double standard?

[kendalyn]

This is something that has been bothering me for a while, and I finally decided I want to know what you guys think.

The subject here is rescues and adoption days. I'm sure we've all been to the petstores on the weekends and seen the rescue dogs and c@ts lined up in the store or out front so people can look at them and maybe adopt them.

However, to me this just seems contradictory to what rescues should be doing. Rescues are usually all about advising against impulse buying, but then they parade these dogs in front of the public and say "Please adopt these poor homeless dogs!"

How would we feel if a breeder were doing this? Why is it OK for a rescue to do it? How does it NOT encourage people to impusively take pets home?

I'm not really totally against the adoption days. I see the advantages and I realize it probably does let people decide on a rescue instead of a dog from a breeder. Lots of people think mutts are all mangy, smelly, wild creatures and it's nice that they get to see the better side of mutts.

But for some reason, adoption days always leave a bad taste in my mouth. Anybody else feel the same? :-?

[73junebugz]

Yes, you do have a valid point. I had to give this some thought before I replied because I agree with you.

But the one saving grace in it is that it is still an 'adoption', so I would think that the groups would still require the normal screening processes, like interviews, home visits and the like. That's one thing you don't get when you buy a puppy in a pet store. I think as far as the implusivity goes, if people have to wait (i.e. can't take the dog with them TODAY,) they may have more time to think things over and make a good decision.

[Malamum]

I thought they didn

[Guest Mutts4Me]

Yeah, I kind of agree. My kitty, CryBaby, appeared at our house one day when my mom and sister came back without dinner - they'd gone to the grocery store to get dinner stuff, and the HS was outside with kitties and doggies... My mom fell in love with this orange and white kitten who still had his blue eyes. They brought him home, to my dad's and my shock!
Total impulse "buy," but he did fit right in with my two other kitties.

Usually, rescues will put you through the same questioning you'd go through if you'd contacted them about an animal - so if they don't feel you're right for the animal, they won't let you have them. When my parents applied for two kittens several years ago from the rescue at Petsmart, they filled out an actual paper app and were eventually contacted by the rescue, who felt we did not have enough room for 2 kittens (*cough* of course, we now have 6 felines in the house). A few months ago, my friend and her mom wanted a kitty at the Petsmart rescue and were grilled for half and hour, but were eventually allowed to take her home then and there.

The Humane Society generally just lets you pick out an animal and leave (offering advice, but not telling you "no"), so their adoption days work the same way. But [b]yes[/b] you're right in that if they're outside a store, it's an impulse. If you go to the HS to look at the animals, at least that's your intention, and you have hopefully made some plans.

But I guess we just have to chalk it up to the idea that rescues have more "rights" than breeders do. Rescues have the "right" to post their pets on a national pet search network (Petfinder), but we freak out if we see anything resembling a network for breeders (pet classifieds/auctions).

People are inspired to act when they are made to feel. When a sob story is printed in the paper about an abused/neglected/abandonned animal, dozens, if not hundreds, of offers flood in to give that animal a home. Because they empathize with that animal - it is a face now, not just a vague concept. If those dozens or hundreds of people who were all willing to open up their hearts and homes to that one animal would just go out and adopt any animal that suits their needs, the crowded predicament of shelters and rescues wouldn't be so much of a problem that they'd have to parade their animals out in public. But not enough just one day say "let's go to the shelter and save a life" - they have to be inspired.

[StarFox]

[quote name='kendalyn']The subject here is rescues and adoption days. I'm sure we've all been to the petstores on the weekends and seen the rescue dogs and c@ts lined up in the store or out front so people can look at them and maybe adopt them.
[/quote]

That's how I got my Zebby. A total 100% greedy impulse adopt. :oops: :lol: I filled out an application, talked to the officer that was there, was asked a few questions. Paid for his adoption,neutering,microchip and was out in less then an hour. We picked him up at a vet hospital after his neuter a week and a half after that. Now this was a mobile adoption from a pound not a humane society.

Now the Humane society I volenteer for does it totally differnt. They have a huge van that they do there mobile adoptions from. They take out all sorts of dogs and get the interest of the pubilc. It's not so much to adopt animals out but to educate people on the humane society. If people want to adopt they can fill out an application at the mobile site but still have to go down the the actual Humane Society and go through the entire interview process.
From personal experience it seems that Humane societys are usually more strict in there adoption process where as city pounds are very leaniant in there process.

I can't realy say that the idea of having adoptions at Petsmart, Petco or any other retail place is a bad idea or that I'm against it since I did get Zebra from one, but I think it's probabaly a good idea that has a few bugs (or a lot) that need to be worked out.

[kendalyn]

[quote name='Malamum']I thought they didn

[Guest Anonymous]

Both groups I've done adoption days with allow the animals go the same day.

Before it was just that they didn't have the man power or the space to hold dogs much longer than necessary. We pulled on Wed. vetted on Thursdays and tried to get them adopted out on Saturdays. If they stayed longer it was fine but it was never an in and out under an hour. We spent at least an hour talking to them and getting a feel for the situation.

The group I am with now is a foster group for a shelter. Due to the sheer number of c@ts that come in with c@ts or as babies we don't keep them in foster homes past 12 weeks of age (Unless the foster home agrees to pay all medical after the age of 12 weeks which usually we do) but the dogs don't have foster homes. They are taken out of the kennel bathed and brought to the event. If they aren't adopted they go straight back to the kill shelter.

Sometimes it's the animals only chance.

I know as a foster home one of the questions I ask is "What made you stop by here today to look at our animals?" If the answer is "I came to buy c@t food and fell in love with this kitten" I talk to them about impulse buying and how a kitten/dog is a life time committment. I ask them to think about it and give them my home phone number to call me if they still want the kitten. Most of the time I don't hear from them again.

If they say "I Heard your ad on the radio (Saw in the paper) and I have been looking for a kitten" then depending on everything else they will take the kitten home that day.

Considering the group I am with always seems to have more volunteers than anything (Most of them are adoption only volunteers and not foster home/adoption volunteers) we always have more than one person who talks to the people. Usually the first person who talks to them gets the true story about how their last c@t was killed by a pack of dogs because they didn't want to keep it in the house.

It depends on the situation.

[Rowie-the-Pooh]

I agree with Tammy, although we don't have adoption days here (sigh) sometimes its the animal's last chance. But other times the dog will go to an irresponsible home...so I guess it really depends on the group(s) and who is adopting.

Another thing I was thinking of about Rescues. What do you think of Rescues that allow [b]three[/b] dogs to be adopted out on the same day by the same family/person? I was on this rescue website once, they rescued giant breeds and it seemed more like advertising than rescueing! "Check out the cute Great Dane puppies" or "The Borzio princes". If they want to advertise the breed, fine, but then they had their "success" stories and it would go something like this: (name) came here originally looking for a Great Dane for her family, but fell in love with a Boerboel and so took home both a Great Dane and a Boerboel!" or "Although (name) told us she knows nothing about Bullmastiffs, we educated her on the breed and told us to e-mail us with her questions". Also, they had nothing on their page about a spay/neuter agreement, or a return policy. It was very upsetting. :-? What do you guys think?

Edited to add: There were a whole lot of families that left the Rescue with three dogs. Usually a puppy and two adults. I think getting two dogs (if your ready, that is) at the same time is okay, but THREE? And not to mention, the Rescue did this a lot...

[kendalyn]

[quote name='Tammy']We spent at least an hour talking to them and getting a feel for the situation.[/quote]

Yes, but talk is cheap. You really can't know if the information you're getting is accurate.

[quote name='Tammy']Sometimes it's the animals only chance.[/quote]

This is a valid point. At leat they get a better chance than staying in the shelter. Hopefully, in most cases, it is better than nothing. I just can't seem to let go of the nagging idea that maybe being euthanized is better than being placed in a really bad home.

Do you guys do any follow ups after the adoption Tammy?

[imported_Kat]

I don't agree with letting animals go straight from an adoption day to a home. I think there should be details of the interested party taken and then a home visit arranged with a background check to ensure that the person has no cruelty charges against him/her in the past.

[courtnek]

the Petco b y my house sponsers adoptions, but the rescue societies wont let you take the dog home that day. You have to fill out the App, then they question you, and tell you they will call/email you with a decision.

they work with the local shelters, and not do much the HS, because the HF is in Chicago, and we're in the burbs.

Getting Laurel was almost as hard as adopting a baby....I had to fill out a 5 page app, give them all my experiences with dogs, I talked to them on the phone 5 times. I got them to agree to accept pictures of my yard and house instead of a home visit, since I work all day and they dont do home visits on night or on weekends....they were mostly interested in the fence since hunting dogs are escapists....When I went to meet her I had to take Freebe with, to see how she'd react. I asked if they wanted me to bring the c@t too, and to my surprise they said no, let them meet through a baby gate in your house, where the c@t will feel less threatened and more in charge. I already knew that was the right answer. I think they let me slide on a lot of things, because of my experience with dogs. It would be a lot harder on a new dog owner, I'm sure....

[Guest Anonymous]

[quote name='kendalyn'][quote name='Tammy']We spent at least an hour talking to them and getting a feel for the situation.[/quote]

Yes, but talk is cheap. You really can't know if the information you're getting is accurate.
[/quote]

I know talk is cheap but I have to go by my return rates...with the last group (which has all my records for them) I can only think of three dogs in three years that were returned. Sometimes you just go with a gut instict about people. The benefit of that group was if I said "Lets talk again in a few days" I could put a hold on an animal and wait to see what happened. I have also found vet references aren't always to be trusted. So I don't depend on those.

I used to work for a vet and when a rescue called wanting to know when the last time a dog was in we would always have some sort of computer problem or something that would prevent us from giving an exact date but the receptionist would tell them it had been just a few months before or something like that. So that wasn't 100% in preventing bad adoptions.



[quote]Do you guys do any follow ups after the adoption Tammy?[/quote]
The rescue I was with before did do follow up phone calls and surprise inspections but I didn't do them personally. Mostly because most of my adoptive familes willingly kept in contact with me. IF it weren't for the computer crash and change of email I'd still be in contact with most of them. (Must be my winning personality that keeps them in touch).

With the c@t group I'm with now...NO...simply because we are an extension of the shelter and have to abide by their rules. They won't allow it.

The Anatolian group I foster for...YES! If not myself then someoen else is in contact with them. I'm in contact with two out of 4 adoptive families the other two keep in contact with the director. I even have a brag book one family sent me along with the dang near weekly photos. The other one is active in the groups fundraising committee which I'm a part of and she is on the owners yahoo list.



[b]I[/b] do my best with in my personal capabilities to keep in touch with adopters but I have to follow the rules and sometimes that is what holds me back.

Edited to add: You know i was thinking MOST rescues would deny me. Why? Because my animals don't get yearly vaccines and I don't stick to the "Socially accepted" protocols. Mine get their vaccines every three years. So if they did bother to call my vet and my vet actually looked in my file they would say no some of my animals are not current based on most rescues policies.

[DogPaddle]

I fully support the Pet Adoption areas of places like Petsmart.

People are not going to adopt an animal sight unseen.
Many private resuces do not have a shelter and do all inhome fostering.
People do not want to drive to 2 dozen houses to meet the dogs or cats to determine which seems to match thier peronsality best.
Pet Adoption in the window front sorta way allows smaller rescue groups to cycle their animals through home foster and high visability situations to increase chance of adoption and still provide adequate socialization and training.

Are there some groups that adopt animals out in less than the best way. Sure. But that is like all things - there are better groups and not so better groups.