As a society, we are killing literally millions upon millions of animals a year because they are extra. I believe this should be sitting a lot heavier on our conscience than it does. We create litter after litter to satisfy our demand for cute puppies with certain characteristics but pay little heed to what the actual dogs will really be like. When they don't work out, toss! They are dumped in shelters. Many designer dogs and purebred dogs are among the 343 my husband and I have now fostered so I am someone who has worked very hard to end the throw-away cycle and be a force for positive change. We even had a 1/2 pharoah hound last month. (Pharoah/pit, she was actually lovely). Nothing against Pharoah hound breeders, I used to work for one. But an intact one met a pit bull somewhere around here. lol
While the organization for which I volunteer does not require fenced yards or home ownership in every case, we do require them in case-by-case basis. Don't take it so personal!!! In your area, most adoptions must not have been working out when they went to unfenced yards, it is as simple as that. Nothing about you. They just had to make a rule because they were getting so many back. Believe me, in the case of the pharoah/pit, we required a fenced yard! lol. She would be too hard to handle without one.
We see a lot of animals turned in because of the same comments " We are moving"...."We are divorcing" and "dog runs away" are some of the biggest reasons why dogs lose their homes. I could give you lots of reasons (car chasers, escape artists, high prey drive, scary-looking dogs, etc). But biggest reason of all, I work for a vet and have seen many car vs. dog scenarios that went uh,.......poorly for the dog, and in all of the cases the dog wasn't behind a fence. It might be too difficult for the shelter to determine which are the dogs that need fences and which owners will protect/train their dog in a responsible and reasonable fashion....because so many people don't. Again....NOTHING personal. Just how society is, and so shelters reacted. It is like they had to make speed limits even though most of us would drive reasonable speeds without them. Some people spoil it for everyone. How many threads on here are about a neighbor dog eating someone's chickens? So those of you angry at shelters please take a second look at their motives, it is not to be evil and kill more dogs. It is probably more like some of your neighbors are jerks (you probably already know this!) lol
And finally, if you really wanted a dog from the shelter bad enough, you could have fenced "a yard". It does not have to be the whole back forty. We have five acres but just fenced a small back yard for our dogs so that they would be safe and secure when outside and we are gone (and for our fosters). We only let them into the larger unfenced areas when proven trustworthy. We did it without spending money either (scrounged materials).
People should be encouraged to go to shelters/rescues to adopt whenever possible and spay and neuter all dogs that are not "the best" for some reason (I agree not necessarily show pedigree) and have homes that want them. That is the only way we can end the cycle of throw away dogs (and cats!). Someone has to get them out of the trash in the meantime. And whenever you pay for a "designer" dog, you are funding some sort of puppy mill or backyard breeder as no reputable breeder mixes dogs of two breeds, ask any veterinarian or reputable breeder. While you might find someone in their backyard crossing two nice dogs in good health....... that would be the exception, not the norm, at least where I come from.
One final defense of shelters/rescues here before I get off my soapbox here, the typical expense for spaying/neutering/deworming/vaccinating/de-fleaing and otherwise caring for a dog is a financial loss and not a gain. And if you cannot reimburse them what it cost them to medically prep the average dog for adoption, how does this speak for your ability to afford a dog over the long term and into its elder years? Again, this is a screening tool. Nothing personal. But lately, the most common reason people are giving dogs up is the cannot afford them.
