Stress and humiliation - Adopt a dog

Hi all,

I will start by telling you a little about myself. I have three
horses, two rescued, one from the slaughter house, one from an abusive
family. I have two dogs, both rescued from the dog pound on the day
they were scheduled to be put to sleep. One dog has a seizure
disorder, the other a skin disorder, both require a fair amount of
veterinarian care. I have two cats, one from a local farm. He was
almost dead when I received him, I nursed him back to health. The
other just an unwanted kitten. I also have two chinchillas. I live
in a rural area and own 6 acres of land and rent 8 more attached to my
land for my horses.

A while back I stopped in at the local humane society. I have donated
numerous times, money, food, bedding and cat litter. I put in an
application listing a certain type of breed that I have been looking
for. I don't like to purchase the dogs at a pet store because of the
conditions that some of the pet stores are in. I filled out my
application listing all the animals I currently have, the times I
work, where I work, the number of people in the household, etc. I
also had to list two references, and my veterinarians name.

A few weeks later I received a call from the humane society telling me
that they have a litter of mixed breed pups they have to find homes
for. Would I please come in and look at them. I did so the next day.
I brought my whole family with me. We visited with the dog for about
a half hour, then filled out another application for adoption. They
assured me that it would take about 24 hours to call references, etc.
I was the first one in to look at the dogs. After about 4 days of
waiting. I called to see how my application was coming along. They
stated that they have a problem with the hours that I worked. I
assured them that I know of the work involved in house training dogs
and cats and have already arranged with my boss to bring the dog with
me to work until fully house trained.

I waited another two days and called again, they then said that they
have a problem with the other two dogs I have. They then informed me
that they had taken it upon themselves to call my veterinarian to see
if I have ever brought my dogs in and had they been abused or starved.
Of course they have not, but the thought of them "checking up" on me
really got my goat. They said they were concerned that my dogs were
not spayed and bringing in a male would cause problems. When you
adopt a dog, you have to have it neutered/spayed, so I didn't see what
the problem was. In the first place, I did not give them permission to
call anyone but my references. Who gives them the right to call my
veterinarian? I did not give them permission to call my veterinarian
any more than I gave them permission to call my bank to find out if I
have enough money to buy dog food.

At this point I feel ridiculed and humiliated. I will never again
recommend to someone to go to the humane society to adopt a dog,
unless they want total invasion of their privacy without their
knowledge. They called me to come and adopt a dog, they had my
initial application there with all the information they needed. If
they had problems with my work hours or the two dogs I have, they
should not have called me.

Thanks for listening!

Gale, Big Sip, Mindy, Red, Katty Kat, Baby Kitty, Missy, Princess,
Taz, Roscoe and the humans.

On 21 Dec 2003 11:58:26 -0800, gcoleman.TakeThisOut@srt.com (poohgc) wrote:

>Hi all,
>
>I will start by telling you a little about myself. I have three
>horses, two rescued, one from the slaughter house, one from an abusive
>family. I have two dogs, both rescued from the dog pound on the day
>they were scheduled to be put to sleep. One dog has a seizure
>disorder, the other a skin disorder, both require a fair amount of
>veterinarian care. I have two cats, one from a local farm. He was
>almost dead when I received him, I nursed him back to health. The
>other just an unwanted kitten. I also have two chinchillas. I live
>in a rural area and own 6 acres of land and rent 8 more attached to my
>land for my horses.
>
>A while back I stopped in at the local humane society. I have donated
>numerous times, money, food, bedding and cat litter. I put in an
>application listing a certain type of breed that I have been looking
>for. I don't like to purchase the dogs at a pet store because of the
>conditions that some of the pet stores are in. I filled out my
>application listing all the animals I currently have, the times I
>work, where I work, the number of people in the household, etc. I
>also had to list two references, and my veterinarians name.
>
>A few weeks later I received a call from the humane society telling me
>that they have a litter of mixed breed pups they have to find homes
>for. Would I please come in and look at them. I did so the next day.
> I brought my whole family with me. We visited with the dog for about
>a half hour, then filled out another application for adoption. They
>assured me that it would take about 24 hours to call references, etc.
>I was the first one in to look at the dogs. After about 4 days of
>waiting. I called to see how my application was coming along. They
>stated that they have a problem with the hours that I worked. I
>assured them that I know of the work involved in house training dogs
>and cats and have already arranged with my boss to bring the dog with
>me to work until fully house trained.
>
>I waited another two days and called again, they then said that they
>have a problem with the other two dogs I have. They then informed me
>that they had taken it upon themselves to call my veterinarian to see
>if I have ever brought my dogs in and had they been abused or starved.
> Of course they have not, but the thought of them "checking up" on me
>really got my goat. They said they were concerned that my dogs were
>not spayed and bringing in a male would cause problems. When you
>adopt a dog, you have to have it neutered/spayed, so I didn't see what
>the problem was. In the first place, I did not give them permission to
>call anyone but my references. Who gives them the right to call my
>veterinarian? I did not give them permission to call my veterinarian
>any more than I gave them permission to call my bank to find out if I
>have enough money to buy dog food.
>
>At this point I feel ridiculed and humiliated. I will never again
>recommend to someone to go to the humane society to adopt a dog,
>unless they want total invasion of their privacy without their
>knowledge. They called me to come and adopt a dog, they had my
>initial application there with all the information they needed. If
>they had problems with my work hours or the two dogs I have, they
>should not have called me.

1) Most humane societies, and virtually all rescue groups, do 'vet
checks' to ensure that applicants' current pets are up to date on
vaccinations (per veterinary recommendations), heartworm preventative,
etc. and are well cared-for. The adoption application should state
that the organization plans to contact the applicant's vet, so that
there is no confusion. Our application asks for the name and
telephone number of the veterinarian, and says something like "will
you call your veterinarian and authorize him/her to provide
information about your current pets?" If the applicant says "no", the
process goes no further.

2) Many humane societies and rescue groups do not place dogs in homes
where there are intact companion animals. Policies may vary depending
on the reasons for the animals not being neutered.

Sally Hennessey