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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Please don't paint all rescue organizations with this broad brush. There are many reputable rescues out there whose volunteers work more tirelessly than you know.

Become a volunteer and you will see what I'm talking about. I've done some fairly light work (by comparison) with a rescue group and I have spent my own money on food, toys, cleaning products for those animals. Most volunteers donate both their money and time; many open up their homes to these animals. They operate on a shoestring tight budget and are some of the most frugal people I have ever met. They really know how to stretch a dollar to give the greatest benefit possible to the animals in their care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why not just go to your county shelter?

I agree w/this.

Not only will you be saving a life, but it will probably be an easier time to adopt.

Please try.

[Anonymous]

The ugly truth is coming out bit by bit.

[Anonymous]

The rescue people justify buying dogs from mills to save them. The don’t fully realize that they are building a market. Then they hire some other folks to donate and take care of the dogs. Layers and layers because it is SO profitable. You might as well cut out the middle man and get a dog from a breeder. It’s come full circle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The rescue people justify buying dogs from mills to save them. The don’t fully realize that they are building a market. Then they hire some other folks to donate and take care of the dogs. Layers and layers because it is SO profitable. You might as well cut out the middle man and get a dog from a breeder. It’s come full circle.

+1 The rescues often think they are doing a good deed by "saving" these dogs from the auction. And sure, it is helpful for those individual dogs. But the rescues don't realize that they are just incentivizing the puppy mills to breed more and more puppies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The rescue people justify buying dogs from mills to save them. The don’t fully realize that they are building a market. Then they hire some other folks to donate and take care of the dogs. Layers and layers because it is SO profitable. You might as well cut out the middle man and get a dog from a breeder. It’s come full circle.

+1 The rescues often think they are doing a good deed by "saving" these dogs from the auction. And sure, it is helpful for those individual dogs. But the rescues don't realize that they are just incentivizing the puppy mills to breed more and more puppies.

I don't know which rescues buy dogs. All I can say is that I've never seen it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Please don't paint all rescue organizations with this broad brush. There are many reputable rescues out there whose volunteers work more tirelessly than you know.

Become a volunteer and you will see what I'm talking about. I've done some fairly light work (by comparison) with a rescue group and I have spent my own money on food, toys, cleaning products for those animals. Most volunteers donate both their money and time; many open up their homes to these animals. They operate on a shoestring tight budget and are some of the most frugal people I have ever met. They really know how to stretch a dollar to give the greatest benefit possible to the animals in their care.

All of this can be true and yet the dogs can still be traced back to puppy mills. I think there are genuinely good rescue organizations that have no idea they are being hoodwinked for some of their dogs.

Look, there is no question that rescue is fueling puppy mills and auctions. Read the Washington Post article, or the book referenced above.

[Anonymous]

OP- try Lost Dog. They have older dogs and they tell you where the dog came from.

[Anonymous]

I agree with this post. I went to the Alexandria shelter recently to donate needed items and shared with the staff that I rescued a dog 13 years ago from this shelter, but she passed away over the winter. I requested to walk two dogs, neither of which had been walked, according to their walk log that day. Nope. Unless I was planning to adopt a dog that day, I couldn't visit or walk the dogs. "It's too stressful for the dogs."

Being in shelter that smells like urine, living on a concrete floor, with a dog in the kennel next door that barks 24/7 is not stressful?

Previously was told my fenced, 1/3-acre back yard was not sufficient for adoption after a 30-minute analysis of my back yard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Please don't paint all rescue organizations with this broad brush. There are many reputable rescues out there whose volunteers work more tirelessly than you know.

Become a volunteer and you will see what I'm talking about. I've done some fairly light work (by comparison) with a rescue group and I have spent my own money on food, toys, cleaning products for those animals. Most volunteers donate both their money and time; many open up their homes to these animals. They operate on a shoestring tight budget and are some of the most frugal people I have ever met. They really know how to stretch a dollar to give the greatest benefit possible to the animals in their care.

All of this can be true and yet the dogs can still be traced back to puppy mills. I think there are genuinely good rescue organizations that have no idea they are being hoodwinked for some of their dogs.

Look, there is no question that rescue is fueling puppy mills and auctions. Read the Washington Post article, or the book referenced above.

The volunteers may not know, but the people who run the organization are aware that they are buying dogs from breeders. If they choose to believe this is a good deed that does not perpetuate the cycle of producing new dogs, well they are in some strong denial.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why not make it a law that all cats and dogs have to be spayed and neutered. If you want them to procreate you need a license for that. End of puppy mill.

I don't disagree that they could (and should) do this, but it won't stop puppy mills. Too hard to enforce.

[Anonymous]

I just want to repeat that while I do agree with a lot of the issues that have arisen from rescues, there ARE still good organizations out there. There are ways to truly help some helpless animals. Just an example would be adopting an animal after a major hurricane, or something along those lines. Obviously that doesn't mean walking in and picking out a pet on your timeline, but just throwing out the reminder that all is not lost.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've been ghosted at the very last minute of the dog adoption process. I've been lectured and told I'm not good enough by people with a fraction of my cat experience. I've suffered the bait-and-switch (You can adopt Gizmo! [drives to pick up Gizmo]. Ok, you can still adopt Gizmo today BUT he must be adopted with a 2nd cat, which we totally neglected to mention until just now when you arrived here).

I'm not even going to get into the outright lies about breed — i.e., every pit bull is relabeled a "Lab mix" in the District.

For the past several years I have tried, genuinely tried, to adopt from a DC-area rescue. I even sought out elderly animals with known health issues! I'm done. And don't you dare try to shame me because I don't want to take in the 150-lb Husky-pit mix instead of the small decrepit terrier that works better with my existing pets. I will still donate to you all, though

Turns out I'm far from alone:

Everyone Wants a Rescue Dog. Not Everyone Can Have One.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/29/sunday-review/adopt-rescue-dog-south.html

I could have written this! Although we did eventually get our little guy from a now defunct, smaller, breed specific rescue.

We got hit with the bait and switch. We got dinged because we didn’t have a yard (never mind the fact that we adopted a 5 lb dog that really shouldn’t be in the backyard by himself anyway). We got dinged because I worked outside of the home (even though my husband was in grad school). Also noticed the “lab mixes” which honestly is particularly troubling to me as if you are a renter you may have actual prohibitions on having a pit. These people are nuts and when I get another dog in 10+ years I will prob just go to a breeder.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've been ghosted at the very last minute of the dog adoption process. I've been lectured and told I'm not good enough by people with a fraction of my cat experience. I've suffered the bait-and-switch (You can adopt Gizmo! [drives to pick up Gizmo]. Ok, you can still adopt Gizmo today BUT he must be adopted with a 2nd cat, which we totally neglected to mention until just now when you arrived here).

I'm not even going to get into the outright lies about breed — i.e., every pit bull is relabeled a "Lab mix" in the District.

For the past several years I have tried, genuinely tried, to adopt from a DC-area rescue. I even sought out elderly animals with known health issues! I'm done. And don't you dare try to shame me because I don't want to take in the 150-lb Husky-pit mix instead of the small decrepit terrier that works better with my existing pets. I will still donate to you all, though

Turns out I'm far from alone:

Everyone Wants a Rescue Dog. Not Everyone Can Have One.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/29/sunday-review/adopt-rescue-dog-south.html

I could have written this! Although we did eventually get our little guy from a now defunct, smaller, breed specific rescue.

We got hit with the bait and switch. We got dinged because we didn’t have a yard (never mind the fact that we adopted a 5 lb dog that really shouldn’t be in the backyard by himself anyway). We got dinged because I worked outside of the home (even though my husband was in grad school). Also noticed the “lab mixes” which honestly is particularly troubling to me as if you are a renter you may have actual prohibitions on having a pit. These people are nuts and when I get another dog in 10+ years I will prob just go to a breeder.

You can also get animals on Craigslist.

[Anonymous]

Another weird thing is that many of the same rescue groups are strident about how TNR (trap, neuter, release) is a “humane” way of managing feral cats. When you adopt a cat from a shelter, you’ll probably need to sign an agreement to keep the cat indoors (which I support). But some of the same groups that are refusing well-qualified OP a cat think it’s perfectly acceptable to manage colonies of sick, flea-ridden, freezing feral cats who ultimately die young when they’re hit by cars, die of disease, or get attacked by other cats or animals. So long as maybe 20-30% of the colony is spayed/neutered, because studies have shown that colony managers never manage to spay/neuter them all.