I'm always astounded by some of the misconceptions surrounding animal rescue:
- that there is something 'wrong' with the animal - sadly its usually the owners who were lacking either commitment, husbandry skills, human decency, etc
- that small dogs never come into rescue - go look at www.nshomelesspets.com to see all the great little guys and gals available right now
- that purebreds never come into rescue - everyday there are beautiful purebreds in need of a good home... again, go to the site to see
- that rescue dogs are not healthy - most reputable rescues vet check/ vaccinate and alter all their pets and never hide known health issues
- that rescue fees are too expensive - wow... they never come close to the actual cost of vet checks/vaccines and altering.
Sometimes legends can linger on for years after the original event. In the course of my research for the pet project, mentioning the society was bound to bring out a tale of a good friend/relative/neighbour who was turned down for adoption. Now I do sit firmly on the 'need for good screening' side of the fence - but at the same time I think this is the same kind of lingering after effect that has plagued the Canadian Blood Services still, years after the Red Cross tainted blood scandal.
We've seen some great changes at the Metro Shelter - more Petfinder listings with much better bios and appealing pics and now the November Adopt a Senior Pet promotion. Gosh, my calls are even returned now and I'm telling you that's never happened before.
Tonight's sad and tragic event on the news, and on the front door of the society webpage highlights the terrible plight of abandoned animals - not just in HRM but all around NS. There is a desperate need to overcome the perception that it is difficult to adopt from the society.... an urban legend that also spills over and affects every rescue.
Perhaps its time for the society to try to debunk the myth by:
- making better use of their 'Happy Tails" - Happily I have seen the odd short listing there, but a good two pages of listings would encourage other adopters
- do a feature on the nuts and bolts of the screening process and put it up on the site.... sort of an adopting 101
- stress that all personal information needed for the application process is kept private and secure - people are always hinky about strangers rummaging around in their life
- write up an article on adoption for the local newspapers and/or do up features on some of the adoptees
- start a Happy Tail Facebook group - goodness even politicians are using Facebook now : )))))
According to the 2006 census, there are 376,840 households of different sizes in this province. If we can dare to find a way to overcome the 'urban legends' about pet adoption it might be possible to get a handle on the whole homeless pet thing.
PS - before the keyboards light on fire..... lets all presume that we all know we need a good spay /neuter program and both TNR as well as rewording municipal animal control legislation to protect the ferals instead of catching and killing them
3 comments:
As someone who just adopted from the SPCA's Metro Shelter a few days ago, I can attest that it was a smooth and speedy process. I dropped an application off about lunchtime and by 5 p.m. references had been checked and they called the house to say we'd been approved.
The next day our little boy -- who had already been vaccinated, microchipped and neutered -- came home with a bag of food, a certificate for a free vet check and 30-day shelter care insurance.
It really couldn't have been more simple.
Just a message to those that have been refused a pet by the SPCA or a rescue group: do not blame them, you may need to take a look at your life and realize that you may not be the best person/family for a particular animal. For example, a sedentary person should not adopt a high energy dog - you will not be able to provide it the exercise it needs and it will misbehave causing you to give the animal up. If you have very young children (toddlers) it is probably not a good idea to adopt ANY dog as the chances of the kids and dog having an "incident" are high and again, you will give up the dog.
Finally if you have ever uttered the phrase "its just a dog" or "its just a cat" you shouldn't have pets, ever.
Perhaps I'm not communicating clearly.... this post isn't about the need for screening criteria but rather about the society's need to over come the urban legend that they set the bar so impossibly high that nobody could reach it. In reality, their adoption form looks for all the same things everyone else's does - proof of responsible and committed pet ownership so that their adoptees don't wind up homeless again. The urban legend bit keeps good people from even downloading the form and realizing this : (((((
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