Which shelter is this, OP? Your post had several comments that clearly turned people (including me) off, including the fact that you aren't a big enough person to cool your jets so your dog doesn't have to suffer another night at a shelter. Yes, he's "safe," but he's in there with barking dogs and probably scared. So you have that on your conscience. But whatever, I guess.

If what you are saying is correct, I actually agree with you that it could be a hardship turned tragedy should a family lose its beloved dog and the dog wind up in a shelter, basically held hostage until they came up with a rather stiff bit of money. I'd be completely shocked to learn that there isn't more to the story here or this whole thing isn't made up. I can't imagine a shelter would actually refuse an animal to its owner if the owner pled true financial distress. I was a cat owner for many years and although she was strictly an indoor cat, she did get out once. Fortunately, I found her right away, but if she'd have gotten taken by a shelter with such a policy I don't know that I could have come up with 200 bucks in such a short period of time. She was my beloved pet, though, and I would not have slept until I'd have figured out a way to get her back. At the least, I would have been at the shelter, bawling my eyes out, begging for my animal in person.

There is something about this whole post that seems fishy to me. I don't think I believe you.

OP, I could care less about your dog, but, please post some of your other problems and annoyances. You
are such a loony bird that I'm sure your other gripes are fascinating.

They should charge you more than $200 just to have to deal with someone like you. You are such a hothead over this that you can't even go in and get your dog? You leave your dog in an unfamiliar place overnight (not to mention a stressful place filled with barking dogs) because you don't agree with the policy? EVEN IF the policy were complete BS, you're in the wrong for this alone.

Point number two: it's not a bunk policy. They have serious operating costs, they served as a haven for your dog when it went missing. They have to ID the dog, post the dog, answer your phone call, feed and water your dog, etc.

Point number three: you're wrong to leave your dog out unsupervised. Your bad. Stop blaming others. If neighborhood kids did it, it's still your fault for leaving your dog out there. At the very least, inspect your yard very thoroughly for ways the dog could have gotten out--digging under the fence, etc. Don't know your fence size or dog breed but also don't discount the idea that your dog could have jumped the fence, even if it was the first time.

You shouldn't have left your dog out in a yard. It was at-large and you should pay the fine. Forget the lock, try a crate next time.

Anonymous wrote:OP your dog didn't have a collar with tags?

Thats a good point. Where was the dogs collar and ID? Wow this just gets better and better.

OP your dog didn't have a collar with tags?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, calm down.

You have a legitimate gripe over their semantics.
You may even have a legitimate gripe over their overpopulation rule that gives you only a few days to fork over the filthy lucre.

But the fact is, they exist and were there to shelter your pet when it could have wandered off and be run over.
In that spirit, consider it a donation to a worthy but needy cause.

OP here. Thank you for taking the time to make a useful post that offers both empathy and a bit of chastisement (which I have no problem with when delivered in a way that is not rude and doesn't involve calling me a nasty bitch).

I agree that I will have to consider it a donation...I have little choice in the matter. But this definitely colors my perception of animal shelters. Contrary to what I'd previously believed, they are not in the business of saving animals and finding them homes.....not if it comes in the way of them making money. I just can't fathom the idea of a shelter choosing to KILL a dog rather than return it to its rightful owner. Nothing that anyone can say can really change my mind on this front. It's really reprehensible. Luckily I can afford this expense, but what about loving dog owners who don't have $200 within the few days they give you to recover? It's really a terrible, terrible policy.

Any responsible dog owner DOES have $200 - more than that actually - available, because at any given time a dog can need vet care, which easily runs $200 and up.

A dog owner who does not have $200 may love the dog, but is not responsible, and should not have taken on a dog to begin with.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Posted bad above so I will write it again:

Yes OP you are a nasty bitch! I am not an adolescent but an adult who is disgusted and shocked that someone would insult the work that animal shelters and the selfless people who work there do on a daily basis and the horrible things they see. I hope you come to your senses and realize what a terrible thing you have said. I would be ashamed.

You should be; save your hysteria.

I would never be ashamed because I would never say such a rude insulting comment like you did. Learn some humility and when you are wrong.

What "rude insulting comment" did I make?

OP all the arguments aside...do you really not see the good and sacrifice that people who work at animal shelters make? They do not get paid alot of money, they do not get much of any recognition for the important job they do on a I am beng se daily basis to save animals and you really do not understand how your comment is rude and insulting? Im being serious.

I don't understand how the kids got in your yard if the fence has a lock. How high is the fence? If someone could get into my yard that easily, I sure as hell wouldn't leave my dog out there for extended periods of time. Especially, if he is friendly. You do know that people steal dogs and use them for pit bull bait or sell them to laboratories, right?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your dog should not have been outdoors unsupervised.

You can speculate that the dog was let out of the yard on purpose, but this may or may not be so.

The shelter is completely within its rights to treat this as an at-large situation, and to charge you. They have provided you with a SERVICE, after all.

If I were you, I'd be racing there with money in hand, anxious to see my dog again and relieved to get her back. I cannot understand your reaction AT ALL.

Your inability to understand does not make my irritation and frustration less valid.

I think the "at-large" citation is complete BS and a way for them to get some money out of me. If they called it a fee for homing him, sure, but "at-large"? AND they didn't find him outdoors. Someone brought him in....so that makes their citation even more slimy and money-grubbing.

Of COURSE someone (some GOOD person who went OUT OF THEIR WAY) took him in. The shelter doesn't drive around looking for lost pets.

How do you define "at large" if this isn't it?

And WHY are you posting here instead of going to get your poor dog? In your shoes I couldn't bear to leave him there for another moment.

at large: at large(p): having escaped, especially from confinement; "a convict still at large"; "searching for two escaped prisoners"; "dogs loose on the streets"; "criminals on the loose in the neighborhood".

At-large would seem to indicate that they found the animal roaming around.

The shelter closed at 6PM.

It is entirely possible if not likely that someone DID find the animal roaming around.

You do not KNOW that someone took the dog out of your yard. You cannot know, because you weren't supervising your dog, as you should have been.