happen. ABMC Rescue, Pilots for Paws and other volunteer networks move dogs from shelters to foster homes in other states all the time. When Betty and I tried to save Faith from the shelter in Miami, I had transport to St. Louis, MO from Miami set up (I live in WI and was going to drive her the rest of the way to my home). The problem we encountered was the fact that nobody would pull the dog out of the shelter.

The shelter would only let the dog go to a County Resident or a Rescue. Rescues would not pull for a "citizen" out of state because of Liability laws. Since I didn't know anybody in Dade County, I didn't have a resident to pull for me.

THAT is why Faith died.. by the time I found someone to go to the shelter to pull her, it was too late.

For those of you not familiar with the battle to save Faith, here is the thread-- http://leerburg.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Board=134&Number=337317&Searchpage=3&Main=30327&Words=Kelly+&topic=0&Search=true#Post337317

Edited by Kelly (09/09/2011 09:04 PM)
Edit reason: added Faith's thread

oh my goodness amy i just read your other post....that is very obviously a damn good reason and Im so sorry that must be really hard....that poor dog of your moms though, what an amzing thing to take on a dog like that! I probably came across as radical god forbid b/c I never want to come across that way. I work in a shelter and deal with people every single day dumping their pets, dogs, cats, ferrets, rats, fish, rabbits, etc for the stupidest/yet saddest excuses ever imaginable, I would laugh if I didn't think I would cry. Bless all the wonderful folks who work in kill shelters, stronger than me thats for sure. Just yesterday a woman called to get rid of their darling pittie b/c they had a baby and the dog was whining.....so its best for the dog. One lady got rid of her old cat b/c it old and i 2 one at home younger...here I am rambling again lol but this post obviously lit my fire and by no means would I put you in or anywhere near the category of "those" people. Your dogs are all very blessed to have a caring owner like you, if only all dogs could be so lucky....

Oddly enough , they don't Kill dogs in my home town any more. They used to be gassed when I was a kid. But now the city , just catches all the dogs that are abandoned and does birth control operations on them and releases them back on the streets.

I wont say the dogs have a great life like living in a home , loving their humans, but atleast they get to live. I have a street dog in my street who is so loving. She will come up and nudge me to get petted, must have been some one's pet before.

I have seen many abandoned dogs on the streets, being miserable, hurt and confused, but most of the time in a month or so, they get on with it and become well adjusted street dogs.

I remember this last year. An owner surrendered 3 GSD's to a California shelter. If you watch the video on the side, you'll hear the owner talking to the shelter worker.Two of the dogs were put down after the owner left, one was 15.

The article discusses owner surrender.

http://www.examiner.com/german-shepherd-in-national/test

Lake County Indiana has a no kill shelter. Unfortunatly the Gary pound is where I've done most rescue transports. The conditions are horrible and the owner can see where they are dumping their dog. Take the flippin 20 minute drive to Lake County and dump them is my opinion. The main ACO is nice but I've seen workers use snare poles on gentle dog, there's one whio always uses a snare. Also have heard they spray the runs which are cut in half due to lack of room, with the dogs in there. Believe me you can smell the place from 50 yards. It's heartbreaking and Northwest Indiana Deathrow Dogs tries their hardest to get them all out...but the owner surrenders, as has been said, have limited time.

I don't want to come across as, unsympathetic to the dogs plight. Gosh I am aware that there are tons of terrible owners out there who abandon dogs at shelters for the most heartless reasons. When the dog is ancient and sick its pretty obvious why they are being surrendered. However, unfortunately I have been on the other side of the "shelter drop off".

When I was about 13 I brought home a stray, abandoned (very much purebred) Dalmatian. I really liked the dog and my parents tried to keep her for me, but unfortunately we really were out of our league with this dog. She needed way more exercise than any of us could give at that time, didn't get along with our cats, was killing chickens, and when she started beating up on our elderly collie, that was the last straw for my parents. They weren't really informed on rescue options, so just assumed the pound was the only place to go.

Since she was originally a stray it was a fairly natural conclusion anyway. Unfortunately we had been caring for her for more than a few days and were thus, by the shelter's standard, her "owners". My parents were well aware of the fate of any dog turned in for "aggression problems", but were not willing to give a death sentence to this otherwise very adoptable dog. I don't remember what they told the shelter; I do know it wasn't the entire truth. I guess what I'm trying to say is just that when people say "too many animals", "moving", "new baby", or even "pees on the carpet" it is folly to believe the owner explicitly. I'm not saying its right, but many owners are very well aware of what goes on in shelters and they are just trying to give the dog its best chance.

I'm not hard set in this conclusion, but I'm coming to believe that the pound should only exist for strays and nuisance animals. Allowing owner drop-offs just encourages the problem, allows relatively normal people to believe it is an acceptable solution to their problems, and puts major roadblocks in the way of legitimate rescues. At least abandonment and abuse are theoretically punishable by law and unfortunately the dogs are going to suffer anyway.

RIP "Chocolate Chip Cookie"

Some of the owner surrenders are people unwilling to pay a ticket and therefore surrender the dog. Many times there's a for the owner to surrender or the dog is put on hold 'til the owner figures out what they are going to do. Or maybe the owner will call and the dog goes on a hold. Then the person finds out they have to pay a dog at large fine and surrender the dog and thus begins the scramble for rescue.

"Allowing owner drop-offs just encourages the problem, allows relatively normal people to believe it is an acceptable solution to their problems."

Then what takes their place?

We know the dogs WILL be dumped, one way or another. One of my dogs had on his surrender papers this reason, "Don't want no more."

And after many years of working hard for no-kill shelters, I saw what a long time in a shelter can be .... "kennel-crazy" is just the extreme of a spectrum with many gradations of misery. So now I don't even have a firm stance on that issue.

I don't know the answer, that's for sure. But a big part of it has to go back to casual (BYB type) breeding. Virtually every one of those thrown-away dogs in the shelter or rescue came into being either deliberately planned by a human or due to carelessness on the part of a human.

The whole thing makes ME kennel-crazy. There is plenty of blame to go around, and also plenty of kudos to the people who spend their days (and so therefore, their lives) trying to help.