In a message dated 7/29/2002 11:43:28 AM Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> This does explain why SOME shelter WON'T give cavaliers they get to > rescue. > There's a catch-22 with rescue groups and shelters. I'm in the unique and sometimes uncomfortable position of sitting in both camps as I work in a county shelter, breed Cavaliers, and am also COS Rescue Co-Chair. 90% of all people coming to animal shelters to adopt a pet are looking for small, indoor dogs. 90% of all dogs that come into animal shelters are large dogs or puppies that are going to be large dogs. If I allowed every cute dog (be it a purebred or a mix) that came into my shelter to be taken by rescue groups, the only thing left in the shelter would be large, unruly, unsocialized mix breed dogs that stand very little chance of ever finding a home. The public at large (i.e., the people that support the shelter with their tax dollars and donations) that come to the shelter to adopt should not be denied the opportunity to adopt nice dogs directly from the shelter. For this reason many shelters call rescues as a last resort, if the dog does not find placement through the shelter, rather than immediately when the dog comes in the door. Despite a ton of common misconception, we shelter workers are not mean, heartless SOB's salivating at the thought of getting to put animals down and we don't hand dogs out willy-nilly to any Tom, Dick, Harry, or Betty that comes to the shelter looking for a dog. Most of us are actually pretty good at screening people and screening dogs. Do we sometimes make a mistakes in placement? Sure..but so do rescue groups and breeders. I'm sitting here with healing bite marks all up and down my left arm from a cute little Bearded Collie type mix that a friend of my sister-in-law saw on Petfinders and had to have. She drove all the way from Carmel, Indiana to Atlanta, Georgia to adopt this dog from a rescue group that advertizes on Petfinders and the foster home neglected to tell her that if she tried to pick the dog up it would eat her alive. Foster mother put the dog in the crate in Tammy's car. She drove the dog to my house for me to see and when I picked the dog up to re-crate it, BAM! Tammy returned the dog and had to argue to get her $175 adoption fee returned. So much for that placement! :o) Gerri Dueringer ========================================================= "Magic Commands": to stop receiving mail for awhile, click here and send the email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20NOMAIL to start it up gain click here: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20MAIL E-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] for assistance. Search the Archives... http://apple.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ckcs-l.html All e-mail sent through CKCS-L is Copyright 2002 by its original author.
