On being a responsible pet owner - (rant)

[SarahBeth9394]

Quote:
Bee, i agree with you.
I'd rather (anyday!) see a dog put down then to let it suffer somewhere..whether that be stuck in shelter cage for 10 yrs..or dumped on a road to starve and freeze and fend for its self.

I agree with you both there is no way a no kill shelter will work.

The thing is it's such a good idea in theory. But in practice you get dogs that spend their lives at the shelter and not as a pet. In order to offset feed and care for them they have to charge huge adoption fees. When we got our first real family pet I wanted to get a beagle. The local breeder who's dogs were fantastic was too expensive. I looked at the rescue shelters and they weren't much cheaper than that. I went to the local humane society and adopted a dog for $35 and they spayed her and gave her a rabies shot. I saved her from being put down. Like I said no kill shelters are a nice idea but very impractical.

 

[ninny]

Quote:
I agree with you both there is no way a no kill shelter will work.

The thing is it's such a good idea in theory. But in practice you get dogs that spend their lives at the shelter and not as a pet. In order to offset feed and care for them they have to charge huge adoption fees. When we got our first real family pet I wanted to get a beagle. The local breeder who's dogs were fantastic was too expensive. I looked at the rescue shelters and they weren't much cheaper than that. I went to the local humane society and adopted a dog for $35 and they spayed her and gave her a rabies shot. I saved her from being put down. Like I said no kill shelters are a nice idea but very impractical.

I think if done right they can work. The one by us is actually the cheapest by far. Most of their dogs are their a week tops. The cats on the other hand. Still it can be done.

 

[gypsy2621]

Quote:
The thing is it's such a good idea in theory. But in practice you get dogs that spend their lives at the shelter and not as a pet. In order to offset feed and care for them they have to charge huge adoption fees. When we got our first real family pet I wanted to get a beagle. The local breeder who's dogs were fantastic was too expensive. I looked at the rescue shelters and they weren't much cheaper than that. I went to the local humane society and adopted a dog for $35 and they spayed her and gave her a rabies shot. I saved her from being put down. Like I said no kill shelters are a nice idea but very impractical.

I think if done right they can work. The one by us is actually the cheapest by far. Most of their dogs are their a week tops. The cats on the other hand. Still it can be done.

It can be done but 90 % of them are only in it for the money. if they wouldnt charge so much, and litterally hang onto the animal untill the outlandish fee is payed then cost would go down.
Most of these tyes of shelters are hoarders to start with they refuse to adopt out any animal to anyone because no one is good enough of an owner.
there have been stories on this site where perfectly awesome people have wanted to adopt but because of some little insignificat reason they were not allowed to. thats BS and needs to stop.
rescues can not have a god complex and still adopt out animals. it doesnt work no human is 100% perfect.

I am sorry you feel the remorse of spaying your dog. it was the right thing to do.

 

[Beekissed]

I have two of the cutest little stray dogs on my porch right now.....

They both are wearing collars ~a little too tightly~one is dragging a tie out. They both have tags with phone numbers and I have been calling these numbers since 6:30 am. Left a message at one number.

No answer.

The dogs look a little thin, but not much, which could mean they've been on the road for awhile. The phone numbers are in areas clear across the county. They appear well-cared for other then the road thinness. Nice, friendly, young and sweet......and a very sad thing to see.

If I don't get a return call this day, I will be forced to let them go free, as there are no near shelters. They can't stay, I don't have anywhere to place them safely. If they go in my backyard, my LGDs will have them for breakfast and pick their teeth with the dog tags!

I hope someone comes for them......

 

[redhen]

Quote:
aww! I hope someone comes for them also.

 

[chooniecat]

bad topic for myself but.... WE need to be the voice for the domestic animals that are being allowed to breed willy nilly. not the animals fault BUT I do either haul them away or fix them and turn them loose. If you know who "owns" the animal you need to have a serious talk with them AND haul the animal away so they have to retreive it or-------- I have nothing against WELL bred pure breds(conformationally correct/health defect free) but it needs to be made MUCH harder to get mutts as we have sooooo many to choose from now. if you ARE going to buy a pedigreed animal do a lineage check for issues. my neice so smartly paid $150 for a chihuahua that was OBVIOUSLY a min pin/jack russell cross.(we are not close) wonderful neutered pet now but why patronize the idiots that bred this critter?I have worked with animals for 32 years and have seen some horrific things so you need to be forgiving if I am annoyed by UNCARING humans when it comes to breeding domestic animals. I personally adore my adult animals and altho I love babie critters I am not so self centered as to need to breed more babies that aren't needed just so I can have cuteness surrounding me.(last comment directed at people breeding willy nilly)my adults are cute and entertaining and happy!

 

[redhen]

Some of my best, best dogs were mixed breeds..
I had a Border Collie/Eskimo mix.. She was SUPER smart! The dang dog trained herself!

She was so loyal and sweet.. and she was just beautiful! I miss her..

I keep trying to find the lady that had the pups..i want another one so badly..

And the other one was a min pin/pappy mix... adorable! My husbands parents have her now...
She is a great dog! Also super smart.. friendly..loveable.

I think some mixes are just great! but thats just my opinion..

 

[SarahBeth9394]

I've had plenty of mixes through growing up. Now as an adult it's just by dumb luck that my two big dogs are pure breds and the pup is a mix. Dog 1 is a pointer from the shelter. Dog 2 I bought for my hubby because he wanted a hound dog. Dog 3 border collie mix brought home last week a half hour before a major storm that would have surely killed it. I don't dislike mixes at all and most of them are great dogs.

As an aside I remember seeing something (maybe a thread here) where the rescue shelter was adopting out a BC (a herding dog of some sort) and the rescue stipulated in the contract that the dog must be an indoor dog and could not be a working dog. Good grief. Working dogs and herding dogs need that job to do they'd go crazy shut in the house. So who would be the irresponsible one in this case... the shelter.

 

[savingdogs]

Quote:
I think it would be better to educate the people who are at fault in this situation and offer to spay that mother dog instead promoting going back to the days of three days and they are outta here.
There are lots of low cost spay and neuter programs, why not offer to make sure all the dogs are fixed instead.

 

[Beekissed]

Well, I had to release the strays to the "wild".....hated to do that but I couldn't keep them tied up. The owner called once while I was outside and left a lackluster message that he was returning my call....nothing about "thanks for detaining my dogs, we've been looking everywhere, please call back and tell me where you live" NOTHING.

I called back immediately and there was no answer. I called the cell phone listed on one of the tags and it is turned off. Why...OH, WHY do these kinds of people get dogs?

Sorry, I know a lot of you folks think that people should gather all the strays up and carry them lovingly to the vet for spay/neuter before trying to find them "good homes".

One~I don't have the money, no matter how much it's discounted, to help careless people fix their dogs.

Two~I happen to think that, though I love dogs, they get far too much consideration over humans and nature has a way of culling the herds/packs. I take care of mine, you take care of yours, God will take care of the rest.