Community Chat

[aprilskies]

So nice to hear you are holding out for a shelter. So many need adopting and some love. I sometimes wish I had a farm and could adopt them all. Let us know what you end up with. Good Luck.

[reese2]

Best of luck to you, betty! Some lucky dog has a wonderful surprise in store for him/her!

[lolakimono]

I adopted two kitties in January, from two different rescue organizations. They are both no-kill, and they "rescue" from the Humane Society and high kill shelters.

I had to fill out a four page application just to see in person any of the cats. There were lots of questions, and a place to list my vet references. They both had in their paperwork that home visits were part of the process.

When I went to see kitty #1, a pair of sibling kittens, the rescue worker was asking me a bunch of questions and wanted to know if her partner had called me yet to set up my phone interview. Then, when I saw that the kittens were sick with three different issues (and would still need to wait until they could be spayed/neutered) she mentioned that she had two "healthy" kittens with an upstairs tenant. I went to meet them, and was greeted by a "teenage kitten", about 10 months old. He was so friendly that I couldn't resist and when I asked about him, she replied "We would love for you to have him!". No more mention of interviews or home visits. Once they reach a certain age, I guess they are less concerned.

The other rescue organization had kitty #2. She was already removed from the website when I had set up the visit to meet her. When I asked the worker about the home visit, she replied "I already saw your house on Google Earth."

I mentioned this to my vet (who is the owner of the practice) about the rescue organizations. He said "I doubt they would approve me, and I would bring the dog to work with me!". He just laughed and said that some were a bit out of control with their requirements.

The ones that I used seemed to have the home visit listed, but didn't conduct one. Maybe that was there way of rejecting someone or checking out the fit between a family (with kids) and a new pet. Either way, I have continued to update both of my ladies so they know that both kitties are doing well and have adjusted to life with me.

[Clover29]

When I was a kid, we had a dog who was a serial escaper. We had a fenced yard, but he was very good at getting out of it (he would go behind the shed, dig for 30 seconds and then come out, not arousing suspicions. He did that daily for weeks until the hole was big enough).

Later, my parents got a German Shepherd. He never even thought about escaping. He just wanted to be with my mom. He'd have stayed by her side if they'd lived in a tent.

I don't think "one size fits all" rules work when it comes to dogs and fences. There's no fence between us and our two neighbors, but none of their (four) dogs ever cross into our property.

I think spay/neuter is a better way of keeping dogs home than insisting on a fence. Our escape-dog wasn't neutered, and I think all he wanted to do was chase the laydeez. This was back in the 1960s, when most people didn't spay/neuter their pets.