Letters to the Editor
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Dogs and Kids? Heaven Forfend!
A dog living with children under 14? The horror! How many times have we seen pictures of dogs and children "playing" together, with the look of pure terror and horror so clear on the face of the dog, as he/she is forced to "fetch" or "Play tug of war", when what he/she really wants is to lie on the floor while his/her adult owner watches TV! Have some compassion!
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Bad experiences not necessarily typical
To DrKen,
I'm really glad your story turned out well! That is what these shelters are there for.
I think one point that is lost in this is that there are probably more good experiences than bad. It is that there some bad apples out there. Not even bad apples, but just people who's good intentions go awry and ultimately end up as negatives for the animals.
The story I posted earlier was atypical of our shelter (though the attitude about humane society's wasn't). IIRC, they ended up switching adoption directors, because the one was so strict that it was virtually impossible for cats to get adopted out.
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Isn't The Real Problem That We Can't Define What "Bad Behaviour" Actually Is?
@ anon 01:37
Hell yeah I beat my dogs every day! I keep'em in cages so small they can't even sit up! That's why I never go to those snobby shelters with their fancy rules!
There, you happy now?
(/snark)
A little happier ;-)
The problem is that no one -- literally no one -- ever thinks of themselves as bad pet owners.
I once lived in an apartment were the guy above me kept his TWO pitbulls locked on the balcony for three days!
This first day wasn't unusual because this guy thought it was perfectly acceptable to keep TWO pit bulls locked onto this little tiny balcony all day while he was at work.
Already 50 percent of you are going "That's horrible!" and 50 percent are saying, "What's wrong with that?"
Anyway -- this guy went on vacation and didn't want to waste money boarding the dogs so he just left them there!
Of course the animals were rescued before the guy got back.
He went nuts and could not -- just couldn't! -- understand what the problem was.
"They had enough food!" he explained to the cops. "They weren't going to starve!"
When asked about the water the man got quiet and mumbled (I was standing there) "They can go a couple days without water..."
Again, since no one ever thinks they are a bad pet owner -- then what's wrong with screening people?
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Video
I don't know if anyone saw the video that was taken of the rescue group when they took the dog from Ellen's hairstylist, but it showed just how petty these people are. The woman was holding the dog away from the little girl and kept turning away from her and walking away every time the little girl tried to see him. What a mean, nasty thing to do to a little girl. The dog would have had nothing but a good home with that family and should have been left alone. Shouldn't it be about finding a loving home for the dog?
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rules for celebrities -- missing the point
Elen DeGeneres is a professional actress so her "performance" on her TV show should be viewed as just that, a performance. The behavior was childish but evidently effective.
Many groups that adopt out animals have rules that appear to be arbitrary and capricious and, in many cases, they are! The solution is not to allow celebrities to ignore the rules they don't like, however stupid they may be, but for everyone, celebrities and commoners alike, to carefully choose who they do business with.
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Ellen didn't act responsibly
Sure animal adoption agencies can act ridiculously, but there are a couple of red flags about Ellen making the adoption:
1) The animal adoption agency (hopefully) screens people who are adopting a dog; I agree with the author that it shouldn't go overboard but there are reasonable reasons for asking some questions. If a high energy dog is going to be left alone all day with someone who has a sedentary lifestyle (who won't walk their dog), it's likely that the adoption won't work out. I think if Ellen found someone who matched the requirements for the dog she adopted, she should have (and still could) make the case to the adoption agency rather than going public to plead the case.
2) Ellen reportedly gave up the dog because the dog couldn't be trained to be around her cats. Unfortunately, people rely on dog trainers to perform magic rather than taking any responsibility themselves. People have to be trained to learn how to be involved in introducing the dog to the cats, and setting boundaries for the dog. I have a gate to the basement so my cat can have peace from my dog whenever she wants it, and my dog knows that there are certain areas of the house upstairs that are the cat's domain (my bedroom, the window sill, etc.), and I let her know when she's violated those boundaries. I find it amazing how many people think that they can just spend money to magically change a dog's behavior, when that behavior most likely is related to how they interact with their own dog.
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Lynx
You're joshing, right?
You honestly believe conservatives are opening animal rescue shelters to foist their values on the rest of us? Come to think of it, do you honestly believe conservatives are opening animal shelters, period?
I've been paying quite a bit of attention these past few decades, thank you very much - enough to live as a responsible member of my community, give back to people and causes who need a hand, raise a family, and take in a stray feral kitten with a busted leg who showed up on my stoop one evening while I was out having a smoke ($1800 worth of vet bills later I had the sweetest free pet anyone could ask for). All of that leaves me little, if any, time to indulge in the kind of conspiracy-mindedness that assumes any kind of high-handed behavior must be the product of political beliefs I don't subscribe to. Or to write an average of two letters a day over a two year period to an online rag.