Animal shelters in USA send away for more strays

Yahoo from USA Today ^ | 1-31-03 | Tom Vanden Brook

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the heads up!

[Conservababe]

My small town contracts with the Humane Society for animal control. It is just about as difficult to get one of their pets as to adopt a child, methinks.

Here are some examples of the questions on their long form.

How many pets have you owned in your life?

What did they die of and at what age?

How many pets do you own now?

Can you verify that you own your own home? (if your rent or lease, they will call your landlord)

Will you agree to spay or neuter your pet? (you get a call from them later demanding proof from a vet)


Frankly, I find most of these questions intrusive. Not to mention the cost. A couple of years ago, they asked thirty dollars for cats and fifty for dogs.

[Alamo-Girl]

Indeed, I find the questions troubling. Instead, one might consider adopting a free cat or dog from the classifieds and using the money towards shots or neutering.

[Diana Rose]

If they need strays they can get them where I live. We have so many a county offical offered to shoot them rather than waste all that money required to put them down. I got 4 cats from a shelter. And the do gooders complain when I have them declawed. Animals had three days and only three days (down to the hour) to be adoped before they would be put down to make way for more.

[Terriergal]

The terrier mix had been shipped 1,700 miles from Puerto Rico because Salem doesn't have enough strays to satisfy demand.

Absolute insanity. nice deal for the little dog, but man... there are plenty of strays probably within a hundres miles of Salem.

[Terriergal]

Frankly, I find most of these questions intrusive.

try buying a purebred or adopting from a purebred Rescue organization. What you mention there is awfully shallow compared to what they put you through. (and both places have every right to IMO...)

[Terriergal]

Not to mention the cost. A couple of years ago, they asked thirty dollars for cats and fifty for dogs.

When you consider many of them have been there for weeks requiring a lot of workers to be paid, that's pretty darn cheap. If you aren't willing to shell out thirty to fifty bucks, one has to wonder just how much money and time an owner is willing to put into the dog once they get it home.

I'm not insinuating that you are a bad owner at all, just saying it's a reasonable cost. Our fees at the city pound were twice that. A good purebred dog (depending on breed - not bought from a pet store or otherwise supplied by a puppy mill or backyard breeder) will run anywhere from $500 to $2000. So I wouldn't say that those fees are too terrible.

[Terriergal]

If they were REALLY all that noble, they would close when they had no strays, not IMPORT MORE.

Or at the very least go to the neighboring counties and ask if they have overflow that needs shelter.

[Squantos]

Sounds like a "budget reduction" plan needs to be implemented in all local goobermint "shelters" if they are using such a plan as a source of revenue. Wouldn't suprise me if they also export the puppies as Korean Veal. Anything for a dime in these times of socialist experiments and ecoterrorism IMO.

< Sarcasm >Shipping stray pets from outside the US supports terrorism ya know....< / Sarcasm >....:o)

Stay Safe !

[NormsRevenge]

Life is strange.. ;-) .. If you can help, please do..

As Marines deploy from San Diego, many are leaving pets behind

[hotpotato]

"I used to voluteer at an animal shelter that had an agreement with other shelters in about 150 mile radius for acquiring dogs. Sometimes when we were low on dogs we could take in dogs from shelters that didn't have room"

Yes, this makes sense to me. A *lot* of sense. Also, shelters work with a lot of rescue groups. I think the article is questionable and seems to me to be written by a lazy reporter on a deadline (first that ever happened, huh? :-) In large cities, unfortunately, dogs and cats are euthanized after a certain set number of days being in the pound (pounds seem to be quicker about euthanizing than shelters and that could be because more unwanted pets end up at pounds rather than in shelters... I'm not sure).

I do know there is no shortage of unwanted pets. My concern is about what kind of message this may send to the public? Will they think that there is a shortage of pets and no longer spay and neuter their own pets? It's not difficult to imagine that this article will come back in the way of an argument that goes something like this.. "I don't need to spay my pets. I've read where there are so few pets in the US that they are shipping them in from overseas!" More unwanted pets euthanized means more unwanted regulations imposed on those of us that are responsible pet owners. That's a big concern for me.

[hotpotato]

So I wouldn't say that those fees are too terrible.

I agree.

I've sent a message to USA Today via their website about the article and asked that they at least print an article on the number of unwanted pets that are euthanized in the US each year. I let them know my main concern about this article is that the public will think we don't have _enough_ unwanted pets at shelters and will not be so concerned about spaying and neutering their pets. Seems there are lots of nice freepers here who have worked with rescue in some form or another. For anyone that would also like to let USA Today know what they think, you can leave them a message at:

http://contact.usatoday.com/feedback/online/feedback.asp?type=emailnewsletters

[SCalGal]

This is frustrating.

I've got an absolutely wonderful rescue that I'm having trouble placing, and they are importing dogs!

[Terriergal]

Good idea!

[Terriergal]

What breed rescue are you involved in?

[hotpotato]

Life is strange.. ;-) .. If you can help, please do..

Thanks for that info. Am forwarding to rescue groups...

[SCalGal]

This one's a purebred Akita. I know who bred him, I know who trained him and why he was placed. I know why the guy who had him dumped him (he wouldn't do bite work).

People can be so awful. This akita is 2 -3 yrs old, beautifully obedience trained, good with kids, housebroken (and trustworthy), very sweet, and good looking, besides.

I've wound up doing more and more Akitas, because they aren't always easy to place (this one should be!). And I will euthanize - these dogs are big, and something that bites is not placeable.

The dog show people sometimes turn their nose up at me, because I'll rescue what's in front of me, rather than waiting for "my" breed. I don't think the dog particularly cares what breed he is, only that he be safe, sheltered, fed, and loved.

[Terriergal]

I totally understand! Some of the showbreeders can be snooty. I finally found an email list where they are *real* people not a bunch of elitists - while still breeding for high quality and discouraging irresponsible breeding.

[Terriergal]

I don't want you to get the idea that the breeders on the list don't breed for shows - but they are down to earth show breeders.

[SCalGal]

That's what I am doing; I've got one show dog, a special, right now (OFA excellent!! *Brag*), and I bred him to *gasp* a rescue bitch... and I have puppies nicer than their daddy, and daddy flat-out out moves everything in the ring right now. And he's a *gasp* pet.

I really need a home for this rescue, though. He's at a kennel, but his time's running out because the guy's got limited space. I can't bring him here - not another male, and I don't have anywhere else to put him.