Letters to the Editor
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well said, whitefish girl
Oh please Heather. You sympathize with Ellen, and you talked to Cesar? God, what are you doing writing for Salon? You should be in Hollywood.
If you walked into my rescue organization with a prong collar, and with that sort of a self-righteous attitude, you wouldn't adopt from me either.
Perhaps some trainers are just fine with prong collars, but all the trainers I know prefer a simple chain link training collar, worn loosely, and providing correction when necessary. I've fostered over 20 dogs and *every* one of them has only needed one or two days of training with chain link before they are polite walkers. And those are dogs of every type...all abandoned, many with abuse histories, some virtually unsocialized, from boxers to miniature poodles.
What Ellen did broke the organizations policy, clear and simple. Adoption organizations have policies for a reason. Ellen simply didn't adhere to the agreement THAT SHE SIGNED that she would return the dog if she decided not to keep the dog. What are policies for if they aren't enforced? Who decides who breaks them, and when? And how?
No one can fault the rescue organization for adhering to its policies.
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Is the "perfect" home better than NO home?
Apparently so, in the minds of some - not all, by any means - animal rescue groups.
Our family has 7 cats and 3 dogs. Hey, we live in a rural area and the alternative to the shelter for a lot of people is to dump their pets in the country. It's the misguided belief that Fido will survive on rabbits and Tabby can just eat mice. Of course, they either starve slowly, beg at local houses, fall prey to coyotes, or die under the wheels of cars.
Several years so, one of our young dogs died unexpectedly. No sickness, nothing, just peacefully went to sleep & didn't wake up. The older dog - at 10 - couldn't keep up with the 2 yr old who needed a dog buddy to play with.
So we went to the local Humane Society to find her a friend.
Oh my God. Being vetted for the Supreme Court couldn't have been as complicated. We weren't even allowed to view the animals until our application had been "approved." Of course, there were snags:
1. We had way too many animals to care for them and give them enough attention - according to the director. (I offered to have our vet call with a reference. On the last visit, he had remarked that we had "the healthiest, best cared-for animals off all his clients).
2. Our daughter was "only" 10. She might not mesh well with a new dog. (Of course, she had cats sleep in the crib with her and grew up around both dogs & cats, but hey, what are facts when you have a checklist?)
3. I refused to give them my social security number. What the heck did they need it for, I asked. Were they planning to run a credit check?
After sharp words, made sharper by their unfriendly, snippy attitudes, we left - and stopped our monthly $18 contributions to the shelter. The pound was 5 minutes away, and we found sweet Dixie, a 4 yr old Border Collie mix who had been turned in because the family's landlord instituted a "no pets" policy.
Dixie was "marked for deletion" the next morning. Having spent 8 days at the shelter, she was on borrowed time. Her sister dog loves her - and we never again sent a dime to our local Humane Society.
Their financial loss, but Dixie is our family's gain.
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On small dogs and children
The rescue organization that had this policiy of not adopting to kids under 12 did so for a reason:
Small breeds are notoriously nippy and poor with children. Lhasas, yorkies, all manner of mini terriers, schnauzers, shih tzus and poms ALL have low tolerance levels and a high propensity toward nipping. Kids have a high level of curiosity about dogs, so the results of combining a young child and a small dog can be disastrous.
I volunteer with a rescue org that has small dogs, and this is one of the NUMBER ONE reasons dogs are turned over to us: he bit my kid, he growled at my kid. No shit. Maybe you should have considered the breeds that ARE good with three year olds, like labs, newfies and goldens.
Ellen's dog was a terrier mix. That they are taking any flack for this is disappointing.
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who can we trust?
We haven’t been paying attention. While we have been looking away, things in which we have placed our trust and perhaps even our money, have been drastically altered. What is going on in this world when the “animal rescuers” have somehow tragically morphed into the animal abusers?
Here’s my story, from recent experience. Last month I adopted (or I think I have adopted, if she is truly mine to keep... will have to check the contract) a beautiful 5 month old kitty from the local animal rescue center in Tucson Arizona. Upon first meeting, kitty was antsy and a bit reluctant to be held or picked up in the front of her body. The tip of her right ear tip had been clipped, (apparently, when she was spayed, so that if she ever re-entered the feral population, the locals would know that she had already been neutered). While very sweet and smart, she was rambunctious and jumpy. But most kittens are wildly playful and this one had been cooped up in a small cage when I came to meet her.
Once I had taken her home, I received a call from the rescue center saying that they had neglected to give her booster vaccines and a rabies shot. Would I please bring her back to the nnimal hospital where she had been sheltered? I asked if I could take her to our regular veterinarian, since that office was about 20 minutes closer to our home. The reply was that I could, but that I would have to pay for the vaccinations myself and must also provide the center with proof that the shots had been given. Ooops... the rescue center then mentioned that they had forgotten to have my kitty microchipped. (All a part of the contractual agreement). However they would meet me at the local Humane Society and we could have the microchip done there.
So I made an appointment, and took my sweet kitty back to the animal hospital where she had been originally sheltered. When we arrived, more cats available for adoption were kept in the waiting room, near the front door, looking very sad and cooped up in small cages. I waited for nearly 20 minutes in a room that reeked of urine and feces. The examining room itself was filthy with debris, dander and pet hair on the counter tops, window sills and the base of the examination table.
Eventually the vet came into the grimy exam room and without introducing herself, gruffly asked me why I was there. Once we had determined that she was the doctor for the facility (I had to ask), I explained about the adoption (from this, HER hospital) and about the incomplete vaccinations. The vet asked me if the cat had been spayed. I assumed that she had been, as a condition of the adoption. The doctor then checked the records and confirmed that my kitty had indeed been spayed.
Gently, I took my new kitty from her carrier and attempted to calm and hold her while the vet administered the shots. Notably, I have been a pet owner for over 30 years and am accustomed to holding my pets, while the doctor examines them and administers shots or other treatment. It usually makes any animal feel more secure, to have my touch under scary circumstances.
As I went to steady my new kitty cat in my arms, she began to bat at my hands. Without further explanation, the vet warned me that the cat would bite me and violently grabbed my new kitty by the back of her neck, carelessly swirling her little body back and forth as she injected the little creature with the three necessary shots. The cat looked horrified, as did I. The vet commented while performing this seemingly abusive act that the cat was “pissed off” at her for being jerked around and so would likely not notice what she (the vet) was doing, in terms of administering the shots. The doctor said this, as if her actions in upsetting my poor little kitty were, somehow, amusing. I was entirely appalled.
Once this alarming procedure had been completed, I asked the doctor if my new kitty had ever been fully examined, as I felt that the cat had ear mites. The doctor brusquely responded that the animal hospital did not examine the strays, while clumsily forcing her thumb into my animal’s ears. Her response was that my cat did not have ear mites, only “dust bunnies”.
This visit to the vet (who was supposed to have “protected” my new kitty) was one of the most upsetting and sickening experiences ever.
Because the local rescue center provided me only with statements which indicated that my new kitty had been spayed and given preliminary vaccinations... nothing to indicate that a precursory examination had ever been performed... I next had our new kitty examined by our regular vet, who found that this kitty’s ears were infested with ear mites. Additionally, for a cost of $44, my regular vet placed a microchip in our new kitty. The total bill for an examination, for treating the ear mites and for microchipping was $136. The animal rescue center reimbursed us $20 for the micro chip and $10 toward the ear mite medicine.
Directly afterward, I reported the unsettling incident to the animal rescue group who claim they have never seen or heard of anything like it. They fully support the veterinarian there, who apparently donates generously to the cause. My heart breaks for the many helpless animals who will end up in that doctor’s “care”; I have to wonder if they would be better off in feral colonies.
I will never go back to an animal rescue facility to adopt another animal. Instead, I will visit the local animal shelters. And I will refer others in that direction, as well. At least the animal shelters are not pretending to do and to be something that they are not.