WTH? Animal Shelters in the US have out of dogs and are importing them from overseas?

[astro]

What the hell is this craziness? US shelters have "run out" of dogs and are importing them from overseas? So now animal shelters are defacto pet stores running an import trade.

Animal shelters in USA send away for more strays Many cities' pounds go overseas for homeless dogs

Marianna Massa wanted to help solve the problem of stray dogs in her ''own little way.'' So she adopted Peluso, a three-legged mutt.

She picked him out of a crowd at a shelter in Salem, Mass. But Peluso was no neighborhood stray. The terrier mix had been shipped 1,700 miles from Puerto Rico because Salem doesn't have enough strays to satisfy demand.

Peluso is part of a trend: Animal shelters in the USA are casting a wide net -- from Puerto Rico to as far as Taiwan -- to fill kennels.

Critics say many shelters have solved the stray problem in their own area -- but rather than shut down, they become de facto pet stores. Some charge more than $200 per adoption for imported dogs.

''Nobody's been watching this because nobody would have imagined that a hare-brained idea like this could ever get going,'' says Patti Strand, president of the National Animal Interest Alliance, a group that represents breeders, pet shop owners and others interested in animal welfare. ''That's why there are no laws on the books.''

In the past seven years, one organization in Puerto Rico has shipped more than 14,000 strays to the states for adoption. Shipments from other countries also appear to be increasing. Most imports are small to medium-size dogs popular among adopters.

Advocates of imports say their mission is to save street dogs, no matter where they are found, and to assist U.S. citizens who want to help homeless dogs.

[Lizard]

I love this:

Advocates of imports say their mission is to save street dogs, no matter where they are found, and to assist U.S. citizens who want to help homeless dogs.

Hmm. Think this might have something to do with that?

Some charge more than $200 per adoption for imported dogs.

I think it's very simple. People saw an end coming to their relatively easy jobs, and thought of a way to keep on going.

[astro]

Could a kindly mod please replace "have" in the thread title with "are".

[Duke]

That's particularly weird. My sister used to work in an animal shelter and there was certainly no shortage of stray dogs there.

Wouldn't there also be some concern about canine diseases being brought into the country by the stray dogs?

[StGermain]

That's certainly not the case here in Middle Tennessee. Our "shelters" are killing dogs by the thousands.

StG

[jack@ss]

We've got plenty of strays here in the Salt Lake valley too. The city/county shelters take animals for free, but the humane society actually charges (I believe) $20.00 per pet to take an animal in. About four months ago I was talking to an animal control employee who mentioned that most of the cats brought in are feral and not adoptable, which means they are automatically euthanized.

[Kat]

Why don't they get dogs from other shelters in nearby towns or other states first? Is it because they wouldn't be able to charge $200 for those?

[KarlGrenze]

What the $200 fee covers? Probably transportation (much of it), medical care required prior to bringing the animal, vaccinations, sterilizations, food... When you see all they have to pay, the amount they charge seeems a bit more reasonable.

My local no-kill shelter has an $85 fee for adopting cats or dogs. It is not a stretch for me to see $200 as a fee for pets being brought from overseas.

Canine diseases in Puerto Rico are similar to those in the United States (I think most diseases are pretty common worldwide, anyways). The dogs are vaccinated against lepto, parvovirus, rabies, probably bordatella, and perhaps something else. The dogs have to go through a veterinary examination before leaving the country, and I'm sure any animal considered sick would stay in the country until declared healthy.

[Athena]

When I lived in Boulder, CO, the local shelter there told me that they got puppies from New Mexico all the time. They had no problem adopting them out at all. Apparantly, there was a shortage of puppies in the local area, and many in New Mexico.

[Flashpaper Tiger]

Our dog (adopted as a 4 year-old adult) came from the Boulder Humane Society. According to the shelter workers, she was transported up from Santa Fe, NM.