# Are restrictions on pet adoptions a net benefit for animals? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 21, 2009, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-restrictions-on-pet-adoptions-a-net-benefit-for-animals/514648 "2009-10-21T18:44:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2009, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-restrictions-on-pet-adoptions-a-net-benefit-for-animals/514648/41 "2009-10-24T18:38:57Z")
Oh, my mom had the most nervous and neurotic golden you’ve ever seen (we sadly lost him earlier this year very suddenly) but even so, he was _so_ good with children. Toddlers could do anything to him and he’d just stand there. And as much as we loved him, Rusty was a walking example of why puppy mills are bad. He came to the family through a rescue but who knows where he was before that. Poor guy. He did improve drastically when they left Louisiana; the daily storms and constant weather changes were the biggest problem for him. ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2009, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-restrictions-on-pet-adoptions-a-net-benefit-for-animals/514648/42 "2009-10-24T19:11:29Z")
I’ve been frustrated with trying to adopt a dog from breed rescues. It seems that they have a great deal of rules. You have to be local, because they want to visit your house. You must have a fenced backyard and you must not leave the animal alone (even adult dogs) for more than 4 hours during the workday. It’s kinda nuts, really. I’m interested in Boston Terriers so I sought out the one rescue that I’m eligible for (there isn’t one in Iowa, and other ones in neighboring states won’t adopt out of state). There was a very sweet-looking, but injured dog, but with an injury I thought I could manage (three legs). The woman was very rude to me. I emailed with some simple questions about eligibility requirements, and she wouldn’t even discuss it until I filled out the application. I filled out the whole application, got a confirmation, but she said she didn’t get it and to fill it out again. Keep in mind that this was a very long app with several essay questions (!) about how you plan to care for the dog. I asked her if she could just answer if I would even be eligible because there were a few points I wasn’t sure about, and she huffily responded yes, she’d CONSIDER the application but I needed to do it again. Also, I’d need to come and spend time with the dog (3+ hours away) a few times before she’d decide. Whatever, biatch. I’m not going to beg for your three legged dog. At this point I’m very likely to just buy a puppy because it’s just easier that way and I don’t like being treated like dirt when I’m trying to help out an animal. I can say that I watch the ads on Petfinder and it seems like their pets take a very, very long time to get adopted. Funnily enough, I adopted my cat for $20 and no third degree. I went to a rural animal shelter and they were thrilled that I was willing to adopt an adult. He hadn’t been adopted for 7+ months because he needs the “sensitive stomach” food and people figured he was sick, but he’s not, he just needs fiber or something. Also he drools when he gets really excited, which he was pretty much anytime he was handled by prospective owners, because he was so lonely. Turned out to be the best cat ever and nobody tried to treat me like a criminal. Took him with me the same day. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-restrictions-on-pet-adoptions-a-net-benefit-for-animals/514648/43 "2009-10-26T18:06:12Z")
> [@Walton\_Firm](#): > > What if the alternative is a 100% chance of the pet being killed tomorrow in the shelter’s gas chamber? Which choice do you think the pet would prefer, if it could understand statistics? Would you really kill a thousand animals, 999 of which could have gone on to lead perfectly happy lives, in order to prevent the thousandth one from being abused? > > It is quite likely that in the long term, restrictions on pet adoptions (especially the neutering requirement) benefit the animals by reducing, over time, the number of animals that need to be adopted out in the first place. However, there can be little doubt that from the point of view of an individual animal which will be killed if not adopted, the answer to the question in the thread title is a clear “no”. And if overly restrictive policies simply cause people to visit puppy mills, then the long-term advantage is also rather dubious. No offense, but I was talking just about the owner-to-owner Craigslist posts that have a rehoming fee. If you read other posts I’ve written, I say that I agree with the OP. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-restrictions-on-pet-adoptions-a-net-benefit-for-animals/514648/44 "2009-10-26T19:00:10Z")
> [@zweisamkeit](#): > > No offense, but I was talking just about the owner-to-owner Craigslist posts that have a rehoming fee. If you read other posts I’ve written, I say that I agree with the OP. It still applies in that case. If no one adopts your pet then it ends up in a shelter (where it has a pretty significant chance of being euthanized). In either case you want to do your best to make sure the pet doesn’t end up in a completely unsuitable home, but at the end of the day its the adopter that doing you a favor, not the other way round. A token “rehoming” fee doesn’t seem to unreasonable, but charging $100 for someone to take an unwanted pet off your hands is not justified (its not like your paying for the shots+neutering of the pet just so it can adopted, like a shelter is). ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-restrictions-on-pet-adoptions-a-net-benefit-for-animals/514648/45 "2009-10-26T19:12:25Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > It still applies in that case. If no one adopts your pet then it ends up in a shelter (where it has a pretty significant chance of being euthanized). > > In either case you want to do your best to make sure the pet doesn’t end up in a completely unsuitable home, but at the end of the day its the adopter that doing you a favor, not the other way round. > > A token “rehoming” fee doesn’t seem to unreasonable, but charging $100 for someone to take an unwanted pet off your hands is not justified (its not like your paying for the shots+neutering of the pet just so it can adopted, like a shelter is). I didn’t say I _agreed_ with larger re-homing fees. In my first post regarding them, I just explained why owner-to-owner posts will often have them (whether or not the horror story that might happen is likely or not). I then said that I can understand the amount of the re-homing fees that _others_ would ask for, based on that reasoning. _If_ someone is told to do a rehoming fee because Precious Fluffiekins may be picked up for dog fighting or animal research if they say ‘free to good home’, I can understand them putting a rehoming fee. I didn’t say that the reasoning was sound or even that the bad bad consequence is really going to happen. All I’m saying is that when affection and love are involved (like love for a pet that has to go), cold logic and rationality don’t always prevail. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-restrictions-on-pet-adoptions-a-net-benefit-for-animals/514648/46 "2009-10-26T21:03:03Z")
Some rescue oragnizations were displaying their kittens at PetCo. I found a cute little striped one, and started to fill out the form. But- horrors!- I said that I would let my cat outdoors. The interview was pretty much over. I found another organization- no cats, just volunteers hanging around the store- called NFFAR. They are amazing people. I got my Tikva from them, and I’ve become good friends with the woman who runs it. _She_ doesn’t make people go through insane hoops- she visits you and has a talk and makes up her mind. Oh, and the indoor-outdoor thing? Tikva is a scaredy-cat, and is perfectly happy being indoors all the time. Her choice. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-restrictions-on-pet-adoptions-a-net-benefit-for-animals/514648/47 "2009-10-26T21:39:38Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > Some rescue oragnizations were displaying their kittens at PetCo. I found a cute little striped one, and started to fill out the form. > > But- horrors!- I said that I would let my cat outdoors. The interview was pretty much over. > > I found another organization- no cats, just volunteers hanging around the store- called NFFAR. They are amazing people. I got my Tikva from them, and I’ve become good friends with the woman who runs it. _She_ doesn’t make people go through insane hoops- she visits you and has a talk and makes up her mind. > > Oh, and the indoor-outdoor thing? Tikva is a scaredy-cat, and is perfectly happy being indoors all the time. Her choice. Yeah, I can understand having _reservations_ about someone who would let their cat outside (if indoor is their philosophy), but there shouldn’t be one single thing\* that automatically disqualifies you from adopting. It’s like zero tolerance policies; it just means they don’t have to think critically. :: grumbles about dog rescues that want someone home at all friggin’ hours of the day :: - other than, “oh yeah, I plan to abuse and torture this animal 24/7”. ---
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-restrictions-on-pet-adoptions-a-net-benefit-for-animals/514648/48 "2009-10-26T22:49:26Z")
I volunteered at both the Humane Society of South MS and the Baton Rouge Animal Control & Rescue. The only place I helped clients and did anything involved adoptions was in BR; in MS I mostly washed dirty linens and socialized cats. Anyway, in BR their policy was to keep an adoptable animal as long as possible, and there were some dogs that had been there for a year or more waiting for an owner. They didn’t euthanize lightly. Adoptions are sort of tricky things to arrange – I would talk to a potential owner, find out what they were looking for in a dog, and try to introduce them to a dog that would fit their lifestyle. Some people came in looking for a specific breed, or a small/medium/large dog, a quiet dog, a dog that liked kids, a dog that got along with other dogs, etc. The form the potential adopter filled out was fairly short and they could pick up the animal that day (if neutered already) or after the animal was neutered (and it would be scheduled for neutering immediately upon being selected for adoption). They did charge the $75 fee, but that went to covering the cost of microchipping, shots, and neutering. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-restrictions-on-pet-adoptions-a-net-benefit-for-animals/514648.md?page=2)