shelter-tails:

spartathesheltie:

Unpopular opinion apparently, but can’t we all just at least entertain the idea that rehoming a pet isn’t the absolute worst thing you could possibly do? Can we at least be open to the possibility of rehoming – and I’m talking about rehoming, taking proper time to screen possible homes and picking the most suitable one, not dumping them anywhere – sometimes even being the best option, even (or especially) for the animal? That it does not automatically make you selfish and irresponsible?

Pet owners losing heart or ability is never ideal, and ideally shouldn’t happen but it does, life happens, shit happens, and I personally feel that it sometimes may be better to look for a new and better situation than forcing a bad one out of pride or stigma. Nobody should be trapped in unhappy circumstances. That goes for animals, too.

Even more unpopular opinion: bringing your animal to a shelter is a viable option. Shelters are no longer all depressing places where animals go to die. The animal welfare movement in America is moving away from a lot of the problems of our past and many shelters are decent options for rehoming.

Reasons you may choose to rehome through a shelter:

1. It’s often faster. When people are looking for an animal and they’re not going to a breeder, they usually look at shelters. People love to “rescue” animals, even if the animal in question is lacking any sort of tragic past. Adopting an animal from a shelter gives people warm fuzzies that they don’t get from getting an animal off craigslist or that they heard of through a friend. Having multiple adoptable animals in the same place also brings in more traffic. You may have one or two people interested enough to come to your house and meet your animal each week, but shelters can have hundreds of clients come through in that same period of time. That’s much more exposure for your animal to find a loving home.
2. Their health may be at risk. Some people are unable to safely or comfortably house an animal any longer. They may have developed allergies, or their allergies got worse. Maybe they have an autoimmune disorder that is aggravated by their animal, or they are undergoing a treatment that is dampening their immune system. For some people, keeping their animal in their home for the weeks or months it may take to find a new home simply isn’t an option.
3. Or: their safety or the safety of another member of the household may be at risk. Maybe your baby just started walking and it turns out your dog’s not okay with toddlers. Maybe two of your animals’ relationship has gone south and they are now getting in injurious fights. Housing the animal you need to rehome while looking for that new home may not be safe for the animal being rehomed or for someone else in the family. Bringing them to a shelter ensures the safety of the rest of the household.
4. Good shelters provide post-adoption support to an animal that the person rehoming them may not be able to provide. If you are thinking of rehoming your animal due to behavioral problems, consider whether doing so through a well-funded shelter would set your animal up for more success. Many shelters have training departments that will work with your animal during their shelter stay and then provide complimentary training to the new adopter. Being rehomed with a training package may prevent your animal from losing their next home, too. Even for those without behavioral issues, having an organization backing them up can be helpful. We’ll cover medical costs that arise shortly after adoption, all adoptions come with a gift of health insurance and food and basic preventative care. Many vets will waive their first exam fee for newly adopted animals if they come from a shelter, encouraging new adopters to develop a relationship with a vet right from the start.
5. Rehoming an animal yourself is emotionally exhausting and difficult. The fact of the matter is, giving up an animal you love or that you loved at one point is tough. Having the process dragged out over weeks or months, rather than getting closure right away, may be more than you can handle, and that’s okay. Find a good shelter and say your goodbyes. Which brings us to the next point:

Some shelters have more resources than others, so it’s important to do your research. If you live in rural Texas and your local shelter is not transferring their dogs out to another state, your animal probably has little chance in that shelter, but many shelters have abundant resources and great reputations.

Questions to ask:

1. What is your live release rate? Shelters track their live release rate, which is the percentage of animals that leave the building alive – they are adopted, returned to their guardian (such as strays being reclaimed), or transferred to another facility like a shelter with more resources or a rescue. Obviously, the higher the better. A low live release rate usually indicates a shelter with few resources and little community support. A shelter that is well supported and well funded, on the other hand, will have a high live release rate because they are only euthanizing a small percentage of animals. Which brings us to the next question.
2. What are your criteria for euthanasia? “No kill shelter” doesn’t really mean a shelter never euthanizes; never euthanizing, even when an animal was suffering an incurable condition, would be inhumane, as is keeping an unadoptable animal in a kennel for the rest of their life and watching their quality of life decline. Rather than asking if a shelter is a no kill shelter, ask what would be grounds for euthanasia. Some shelters have such high intake to adoption ratios that they are forced to euthanize for time or space. Your animal may be utterly delightful but simply not run out of time and be euthanized; avoid surrendering to a shelter like this unless they tell you they have an active transfer program (more on that in a sec.) Other shelters euthanize for severe medical or behavioral problems, such as a patterned history of aggression towards humans, or killing another companion animal. Others, generally rescues or limited admission shelters, euthanize only if the animal is suffering an incurable medical condition. This last category is selective in who they allow in. Either they have strict criteria for who they’ll take – only purebreds of a certain breed, without a bite history, etc – or they’ll have a waiting list of several months to years to surrender an animal. For many people, finding something like this isn’t a realistic option. If you select one of the other options, it’s worth asking if they offer a reclaim option. My shelter euthanizes for severe medical or behavioral problems, but we offer the chance to be notified that an animal is not an adoption candidate so you can take them back before they are euthanized.
3. Does this shelter participate in any transfer programs? In the US, many areas of the country have dramatically more resources than others. The south and rural communities, in particular, often have shelters that are underfunded, lack community support, and have low adoption rates. There are more stray animals than homes for them, and people looking for a pet generally have their pick of accidental puppies and kittens to choose from if they just ask around a little. Other areas, like metropolitan areas in New England, Colorado, and Washington, to name a few places, have more people looking for animals than the local area provides pets for. To remedy these problems, many low-resource shelters load their animals into vans and drive them to high-resource shelters. If a shelter is participating in a transfer program, it immediately tells you a lot about their success rates. Shelters that are transferring animals out are flooded with animals that they can’t find homes for; they may struggle to rehome your pet. Shelters who are transferring animals in have high adoption rates, lower rates of pet overpopulation, and can devote more time and resources to finding your pet a good home.
4. What sort of enrichment will my pet get during their stay? Some shelters lack volunteers or funding to do much with the pets in their care. Your pet will probably sit in their kennel most or all of the day, getting out only when a client asks to see them, and they may or may not have toys. Others have robust enrichment programs. Dogs at my shelter get three walks a day, a bed, toys, stuffed kongs, and playtime off leash in a large grassy yard. If they have behavioral concerns and are working with our training center, they get two training sessions a day in addition to or instead of their three walks. Cats get petted, brushed, played with, and many get to live in large rooms with shelving and perches to explore. While we of course hope your animal finds a home quickly, having enrichment in the meantime can make a big difference for their happiness and overall well-being.
5. What training methods do you use and promote? This is especially important if your pet has any existing behavioral concerns. Finding a shelter that uses and promotes science-based methods, positive reinforcement and thoughtful classical conditioning, will ensure that your pet is set up for success during their stay at the shelter, not pushed over threshold during training, and adopters will be counseled on appropriate ways of continuing training at home. Shelters that have enough resources to have a training department tend to be in metropolitan areas, which means there may be another shelter nearby. If you live in the Denver area, for example, and you don’t like that Longmont Humane promotes the use of aversives, bring your dog to the Denver Dumb Friends League.
6. What are your adoption policies? Some organizations, mainly breed-specific rescues, have stringent adoption criteria. They may require references, home checks, and conformity to a strict ideal. Others are open adoption facilities – they have few or no requirements and allow anyone to adopt if they are over 18 and can pay the adoption fee. Others are in between. Find out where they lie and make sure you’re comfortable with that

If you don’t like the answers to those questions, keep looking or consider rehoming on your own. But if you find a good shelter, one that you’re comfortable with their policies, it does not make you a bad person to surrender your dog to a shelter. You’re not “dumping” them or “abandoning” them: You’re giving them a chance at a new home that may be a better fit than what you can provide.