Jrt X, To Adopt Or Not?

[fuzzy82]

Ah yes, cute puppy syndrome:) I have already rejected a couple of other puppies. They were so sweet and it was so hard, but I am very determined to not end up with a dog that is all wrong for my lifestyle.

[Loving my Oldies]

hopefully will be good to go on Friday next week.

Yay:)

Thanks for your help:)

[SpotTheDog]

I am very prickly ar your comment rescue is very tough, very emotional, hard work and any group I have ever been involved with only have the dogs interests at heart. We know the alternative and it isn't pleasant. Maybe you would like to donate some time and volunteer at your local shelter.

Rusky, I have six rescued cats and I foster cats, I also trap and socialise feral kittens and try to get TNR programmes in place in my locality so I have done some rescue.

I currently have a five month rescue puppy that I paid $400 for from a reputable shelter - he was crawling with fleas and had ringworm - bad enough to be chronic ringworm. He was severely underweight when I got him. The shelter took him as a surrender, whipped his knackers off at the vet, and they advertised him like that - they'd probably had him 72 hours tops when I took him home. They also told me they didn't do home checks because they 'didn't like to judge'. I called them and emailed them and they have never, not once, responded to my ringing or emailing them.

Now, because I have done rescue, I made a decision to stop flogging that dead horse, took the pup to my own vet 24 hours after I got him (a Saturday morning, and she charged me the price of one Milbemax tablet for the consult where she identified ringworm, cleaned the pup's two filthy, black-tarred ears, and gave me some advice on how to feed him up) and have not been back in contact with the shelter since.

It was not in my pup's best interests to be rehomed in the condition he was rehomed. That is what I mean when I say 'revolving door rescue'.

I am very glad to hear that the OP's experience with his shelter, on closer examination, wasn't as trite as it first sounded - but this is where I'm coming from at the moment.

/Edit to add that I'm not saying that this is a general thing in rescue, not by any means at all. But I've been doing a bit of digging on the shelter where I got my pup, and my situation doesn't appear to be a one-off. This worries me intensely - worse again than even buying a pet shop puppy, in my mind, is getting a dog from a rescue and having an experience that would stop you from rescuing ever again, and even encourage you to advise friends and family not to rescue.

Because it's forefront in my mind at the moment I bristled at the OP's post and what I thought was 'oh it'll all be fine' from the rescue, hence my post.

Edited September 23, 2010 by SpotTheDog

[Rusky]

I don't doubt there may be bad shelters, did you see the one in the US with about 100 dogs and cats in disgusting dead and dying condition ?

The ones here (WA) are all pretty good but there is one which advertises as a rescue but sell without any vacs or surgery or vet check. I agree that in 72 hours there isn't even enough time to do any basic assesment. Sorry for your experience and your reputable shelter just lost its good reputation...tell people, write to the shelter about your experience. It may do some good.

[fuzzy82]

My current, adult dog was in foster care when I adopted her, and I know she had been in foster care for at least one month when I got her. Yet when I got her she was crawling with fleas and also had an ear infection. I emailed the foster carer about it, and she claimed that the dog had been treated with frontline one week before I got her, which I know is a lie because I treated her with frontline myself and it killed all the fleas within 3 days.

During the first vet check it also turned out that she has luxating patellas, the vet moved the kneecaps around while examining her, and said it will probably need surgery one day. This would also have been nice to know when I adopted the dog (I would still have adopted her, but still good to know that the dog will need expensive surgery when making the decision).

6 weeks after adopting her I still hadn't received any confirmation from the microchip company that the details had been changed (I filled out a form when I picked the dog up). I emailed the foster carer about this a couple of times, but she ignored both emails. I then went through my paperwork for the dog that had been handed to me, and found log in details for the microchip site. I logged in and found that the old owner's details were all still there. So if the dog had run off and been picked up, they wouldn't have been able to contact me.

I actually volunteer for the shelter that this foster carer is associated with, and I know they are all decent people there and they all love the animals, but when I emailed management with my concerns about the foster carer, it seems they simply forwarded the email to the foster carer, because I never heard back from management, but the foster carer tried to call me a couple of days later (I wasn't home).

[fuzzy82]

So regarding Marley, he won't be desexed until Thursday, which means I can't get him until Oct 5:( Oh well...

[Loving my Oldies]

My current, adult dog was in foster care when I adopted her, and I know she had been in foster care for at least one month when I got her. Yet when I got her she was crawling with fleas and also had an ear infection. I emailed the foster carer about it, and she claimed that the dog had been treated with frontline one week before I got her, which I know is a lie because I treated her with frontline myself and it killed all the fleas within 3 days.

During the first vet check it also turned out that she has luxating patellas, the vet moved the kneecaps around while examining her, and said it will probably need surgery one day. This would also have been nice to know when I adopted the dog (I would still have adopted her, but still good to know that the dog will need expensive surgery when making the decision).

6 weeks after adopting her I still hadn't received any confirmation from the microchip company that the details had been changed (I filled out a form when I picked the dog up). I emailed the foster carer about this a couple of times, but she ignored both emails. I then went through my paperwork for the dog that had been handed to me, and found log in details for the microchip site. I logged in and found that the old owner's details were all still there. So if the dog had run off and been picked up, they wouldn't have been able to contact me.

I actually volunteer for the shelter that this foster carer is associated with, and I know they are all decent people there and they all love the animals, but when I emailed management with my concerns about the foster carer, it seems they simply forwarded the email to the foster carer, because I never heard back from management, but the foster carer tried to call me a couple of days later (I wasn't home).

All this is pretty bad form . I don't understand why people have to lie, but they do and I have experienced very well known and respected rescue people/groups telling absolute porkies. Very sad.

I have also been trying for three months to get a Change of Owner form from a rescue group .

Off Topic: before you have your dog operated upon, get a few opinions. Lots of little dogs have luxating patellas and never need surgery.