# I pit overzealous pet shelter rules **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 18, 2011, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-overzealous-pet-shelter-rules/568130 "2011-01-18T22:10:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-overzealous-pet-shelter-rules/568130/121 "2011-01-19T23:24:54Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Eh? > > Doesn’t make much sense. If you want to hoard animals why pretend to allow adoptions? > > Most of the ones we’d recognize such as the Humane Society or Anti Cruelty Society are legitimate organizations, their policies for adoption clearly laid out and they truly want to find cats and dogs good homes. > > It’s a big world so I suppose there may be some weird “organizations” doing odd things but on the whole I think adoption agencies want to see the animals in good homes. Tax deductions. If you operate an animal shleter, any money you donate to that shelter is tax deductible. People will donate money to you, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-overzealous-pet-shelter-rules/568130/122 "2011-01-19T23:30:36Z")
> [@Dogzilla](#): > > This doesn’t make sense to me. The puppies you buy in mall pet stores do not come pre-spayed or neutered. You still have to take it to the vet and pay for that surgery. Generally, they might have had some of their early shots, but there are still rounds of immunizations you have to give at an older age. Pet store dogs are not completely pre-vaccinated either. > > So what you are telling me is it’s such a PITA to get a rescued dog that comes pre-vaccinated, pre-spayed/neutered, and could also possibly be pre-housebroken that it’s much easier and more convenient to purchase a puppy mill dog for which you still have to take to several veterinary appointments and spend another few hundred dollars getting it in the same shape as the rescue dog? > > Ohhhhhkay. Good luck with that puppy. Once again its not the money. Please forget anything I EVER said about the money. Its the PITA. There I said it. It had to be said. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-overzealous-pet-shelter-rules/568130/123 "2011-01-19T23:34:20Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > What? You think that the right place to put an unsocialized Pit mix is with an intact male and no fenced-in yard? Did I misunderstand? WTF are they doing with an intact male? Do they have any idea of the energy level of a Pit Bull? Do you? > > I recently adopted a Pit Bull (out of necessity, to save his life) and there is absolutely no way I could have made it work without a fence. This boy is 100% muscle and his throttle is stuck on _balls to the wall_. If I couldn’t boot him out of the house several times a day one or both of us would go crazy. I had a lil rascals pit bull when I was growing up and that had more towing capacity than my first car. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-overzealous-pet-shelter-rules/568130/124 "2011-01-19T23:35:28Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > You guys have ceased to make any sense, and are now arguing for the sake of having the last word. You’re right, we should move this to great debates where that sort of stuff is SUPPOSED to happen. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-overzealous-pet-shelter-rules/568130/125 "2011-01-20T00:14:26Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > I had the same issue. In my case, the wanted me to promise that I would never give up the dog. That strikes me as a somewhat different issue from the one **curlcoat** mentioned. Interpreting a promise never to give up a rescued dog (who’s being adopted sight unseen, no less) as an unacceptably binding commitment due to the uncertainties of family/pet interactions seems quite reasonable. ISTM that you probably judged rightly when you decided that that was too much for you to honestly promise about that dog at that point. Interpreting a promise never to let a rescued kitten go outside as a cast-iron guarantee that NO human error or unforeseeable mishap will EVER occur that might result in the kitten’s accidentally getting on the wrong side of an outer door for ANY length of time at ANY moment in its ENTIRE lifetime, on the other hand, seems… well, let’s just go with “scrupulously hyper-conscientious” and leave it at that. > [@Damuri Ajashi](#): > > If there is such a disparity in the number of dogs avaialble at shelters across the country, why doesn’t some worthy charity redistribute from palces where there are a lot to places where they end up euthanizing anything that isn’t a cute little puppy? Hear hear. I’m sure it would be somewhat costly, but I don’t see why at least the national organizations like ASPCA couldn’t coordinate something like that among their shelters. Maybe some of them do and I just don’t know about it, or maybe there are other obstacles in the way. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-overzealous-pet-shelter-rules/568130/126 "2011-01-20T00:38:29Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > If there is such a disparity in the number of dogs avaialble at shelters across the country, why doesn’t some worthy charity redistribute from palces where there are a lot to places where they end up euthanizing anything that isn’t a cute little puppy? They do, to some extent. Just this last week my mother looked into adopting a 10 month old Weimaraner that had been sent up here from a shelter in Louisiana. (Apropos enough, after some research I was against it, pretty sure that it wasn’t going to be a good fit for her, and in any case it was moot as he had already been adopted when she went to get a look at him.) ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-overzealous-pet-shelter-rules/568130/127 "2011-01-20T01:07:34Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Well, it sounded to me as though you were being scrupulously hyper-conscientious (or jerkishly nitpicky, depending on one’s viewpoint) in your interpretation of that “guarantee”: > > If I fully intended to do everything reasonably in my power to make sure that the kitten would never get outside for the rest of its life, I would not consider it a “lie” to promise the agency that the kitten would never get outside for the rest of its life. So I would have filled out the paperwork and got the kitten. > > But then, I’m clearly not as scrupulously hyper-conscientious (or jerkishly nitpicky, depending on one’s viewpoint) as you are. I’m sorry that you consider not wanting to lie to be “scrupulously hyper-conscientious or jerkishly nitpicky” but since they wanted me to sign a document attesting to that lie, I decided I would go someplace else. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-overzealous-pet-shelter-rules/568130/128 "2011-01-20T01:18:00Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Interpreting a promise never to let a rescued kitten go outside as a cast-iron guarantee that NO human error or unforeseeable mishap will EVER occur that might result in the kitten’s accidentally getting on the wrong side of an outer door for ANY length of time at ANY moment in its ENTIRE lifetime, on the other hand, seems… well, let’s just go with “scrupulously hyper-conscientious” and leave it at that. Ah, that’s your problem, you are interpreting what I said the way you want, not the way it was. However, the paperwork did essentially say what you just listed there - that the undersigned guaranteed that the kitten would never be outside at any time during it’s life or they would come take it back, blah blah blah. I’m not signing something as unrealistic as that. BTW, the shipping of shelter pets happens all the time. We get them here from the streets of Mexico - or we did. Rabies was recently discovered in one or two of these dogs after they had been adopted, so that may have put a stop to it. Another problem with doing this is it skews the numbers for any given area - it makes the greater LA area look like it has a much bigger problem with unwanted dogs than it actually does. Same with counting feral cats in overall numbers. OTOH, if shelters want to keep getting money from their cities and counties, they have to keep moving pets thru the doors. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-overzealous-pet-shelter-rules/568130/129 "2011-01-20T01:36:25Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > you are interpreting what I said the way you want, not the way it was. However, the paperwork did essentially say what you just listed there Make up your mind. Did the adoption paperwork require you to “state that the kitten would never get outside for the rest of it’s life”, as you claimed at first, or did it require “a cast-iron guarantee that NO human error or unforeseeable mishap will EVER occur that might result in the kitten’s accidentally getting on the wrong side of an outer door for ANY length of time at ANY moment in its ENTIRE lifetime”, as you’re now claiming? Because the two convey quite different impressions of what the adoption agency was actually asking you to promise. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-overzealous-pet-shelter-rules/568130/130 "2011-01-20T01:58:31Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Make up your mind. Did the adoption paperwork require you to “state that the kitten would never get outside for the rest of it’s life”, as you claimed at first, or did it require “a cast-iron guarantee that NO human error or unforeseeable mishap will EVER occur that might result in the kitten’s accidentally getting on the wrong side of an outer door for ANY length of time at ANY moment in its ENTIRE lifetime”, as you’re now claiming? > > Because the two convey quite different impressions of what the adoption agency was actually asking you to promise. :rolleyes: Speaking of jerkishly nitpicky… There really isn’t that much difference, except apparently in your mind. How do you think indoor only cats get outside if not thru a door or window left open accidentally? It was eleven years ago. My memory of the incident is that the paperwork stated something along the lines of my guaranteeing that the kitten would never get outside or they would come take it back. When I read this, I said something along the lines of “I don’t know how anyone can guarantee this - do you not adopt to people with husbands and children, ha ha?”. The person told me deadpan that I was expected to guarantee that not only would I never accidentally leave a door or window open, but that no one in the house ever would either. It was at that point I handed the paperwork back and told her good luck with that. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-overzealous-pet-shelter-rules/568130/131 "2011-01-20T02:16:59Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > My memory of the incident is that the paperwork stated something along the lines of my guaranteeing that the kitten would never get outside or they would come take it back. That is, they asked you to formally agree that if they ever caught you not being sufficiently careful to keep the cat from getting outdoors, they’d be within their rights to take the cat back. If you didn’t want to agree to that, fine by me, and as I said, I’m glad you successfully got a cat from an agency whose policies suited you better. But trying to portray it as a source of outrage over having been asked to “lie” about being “able to guarantee something no human can” still strikes me as… well, we left it at “scrupulously hyper-conscientious”, I believe. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-overzealous-pet-shelter-rules/568130/132 "2011-01-20T02:19:23Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > That is, they asked you to formally agree that if they ever caught you not being sufficiently careful to keep the cat from getting outdoors, they’d be within their rights to take the cat back. > . Wow, you are as bad as they were. How can you expect that someone could honestly say they would never made a mistake, for up to 20 years? ---
**Author:** ![Rumor\_Watkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@Rumor\_Watkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rumor_Watkins)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-overzealous-pet-shelter-rules/568130/133 "2011-01-20T02:22:08Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > Wow, you are as bad as they were. How can you expect that someone could honestly say they would never made a mistake, for up to 20 years? just let it go, curl… fluffy’s better off dead. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-overzealous-pet-shelter-rules/568130/134 "2011-01-20T02:53:26Z")
> [@Rumor\_Watkins](#): > > just let it go, curl… fluffy’s better off dead. Sigh, hopefully it didn’t come to that but sometimes I do wonder! ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-overzealous-pet-shelter-rules/568130/135 "2011-01-20T03:05:22Z")
> [@Rumor\_Watkins](#): > > just let it go, curl… fluffy’s better off dead. Speaking of just let it go…:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-overzealous-pet-shelter-rules/568130/136 "2011-01-20T03:16:08Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > I’m sorry that you consider not wanting to lie to be “scrupulously hyper-conscientious or jerkishly nitpicky” but since they wanted me to sign a document attesting to that lie, I decided I would go someplace else. When I got married my wife’s church (Catholic) made me promise that any children would be raised as Catholics (I am not Catholic hence them making me promise if I wanted to marry in their church). Been so long I forget but they may have made me sign something (as opposed to a mumbled “sure” from me). I seriously doubt they could have enforced that. No, I do not make promises lightly and yes, my (at that time future) wife had discussed this with me and I was willing to raise them in the Catholic church. Again though I doubt the Catholic church could have done a thing about it legally if we reneged. With a cat what do you expect them to do? Have surveillance outside the house to see if the cat ever gets out? I guarantee anyone who is in the business of adopting cats knows their nature well enough. I have had cats and sure as shit, sooner or later, your cat will bolt for the open front door and squeeze out. I doubt there is a cat owner in existence who has not experienced this (I never understood why but cats have a thing about closed doors). As such I doubt an adoption agency would be so anal as to hold someone that accountable. Mostly they want to know it will not be your policy to let the cat roam outside at will. Legal things being what they are they just say never. And again…do people here expect the agency to surveil every house they adopt a pet to in case it gets out once? ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-overzealous-pet-shelter-rules/568130/137 "2011-01-20T03:22:45Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#): > > I once tried like hell to get a dog from a rescue organization. Sent in the application, followed up with a phone call in a couple weeks. They were still sorting through applications and calling references. Let’s just say that this charade went on for months. I kept following up, offering to come visit, even offering to pay more than their standard fee or make an extra donation if they would expedite the process for me. They kept feeding me this line about reviewing applications and calling references. Finally I specifically asked if I should just give up on them and they said, “oh no, no you’re application is wonderful we want to come interview you.” Another month goes by and I’m still getting the runaround and finally, 3 months after sending the first application, I gave up on it. I have no idea what their game was, but the whole thing was quite maddening. I ended up getting a dog from someone on craigslist, which I considered a rescue in itself. I had a similar experience with an agency in Chicago - they sent me an application that made me think I was re-applying to grad school, and then gave me the runaround for a month. I ended up adopting from another shelter that was much more reasonable - go in, have an interview, fill in some forms, pay $80, and you can take your new pet home with you on the same day. I actually went to several shelters in my search for a cat, and one lady was definitely a bit wacky - she refused to let me adopt a kitten unless I promised to take two, and all her adult cats were pretty anti-social (she ran the shelter in her own home, which was basically a glorified cat farm). ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-overzealous-pet-shelter-rules/568130/138 "2011-01-20T03:36:14Z")
> [@HazelNutCoffee](#): > > I had a similar experience with an agency in Chicago - they sent me an application that made me think I was re-applying to grad school, and then gave me the runaround for a month. I ended up adopting from another shelter that was much more reasonable - go in, have an interview, fill in some forms, pay $80, and you can take your new pet home with you on the same day. > > I actually went to several shelters in my search for a cat, and one lady was definitely a bit wacky - she refused to let me adopt a kitten unless I promised to take two, and all her adult cats were pretty anti-social (she ran the shelter in her own home, which was basically a glorified cat farm). Do you remember the name of that agency? (just curious) A runaround for a month is nuts. The ACS in Chicago will put a hold on a cat or dog so the person can bring in other members of the family (which may take a day) but frankly 90% or more of all adoptions are finalized in an hour or two. At most an animal and its prospective owner wait a day as things like the lease are provided. The ACS doesn’t fart around though waiting or making a lengthy process out of it all. It is pretty efficient. Of course I cannot speak for all agencies. I have some experience with PAWS and they seem pretty good too. I agree a month is absurd. Not just for the human but leaving the animal in a cage for a month while they fart around is bogus. If they cared about the animal’s welfare this would not happen. As I said before, big country and I suppose it should not be surprising there are shitty “adoption agencies” out there. Stick with a reputable service and your experience should be pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![Rumor\_Watkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@Rumor\_Watkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rumor_Watkins)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-overzealous-pet-shelter-rules/568130/139 "2011-01-20T03:53:35Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Not just for the human but leaving the animal in a cage for a month while they fart around is bogus. If they cared about the animal’s welfare this would not happen. I know, you’d just kill them and spare them the tortuous life. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-overzealous-pet-shelter-rules/568130/140 "2011-01-20T04:09:33Z")
> [@Rumor\_Watkins](#): > > I know, you’d just kill them and spare them the tortuous life. A life of many twists and turns? Might not be so bad. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-overzealous-pet-shelter-rules/568130.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-overzealous-pet-shelter-rules/568130.md?page=8)