Rescue groups: your flaky, zealous ways have driven me into the arms of a breeder. Congrats!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

We adopted our three dogs (from the same litter) VERY easily from a rescue in Greenville, SC. They typically rescue small dogs from kill shelters and they always have super cute dogs (and also cats) available. This group transports them to the Northern VA area and other states along the East Coast. Just an FYI for anyone looking for an easier, and cheaper, adoption!

https://www.facebook.com/Purrs-Paws-and-Claws-98142587083/

Wow, this organization is precisely the poster child for the NYT article cited in the OP about slightly sketch organizations that move animals from the South to the bleeding-heart-liberal East Coast cities.

It's interesting, isn't it, how ALL of this organization's available dogs just happen to be young/puppy, and fluffy, and small? And they're all cross breeds like Maltese+Poodle, Shih Tzu+Yorkie, Papillon+Chihuahua? Gosh, I wonder how that coincidence happened?!?

NP. Many adoption centers, even HRA (WARL), get animals from out of town and even up and down the coast. The streets of DC don’t have enough adoptable strays to meet demand. Other areas have too many strays. And yes, they all take the cute, “adoptable” dogs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you ever attended a spay neuter clinic for unwanted cats and dogs? I have as a rescue worker. It takes the vet tech about 10 mins to spay/ neuter. Even spay they do in 10 minutes. They crate them up and it’s an assembly line. It doesn’t kill them — they know what they’re doing. It’s a different world than when you take your beloved pet to the veterinarian. It doesn’t cost $400 either.

How do we find one? We don’t have a pet currently, but I am bugged that our vet quoted $400 for a spay.

These guys are doing it for humane reasons but there is an organization called SPAY that will give you a half price voucher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

We adopted our three dogs (from the same litter) VERY easily from a rescue in Greenville, SC. They typically rescue small dogs from kill shelters and they always have super cute dogs (and also cats) available. This group transports them to the Northern VA area and other states along the East Coast. Just an FYI for anyone looking for an easier, and cheaper, adoption!

https://www.facebook.com/Purrs-Paws-and-Claws-98142587083/

Wow, this organization is precisely the poster child for the NYT article cited in the OP about slightly sketch organizations that move animals from the South to the bleeding-heart-liberal East Coast cities.

It's interesting, isn't it, how ALL of this organization's available dogs just happen to be young/puppy, and fluffy, and small? And they're all cross breeds like Maltese+Poodle, Shih Tzu+Yorkie, Papillon+Chihuahua? Gosh, I wonder how that coincidence happened?!?

Perhaps you should put a little effort into your research before disparaging a group based on your cursory look at their Facebook page. Of course there are shady organizations, but that doesn't mean that every single rescue is buying puppies from a mill or doing something sketchy. "All" the dogs are not cross breeds and not "all" are young, fluffy, or small. They do tend to take smaller dogs more frequently (as it's easier to care for small animals than large ones), but they also have larger dogs and ones that have suffered injuries or have significant health issues. They also rescue cats and other animals. This organization works with reputable rescues/shelters in South Carolina and does many local adoptions as well.

While I don't work for this group or feel personally offended, I do think it unfair to slander a rescue with unfounded accusations.

[Anonymous]

Sorry. I think the poster was right on.

[Anonymous]

The Washington Post did a good article last year about the link between puppy mills, auctions, and rescues.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/investigations/dog-auction-rescue-groups-donations/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We adopted our three dogs (from the same litter) VERY easily from a rescue in Greenville, SC. They typically rescue small dogs from kill shelters and they always have super cute dogs (and also cats) available. This group transports them to the Northern VA area and other states along the East Coast. Just an FYI for anyone looking for an easier, and cheaper, adoption!

https://www.facebook.com/Purrs-Paws-and-Claws-98142587083/

I guarantee those super cute and small puppies came from a puppy mill. From mill to shelter from shelter to shelter to finally DC.

Why on earth would a puppy mill go through the time, expense and trouble to breed puppies only to give them away to rescue shelters who then spay and neuter them? That would make zero sense.

What happens is people find strays, don't spay/neuter them and then those dogs have puppies. Rinse, repeat. Rescues spay and neuter their animals. When a stray is brought in the animal is vaccinated, dewormed if necessary and spayed/neutered. That is what your adoption fee helps to cover.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I realize what I wrote was very petulant and full of butt hurt and I apologize. I continue to financially support a few DC rescue groups that I respect, because I appreciate what they do is valuable and difficult.

Weirdly, one of these groups is one that I cited in my OP, the one with the bait/switch, 2-cat minimum that wasn't mentioned to me until pickup day. That came down to the poor decision of one individual and I realize a group with a good mission is bigger than any individual.

But. I'm being truthful about all the $h!t I've dealt with during multiple adoption attempts, both for cats and dogs. I'm not being "dramatic." I am a near-perfect dog and cat owner due to my experience, flexibility, fenced yard, financial and job situation (and lack of small children .

Thinking about it some more, and taking certain PPs comments to heart, I think the problem on my end is that I do have a handful of non-negotiable requirements for adopting a dog OR a cat. I don't just show up and the shelter and say "Just give me what you've got today, thanks." That would certainly make things simpler, like some PPs examples suggest.

Apparently, there are differing opinions no that. A little self-reflection might be in order.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you ever attended a spay neuter clinic for unwanted cats and dogs? I have as a rescue worker. It takes the vet tech about 10 mins to spay/ neuter. Even spay they do in 10 minutes. They crate them up and it’s an assembly line. It doesn’t kill them — they know what they’re doing. It’s a different world than when you take your beloved pet to the veterinarian. It doesn’t cost $400 either.

How do we find one? We don’t have a pet currently, but I am bugged that our vet quoted $400 for a spay.

These guys are doing it for humane reasons but there is an organization called SPAY that will give you a half price voucher.

Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Totally agree. The volunteers are incompetent and communication is terrible. The paperwork is redundant and the entire process is made unnecessarily complicated. I've been trying since December to adopt from and have had the dogs I applied for go to the fosters twice without telling me until the day before the adoption.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Same OP. All of the rescue dogs we considered (we wanted a small one) would not adopt to families with children under 10.

why do you think that is? Do you think it's just arbitrary or random? Or do you think they get a lot of dogs returned from families that didn't fully appreciate how hard adding a dog to a family would be?

These rescues run like insurance companies. Sure: you may be the young adult male who does not get into an accident, but the odds say that you will be.

Try not to let your feelings cloud your understanding

[Anonymous]

What do you think the Penn/Ohio/Missouri puppy mills do with all of their unwanted puppies? Sell them to rescue groups, of course. And while it may be good for the individual dog to be bought and "rescued" at an auction, this practice creates a seller's market and encourages the puppy mills to produce more litters.

On another note, we got our wonderful spaniel mix from Lost Dog and Cat. I would highly recommend them! But black marks against A Forever Home and HART for a number of unsavory practices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Weird - not our experience at all - I think we had our cats the day after we applied. And our rescue group will even place them short term if we go out of town for a few days and need a sitter.

But it is even stupider and inhumane to go to a breeder for a cat than a dog as none of the asinine excuses offered up on here for why people need a purebred apply to cats and many more cats than dogs are euthanized every year.

So please try a little harder - it is not hard to get a cat or two.

I'm actually surprised and how hard it was for my life-long cat owning MIL to get a cat from a rescue. She ended up happening upon a cat litter while on vacation and the owner gave her the runt for free.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Same OP. All of the rescue dogs we considered (we wanted a small one) would not adopt to families with children under 10.

why do you think that is? Do you think it's just arbitrary or random? Or do you think they get a lot of dogs returned from families that didn't fully appreciate how hard adding a dog to a family would be?

These rescues run like insurance companies. Sure: you may be the young adult male who does not get into an accident, but the odds say that you will be.

Try not to let your feelings cloud your understanding

I think PP understands that. The point is that if you have kids, you probably will have to go to a breeder.

[Anonymous]

We worked with various rescues in the area to get our dogs and although they had some requirements, we never had challenges meeting them. Not all rescues are involved in this "puppy mill perpetuation" scheme that's been posted about above. The rescues we've gotten have been older dogs who were dumped in kill shelters or found running on the side of the road. They certainly weren't purchased and they certainly weren't first on anyone's list. OP, depending on what you're looking for, I'd echo the recommendation to keep looking. There are a number of reputable - and normal! - rescue groups out there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We adopted our three dogs (from the same litter) VERY easily from a rescue in Greenville, SC. They typically rescue small dogs from kill shelters and they always have super cute dogs (and also cats) available. This group transports them to the Northern VA area and other states along the East Coast. Just an FYI for anyone looking for an easier, and cheaper, adoption!

https://www.facebook.com/Purrs-Paws-and-Claws-98142587083/

I guarantee those super cute and small puppies came from a puppy mill. From mill to shelter from shelter to shelter to finally DC.

Why on earth would a puppy mill go through the time, expense and trouble to breed puppies only to give them away to rescue shelters who then spay and neuter them? That would make zero sense.

What happens is people find strays, don't spay/neuter them and then those dogs have puppies. Rinse, repeat. Rescues spay and neuter their animals. When a stray is brought in the animal is vaccinated, dewormed if necessary and spayed/neutered. That is what your adoption fee helps to cover.

The shelters buy those animals from puppy mills at auctions. That is what your adoption fee helps to cover (and the transport from state to state). It's a total scam.