You do NOT need a $1000 dog.

The BBQ Pit
101

Whoah, stop right there. The bad shelter I talked about was also no-kill, and this is no coincidence. No-kill shelters can definitely do some good – they can take a little bit of pressure off of the real shelters in the community – but the risk is that they’re too often run by overly-emotional types (hush, hajario) who think more with their hearts than their heads. You’re likely to encounter people who have a save-the-animal-at-all-costs attitude at a no-kill shelter; paradoxically, by driving people away from shelter animals, they indirectly end up contributing to the euthanasia at the real, “kill” shelters in the community.

Would you research a restaurant by asking the employees whether the food is good? Of course not: you’d ask around. If you want to research a shelter, the best things to do are:

  1. Talk to local animal welfare groups about the shelter, get an idea of whether this specific group has a good reputation. If the animal welfare groups hesitate, or hem and haw, RUN AWAY.
  2. Talk to your veterinarian, or call a local veterinarian and ask them for an opinion.
  3. Check out the shelter. This one works best if you’ve got some familiarity with different shelters. If the cages are fairly clean, if the staff are friendly and treating the animals with respect, those are good signs. Find out their criteria for taking an animal in, and find out how many animals they get returned to them every year. Find out, as I said before, if they’re a member of petfinder, which will offer you some insurance. Find out what their policies are on aggressive or sick animals – ESPECIALLY at a no-kill shelter these are important.

You got burned, but only by a very bad shelter. Go to an open-access shelter, the kind that takes every animal in, and you’ll actually have a far better chance of getting a good animal. Best yet, talk to veterinarians and other people in the know in your community, and get the inside scoop.

Shelters are as different from one another as restaurants or car mechanics. Judging all shelters by a terrible experience at one is, to say the least, unfortunate.

Daniel

102

You know what’s weird? I think this was exactly the problem. We originally avoided going to the “pound” because I felt like the no-kill shelter would be a much cleaner, healthier environment. Now, years later, I’ve talked to people who have said they’d NEVER go to the shelter … but have adopted wonderful, health, loving pets from the local pound.

I should’ve talked with our vet … but on the other sides, I really did “ask around.” I talked with and asked questions to friends, family members, co-workers … just about anybody who would listen. The general attitude I encountered was, "No, I don’t have any experience with shelter/pound dogs … but you’d BETTER not buy a pure-bred! "

I’m just sharing an experience … again, I wish everyone the best in whatever choice they make.

103

Irish Rogue

I don’t doubt a word you say, becuase I know that some shelters are run horribly and the people in those shelters don’t really give a shit. It’s miserable for all involved.

My only point is that writing them all off because of one bad experience is doing a great disservice to the ones who are actually run by caring people with dogs’ best interest in mind.

104

Yeah – actually, this attitude is one that we work pretty hard to change. In fact, a lot of folks who work at open-access shelters really bristle at the name “pound.” Me, I don’t care so much – words is words – but a good open-access shelter helps literally an order of magnitude more animals than a good limited-access/“no-kill” shelter does. And a bad limited access shelter can be very bad indeed, as your experience shows.

I don’t mean to harp on you, but I just want people to be clear that it IS possible to avoid these experiences (or at least minimize them) by doing good research. Folks who say they have no experience with shelter/pound dogs probably aren’t going to offer the best advice on which shelter has the best policies and procedures. That’s why I advise talking to veterinarians and to other animal welfare groups – and probably prioritize talking to the vets.

I’m not blaming you for not doing so; prior to working at a shelter, it never would’ve occurred to me to do so, either. But shelter can be drastically different from one another, and vets are likely to have some good insight into these differences.

I’m very proud of the work our shelter does, and of the changes we’ve made in the last fourteen years: from being a shelter that got scathing reviews from HSUS, we’re now a shelter that is organizing a major, multi-state training conference for how to conduct adoptions programs. I hate seeing people turned off of shelter animals by a bad experience.

Daniel

105

That’s what I get for leaving my reply window up for 20 minutes. I see that my point was already made.

Sorry for what is seemingly a “me too” post.

106

What always gets me about these threads is just the total lack of logic to them. To wit:

Think of the animals! Animals need good owners, people who are smart, who care for them, who would never abuse them. That is… all animals who come from reputable breeders! Those poor puppies in the pet store that you know damn well doesn’t treat them properly… forget them. The ones from that couple whose mutt came home pregnant and who had sketchy vet care… don’t get one of THOSE, we must MAKE A STAND against those BAD pet stores and irreputable breeders and puppy farms! DON’T try to give one of THOSE dogs a good home!

Reputable breeders are better than anything! Nobody who breeds their dogs because they found out that they could fill a need a make a little money is worth a SHIT. That middle age lady down the street who treats her dogs better than most people treat their kids and who also manages to bring up some darling, well behaved, well bred puppies is BAD because she doesn’t make you sign an agreement to get your pet fixed! Whereas those people over there - the “reputable breeders” over there with their shiny politically correct contract who show their dogs every weekend and who also skip out on the vet appointments for the less-than-perfect dogs, buy from THEM!

Don’t get a purebred! But do DO YOUR HOMEWORK. I’m sure you’ll find a mixed breed puppy that will miraculously grow up to fit into your small apartment! Or you can just pick up an adult down at the shelter - they’ll be SURE to tell you all about that dog, because they figured it all out in the 5 days he’s been there in that kennel, shocked because he’s not at home anymore, and in hiding because he’s not used to all the other dogs around.

I could go on and on…

What it comes down to is that yeah, the whole world would do better if every single one of us gave up everything but the bare minimum of food, clothing, and shelter and donated the rest of our funds to the starving kids all around the world, but few of us do that. It could be argued that having ANY animal is a luxury, given that a large number of North American and Western European pets live better than people in about half the world do. Still, I don’t see any of us giving up our kitties or our doggies. Those puppy mill puppies won’t disappear because you personally refuse to buy from a pet store - no matter HOW good that pet store might care for their animals. Don’t even start with me about how all pet stores are evil - they’re not. Not all reputable breeders are as reputable as they should be, either. And not all shelters are all that great - my local one does a piss-poor job of taking care of their animals, IMO.

Use some damn common sense when getting an animal. Do more than 5 minutes of research to see if the animal fits into your lifestyle. Don’t buy an animal that is obviously not healthy, unless you are one of those wonderful people who have the time, money, and inclination to want to nurse a sick animal back to health. If your local pet store takes better care of their animals than the local shelter, don’t rule it out. Don’t be bullied into taking a pet that doesn’t fit your lifestyle, even if it’s badly in need of a home. If you want a purebred, get one. If you want a puppy or kitten, get one. Just take care of it, OK? Bring it to the vet when it needs it. Feed it decent food. Figure out that animals require attention, time, and money.

steps off the soapbox and hugs her politically incorrect pet store Shiba and her breeder-bought pug puppy and thinks about her past pets that came from the shelters

107

Consider, Daniel, that in your job you are only seeing the worst of the worst. You won’t see people like me at your shelter because we’re the responsible ones who have raised good dogs and done all of the legwork to find the right dog for our household. Irresponsible dog owners who don’t take the guardianship of their animals seriously infuriate me too. My wife can’t go within two blocks of an animal shelter without bursting into tears. I understand your frustration. I don’t support pet shops that sell dogs or “backyard” breeders and agree that they are morally repugnant. Can’t you allow that there are some breeders that aren’t?

Haj

108

And right there you’ve just outlined the biggest problem with adopting an animal from a shelter: you CAN’T research the source, because you’re not dealing with the actual breeder.

Good shelters often do temperment testing, yes. But they can’t tell a prospective adopter if that cute 8-week old Akita/Lab mix is going to have an adult temperment more like an Akita’s or more like a Labrador’s - and for some people, that difference in adult temperment will be important. They can’t tell you whether that surrendered purebred poodle is likely to be free of sebaceous adenitis or progressive retinal atrophy, because they generally don’t know the animal’s bloodlines or what testing (if any) was performed on the sire and dam. They can tell you that that cute 6-month old German Shepherd/Chow Chow mix is healthy now - but they can’t rule out the possibility that the pup will develop crippling hip dysplasia by the time it’s 2 or 3 years old. (Hip dysplasia is rampant in both German Shepherds and Chow Chows; how likely is it that the person breeding a German Shepherd/Chow Chow cross has bothered to have both parents’ hips x-rayed and evaluated by OFA prior to the breeding taking place? How likely is it that they’ve even HEARD of hyp dysplasia, or OFA certification? Not likely at all, I’d say.)

Shelters can be a great place to pick up a pet IF you’re willing to be flexible on the issues of temperment type, overall size of the animal at maturity (iin the case of a puppy), and are willing to risk the possibility of the dog being affected by some of the more common canine genetic disorders. But not everyone is that flexible; those who aren’t should bypass the shelter and deal with a GOOD breeder (and be willing to do the work rquired to locate one).

109

My outrage toward breeders, at least this specific frustration, is actually not related to how they treat their animals. Obviously one that treats their animals badly is going to engender a whole other set of frustration in me, but that’s not what I’m talking about here.

My frustration probably stems from my inability to understand the desire for a purebred animal. When I decide to take a new animal into my life, it’s a major decision to accept a responsibility: I’m deciding that I have room in my life and in my home and in my heart for another creature, one that I’ll care for, nurture, and hang out with. I know for a fact that the local shelter has good, friendly, healthy animals that fit my vague criteria (i.e., they’re the right species, and they’re not freakishly longhaired); I don’t understand the “need” for a specific breed.

I choose a car off of performance records and safety; I choose an animal off of need and my ability to meet that need.

My frustration is that folks who make the decision to accept responsibility for another creature don’t turn to the creatures that actually need someone who makes that decision; instead, they turn to a breeder, who profits off that decision.

I’m feeling calmer than I did in my second post to the thread, and I’m sorry about being inflammatory and awful then.

Daniel

110

Irish Rogue, I’m sure there are other shelters out there. No-kill shelters are probably the worst about this sort of thing. If an animal is unadoptable, it will spend the rest of its miserable life in a cage at the shelter–thus, they often try to adopt out dogs that aren’t frothing mad because they can’t keep them and don’t want to kill them. No-kill places like to present the public image that they’re super-humane animal lovers and every animal has a right to live. . .ignoring the reality that they don’t, and shouldn’t. If a dog has been abused and shows any sign of aggression at all, the choices are 1) to put the ticking time bomb into a person’s (or family’s) home, 2) let it languish for years and years in a 4’ x 4’ kennel with inadequate attention or exercise, or 3) put it to sleep. It sounds like a no-brainer to me, but others would rather have people hurt or torture the poor creature for a decade or so until it finally dies some horrible “natural” death.

As far as shelters, are you set on “no-kill” for some reason? You keep saying it, and then you say things like “First off, there’s only one no-kill shelter in our area.” IMO, you’re much more likely to get a randomly snappy dog from a no-kill as opposed to a place that has fewer reservations about culling all but the safest dogs.

For the record, I’m not posting this in an attempt to change your mind, Irish Rogue. It’s obvious that you won’t, no matter what. I’m posting this only to provide another counterpoint and expression of ideas, so that anyone reading this thread and thinking of adopting a dog won’t take your approach and decide that all shelter dogs are too dangerous to risk. Just as many (most!?) breeders are irresponsible, there are certainly some shelters out there run by PETA-type goons who feel that the animals have top priority and consideration, humans-be-damned. Shelter Dogs, a nice documentary currently running on HBO, chronicles several months or so in the life of a shelter (NOT a no-kill), including a heart-rending tour of a “competing” no-kill shelter. IIRC, it even mentions scenarios similar to yours–a dog is returned to the no-kill shelter for aggression only to be adopted right back out again. Although the no-kill specific part of the show is only a few minutes, I think that’s the commentary of the piece as a whole. It’s not an easy decision to euthanize an animal. That reality is presented in stark and emotional detail. But just because decisions are difficult it doesn’t mean that we can avoid them.

By no means do I discourage buying purebred dogs (in the interest of full disclosure I have one myself) if that’s your thing. But you do need to make sure you buy from a GREAT breeder who is NOT DOING IT TO MAKE MONEY. A poorly bred “purebred” dog can be a roll of the dice as much as any shelter dog. Most of these recognized great breeders sell super-expensive show dogs, but not all pups in a litter are show-quality. . .the good breeders will often sell these pet-quality (only “pet-quality” because of imperfect gait, too big or too small, topline not perfect, etc. etc.) pups at quite a reasonable price to good homes.

I see on preview that Left Hand of Dorkness beat me to pretty much everything here. I took a long time to type this, though, so I’m posting it anyway damnit!

111

Yes, you can’t perform quite the same type of research. But you’ll note that I went into depth about the research you COULD perform, making your statement false.

Yes, getting an animal is not like getting a Subaru: you aren’t getting a known quantity. It’s a fundamentally different process. My objection is to treating it like you’re purchasing an object, rather than acquiring responsibility for a life.

Daniel

112

Personally, I don’t understand the difference between spending $3000 on a pure bred animal straight off or paying $3000 in the long run on your shelter/rescue animal.

Honestly, are you thinking of the animal or are you thinking to save yourself pain/sadness due to their potential illnesses, or even financial loss?

Would we treat our own family members, children or potential mates this way?

I believe that when you go looking for a new pet, a new family member, it is almost like looking for a soul mate. This animal will be your companion, hopefully, for a large portion of your life. Do the research, assess your needs and limitations. Then go look. And look everywhere you can. Go to breeders, go to shelters, etc. Don’t limit yourself. You may be surprised where you find “the one.”

However, until the pet population is under control, this debate will continue to be an issue. Something needs to happen. There are millions of feral cats in this country, not to mention all the unwanted shelter animals. I don’t know how to solve this problem. Breeders may need to cut back. People have got to spay and neuter their pets. We really need to adopt shelter animals. I hope one day there may be legislation to help solve this problem. Who knows what it would be though.

And just for the record, my family has owned two pure bred Boxers. One lived a terrible life, suffering from allergies to everything. Even our grass and trees. The other, Ali Girl, lived to be 12 and had no serious health problems.

Now I have several cats, all previously feral. And cats from the street can be more than fabulous. :slight_smile:

I just ask that you choose your pets well. Find one you will love just as much as he/she will love you - and that’s unconditionally.

113

Well … as a little background … in our area, there is one pound and one shelter. They seem to be fairly proud of their “no kill” status … and that, in fact, is what everyone here at work brow-beat me with. So, I apologize if I keep bringing it up … that’s just what everyone in my city refer’s to it as … “the no-kill shelter” vs. “the pound.”

I wasn’t really “set” on either … like I said, we wanted a pug and I was talking to breeders before the whole shelter isssue came up. I got the impression in speaking with many, many people … that locally a) the pound was dirtier and the dogs less healthy and b) the “no-kill shelter” took better care of their animals.

It was just a bad experience … and I didn’t mean to throw gasoline on the fire. Again, I’m sure 99% of the population have had wonderful experiences … I’m just not one of them.

114

Well, I got my dog from a breeder, and he’s not even a pure-breed.

As you said Left Hand, I was aquiring a responsibility for life - you better believe that I wanted a “guarentee” that my little ball of fluff wasn’t going to grow to be 100 lbs and eat my pet bunny at the first opportunity, all while distroying my 1,000 condo and refusing to poop in a litter pan. Hence I went to a breeder who not only guarentees temperment, size, disposition, etc, she’ll also take the dog back and either keep him herself or adopt him out to a family with different circumstances, ensuring that my pooch never winds up in your shelter.

Sorry, I just can’t bring myself to feel that bad about this, even though he was $500. (Which, I realize, is chum change in the purebread dog world.)

115

So what does this imply? No one should do anything? The puppies in the store won’t disappear, no. But it’s very shortsighted to say as much. Your money going into this chain is part of the problem. Unless you got your dog from a mom and pop dog store whom, as an aberration by Pet Store standards, does not get their puppies from mills – You are fueling this cycle with your dollars spent in pet stores. Maybe you’re ok with doing that; I certainly would not be.

We all agree that the human element can make a pet store, or a breeder, or a shelter a bad place. No one is arguing that. But most Pet Stores already start with two strikes against them. Even if all is well and the employees provide as much care and love as humanly possible, the bigger picture clearly shows that they are the ones who grease the machinery of puppy mills. As stated, some mom and pop pet stores may be exempt from this, but your average store in the mall is very likely a part of this gross chain. Studies I’ve read say that as many as 90% of puppies sold from retail pet stores come from puppy mills. So, no, they’re not all evil. But given those odds, I will look elsewhere when it’s time for my family to get another dog.

116

Sure - go ahead and buy one of those dogs, give it a good home. Now you’ve just encouraged the puppy mill to breed MORE dogs, since those dogs they bred earlier are selling and they’re making money. And you’ve encouraged the people who allowed their female mixed-breed dog to roam around while in heat to skip scraping up money for a spay, since they had no trouble disposing of all those cute puppies from her earlier litter.

When you buy animals from irresponsible breeders (of whatever sort), you perpetuate the problem of irresponsible breeding.

People who breed purebred dogs to “earn a little money” are generally skipping important health checks; they’re not breeders you want to be dealing with for that reason. Breeding good purebred dogs is expensive; very few breeders can make money doing it.

As for that little old lady - sure, her dogs are happy and well-socialized, but are they healthy? I’d really rather not buy a beautiful, well-socialized Cavalier King Charles Spaniel that’s going to develop end-stage heart disease by age 6 because the breeder didn’t bother to check to see that her sire and dam aren’t affected with mitral valve insufficiency. And where do you think the puppy millers get their breeding stock? In many cases, they get their dogs from people like that nice little old lady who don’t enforce spay/neuter contracts. All the puppy mills care about is that their stock has AKC papers.

If they’re skipping vet checks, they’re hardly “reputable breeders”, are they? That’s why you have to check out breeders and be very picky about who you buy from. Just because someone’s into the show scene doesn’t make them a good breeder.

No, but puppy mills WILL go out of business if everyone stops buying puppies from pet stores and those multi-breed “kennels” advertising puppy specials in the local newspaper’s classified ad sections. Face facts - good breeders don’t place their dogs in pet stores. And they don’t breed 20 different breeds and sell the resulting puppies via the newspaper, either.

If everyone did that, most of the problems people have been discussing in this thread wouldn’t exist, and the shelter that Left Hand of Dorkness works for would be able to close its doors. Unfortunately, common sense is decidedly uncommon, and too many people regard animals as living toys they can throw away when it becomes inconvenient to care for them properly.

117

You may have been improving your odds, but you never have a guarantee of any of those things (except the full grown weight). What’s your guarantee if the dog decided to eat your bunny, destroy your house and shit everywhere…that you get your money back?

That’s a refund after the fact. That is not a guarantee. Saying you’re “guaranteed” against these bad things happening is an outright fallacy. It’s a risk you take bringing ANY dog into your home. Better odds with some than others, granted…but the risk still exists.

118

Both. Dogs with hip dysplasia can suffer crippling pain. Dogs with serious genetic disorders such as liver shunt or subaortic stenosis lead short, crippled lives and die early deaths. And it’s no fun to watch a beloved animal suffer and die. I see nothing wrong with wanting the animal I purchase to have a reasonable chance of being healthy. If only buying from people who screen for such disorders increases the chances of buying a healthy dog, what’s wrong with that?

Most of us do, at least to some degree. I won’t marry an alcoholic, for instance, no matter how nice a fellow he seems to be. And plenty of people undergo amniocentesis to make sure the fetus they’re carrying dosn’t have major genetic problems - and they abort a fetus that does.

Some problems I’d rather not deal with, and there’s nothing wrong with admitting that up front, BEFORE you commit to the relationship. There are plenty of dogs in the world (too many); finding one that appeals to me AND has a reasonable chance of being a healthy, emotionally suond animal shouldn’t be too difficult, but it does require exercizing some judgement before making the commitment to bring the animal home.

119

http://www.itsmeowornever.org/homeless.html

It is true that some Shelters are sloppy in assigning breed and purebred status. It’s also true that some of them have behavioral problems; some have come from abusive households. That does not make their lives worth any less. It’s a special kind of person who will adopt an older animal, or one with a medical problem like diabetes that needs daily care. The people who abandoned them at the shelter couldn’t be bothered. The shelter must accept the pet, no matter how stupid the excuse, including “He’s not cute anymore.” (Someone actually said this last month.)

Written by: Bonnie B. in St. Louis, Missouri

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Average Pet Owner:

Thank you for contacting us animal rescuers, shelter volunteers, and foster-homes about your inability to keep your pet. We receive an extremely high volume of inquiries and requests to accept surrendered animals (and none of us is getting paid, OK?). To help us expedite your problem as quickly as possible, please observe the following guidelines:

  1. Do not say that you are “CONSIDERING finding a good home” for your pet, or that you, “feel you MIGHT be forced to,” or that you “really THINK it would be better if” you unloaded the poor beast. Ninety-five percent of you have already got your minds stone-cold made up that the animal WILL be out of your life by the weekend at the latest. Say so.

If you don’t, I’m going to waste a lot of time giving you common-sense, easy solutions for very fixable problems, and you’re going to waste a lot of time coming up with fanciful reasons why the solution couldn’t possibly work for you. For instance, you say the catclaws the furniture, and I tell you about nail-clipping and scratching posts and aversion training, and then you go into a long harangue about how your husband won’t let you put a scratching
post in the family room, and your ADHD daughter cries if you use a squirt bottle on the cat, and your congenital thumb abnormalities prevent you from using nail scissors and etc., etc. Just say you’re getting rid of the cat.

  1. Do not waste time trying to convince me how nice and humane you are. Your co-worker recommended that you contact me because I am nice to animals, not because I am nice to people, and I don’t like people who “get rid of” their animals. “Get rid of” is my least favorite phrase in any language. I hope someone “gets rid of” YOU someday.

I am an animal advocate, not a people therapist. After all, for your ADHD daughter, you can get counselors, special teachers, doctors, social workers, etc. Your pet has only me, and people like me, to turn to in his or her need, and we are unpaid, overworked, stressed-out, and demoralized. So don’t tell me this big long story about how, “We love this dog so much, and we even bought him a special bed that cost $50, and it is just KILLING us to part
with him, but honestly, our maid is just awash in dog hair every time she cleans, and his breath sometimesjust reeks of liver, so you can see how hard we’ve tried, and how dear he is to us, but we really just can’t . . .”

You are not nice, and it is not killing you. It is, in all probability, literally killing your dog, but you’re going to be just fine once the beast is out of your sight. Don’t waste my time trying to make me like you or feel sorry for you in your plight.

  1. Do not try to convince me that your pet is exceptional and deserves special treatment. I don’t care if you taught him to sit. I don’t care if she’s a beautiful Persian. I have a waiting list of battered and/or whacked-out animals who need help, and I have no room to foster-house your pet. Do not send me long messages detailing how Fido just l-o-v-e-s blankies and carries his favorite blankie everywhere, and oh, when he gets all excited and happy,
    he spins around in circles, isn’t that cute? He really is darling, so it wouldn’t be any trouble at all for us to find him a good home.

Listen, we can go down to the pound and count the darling, spinning, blankie-loving beasts on death row by the dozens, any day of the week. And, honey, Fido is a six-year-old Shepherd-Lab mix. I am not lying when I tell you that big, older, mixed-breed, garden-variety dogs are almost completely unadoptable, and I don’t care if they can whistle Dixie or send semaphore signals with their blankies.

What you don’t realize is that,though you’re trying to lie to me, you’re actually telling the truth: Your pet IS a special, wonderful, amazing creature. But this mean old world does not care. More importantly, YOU do not care, and I can’t fix that problem.

All I can do is grieve for all the exceptional animals who live short, brutal, loveless lives and die without anyone ever recognizing that they were indeed very, very special.

  1. Finally, just, for pity’ s sake, for the animal’s sake, tell the truth, and the whole truth. Do you think that if you just mumble that your cat is “high-strung,” I will say, “Okey-doke! No problemo!” and take it into foster care? No, I will start asking questions and uncover the truth, which is that your cat has not used a litter box in the last six months. Do not tell me that you “can’t” crate your dog. I will ask what happens when you try to crate him, and you will either be forced to tell me the symptoms of full-blown, severe separation anxiety, or else you will resort to lying some more, wasting more of our time.

And, if you succeed in placing your pet in a shelter or foster care, do not tell yourself the biggest lie of all: “Those nice people will take him and find him a good home, and everything will be fine.” Those nice people will indeed give the animal every possible chance, but if we discover serious health or behavior problems, if we find that your misguided attempts to train or discipline him have driven him over the edge, we will do what you are too
immoral and cowardly to do: We will hold the animal in our arms, telling him truthfully that he is a good dog or cat, telling him truthfully that we are sorry and we love him, while the vet ends his life.

How can we be so heartless as to kill your pet, you ask? Do not ever dare to judge us. At least we tried. At least we stuck with him to the end. At least we never abandoned him to strangers, as you certainly did, didn’t you? In short, this little old rescuer/foster momma has reached the point where she would prefer you pet owners to tell her stories like this:

"We went to Wal-Mart and picked up a free pet in the parking lot a couple of years ago. Now we don’t want it anymore. We’re lazier than we thought. We’ve got no patience either. We’re starting to suspect the animal is really smarter than we are, which is giving us self-esteem issues. Clearly, we can’t possibly keep it. Plus, it might be getting sick; it’s acting kind of funny.

"We would like you to take it in eagerly, enthusiastically, and immediately.

"We hope you’ll realize what a deal you’re getting and not ask us for a donation to help defray your costs. After all, this is an (almost) pure-bred animal, and we’ll send the leftover food along with it. We get the food at Wal-Mart too, and boy, it’s a really good deal, price-wise.

“We are very irritated that you haven’t shown pity on us in our great need and picked the animal up already. We thought you people were supposed to be humane! Come and get it today. No, we couldn’t possibly bring it to you; the final episode of “Survivor II” is on tonight.”

Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Pet Owner, for your cooperation.

120

But you’ve admitted your criteria for an acceptable pet are vague; that’s not true of everybody. The more flexible your criteria are, the more likely you’ll find a good dog for you at a shelter. Conversely, the more specific your requirements are, the harder it will be to find a good pick at the shelter. A well-bred purebred’s appearance, activity level, and general temperment type is far more predictable than a mixed-breed’s (or a poorly-bred “purebred” from a puppy mill or backyard breeder).

My parents, for example, wanted a small, friendly dog - but NOT one that was extremely active, or one with a “terrier” sort of temperment, or one that barks excessively. They’ve owned spaniels in the past, and have found that general temperment type a good fit for them. A Cavalier King Charles Spaniel gave them the proper match of temperment, activity level, and size. Perhaps they could have found a small mutt at the local shelter that would have worked just as well - but they may have also wound up owning an overly active, overly vocal, and overly dominant dog which wouldn’t have fit their lifestyle well at all. They minimized the possibility of a poor fit by buying a purebred, and that’s a good thing.

Me, I’d take a chance on a shelter dog. But then again, I’m not terribly fussy about size or coat, I’m laid-back enough that a more active or vocal dog wouldn’t drive me crazy, and I’m dominant enough that I could safely handle a very dominant dog if that’s what I wound up with. My chaces of getting a good fit at the shelter are therefore much higher than my parent’s chances would have been.