Worst Excuses For Re-homing Or Surrendering A Pet

[Greytmate]

It's true, I think sometimes it's not so easy as just taking an animal with you when you move. I'm wondering what would become of my rabbit and hare if I had to move overseas in a few years in order to get a job.

You don't have to move overseas to get a job. We have jobs here in Australia.

The responsible thing is to decide before you get a pet whether the pet is going to be compatible with your chosen career and lifestyle for the next fifteen or so years.

[Verdant Amphibian]

"Dog barks and wakes my baby"

This one I can see. I don't like it and it may well have just been an excuse but I remember nights up with my babies breastfeeding them every two hours having them decide they wouldn't go back to bed because they needed to do a poo at three in the morning. Wandering back and forth in the lounge room watching criminal minds for two hours until her wind had passed. I'd have tears streaming down my cheeks because I was so exhausted I couldn't stand it - just wanting to go back to bed. I barely got through it I have no idea what I would have done if I'd had a pet that made it harder - probably asked my parents to look after it until the baby started sleeping but if I didn't have those resources course once the exhausted depression had passed I would have regretted it terribly.

A friend of mine who has a pet shop pappilon which she got mostly for her daughter, they started out trying to do all the right things. Then she got pregnant with twins and because she doesn't feel able to supervise them in the house the dog is stuck outside in a dog run it never gets played with anymore - because when the kids are outside she's getting housework done and can't supervise poor little thing would probably be better off rehomed.

[WoofnHoof]

The moving excuse drives me insane....

I actually wonder if half the people are really moving???? or if they are too lazy to come up with another excuse. I often ask them where they are moving..just to make them uncomfortable.

I have moved interstate and to numerous homes, and it has NEVER been a problem to take my pets with me. If the place I am looking at isn't pet friendly, I just don't move there.

I worked with a lady who is a guide dog trainer and she has taken her dog with her from America to London from London to Sydney from Sydney to Adelaide, now try and tell me that I'm moving house is an excuse!!

You commit to a pet for its entire life...The good and the bads...The young and the olds....Healthy and the sick.

Just as your pet commits its entire life to loving you....It doesnt matter to them if you are ....Fat and Ugly...Healthy or sick....Rich or Poor...Young or old...They love you unconditionally and that is the biggest lesson mankind has to learn from their pets

Funny you should say this, my sister dumped her two maltese x shih tzu girls at the RSPCA at 4 years of age (both undesexed) and gave her 'reason for surrender' as 'we are moving and can't take the dogs with us' the first bit was true but the second bit was rubbish as they were moving to 5 acres! Real reason was that they were untrained, always matted because she was too lazy to keep up with grooming and were always filthy as they weren't allowed inside.

[Snout Girl]

My brother and his fiance just adopted 2 adult cats from a 'friend' of theirs.

The reason why they were getting rid of the cats was that they didnt like their new pet shop puppy (both cats were also bought as pet shop kittens).

the sad part was before they had the kittens they had another dog, which they got rid of cause it didnt like the kittens.

makes me wonder how long this dog will last before the next pet shop addition pushes it out

[corvus]

You don't have to move overseas to get a job. We have jobs here in Australia.

It's not just me, it's OH as well. I want to go into academia and he is in the film industry. I don't want to leave Oz, but nor do I want to end up consulting again because I can't get a research position in Sydney or Melbourne. It's a long way in the future, but I'd rather think about it now so I can help myself as much as possible in networking and so forth and have some kind of "worst case scenario" plan.

The responsible thing is to decide before you get a pet whether the pet is going to be compatible with your chosen career and lifestyle for the next fifteen or so years.

Easier said than done when you're in your early twenties.

[zoozoo]

Some people I know through my partner are rehoming there dogs because they are moving and the house has a pool and not much backyard

My aunt surrendered their JR x for that reason. They didn't want the dog to cause any damage to their newly built house.

Why didnt they think of that less than a year earlier when they got the puppy? Why didnt they consider walking and training their dog to prepare for the big move? The poor puppy lived outside his whole life and rarely had any human interaction because he was too boiterous (sp?). The same aunt had rehomed a german sheperd a few years earlier (also lasted less than 12 months).

They currently have a pap x bishon -

[lovemesideways]

The moving excuse drives me insane....

I actually wonder if half the people are really moving???? or if they are too lazy to come up with another excuse. I often ask them where they are moving..just to make them uncomfortable.

I have moved interstate and to numerous homes, and it has NEVER been a problem to take my pets with me. If the place I am looking at isn't pet friendly, I just don't move there.

I worked with a lady who is a guide dog trainer and she has taken her dog with her from America to London from London to Sydney from Sydney to Adelaide, now try and tell me that I'm moving house is an excuse!!

You commit to a pet for its entire life...The good and the bads...The young and the olds....Healthy and the sick.

Just as your pet commits its entire life to loving you....It doesnt matter to them if you are ....Fat and Ugly...Healthy or sick....Rich or Poor...Young or old...They love you unconditionally and that is the biggest lesson mankind has to learn from their pets

This is going OT but I just had to state that what you said above annoys me. You shouldn't condone everyone who has rehomed a animal because they where moving.

Quite a few years ago our family rehomed our 2 german shepherds. The reason was because we where moving.

We had a big house and a huge property, but due to unforeseen circumstances, we had to sell the house and move into a rental property. Mum spent 6 solid months searching for a house to rent where we could keep the 2 dogs and the cat, and found it impossible. We couldn't move out of the area or interstate due to needing to be close to my dads office. we also needed a specific size house because of the size of our family.

Mum looked for ages and finally found an amazing home for the shepherds out in the country with a woman and her 2 kids. They have acres and acres of property to call their own and are completely loved and adored by the family. Even now, over 5 years later, we will hear from their new owner, a little update on how they're going.

Sure you commit to a pet for life, but that doesn't necessarily mean the best thing for that animal is to be with you. I would much rather my dogs be happy and healthy.

I think you might mean condemn, not condone.

Woops! *quickly edits*

Got no idea what you're talking about Says Condemn already!

[PAX]

Wife and I are getting divorced and both of us want the dogs but can't agree, so neither of us should have them???

[CrazyCresties]

The moving excuse drives me insane....

I actually wonder if half the people are really moving???? or if they are too lazy to come up with another excuse. I often ask them where they are moving..just to make them uncomfortable.

I have moved interstate and to numerous homes, and it has NEVER been a problem to take my pets with me. If the place I am looking at isn't pet friendly, I just don't move there.

I worked with a lady who is a guide dog trainer and she has taken her dog with her from America to London from London to Sydney from Sydney to Adelaide, now try and tell me that I'm moving house is an excuse!!

You commit to a pet for its entire life...The good and the bads...The young and the olds....Healthy and the sick.

Just as your pet commits its entire life to loving you....It doesnt matter to them if you are ....Fat and Ugly...Healthy or sick....Rich or Poor...Young or old...They love you unconditionally and that is the biggest lesson mankind has to learn from their pets

Ok I have to chime in here. We have just had to re-home 2 dogs and 2 cats due to moving from the UK to Australia in the next few weeks. We never thought we would be moving overseas or we wouldn't have got the dogs. It was an out of the blue job offer for my partner and we thought long and hard before making the heartbreaking decision

The 2 cats were very much outside 'hunting' cats, not a problem where we live at the moment surrounded by fields and no cars, but we know in Perth we will be living in a more suburban area and they are not cats that would live happily as indoor cats. They are now both re-homed with a good friend and old neighbour in a quiet country village where they have settled and are very happy.

We had to re-home our greyhound Frida (truly our 'heart' dog ) as she suffered from some anxiety, especially with loud windy noises, and we just could not imagine under any circumstance her coping with the flight to Australia. Putting her through that would purely have been for our benefit and not hers. She has been in a new home for a couple of months now, has a new doggy sister, is happy and settled and probably hasn't given us a second thought. We however cry like babies whenever we allow ourselves to think of her

We also choose to re-home Fargo, my cocker. He loves the cold and snow and the freedom of the beaches and forest in Scotland, and I just couldn't see him getting the same joy and fun out of life in an urban environment where he would be restricted to on lead walks for the majority of the time Again he is now settled in another rural home, with a retriever as a play mate and goes out on loads of mountain and beach walks. He was my only one I'd had from a pup so truly miss him and his spaniel ears and kisses :D

We are bringing with us our 2 rescue cresties and our siamese (pretty much an indoor cat by choice who never hunts) that we feel will cope with the change in environment the best.

Sorry a bit of a long ramble, but just wanted to show that sometimes moving is unfortunately a valid, albeit heartbreaking, reason.

[B-Q]

When we were moving down from the NT it was amazing how many people were surprised we were happy to pack up 4 dogs and a cat and bring them with us. They all seemed so shocked.

Now that I'm looking at getting another dog people keep enquiring about whether or not I'm going to get rid of Buster. wtf?

[mickey2081]

Eeek! Some of the excuses are just so terrible!

We've gotten a new puppy in the past few months, who's toilet training is terrible! I didnt realise how good our first pup was hehe I must have cleaned up thousands of Sonny wees by now lol, but he is getting the hang of it thankgod! After months of persistance!

I cant imagine rehoming a dog because it was a pup who didnt learn to toilet outside in the first week!

Not to mention the fact I'd never be able to sleep at night for wondering where the dog was, if it was cold etc

[Hello Gorgeous]

It's true, I think sometimes it's not so easy as just taking an animal with you when you move. I'm wondering what would become of my rabbit and hare if I had to move overseas in a few years in order to get a job.

You don't have to move overseas to get a job. We have jobs here in Australia.

The responsible thing is to decide before you get a pet whether the pet is going to be compatible with your chosen career and lifestyle for the next fifteen or so years.

I think depending on the temperament of the dog/cat, it's actually pretty straight forward to take your animal overseas out from Australia as many countries don't require you to quarantine your animals if it's coming from Australia thanks to strict health laws. I've had a bunch of friends who all moved overseas and took their dogs with them with no problems at all too It's just rather expensive as it can cost almost more than a thousand dollars depending on where you're going.

[chuckandsteve]

Sorry didn't reply properly

Edited June 2, 2010 by chuckandsteve

[Tim'sMum]

Sorry a bit of a long ramble, but just wanted to show that sometimes moving is unfortunately a valid, albeit heartbreaking, reason.

CC....you are not the type of person that people are complaining about here, in regards to moving. You have done the hardest thing but also the right thing in responsibly rehoming your dogs to wonderful homes, because it was the best thing for the dogs, not you.

Good luck with the move to Australia.

Many years ago a good friend had to move and couldn't take her dog. She surrendered him to the pound. I couldn't take him and neither could anyone else...her mother refused. :D This lady's OH had walked out suddenly, leaving her with a hefty rent, a baby, and a dog...and no income. She was facing eviction because the rent was behind and she could not find a new, more affordable rental which would allow the dog. It broke her heart to surrender that dog but the alternative was living in the car with the dog and the baby.

As for taking a dog out of Australia....there is a process involved, which can be a little daunting and confusing, depending on where you are going. A friend moved back to Sweden and her dog, Jack, had to have rabies shots (as well as the standard vacs) according to AQUIS. He did not need to be quarantined once there though. She discovered that the rabies vac was not a necessity though in Sweden, unless the dog was coming in from a Meditteranean country, some other parts of Europe and other areas of the world where rabies is endemic. By the way, Jack was an AWL surrender due to a messy marriage break up. When my friend adopted him from the AWL she had no idea she would be moving back to Sweden. We rehomed her Cockatiel with a wonderful DOLer.

[Earthdog]

And I seriously think it would be way too much for my hare. He'd be better off released into the wild with a kiss and a prayer.

Why in god's name would you do that??? Hares are pests.

[Greytmate]

You don't have to move overseas to get a job. We have jobs here in Australia.

It's not just me, it's OH as well. I want to go into academia and he is in the film industry. I don't want to leave Oz, but nor do I want to end up consulting again because I can't get a research position in Sydney or Melbourne. It's a long way in the future, but I'd rather think about it now so I can help myself as much as possible in networking and so forth and have some kind of "worst case scenario" plan.

The responsible thing is to decide before you get a pet whether the pet is going to be compatible with your chosen career and lifestyle for the next fifteen or so years.

Easier said than done when you're in your early twenties.

So, your priority is your career or your husband's career.

So you want your research position more than you love your dog. Good on you. You picked the right thread to show your true colours.

If the dog was really part of your family then the 'worst case scenario' is that you don't alter your lifestyle to exclude your dog.

There are plenty of people in their early twenties that have made life decisions and plan to stick to them, it isn't an excuse for dumping a dog. Sometimes there are terribly desperate situations where people cannot keep their dog. That is tragic.

Being desperately ambitious doesn't cut it.

[Austerra]

Two that are NOT funny, make my blood boil, which I see on Gumtree ads a lot (note to self...stop looking at Gumtree pet section):

1. We had a baby

2. We are moving and cannot take the dog with us.

:) ;)

I am afraid "having a baby" is just too common, the pets are often older animals that have been part of the household (in some form or another) for 8, 9 10 years. I ask them if they are going to rehome the first child when they decide to have a second one!!!!

[megan_]

You don't have to move overseas to get a job. We have jobs here in Australia.

It's not just me, it's OH as well. I want to go into academia and he is in the film industry. I don't want to leave Oz, but nor do I want to end up consulting again because I can't get a research position in Sydney or Melbourne. It's a long way in the future, but I'd rather think about it now so I can help myself as much as possible in networking and so forth and have some kind of "worst case scenario" plan.

The responsible thing is to decide before you get a pet whether the pet is going to be compatible with your chosen career and lifestyle for the next fifteen or so years.

Easier said than done when you're in your early twenties.

So, your priority is your career or your husband's career.

So you want your research position more than you love your dog. Good on you. You picked the right thread to show your true colours.

If the dog was really part of your family then the 'worst case scenario' is that you don't alter your lifestyle to exclude your dog.

There are plenty of people in their early twenties that have made life decisions and plan to stick to them, it isn't an excuse for dumping a dog. Sometimes there are terribly desperate situations where people cannot keep their dog. That is tragic.

Being desperately ambitious doesn't cut it.

There is a big difference between responsibly rehoming a dog and dumping it.

[Earthdog]

But dumping a hare is acceptable?

[Aussienot]

In hindsight, I'd rather hear the bogus pathetic stupid reasons than some of the heartbreakingly painful ones. During the worst of the drought, we had men who had driven four or more hours to surrender their least valuable herding dog because they couldn't afford to feed them. They'd stand in the reception area trying so hard no to cry.

And as to "there is a big difference between responsibly rehoming a dog and dumping it" I'd say, not to the dog . . . . in my world there is a big difference between love and an arrangement of convenience.