there is a big discussion going on one of the rescue lists about cops referring people to shelters to get guard dogs so to better protect their property. personally i don't adopt to people looking for guard dogs but that is my thing.
but the discussion brought to mind again how truly pissed off and unable to let it go some people feel when turned down for a rescued animal. every opportunity to whack the rescues adoption policies is a whacking opportunity not to be missed.
i don't think that non rescue people have a clue about what adoption placements mean and the thought and the care that goes into them. and how very hard we try to do it well.
as an example, emma adopted jenny from us. then she offered to take eddie. she was a great home for eddie and eddie would have fit in well. i asked her to take nudge instead. nudge would fit in just as well plus nudge really needed a primary caregiver to moniter her megacolon. emma wasn't mad at me, she was just happy to help a homeless cat who needed her.
johanna was really hoping to adopt caro. and johanna is a solid gold, great home. but the mix of her current dogs and caro wasn't a good mix for caro. johanna didn't get mad at me, she knows that one day another mighty mouse, or milo, or pippa (all previous saints) is going to show up here or elsewhere and be the perfect match to fit in with michael and milo. johanna is savy enough to know that these decisions are not made on a whim but for the best interests of the animal itself and the existing animals already in the home.
why would anyone want an animal to be unhappy in their home? i have a couple here and trust me it hurts.
i am on the best friends network (best friends is the largest no kill animal sanctuary in the world). last year they sent out a network plea for rescues to help take on hundreds of rabbits that BF was committed to removing from one location.
i was turned down. why? because i will euthanize dangerous animals. BF is total no-kill for any and all behavioral issues. their dangerous dogs live out their lives safely contained. since i don't have 300 staff persons, nor a 25 million dollar annual budget, that just is not going to happen here, and even if i did, it still wouldn't happen because i don't believe in living out a life in a cage. but whatever. they have their standards and their policies based on what they believe in and i didn't meet them. oh well, we have our hands full of bunnies anyway. BF is a great place and so is SAINTS but neither of us is perfect in some respects and obviously we do disagree on some key things. so what?
my point here is that in rescue, everyone has an opinion, whether they rescue themselves or not. and it is fine to have an opinion on how you would run the world if you felt like actually running the world. but if you just want to do your own little thing, in your own little way, then a little bit of letting others do it their way too is ok.
and please, if you ever get turned down by a rescue for an adoption, don't take it personally, don't keep dragging it out and waving the "some rescues are stupid" flag. because we aren't stupid, if we were stupid we wouldn't be doing what we do quite so well. and most of us are not going to ever apologise for that.