June 9, 2008
Pet Cause or Pet Peeve?
Your apartment feels awfully lonely without anybody else there. You could really use a running companion. You want someone to share your inexplicable hatred of the mailman. Whatever the reason, you've decided you're in a good place to adopt a pet. For many people in the area, that's when the hard part starts. The Washington Post has a story today about how the Washington Humane Society is overhauling their adoption requirements to make pet adoption easier. The group has "recently dropped its home-visit requirement and will now give applicants more chances to explain problems that might have landed them on a no-pet blacklist in the past, such as a loose-running pet killed in traffic or a tendency to return previously adopted animals."
We understand the guiding principles behind stricter pet adoption guidelines. We've all heard the stories of the crazy pet hoarders and animal abusers. But sometimes the restrictions go a bit far. The Post's article tells a pretty outrageous story of denial; a family on a farm, who'd had healthy, happy dogs for years, were denied because only 3 sides of their property was fenced in, and they refused to promise not to let the dog run free. One family (that did end up passing the requirements) went through a "two-month process [that] required three personal references..., assigned reading of two books, phone and home interviews, and a test session with a greyhound in her condominium." Yikes.
Several DCist staffers have had pretty easy experiences adopting animals locally. Kyle Gustafson adopted minor internet celebrity Mr. Pink from Alley Cat Allies, and all that was required was some light paper work. I adopted my cat three years ago from the Fairfax County Animal Shelter and, though I had to make several trips before I got lucky (litters of new kittens get adopted really quickly), the process was very simple and I went home with Stinker that night. All that was required was a vet visit and sterilization. Fredo Alvarez adopted his cat Petunia on Cat Adoption Saturday across from Eastern Market six years ago. That group did require interviews and a home visit, as well as unscheduled check ups. Sometimes, though, denials are a good thing. One staffer had a friend who was denied because they lived on a busy road with no fencing and wouldn't agree to keep the cat indoors (a decision we can't say we disagree with).
We're obviously pro-pet and want to see them go to loving, responsible homes. But should it be so hard? Is rigorous interviewing and contracting a necessary hassle, or another example of us taking things a little bit too seriously?
Photo by Amanda Mattos
| 
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
email this
add to facebook
add to del.icio.us
My neighbors had to go through an intensive process to adopt a rescued lab. It required several in-person interviews, and at least 2 home visits, one of them being unannounced. They eventually got approved and got the dog. Seemed like ridiculous overkill to me.
Well I was denied a cat because I wanted to let the cat outside on a leash in my fenced back yard or in the park, if the cat liked the leash. The pet Gestapo lady said 1) no cats like leashes and 2) cats can get skin cancer and should never be outside.
As for the leash, my neighbor’s cat loves to go to Meridian Hill Park on her leash. As for the skin cancer, don’t dogs get that too? Were cats living in caves for centuries? If I were a cat, it would suck to be inside 24/7.
i think a little prescreening is a good thing. we wouldn't want Meiwah to start adopting 3 dogs per day would we? would we?
seriously though, the adoption agencies care about their animals and want them to go to good homes. they are bound to go a little overboard now and then, but it's better than the alternative (i.e. Fluffy being locked in a closet for a week while their owner goes on vacation).
When my partner and I adopted two feral kitties from Alley Cat Allies a couple years ago, I did find the process to be verging on the absurd. It seemed like it would have been easier to adopt a child than to adopt two stray cats. While I think that it's important not to just hand the animals out to anyone who asks, it does seem like simplifying the process is a good move.
Can't people get skin cancer, too? Oh, I forgot, those crazy pet nazis don't care about people.
The part that really gets me about that article is that they still euthanize healthy, adoptable cats WHILE they are turning down or scaring off potential owners. That's terrible!
Will they let me adopt a cat as a "pet" for my hungry boa?
Given the state of the ecnomy, this is welcome news.
I highly recommend the Washington Humane Society - I ended up with a great cat, not too many forms to fill out, and no home visit. The Washington Animal Rescue League wanted us to jump through a couple more hoops, but in neither case I'd describe the process as burdensome. Don't be deterred by the article if you're interested in adopting!
O HAI. KAN U SAV ME FRUM UTHNEYEZN? NO? K THNX BAI.
dcist20009 -- I'm a convert to keeping cats inside, despite many years of outdoor/indoor cat-owning. I think we tend to anthropomorphize about what keeps our pets happy (and healthy). After all, they actually seek out small, dark, enclosed spaces and sleeping for 18 hours a day isn't a sign of depression.... There are lots of dangers for cats outside, and cats are a major cause of the population decline in songbirds, apparently, so there's a conservation issue there. Even in a pretty small apartment, you can set it up so they get plenty of exercise and have enough to do (for the tiny percentage of the day that they're not sleeping). What I think is cruel is for an indoor cat not to have access to a nice window.
That said, why not try to train your cat to take a leash? Anyway, there are way better reasons for keeping cats inside than the skin cancer/no leash thing -- why not give people actual useful and convincing reasoning and some education on how to keep them safe and comfortable, instead of scare tactics that dcists will just make fun of?
I have adopted two dogs from the DC humane society/dc shelter. The first time, I had a home inspection. The second time, they said that since I was repeat customer all they needed was an ok from my landlord which they did quickly over the phone. The process did not seem unreasonable to me for either one. I think the labs mentioned in the article may have been from a breed-specific rescue, which tend to be a bit more zealous than a plain old municipal shalter.
... yet we'll let any idiot have a child ...
As someone who loves cats but cannot own one because her life is not yet normal enough to.... that picture makes me swoon and automatically raises my voice several pitches.
OMG KITTIES I WANT ONE NOW!!!
Okay, hopefully that's out of my system.
...The No Pet List... i was on a black-out with an ex-girlfriend of mine for YEARs...
Specific rescue groups are stricter than shelters because 99% of the time have seen what kind of conditions the dog was living in prior to being picked up. I used to hear stories from a secretary/volunteer from one of these groups and it's horrible stuff. Puppies left for dead in the woods with the parents shot dead next to them, caged dogs kept for breeding never allowed outside of their cells...I can understand the desire to make sure no dog has to return to something so awful. As for the not being allowed a dog because of lacking a fence or not promising to keep the dog from running free; if you want a dog that much it seems like a no brainer to fence the last side of your yard and not let the dog run out into traffic. But what do I know....
dcist20009, that's terrible! i don't agree with the all cats hate leashes thing. i don't have a cat and can't test this out myself, but i saw a lady with a cat on a leash in a park. i was totally surprised - i never thought about leashing a cat, but the cat showed no obvious signs of distress, embarrassment, drug use, or that it was about to strangle itself or its owner with said leash.
The very last thing a shelter wants is to have an animal returned to them because the new owner turned out to be irresponsible, totally whacked or inexperienced. I believe some form of screening should be done and ours was done fairly quickly and painlessly back in 2002. I grew up with cats in our house so I was able to fool them all!!!!
While I tend to come down on the side of caution with regard to adopting out animals, that woman that dcist20009 describes is ridiculous.
My parents have three cats, all of which enjoy being outdoors, but their sizeable yard has no fences (not that a fence would stop a cat) and is too close to a busy road to feel comfortable letting them out. So they have a stake in the center of the yard with extremely long leashes attached to it, long enough to allow them pretty free range of the entire yard, and they only let them out when they're there to check on them regularly. The cats get to enjoy the outdoors, and also get get protected from certain death. Everybody wins. And contrary to dcist20009's crazy cat gestapo woman, none of them have any issue with being on the leash.
That said, ellejae has a good point, too; city cats that spend their entire lives in apartments are able to live just as happily as their country cousins.
The first cat I adopted in the DC area was from King Street Cats mostly because they didn't require a home visit or a copy of your lease or personal reference.
My dog I got from Homeward Trails. It was a little more involved but the home visit wasn't terribly intrusive and was mostly an information session one-on-one with one of their volunteers. I don't even know what they were checking for but I'm glad I took down my wall o' spikes before they came over!
Cats are Gods and should be treated as such!!!!!
I always figured God's breath would smell like cat food and ass.
I have adopted from and now work with Homeward Trails (www.homewardtrails.org). Our adoption process includes an application, phone interview, vet check, and home visit. It's usually all done within a couple of days to a week and shouldn't end up taking more than about 1-2 hours of your time, all said.
Often, people just aren't educated about what to expect in owning a pet and what animals need. Our goal, with our screening process, is not to judge, but to educate. Our volunteers are trained not to just deny folks because of a questionable answer on an application, but to ask questions and find out more information if they're uncomfortable with a comment. Conversation is always important and we make sure our volunteers are on board with that. Our goal is to send animals to homes where they will be happy and safe and to enhance people's lives through pet companionship. Saving an animal should be a win-win situation, so making good personality and lifestyle matches is important to us.
Much of our process is designed to determine which animal is a good match for your lifestyle, rather than whether you are fit to own an animal. Most applicants have wonderful intentions and a lot of love to give. We just meet with them and talk to determine which animal will be happiest in their home and bring them the most happiness. This way, we have less animals returned to us and happier adopters.
I think that the nightmare denial stories you hear are often situations in which a volunteer has become "burnt- out" and overly judgmental. Working in animal rescue, we see so much heartlessness and cruelty. It can be tough sometimes for volunteers to see so much lack of responsibility and not come to expect it from people and to keep a realistic perspective. Our volunteers become invested in the welfare of an animal and emotionally attached and so it's understandably important to them to make sure that animal will be loved and cared for in it's new home - forever. However, it's just as important that rescue and shelter volunteers and staff also remember that most people are good-hearted and that sometimes, a conversation can go a long way. We definitely encourage this open-minded attitude with our volunteers and hope that other rescues and shelters do as well.
Adopting an animal should definitely be a fun and rewarding experience and the adopter should leave the process with a companion for life and an educated perspective on pet care. If you're interested in adopting, check out our website: www.homewardtrails.org
My boyfriend and I adopted our two cats from Homeward Trails, and it was reassuring that they have a screening process. The commmenters above are right, the home visit was no big deal. I definitely recommend adopting from them!
I adopted my cat through a foster group I found on Petfinder. I had to provide veternarian information and proof that my apartment allowed pets (they were okay with me giving the URL for the apartment management's website that stated "pets okay"). If you do a little searching you can *probably* find someplace that will let you adopt without "jumping through all the hoops".
They also didn't have a set fee for adoptiing but work on a donation-basis. What I paid probably didn't go far enough to cover all my cat's medical expenses at the time (updating shots, shaving mats out of her fur, treating respiratory infection she caught while in a shelter, etc).
I think the screening process should be through, but not so much that people will give up on adopting and instead choose to buy from a breeder. Because most breeders don't give a sh*t who gets the animal as long as the check clears. That's what needs more oversight: animal breeders. Put them out of business and you won't need animal shelters.
Home visits are important. You can learn things from them that all the paperwork in the world won't tell you. Perfectly balanced animals can be made forever psycho by a bad environment.
Also, some people (if you want to call them that ... may those pustulent, vomitus masses of excess tissue rot forever in the hell I don't believe in) DO attempt make livings off selling animals to laboratories (whose operators/supporters also fit the above description).
I think a certain amount of paperwork is necessary, but letters from landlords might be stretching it, considering kittens are often treated as currency in this town. ("Hey, you said you had mice, so I brought you a present. Now, you owe me.")
What IS important, especially if you're a private party adopting out an animal, is a contract saying the animal will come back to you if things don't work out. You want the right to veto a potential pass-along (or worse, to abort an attempted "give-up".)
"As for the leash, my neighbor’s cat loves to go to Meridian Hill Park on her leash. "
Then your neighbor is a moron.
She will have absolutely no right to complain when her sweet Mitten Toes gets shaken to death by one of the countless number of dogs that can reasonably be in the park.
Talk about exposing your pet to absolutely unnecessary dangers for your own stupid selfish reasons....