Bidders affiliated with 86 rescue and advocacy groups and shelters throughout the United States and Canada have spent $2.68 million buying 5,761 dogs and puppies from breeders since 2009 at the nation’s two government-regulated dog auctions, both in Missouri, according to invoices, checks and other documents The Washington Post obtained from an industry insider. At the auctions, rescuers have purchased dogs from some of the same breeders who face activist protests, including some on the Humane Society of the United States’ “Horrible Hundred” list or the “No Pet Store Puppies” database of breeders to avoid, maintained by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Most rescuers then offered the dogs for adoption as “rescued” or “saved.”
April 12, 2018
Dog rescuers reap donations and spend the money acquiring more dogs from "puppy mill" type breeders.
According to The Washington Post.
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88 comments:
Do they not understand anything about economics, about supply and demand?
Average $468 apiece? What a strange scam.
We were somewhat involved with a bunch of people who "rescue" res dogs, but nobody was getting paid and nobody bought any dogs; they were found starving and dying of thirst in the desert. We took in 16 of 'em, mostly puppies about 8 weeks old. A local guy has 40-some dogs on his farm, down from 70 cuz he's getting old, and he pays for everything.
That’s almost $500 per dog. You’d think that you could get rescue dogs for a lot less.
What happens to puppy mill dogs that are not rescued?
I'm all for getting rid of bad breeders and I'm all for making a home for a pup that needs a home...but I hate the virtue-signalling that goes with all the chatter about "my adorable little rescue." You own a dog. You aren't Mother Teresa in Calcutta.
Like most organizations that attract money, dog rescues also attract greed, corruption and a hyper sense of superiority.
The puppy mills are breeding MORE in order to supply the rescue places. That's the point. If people understood that as the process, you wouldn't be able to present yourself as virtuous by having a rescue dog. It would become admirable to say, as it used to be said, that you got the dog from a reputable breeder.
Everyone loves dogs and detests the idea of them suffering in small cages. Trump should ban puppy mills and watch his popularity soar.
I'm not kidding.
If we are going to be a nation of compassion AND nanny state, lets at least place it where it belongs.
Some friends of mine love french bulldogs and they rescued a female bulldog from a puppy mill. This poor female was kept confined and forced into breeding. She was so messed up when they got her. She was terrified and suffered from all sorts of emotional issues. They have spent a ton of time and money turning her into a normal dog again.
The new episode of "Roseanne" had a rescue dog subplot (with Jackie rejected as not qualified).
I don't understand why people want to adopt a dog that hasn't been well treated and trained as a puppy.
Why not adopt a child who is a troubled teenager? How can you possibly see yourself as capable of making that work out well?
Obviously consumers need government to certify rescue dogs.
my sister would Always adopt troubled dogs; most worked out 'ok'
the psychotic Saint Bernard almost killed her, and Did send her to the ER
now she's dogless
Many, probably not all, rescue groups are rackets. When I lived in Texas I got involved with fostering a Great Pry with a lot of medical problems. Since the Rescue was always doing fundraisers I assumed they would help with the vet costs. But nope. Also with the hurricane in Texas a rescue transported a bunch of dogs to New Jersey for adoption. They stopped here in Fort Wayne overnight and when volunteer dog walkers opened the windowless, unventilated truck they were horrified to find dead and suffering dogs. The transporters make a lot of money hauling dogs, probably some who have owners, across the country so people can feel good about “rescuing” dogs.
It seems as if the majority of "charitable causes", from UNESCO to Oxfam and now pet rescues are scams.
Sigh.... for a time, and as a favor to the shelter, my wife managed a county-funded (in part) shelter for about a year and a half.
I hate the puppy mill/"no kill"/pure bred/not spay or neutered for profit racket*.
Costs for an animal from her shelter, out the door was, IIRC, $45 including mandatory spay and neuter plus chip.
* Not as badly as I hate the dog fighting crowd, but closer than you'd think.
It seems as if the majority of "charitable causes", from UNESCO to Oxfam and now pet rescues are scams.
They have the Clinton Foundation as a model.
Our dog has had puppies four times.
Our dog is a mutt.
The last batch of puppies she had, we sold the first few for $650 and the last one for $450. There were 9 in total.
We used Craigslist to sell them. Of course, you can't do that on Craigslist. You have to adopt them out for a small fee. No selling animals.
Small isn't defined. There are people on Craigslist asking thousands for purebreds as a small rehoming fee.
Everytime we have done this, we have had dozens of emails from complete strangers accusing us of being a puppy mill.
I always tell them the same thing. We live in an area surrounded by native American reservation. We don't have a fence. The native Americans allow their dogs to roam the neighborhood. When our dog is in heat, they sit outside our house for a week just waiting to attack her.
They say we should get her fixed. I tell them fine, but they need to pay for the procedure. Also, they need to reimburse me for the loss of income on future puppies.
I still don't get what about this normal process of life is so terrible. Everyone that has adopted a puppy from us has seemed incredibly happy to be getting a cute little puppy to love.
Yeah, I'm usually that last person to advocate for a new law, but in this case... there oughta be a law that just straight up bans puppy mills.
Is this where the money goes that the washed up Carmed actress keeps pushing on her tear jerking commercials? Always seemed to be some sort of virtue signaling scam to me.
"Why not adopt a child who is a troubled teenager? How can you possibly see yourself as capable of making that work out well?"
I made Judy promise no more dogs after our last two died at the ripe old ages of 14 and 17.
She asked me go go pick up a dog turned into a shelter well south of where she worked. The dog was chipped at her shelter when adopted some 3 years ago. It's custom here that a chipped dog is the shelters if ever abandoned.
I drove down the get the dog with no knowledge except he'd been abandoned at least twice (the second was when he was dumped on a road. Cop saw it, arrested the azzhole and that's how he got the the other shelter).
I didn't know if he was an aggressive Mastiff or a tea cup poodle. The woman running the shelter said, Good!" when I said I was picking up "Neil". "Better get a leash on him before you let him out of the cage". My mind raced ahead to me and Neil in the cab of my pickup. Then I saw this shivering, 10 pound Chihuahua-Whippet mix. I put on a leash, took him from the cage and lifted him into my arms. "He LIKES you", exclaimed the director in disbelief. (Dogs like me, go figure.)
In my truck he continued shivering and would move to lay where the sun shone in. Up went the heat to about 85, grabbed some beef jerky at a gas station and off we went. We bonded. I greed to foster Neil until he got healthy enough to be adopted..... sigh.
Lots more to the story, but I'll end by noting Neil seems quite content with living here.
So, yeah, it can work out well. But it's NOT like taking a troubled teen into your home. Not at all.
Nonapod said...
Yeah, I'm usually that last person to advocate for a new law, but in this case... there oughta be a law that just straight up bans puppy mills.
The value of such a law would depend immensely on the definition of puppy mill. How much are you going to burden responsible breeders and/or people whose family pet just had a litter? How easy will it be for actual puppy mills to change practices just enough to fall outside the definition ( without actually improving the dog's living conditions ), or to operate in a way that avoids detection?
Eric said:
"complete strangers accusing us of being a puppy mill... reimburse me for the loss of income on future puppies."
You are a puppy mill.
eric, if a spay is too pricy for you, consider keeping your dog inside when she is in heat.
Please don't "give away" animals on craigslist. Even if you claim not to be a puppy mill, the more folks that seek to get or get rid of animals on craigslist, the more it simplifies things for puppy mills.
What is the legal definition of "puppy mill"?
We need a Barkaret Sanger to start Planned Puppyhood.
I read there's a significant shortage of dogs and huge surplus of cats in the US, but how do they know? From the prices?
The value of such a law would depend immensely on the definition of puppy mill. How much are you going to burden responsible breeders and/or people whose family pet just had a litter? How easy will it be for actual puppy mills to change practices just enough to fall outside the definition ( without actually improving the dog's living conditions ), or to operate in a way that avoids detection?
I'm not disagreeing with any of that. It'd have to be a very carefully constructed law that protects legitimate breeders and shuts down the bad actors. And I realize that's a tall order. But the current state of affairs is obviously pretty bad and it seems like it will only get worse.
It's in the interest of rescue centers to buy puppies from reputable breeders instead of puppy mills. No one donates money for the upkeep of empty cages, but, also, you don't want a lot of ugly or bad tempered dogs in those cages. Lab puppies are best for raising money.....I'm starting a Go Fund Me thing. I rescue labs from puppy mills and send them to Africa to be given to AIDS orphans. The charity will work under the aegis of the Clinton Foundation. We'll do well by doing good.
Wouldn't it be possible to dress the excess dogs in seal skin coats and place them on ice floes in the Artic?
Asking for a seal.
“That breeder is going to make thousands of dollars off that [female dog] if he breeds her every cycle,” [JoAnn] Dimon said. “I just bought her for $150. I just took money out of his pocket. I got the dog, and I stopped the cycle.”
First, I love how WaPo substituted [female dog] for bitch in the quote.
Second, if you bought the dog for $150, then you put money into his pocket. If that dog had been worth more than $150 to the breeder, the breeder would not have sold her. If the breeder needs more breeding dogs, then those bitches never make it to the auction.
Third, it appears that JoAnn Dimon is a stupid [female dog].
Blogger funsize said...
eric, if a spay is too pricy for you, consider keeping your dog inside when she is in heat. Why would I do that?
Puppies make people happy. Especially children.
Money makes me happy.
It's win/win.
Blogger Jim Harvey said...
You are a puppy mill.
I was thinking puppy Mills were a bad thing.
But if I'm a puppy mill, then puppy Mills must be awesome!
Having pure-bred labs, I have felt the scorn. No doubt in my mind liberals would ban pure-bred dogs if they could. They are already working on having dogs banned from vehicles.
As for dogs being "saved":
"My father was a St. Bernard, my mother was a collie, but I am a Presbyterian. "
from A Dog's Tale (Mark Twain).
"I don't understand why people want to adopt a dog that hasn't been well treated and trained as a puppy.
Nobody prefers to do the harder thing, unless they want to accomplish those hard things things that need done. I have rescued over 90 dogs by bringing them to my home from where they were eventually all adopted to good homes. I never received a penny for any of it and it was very expensive in time and money. Very few were trained at all, and many were complete disasters of fear, malnutrition, disease, and yes, often temperament. These things can and are remedied in most cases resulting in a happy healthy animal and a grateful family who treasures that dog much more for where it came from and what it and they had to accomplish to get where they are. Some people want to improve their world rather than just feast on it, and that is what motivates and rewards them far more than what they could get from just buying and having a dog like it's a piece of furniture to adorn their fashionable lives.
eric, up your troll game please.
"The term cobra effect originated in an anecdote set at the time of British rule of colonial India. The British government was concerned about the number of venomous cobra snakes in Delhi.[3] The government therefore offered bounty for every dead cobra. Initially this was a successful strategy as large numbers of snakes were killed for the reward. Eventually, however, enterprising people began to breed cobras for the income. " Wikipedia "cobra effect".
Also $500 per adoption is not out of line -- the dogs need to be treated for diseases and worms, and need to be spayed or neutered, and need to be fed and housed until a home is found.
I challenge anyone to visit your local shelter, and they all are kill shelters in one way or another, becuase dogs that don't get adopted get killed, if not by them, then by the organization they pass them on to. Go look at and interact with those dogs, but keep in mind that nearly all will be killed by the end of the month if not adopted. They will be murdered simply and only becuase they were born unessessarily due to a human's carelessness. Most did absolutely nothing wrong, and many are adorable and lovable as any dog can be. The horror of that truth is devastating to a feeling person. It's hard to understand how you can not rescue a creature in that situation, if you are able.
Ann Althouse said...
I don't understand why people want to adopt a dog that hasn't been well treated and trained as a puppy.
Why not adopt a child who is a troubled teenager? How can you possibly see yourself as capable of making that work out well?
4/12/18, 9:44 AM
The above needs editing, but if you're advising the creation of shelters for juvenile delinquents, that sounds good. Just remember, you'll have to euthanize most of them. It's for the best, really.
Blogger MadisonMan said...
eric, up your troll game please.
4/12/18, 11:53 AM
I'm too lazy.
self-sustaining circle jerk
Half the dogs in the shelters are Pit Bull mixes. I wonder why. (Sarc alert) When I lived in Ashland, Oregon, the place was infested with homeless panhandlers. Merchants were beside themselves, crime was up, dog shit was everywhere, but the Democrat City Council instructed the Police Chief to treat the infesters “kindly.”
Naturally, the intruders’ “Pit Bulls” were all unlicensed. I called the Mayor and Police Chief suggesting the cops photograph the dogs and their owners and admonish the owners that there was a large fine for failing to register the dogs and that if seen again the owner would be cited and the dog confiscated by Animal Control. The Chief liked the idea. The Mayor and Council nixed it.
Evidently, Democrats are figuring out a way for Pit Bulls to vote.
The rescue, I worked with got $300 for an adoption and eventually $350. That can be anywhere from $100 profit to negative in the thousands. If the rescue organization did what we did, which often included surgeries costing thousands, then they need to also get big donations for big expenses, which they often do. $500 seems high to me. Our rescue adopted out about 300 dogs per year and that barely supported one person who did not have other income.
Some people do it for money, but you have to be pretty draconian and disciplined to pull it off.
Why not adopt a child who is a troubled teenager?
Ricky Gervais discusses this in his new stand-up routine, Humanity.
Ann Althouse said...
The puppy mills are breeding MORE in order to supply the rescue places. That's the point. If people understood that as the process, you wouldn't be able to present yourself as virtuous by having a rescue dog. It would become admirable to say, as it used to be said, that you got the dog from a reputable breeder.
Ann and a few readers here made the mistake of reading a piece by the Washington Post and accepting the article at face value.
The Gell-mann effect is 100% descriptive of everything the WAPO writes. This is no different. Talk to some people who are actually in the rescue business. There is no money being made here. Quite the opposite.
There is not a single thing in the WAPO that accurately describes the world as it actually exists.
The virtue signalling in dog rescuers is an example of misplaced priorities in my opinion- as is most virtue signalling activities.
We also discussed housing rescue families in LA backyards yesterday.
Talk to some people who are actually in the rescue business. There is no money being made here.
The money is being made in the puppy mill business, funded by people giving money to the rescue business.
Once a demand for virtue-signalling rescue dogs was created, someone was needed to supply it.
I go to a fab dog park in my expensive hood. I prefer not to talk to rescue dog owners. I never trust those dogs and some of them are aggressive with my Baxy. I also don't like the way the dogs look-they are so not purebred. All the rescue dogs come from the south. When I ask where the dog came from its always Tennessee, Alabama, gross red states. And the owner and I look at each other and say of course they come from those nasty states.
I volunteer at a "no-kill" shelter (cats, not dogs), and it's legit "no-kill," with exceptions for infectious and usually-fatal diseases like feline distemper, but nothing else. (Smaller ailments like upper-respiratory infections, diarrhea, lice, &c. we try to treat; cats exposed to other cats with feline distemper are quarantined for two weeks.)
Adoption is $75 for adult cats, more for kittens. That includes spay/neuter and chipping. All cats are spayed/neutered before they leave (this means that young kittens can only be "pre-adopted" until old enough to be operated on, and a few more days for recovery) and aren't to be let outdoors.
The place has only four paid employees; everyone else is volunteer. Population is maybe 40-50 cats at any given moment. This is the other caveat to "no-kill": We literally can't take in every cat that might arrive at our door -- though this doesn't stop people leaving boxes of kittens at the doorstep.
And yes, some of them do stick around for several weeks, though most do not. The former are generally very old, or have unusual dietary restrictions, or incontinence problems, or are missing an eye. (Though last year, a kitten missing a leg was actually abducted, then mysteriously recovered.)
My own duties are simple: Wipe down the kennel with dilute bleach, replace the bedding and the cat toys, change the litter, wash old bedding and cat toys, vacuum. (We use for litter compressed wood-dust pellets ordinarily used as bedding for horses. They arrive on enormous pallets.) Usually by the time I get there, food and water have been removed; sometimes I'm on dishwashing detail as well.
I do not think there are "kitty mills," so our population consists mostly of feral kittens and older cats whose family died on them. There are older feral cats, too, but they can't be tamed; we have a program to connect them up with farmers, shop-owners, &c. who need vermin control. But feral kittens are tamable, up to eight weeks or so. One of our two cats came from a feral cat colony in MD -- got adopted by an elderly man, who made his relatives pledge to take him in when he died, whereas of course they just dropped him at the nearest animal shelter when he did, and my mom took him in. He's extremely sweet, and a world expert in leisure. (The other is a "rescue" -- yes, I'll use the word -- from Marin County Humane Society.)
In short, do I think it's possible to be a little too cynical about the "rescue" business? Why yes. Yes, I do.
bagoh20,
I challenge anyone to visit your local shelter, and they all are kill shelters in one way or another, because dogs that don't get adopted get killed, if not by them, then by the organization they pass them on to.
Well, if they should be so unlucky as to pass into the hands of Ingrid Newkirk, almost certainly. I'm not sure what PETA's record is like on dogs, but 97 or 98% of cats are "ethically treated" to euthanasia in PETA's "shelters," which might be better described as crematoria. Apparently, this is a sop to mice and voles (or songbirds, on which Ms. Newkirk would prefer we focus our attention).
I don't understand how we humans decide which species to root for. If it's songbirds vs. cats, the songbirds win. If it's mice vs. cats ... well, we'll just lay that to one side, shall we? If it's seals vs. polar bears, the polar bears win. But if it's seals vs. humans, the seals win.
This reminds me of an article I read several years ago about well meaning Christian organizations buying the freedom for enslaved people in Sudan. It helped make the slave trade profitable and some people even "enslaved" themselves as part of a scam to make some money.
The Gell-mann effect is 100% descriptive of everything the WAPO writes.
There should be a daily reminder.
Years ago I bred my lab, Sadie Marie, not because of the money, but because everyone wanted one of her pups. One night a young guy pulled in a beat-up work truck. His buddy was with him. He said he just came from the shelter, intent on adopting a dog. He was exasperated by the way they treated him. My pups were advertised at $400/450. I asked him how much they were charging to adopt, he said $135.
I sold him a pup for $135.
If everyone rescued a polar bear, there'd be millions of them instead of the paltry 20,000 left in the world today. Of course, you'd run the risk of being eaten by them. Just use common sense, and don't piss them off.
For Trumpit's education:
Twenty Good Reasons Why Not to Worry about Polar Bears
Our dog is a rescue, that we got a long time ago. The better half and I still make fun of the rescue organization. They are insane.
Yeah, I'm usually that last person to advocate for a new law, but in this case... there oughta be a law that just straight up bans puppy mills.
My heart is with you, but my brain says this would not work. It would be difficult to enforce such a law -- is eric above a puppy mill or not? And a ban would just lead to black market puppies; since not everyone can afford or wants a pure breed, and some rescue agencies and shelters make it harder to adopt a dog than a child, there will always be people who will turn to backyard breeders.
I think it would be better to strengthen and enforce existing animal cruelty laws; harsh fines, frozen/seized assets, and/or jail time for those found guilty of animal abuse. We can set up specialized staff to investigate reports of animal abuse in areas where it's rampant, and in large urban areas where cops are too busy to handle animal abuse cases, if our society is serious about this issue.
The Puppy Mill joins the Immigration Mill joins the Baby Mill. Another euphemism progresses.
There's a no-leash dog park in the neighborhood. My dog started rough housing with her golden retriever. I asked "Where'd you find your retriever?".
She replied saying "The dog came from a rescue operation in Texas". "It was a little un-nerving sending a $500 check to strangers in Texas."
Of course, she went full Fox Butterfield here. "I guess those people down in Texas don't have any spay and neuter clinics".
"Well, you sent them $500 bucks." That was the end of the conversation.
Aren't all shelter dogs rescue dogs? We got Blaze from the Bide-a-Wee and...oh, Blaze. I can't imagine getting a better dog for money. I only wish I could take 'em all.
One of the rescue outifts in my area requires any potential rescuer to pledge that the animal will not be left along for more than a few hours at a time. My sister tried to rescue one, and noted in the application that she works a normal 8-9 hour day but would hire a dog walker or make another arrangement for the first several months until the dog was accustomed to being left alone for longer periods of time. No good. Application denied. I guess in their minds you can either rescue a desperate animal or make a living.
At my local dog park, there are rescue dogs from all over the world. Which means hundreds, maybe thousands, spent on individual dogs.
Over my married life, my wife and I have had half a dozen dogs. We bought a pure bred Basset Hound puppy as our first dog. All dogs since then have been "rescue" dogs--usually from a friends or relatives who could no longer keep them, or in one case from our vet, who was placing the dog for one of his other clients. No money changed hands in those "rescues" and I didn't feel particularly noble about it. The dog was a nice dog and needed a home, and there were no issues with the critters.
That is not the case with our current dog who is a true "rescue" dog from the local Humane Society. It's run as a no kill shelter. There is an "adoption fee" of $350 or so, which includes neutering, microchipping and a free one hour session with a dog trainer. The Humane Society is larger staffed with volunteers; because of our own schedule we visited the Humane Society several times over a period of weeks to observe the dogs and the training for the staff. We also saw several of the other dogs in the shelter.
Truth to tell a lot of those dogs had some real issues; one dog had been almost starved to death; another was very shy, and might never leave the shelter. Other dogs were adopted out, but the new owners found that having a dog involved a greater commitment than they were willing to make, and the adopted dog came back to the shelter.
Night Owl is correct when he said that some breed rescue agencies and shelters make it harder to adopt a dog than a child. Certainly the lady who is the chief volunteers at our local Humane Society is tough on people who want one of "her" dogs. Her client after all is really the dog--not the adopter.
Our current and true "rescue" dog has some real issues. My wife and I are retired, and we're experienced dog owners (although we've never had to deal with real problem dogs beforehand). We've had her a bit more than a year now. Weekly and then biweekly sessions with a trainer mean that we've probably spent more on this dog than we would have in buying a couple of purebred puppies (which, depending upon the breed can cost anywhere from $1,500 to $3,000 in Southern California). That said, the dog is shaping up to be a nice family dog, safe around visitors to our home and around our grandchildren. But I don't know if we will ever be able to take her for a nice walk through the neighborhood--she remains too reactive to anything that moves. She is a work in progress.
And I'll agree with MadisonMan. My brushes with a couple of breed rescue organizations made me think they were nutso.
What will we do with all those Pit Bulls ? There's not much meat on them once you dress them out.
I don't agree about breed rescue organizations. My mom works with a Dobie rescue, which seems perfectly legit. (Dobies circulate in and out of my parents' house, though they get adopted more often than not; there are never fewer than three.) And there's a basset hound rescue in Petaluma that appears fine.
Two years after our first Siberian died, a friend told us of another that was at the local rescue group. Story was that she and a brother were turned in to the County shelter together at 6 years old. By the time they got her the brother was gone, adopted we hope. When we went to see her at the shelter, we found she was nearly identical to the original, and had the same name. The shelter made their usual threats of verifying our suitability of our house, but by the end of the interview, they let her walk out with us.
There is a phenomenon going on now called the "Game of Thrones Effect" where a lot of people are enthused with the dire wolves on GoT, and think a husky is a good idea. They need a lot of exercise, and shed a lot, and this one is bossy and not shy about reminding you that she wants a walk, or a snack or a pet or whatever it is she wants just now. Oh, and she is an escape artist. She's too old to be a GoT dog, unless they read the first books.
Why did someone give up a sweet (if somewhat demanding) dog that you spent 6 years with, and clearly spent some time training? She knows tricks that we didn't teach her, and we had to figure them out with gestures.
Notice that there are several people on this board that volunteer at dog rescue operations and obviously know more about what is going on than the writer of the WAPO article does. The writer probably spent 3 hours on the phone and looked at some pictures. Several people here have infinitely more experience than the WAPO writer.
The WAPO should be monitored so we know what the enemies of freedom are trying to accomplish.
Nothing more.
It is not a legitimate source of information.
@ Bagoh
Nobody prefers to do the harder thing, unless they want to accomplish those hard things things that need done. I have rescued over 90 dogs by bringing them to my home from where they were eventually all adopted to good homes. I never received a penny for any of it and it was very expensive in time and money.
This is why I think you are the best dude on earth.
It's true. People rescue cats and dogs because too many other humans are careless and greedy.
These animals do not have a voice.
Some people adopt unwanted children which needs mentioning as well and is an amazing act of grace.
And there's a basset hound rescue in Petaluma that appears fine.
'There are a couple of basset rescues in southern California, They sometimes get 680 dogs at a time when someone raids a puppy mill.
I have adopted two bassets from them and have raised two basset puppies. Right now we have a rescue who is the sweetest dog I have ever had.
We never board her. We just got back from LA and had house/dog sitters here while we were gone.
80 dogs, not 680.
I finally read part of the article.
People suck.
What does PETA do with all those dead animals? Feed the homeless? Feed the children? Feed other animals?
Nope. They feed the gas ovens.
"Ann Althouse said...
"I don't understand why people want to adopt a dog that hasn't been well treated and trained as a puppy.
"Why not adopt a child who is a troubled teenager? How can you possibly see yourself as capable of making that work out well?"
People adopt a troubled dog or a troubled teenager because they want to be needed. Maybe they also like taking risks (or at least they aren't risk-averse.) None of that describes me at all, but I don't see anything wrong with it.
Sorry, period should have been outside the parenthesis.
"I volunteer at a "no-kill" shelter (cats, not dogs), and it's legit "no-kill,"
Then it is NOT a publicly (in-part) shelter that must, as a matter of law, accept any and all animals dropped off. They prioritize the animals based on age illness and behavioral issues. That still can leave a large number of animals. Foster volunteers can smooth out rapid influx issues, but still.... many fine animals don't make the cut.
And Titus (you prick) pure bred dogs often have genetic flaws due to inbreeding. Both your dog and it's owner are likely victims.
We would like to adopt a cat for pest control. We are in the east Los Angeles area. Most rescues I have seen offered I have seen are indoor cats.
Suggestions appreciated!
It’s to protect the vege garden. We have a rat, rabbit, and squires love them, and that upsets the gardener they get them first.
Our last cat probably got caught by a coyote. There is no coyote control in the area due to fear of being on the nightly news....
My aunt does chinchilla rescue in NorCal. It’s a lot of work.
Ann Althouse said...
I don't understand why people want to adopt a dog that hasn't been well treated and trained as a puppy.
Because they can observe the dog's behavior (and early training is over-rated). The desert puppies I mentioned were happy and friendly after getting some water and food; they don't associated being left in the desert with being mistreated by humans.
Why not adopt a child who is a troubled teenager?
"Troubled" is a euphemism for "troubling", so if you want trouble, go for it.
Remember the Sudanese slave scam? Idiot Westerners "bought" their freedom. Guess what? Instant slave market (though the charity denies it; bad for business).
I'm not exaggerating that a third of my facebook is folks posting recuse dog items. I say folks but it is usually a woman with a surplus reserve of unused material instinct. It needs to be directed somewhere and dogs are not like the Professors troubled teenager. If they were not childless or a premature empty-nester they would have plenty of natural objects for their natural instinct. Rescue dogs are like pacifiers for weening toddlers who have lost the real thing.
And why only dogs?.. I never see anyone trying to organize a rescue relay to deliver a rescue cat from Pensacola to Yeehaw Junction, but they will for some mutt.
"We would like to adopt a cat for pest control. We are in the east Los Angeles area. Most rescues I have seen offered I have seen are indoor cats."
At my wife's shelter they fixed and ear notched feral cats and gave them to farmers for rat (and other pest) control.
Without the capacity to breed, feral cats can be a real asset.
Suggestions appreciated!
Try the county or the city shelters. A lot of the local rescue groups in my area get a lot of their animals from the county and city shelters.
Most rescues I have seen offered I have seen are indoor cats."
I have owned cats for nearly fifty years and would never consider making a cat an "indoors only" cat. And getting a cat declawed is simply abuse.
Althouse says:
"I don't understand why people want to adopt a dog that hasn't been well treated and trained as a puppy.
Why not adopt a child who is a troubled teenager? How can you possibly see yourself as capable of making that work out well?"
What an idiotic statement. We've taken in several rescue dogs (and cats for that matter) and they've responded to good medical treatment, steady food, and above all love and affection. We will never buy a pet again after these experiences. Frankly, I've come to like animals better than many humans these days. I would ruin someone's day who abuses an animal in my presence.
Guess you feel the same way about orphan kids, Althouse? Never adopt them?
As for TCrosse at 4:41, you may think you're funny, but you're a dickead, you moron.
Gahrie, who mentioned declawing, before you did? I hate declawing, which amounts to amputating every first knuckle of a cat's front feet. As for "indoors only" ... well, if you had a choice, would you take safety and shelter and security over cold and wet and uncertain? I think maybe you would, though I'd respect you if you didn't. My point is that the folks at my shelter are trying to protect the cats, and that's the easiest way to do it.
wbfjrr2,
I would ruin someone's day who abuses an animal in my presence.
Me, too. I think it was Chesterton who wrote that "no sane person can ever hate an animal," but it might have been anybody. And yet you get daily cases of atrocities against animals. Last year, there was a case locally of a lot of kittens sealed in a container. By the time it was found, one kitten was still alive; all the rest had already suffocated.
I would have more respect for these murderers if they did their murders openly, instead of letting asphyxiation do their work for them. But, no. That might involve blood. Which is icky.
JAORE,
If a shelter literally can't contain as many animals as are sent to it, what's it to do? We do what we can, that's all. We tend the cats we can, and allow people to adopt them. We don't discriminate; we take in old cats, cats with weird digestive issues, black cats (yes, this is still a thing), and we wait for them to be adopted.
If your case is that we positively must take in every cat that's dropped at our door (and "dropped at our door" describes most deliveries), you tell us how to finance it. Once again, we are doing what we can, which isn't everything.
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