The Problem with Rescue Groups
Is they are way, way, way too full of themselves.
Ellen Degeneres adopted a dog, Iggy. Iggy was trained to be with her cats, but he was still not really fitting in so she found a home for him and gave him to her hairdresser and her two children.
Now, normally when you say hairdresser people think Super Cuts. But I doubt Ellen's hairdresser is hurting in the money department or any other department.
Now, the adoption agency, Mutts and Moms called to check on Iggy. Ellen told them it didn't work out, and she found a new home for the dog.
Well that's against policy. All dogs are supposed to go back to the rescue group if they don't work out. In this case it's a stupid policy. I understand it. They want people to have the option to return the dog instead of dropping off a year old, 80 pound lab that they "didn't think would get that big" on the side of the road. Which happens -- all the time.
So Mutts and Moms got the address of the hairdress, presumably from Ellen who was cooperating, and they took the dog away. Well this is just awful. Because the dog was in a home that wanted him. They loved him. And now he's back in a shelter.
Tell me how that's better?
And that's what Ellen's asking too. And this was just stupid, stupid, stupid from a PR perspective on the part of Mutts and Moms. Ellen Degeneres has a platform to reach a lot of people. Way more than Mutts and Moms. And after her tear filled plee today for them to return the dog to the new family, I wouldn't be surprised if they are innundated with letters and emails demanding the same thing. Part of the video is here at TMZ if you want to see it. More video interviews from Ellen and the family here ... video is from TMZ, but found it on Celebrity Dog Watcher.
In the world of animal adoptions, it has been my experience that rescue groups take themselves a bit too seriously. My sister, in trying to adopt a rabbit, had to go through a twenty minute phone interview, confirm employment, and agree to have her house inspected.
For a rabbit.
I understand wanting to make sure she's not going to turn it into rabbit stew. I get that. But the conversation should have been enough. And I can honestly tell you, when I was looking to adopt a dog, the ones that said they wanted to come by my apartment before and six months after I adopted the dog ... I didn't call them. And I did not call the ones that wanted to verify employment and salary.
I'm fairly certain the SPCA had a clause in the paperwork I signed that said Mavvy had to go back to them if we decided we didn't want her anymore. But they didn't tell us that, I had to read it. I wonder ... do they get funding based on the dogs? Or do they really think their volunteers are more equiped to find good homes than I am?
And yes ... I understand lots of people drop dogs off on the side of the road and they want to avoid that. I remember when we lived in California, in the Mojave desert, we were driving through the lake beds and there were two small dogs roaming the side of the road. They had clearly been dropped off and left to die. We picked them up and took them to the shelter on base. I have no clue if they were adopted out or if they found homes. But we did try and save them from a death from exposure.
And rescue groups don't make it easy to return the pets. Our neighbor has a mutt they adopted probably over a year ago. The dog grew to way more than anticipated and they haven't had time to work with him (both work and they have three kids) to make him into a "good dog." He has chewed through everything in their house and has reverted from house training. I'm not passing judgement on these people. But the rescue group is. The rescue group yelled at the woman for several minutes on the phone about responsibility and committment. And the parents know what they are doing isn't great. They don't feel good about it. But they don't want to abuse this dog and right now they feel like they are. But they also can't put it into another home because the rescue group won't let them.
They are trapped.
Rescue groups are not the only people who care about animals. And you can't use anecdotal evidence to legislate or make decisions ... but I really do think that they lose sight of doing what's right on a case by case basis and make sweeping judgements on people because they are jaded.
Further more, they advocate having way too many dogs in one home. The woman that my neighbor is dealing with recommended getting yet another dog to solve the problem. And when asked how many dogs the woman had, she said 10.
Ellen D. loves animals, has always said so and has donated money to rescue groups including Mutts and Moms. She didn't drop the dog off on the side of the road, she found a good home.
That is what any volunteer at Mutts and Moms would have done. Or should have done.
Unless there is some huge reason why only rescue groups can place pets ... this whole situation just makes rescue groups look bad.
Ellen Degeneres adopted a dog, Iggy. Iggy was trained to be with her cats, but he was still not really fitting in so she found a home for him and gave him to her hairdresser and her two children.
Now, normally when you say hairdresser people think Super Cuts. But I doubt Ellen's hairdresser is hurting in the money department or any other department.
Now, the adoption agency, Mutts and Moms called to check on Iggy. Ellen told them it didn't work out, and she found a new home for the dog.
Well that's against policy. All dogs are supposed to go back to the rescue group if they don't work out. In this case it's a stupid policy. I understand it. They want people to have the option to return the dog instead of dropping off a year old, 80 pound lab that they "didn't think would get that big" on the side of the road. Which happens -- all the time.
So Mutts and Moms got the address of the hairdress, presumably from Ellen who was cooperating, and they took the dog away. Well this is just awful. Because the dog was in a home that wanted him. They loved him. And now he's back in a shelter.
Tell me how that's better?
And that's what Ellen's asking too. And this was just stupid, stupid, stupid from a PR perspective on the part of Mutts and Moms. Ellen Degeneres has a platform to reach a lot of people. Way more than Mutts and Moms. And after her tear filled plee today for them to return the dog to the new family, I wouldn't be surprised if they are innundated with letters and emails demanding the same thing. Part of the video is here at TMZ if you want to see it. More video interviews from Ellen and the family here ... video is from TMZ, but found it on Celebrity Dog Watcher.
In the world of animal adoptions, it has been my experience that rescue groups take themselves a bit too seriously. My sister, in trying to adopt a rabbit, had to go through a twenty minute phone interview, confirm employment, and agree to have her house inspected.
For a rabbit.
I understand wanting to make sure she's not going to turn it into rabbit stew. I get that. But the conversation should have been enough. And I can honestly tell you, when I was looking to adopt a dog, the ones that said they wanted to come by my apartment before and six months after I adopted the dog ... I didn't call them. And I did not call the ones that wanted to verify employment and salary.
I'm fairly certain the SPCA had a clause in the paperwork I signed that said Mavvy had to go back to them if we decided we didn't want her anymore. But they didn't tell us that, I had to read it. I wonder ... do they get funding based on the dogs? Or do they really think their volunteers are more equiped to find good homes than I am?
And yes ... I understand lots of people drop dogs off on the side of the road and they want to avoid that. I remember when we lived in California, in the Mojave desert, we were driving through the lake beds and there were two small dogs roaming the side of the road. They had clearly been dropped off and left to die. We picked them up and took them to the shelter on base. I have no clue if they were adopted out or if they found homes. But we did try and save them from a death from exposure.
And rescue groups don't make it easy to return the pets. Our neighbor has a mutt they adopted probably over a year ago. The dog grew to way more than anticipated and they haven't had time to work with him (both work and they have three kids) to make him into a "good dog." He has chewed through everything in their house and has reverted from house training. I'm not passing judgement on these people. But the rescue group is. The rescue group yelled at the woman for several minutes on the phone about responsibility and committment. And the parents know what they are doing isn't great. They don't feel good about it. But they don't want to abuse this dog and right now they feel like they are. But they also can't put it into another home because the rescue group won't let them.
They are trapped.
Rescue groups are not the only people who care about animals. And you can't use anecdotal evidence to legislate or make decisions ... but I really do think that they lose sight of doing what's right on a case by case basis and make sweeping judgements on people because they are jaded.
Further more, they advocate having way too many dogs in one home. The woman that my neighbor is dealing with recommended getting yet another dog to solve the problem. And when asked how many dogs the woman had, she said 10.
Ellen D. loves animals, has always said so and has donated money to rescue groups including Mutts and Moms. She didn't drop the dog off on the side of the road, she found a good home.
That is what any volunteer at Mutts and Moms would have done. Or should have done.
Unless there is some huge reason why only rescue groups can place pets ... this whole situation just makes rescue groups look bad.
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