Animal Rescue Groups Need to Lighten Up on Adoption Rules

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I have rescued many dogs over the years, although they were direct rescues, i.e. dogs I have personally found after they have been abandoned.  That’s not to say I didn’t try to rescue both dogs and horses from rescue groups, but in each case the paperwork and regulations, and sometimes cost, yes cost, were overwhelming.

A number of years ago I tried to adopt a dog from a Key West animal shelter, but after being forced to produce the deed to my house, suffer an on sites inspection, and fill out application after application, I gave up when they wanted 6 written references.  This was simply too much.

After moving north I tried to adopt two Greyhounds from the local Greyhound rescue center.  They also wanted a lot of paperwork, along with a site inspection.  When I asked, however when I could see the prospective rescues, I was told that is not possible and that they would bring the dogs out one by one.  I didn’t like that.  Why was I not allowed to observe the premises and the conditions under which the dogs were being held?  The final straw, however, was the cost.  They wanted $800 per dog to cover their “costs.”  I never rescued a Greyhound.

Finally not too long ago, I wanted to adopt a horse from a local group and again found the paperwork and regulations, not to mention the “fee”, to be overwhelming.  I managed to “rescue” both my mule and horses from local owners who no longer wanted them.

Here’s the latest story:

Animal rescue groups have come a long way over the years and done wondrous things in reducing the number of dogs and cats that get put down, writes Emily Yoffe at Slate. Here comes the “but”: These groups need to loosen up their overly strict adoption standards, which often scare away perfectly good pet owners and thus leave animals without homes. “Applicants are sometimes subjected to an interrogation that would befit Michael Vick,” she complains. In fact, when Yoffe and her family tried to adopt a second rescue dog, “I felt it was my job to prove to the groups we contacted that I wasn’t a vivisectionist,” she writes. They gave up, and when Yoffe mentioned the experience in a column, she was flooded with similar complaints.

Applications are filled with trap questions and hidden clauses that give the group the right to swoop in and remove the pet down the road. (Ask Ellen DeGeneres about a similar rule, requiring that pets go back to the group if things don’t work out.) It’s time to ease up a little, suggests Yoffe. Read the full column, rife with would-be adopters’ horror stories, here.

Do you have any horror stores you would like to share?  If so send them to me or leave a comment.

About Post Author

Professor Mike

Professor Mike is a left-leaning, dog loving, political junkie. He has written dozens of articles for Substack, Medium, Simily, and Tribel. Professor Mike has been published at Smerconish.com, among others. He is a strong proponent of the environment, and a passionate protector of animals. In addition he is a fierce anti-Trumper. Take a moment and share his work.
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Z
12 years ago

While I understand your complaint, this behavior is not to aggravate or deny you a pet. These people have put their heart and soul into rescuing these animals. The adoption fee seldom covers the real costs that the rescuers must spend to get the animal to an adoptable state.

I have a pup ready to adopt out right now that I have spent well over $2000 and 4 months getting healthy enough to go to his forever home. The adoption donation I will ask for will be a pittance of that amount, believe me. You can bet I require a home visit and a contract. I don’t understand the complaint about the contract stating the animal comes back to the adopter. If you have an animal you don’t want, why not return it to someone who will actually care what happens to it?

You have your anecdotes, I have mine. I adopted a cat out a few years ago to a young lady. When we called several weeks later to check on how the cat was doing, the person who answered the phone said, “Oh, she moved out. We just put the cat outside.” Took us 2 days to track the cat down. She was terrified and thin. I still have her because of the trauma.

I work with a ferret rescue that has adopted out hundreds of ferrets and taken in many more. She took 11 ferrets to the vet last week for routine checkups and vacs; almost $800. So, shame on you for saying rescuers shouldn’t profit from what they do.

Rescuers spend their last penny to help the animals in their care. Are there bad ones? Yes! But, there are so, so many good ones. You just keep criticizing them and they’ll just keep helping the ones who have no voice and we’ll see who feels best at the end of the day, shall we?

This video tells it all:

Tiffany Hayes
12 years ago

My aunt, a retired teacher of special needs children, and her husband have been foster parents to human children for many years. Three years ago, they successfully adopted a daughter who has a rare genetic disorder. We were all happy to welcome “Joy” into our family. However, when my aunt went to the local shelter to adopt a puppy for Joy, the shelter refused, saying that they would not grant adoptions to people over the age of 60! The family had a good laugh about the standards for adopting dogs being more stringent than for humans. She found a dog through Craigslist and Joy has been happy with her new best friend.

12 years ago

I totally agree, although I can see the reasons for home visits. There are so many people in my apt. complex who adopt animals and who have no business having them – and it’s not because they live in an apt. (one of the dumbest reasons to deny a pet to someone). They simply don’t know how to take care of their pets and don’t want to invest the time in training and exercising them. Very often they mistreat their dogs. Even worse, when the pup isn’t well behaved, they will return the animal or take it off somewhere and just dump it.

But adoption fees and all the other hoops a potential pet owner has to jump through are beyond ridiculous. We are so fortunate to have Bonaparte’s Retreat in the Nashville area, a foundation set up by country music star Emmylou Harris. Their mission is not only to save pets but to help folks who don’t have a lot of financial assets to adopt animals that were headed for euthanasia at the local animal control shelter. Without this organization I would not have this lovely new old fellow I found a few months back.

While I realize that it costs money to house, feed and treat these animals, they’re top priority should be finding good homes for them – not making a profit.

Terry C - NJ
12 years ago

We have a group here in Philadelphia that calls itself a rescue organization.

They also run a string of pet stores.

Their adoption fees are outrageous.

E.A. Blair
12 years ago

Back in 1991, I adopted a cat from an organization that had the nerve to call itself the “Anti-Cruelty Society” even though it was not a no-kill shelter. The interview lasted nearly three hours (during which time I demonstrated that I was much more knowledgeable about cats than the interviewer), they called my landlord to verify that cats were allowed at my apartment, and I finally received a contract, printed with clauses, provisions and proscriptions set in pica*. Nearly everything they said and did during that interrogation seemed intent on proving how unfit I was to keep an animal in my home.

That cat proved to be a lucky choice, though not due to the place I got him from. He was a sweet and loving companion for seventeen years, and finally died peacefully after a brief illness. I thought it would be a nice idea to call that shelter and report that one of their cats had lived a long and happy life, but when I finally got connected to someone, she hung up on me while I was explaining the reason for the call. I was tempted to write a letter expressing the hope that one day all their dogs would break free and devour the staff, but decited they weren’t worth the trouble.

Terry C - NJ
Reply to  E.A. Blair
12 years ago

And, yes, the “contracts” are insulting.

I don’t think they put people adopting a child through that much scrutiny.

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