BoredPanda.com is a Lithuanian website that publishes articles about “lightweight and inoffensive topics,” including frequent posts about animals. A week ago, the site shared a Facebook post from a British group, “Yorkshire Rose Dog Rescue.” The post included a story supposedly written by an anonymous veterinarian, who claimed he increasingly had been asked to euthanize healthy young dogs that were adopted during the pandemic by people who couldn’t or didn’t train them. The Yorkshire Rose Dog Rescue group concurred, writing in some introductory post that they, too, had been seeing dogs surrendered by overwhelmed owners on a daily basis.
Sigh.
I’m looking for articles or news coverage that might support these allegations – that after a record number of adoptions and fostering in 2020, that people are starting to give up the pets they brought home last year. I didn’t find many.
I found an October 2020 article on the Today Show website that quoted a California rescue group that said they had seen an increased number of dogs who were given up due to pandemic-related financial hardship.
I found a link to a December 2020 Fox News broadcast alleging that shelters in Minnesota were seeing higher numbers of abandoned and surrendered animals, also due to pandemic-related financial hardship.
But I also found articles that alleged that adoptions and fostering are still taking place at a record pace. Sadly, I also saw many articles discussing the fact that puppy mills and backyard breeders have been producing puppies as fast as they can, to meet the pandemic demand.
My own experience, volunteering in a rural Northern California county shelter, is that the intake numbers are down, and “live release rates” (adoptions, fosters, and transfers to other shelters) are up. My local shelter has been increasingly sending animals to shelters in more populated and more affluent areas in the San Francisco Bay area.
Here at WDJ, we’ve tried to meet the needs of new dog owners with an increased number of articles aimed at basic education, especially for puppy training (including here, here, here, here, and here!). I remain hopeful that the increase in adoptions and fostering will contribute to an increase in responsible dog ownership and lower rates of euthanasia.
But I’m curious: What’s your experience? If you work or volunteer in rescue, are you seeing an increase in animal returns or surrenders? Or are dogs still in short supply? If you are trying to adopt, have you found a decrease or an increase in the number of dogs available?
I have been wondering about dog(s) returned or rehomed. Just because a dog are not brought back/returned to a shelter where it was adopted (when the owner decided for whatever reason it is not a match), could it mean it was rehomed? How much data is there to support the number of dogs rehoming and not returned to the shelter/humane society?
Here’s another aspect of pandemic puppy ownership that’s been troubling me. Our city (San Francisco) has been inundated with puppies and newly rescued dogs. The problem is that many of the adopters have never had a dog before, and either don’t understand or haven’t bothered with training. There are more “Lost Dog” signs posted locally on telephone poles and online than I’ve seen in years. Most of them are for dogs who are under one year of age. I’ve noticed that a number of new owners are letting new puppies off leash with no recall training. Some of these puppies are prey-driven breeds like spaniels and pointers who think nothing of running into the street after a squirrel or bird. Again, the number of “Lost Dog” postings are increasing and that concerns me.
This has been a fascinating discussion. My life with dogs started with chasing after my stepfather’s hunting dogs and continued with buying from breeders (excellent dogs), adopting from rescues, working for 13 years at a pound/humane society where I did everything and was their first adoption coordinator, teaching puppy kindergarten, fostering for rescues, doing home visits (a fence without a gate is not a fence) and calling references (when the vet says Who? there is a problem). Now that I can be termed elderly and my last English Setter died of an inoperable cancer I knew an older dog was the right course and contacted Southwest ES Rescue and was the subject of a very complete and totally correct investigation. Now I have a nine year old with few problems and an excellent disposition. And a new gate. A wonderful dog for me.
The result of all this is that people are people and vary wildly. You are the advocate for the dog and your job is to find that dog the best home you can. You must also treat people decently and fairly and listen to them. Always be honest and available to discuss the dog for his sake and the adopters. Rules are there for a good reason and while sometimes may be lifted that should be rare. Patience is indeed a virtue.
Dogs are family. My husband and I have had dogs for almost 50 years. We took my mom’s dog in when she could no longer take care of her post stroke. We’ve purchased dogs from breeders and gotten dogs from owners looking to re-home their dogs. Soon to be in our 70s, we know their will be difficulty in getting a rescue. We plan on fostering or adopting senior dogs. Will also need smaller dogs as it’s getting difficult to lift our senior dog into our vehicles. I thought I would see an uptick in returned dogs.
Julie, If you are willing to travel, Tioga County and Lycoming County in PA have a lot of pit bull mixes at any given time. I donate to them, but have not dealt with them for an adoption, so I don’t know about their attitudes.
I am a veterinarian, Retired, and I was worried about the same thing, that people who adopted puppies during the pandemic, were going to dump them once they returned to work.
Thankfully, it seems people are able to maintain their flexible work schedule or continue working from home for now.
Last week, I was contacted by a woman who purchased a golden retriever puppy from a pet store in New York City. She had never owned a dog, and in fact was bitten by a dog as a young child, so she was somewhat frightened of dogs in general. She purchased a golden retriever for her three girls, with their agreement that they would take care of the puppy. You can imagine what happened next. The mother was left to care for the dog and was completely overwhelmed with the puppy antics, shedding and effort required. So, she was looking for a new home for the 8 month old un-spayed and possibly pregnant dog. ( the bitch came into heat and escaped from the backyard) The owner wanted to rehome the dog and recoup the $3400 she paid for it!
I am actively seeking my next therapy dog. I usually adopt middle aged dogs from shelters who have the affiliative temperament that the job requires. They can be completely untrained, I can work on that, but they must be solidly socialized and not shy/fearful. It has been impossible to find the temperament I need. I remain hopeful that the right dog will come along.
Nancy, this is certainly a loaded topic. So many contributing factors. As a veterinary nurse of 20 yrs and a rescue advocate and volunteer I see and understand all the expressed points of view above. One issue I believe will be coming is separation anxiety once people return to their past life, meaning busy and not at home nearly as much. These animals have had humans around all the time. When they are left alone it may trigger different behavior and anxieties. This will create new challenges for pet parents. When puppies reach around 1 year and haven’t had much training the energy and demand, along with the lack of training can drive people to give up, they get frustrated. They are home now allowing them to maybe deal with it but again when not home the negative behaviors may increase and drive people to relinquish. Training is critical. I have seen many new pet parents decide their kids need a dog, and I have seen the issues from this scenario. Parents shouldn’t get a pet if it is only for their kids, as clearly they serve a big role in the care and responsibility. Lastly, there is a bonding period since we are home a lot, I believe this is in favor of keeping their pet (especially if they have committed to over a year plus)-but frustrated pet parents will need support and solutions…and training, socializing. Behaviors are affected during Covid, and people will need education and training for their pets. This resource will be hard to find, or limited. There will be some pets surrendered due to Covid financial stress or living situations, but I am more concerned that it will be more because of behavior challenges that lie ahead. In the SF Bay Area, there has been an explosion of adoptions. People didn’t get dogs because they weren’t home enough…ok, what happens next when our world opens up again–there will be issues that is a given.
I am a dog owner and breeder very small time always making the dogs health my first concern. but it took forever for me to be able to get a dog because the shelters in my area every time I contact them the dogs are all spoken for I applied for several rescues and was turned down because I don’t have a gate on my driveway despite the fact that people adopt dogs into condos so they have often no outdoor space and can only walk the dogs! I finally gave up and got a purebred got into a community where I was introduced to a very responsible well respected Breeder and got another one from her and I have now started breeding. I have four dogs and four more coming this year what are you doing for people like me that constantly get turned down by rescues and yes I am in the older age group now so I know that that’s another reason that I’ve been turned down. My first litter should be in about two months and I’m very excited and getting very educated dedicating the area for the whelping box and getting my emergency veterinarian information at hand and I will be extremely responsible and I hope to help people who have I had no success at rescues or who simply love the breed that I am choosing to live with and breed and it doesn’t matter if this becomes making a living for me I do it because I love the dogs and I actually want to improve the breed. I have always been around horses and dogs so it’s my passion not a way to make a bunch of money. that being said I intend on being an extremely responsible educated Breeder and I’m getting mentored by various individuals. I do see a huge demand in our area for dogs and I know that there is some fear that people will change their mind when they go back to work so I am going to the vett my owners very carefully before they get a puppy from me and a friend of mine who volunteers at rescues is going to help me too because that’s part of her job at the rescue is doing home visits and vetting new owners. I have heard no issues in our area about an abundance of returned animals quite the opposite it seems that the demand just keeps growing! I should mention that my plan is also to donate a percentage of the price of the puppies that I sell to shelters and rescues. I think we can be partners in ensuring the dogs get good homes and the dogs who should be spayed and neutered get that done. we should work together not against each other.
I work at a non-profit shelter in the Bay Area, and we do rescue work with rural central valley shelters in the state. Many municipal shelters have actually stopped their intake or become more restrictive which has led to lower intake numbers overall. It does not mean people are not trying to surrender, it just means shelters are telling people hold on to your animals or if you find a stray, leave it where you found it. For my own shelter, I cannot say for sure the number of surrender applications is up, but the reasons are most often moving, restrictive housing, can’t afford, or don’t have time which is often par for the course. However, we have seen an uptick in people who adopted puppies early pandemic and are now surrendering under socialized dogs.
The most glaring shift right now is how many people are desperate to still adopt puppies during this time. Small dogs and puppies are flying out of our shelter, hence our assistance with the rural shelters. The COVID restrictions are slowing down adoption processes everywhere so people assume there are not puppies and dogs to save which I think is going to become dangerous rhetoric.
I have to say I’ve been trying to adopt a puppy I live in PA about 15 minutes outside Allentown and sadly my experience with rescues have been horrible and disappointing to say the least. They say that they want the best homes for dogs and then when they have someone who has applied that has all the right requirements and more they ignore you or never respond or respond once the puppy you had your hopes up over is gone or they are just totally unfriendly and abrasive. I am a long time pitbull and pitbull mix owner I had them well before the new fad started and everyone wants one just to get rid of them once they aren’t puppies anymore or the even worse people who have to breed them because they want a puppy from their dog!!! As* holes! I’m a dog groomer I hear it every day” I want my dog to have sex just once” . I literally had a customer ask me if I knew anyone who would breed their dog with his because his dog was dying from lymphoma and he wanted a puppy. You can’t make this stuff up. But I own my own home with 3acres a partially fenced yard over never turned a dog over to a shelter in all my 20+ yrs of owning one. I work as a dog groomer so my dog can go to work with me. I’ve spent lots of money tens of thousands to care for my dogs who all four have had different forms of cancer. The dog would have an incredible life and these recipes are so cliquie that if you aren’t someone who knows someone or they want to adopt to you for so e reason they skip over you every time. I know three people( who are more than qualified to adopt) in recent months who have gone and bought puppies from breeders or so called breeders after trying to adopt from different rescues with no luck. I’m now finding myself that I will end up doing the same thing to get a puppy even though I swore I’d never buy one. Hard to believe that I can’t find a pitbull puppy to adopt..the most thrown a way dog in america!!! Shame on all these rescues…I know they do it for the animals that’s great but maybe treat the humans with some of the same care you treat the dogs with. I’ve had my heart broken now multiple times by finding a puppy and getting my hopes up just to be crushed . If the adoption process they go by worked so well then why are so many dogs now being returned? Maybe it’s not working all that well!
Unfortunately I have heard the same story about shelters dismissing potential adopters for reasons that are pure bunk.
For anyone looking for a dog or puppy, there are breed rescues of all breeds and there are shelters for all dogs. If you want a specific breed, go to their rescue. You may adopt someone else’s problem but you may be knowledge enough to overcome it. People turn in dogs for a number of reasons: they don’t like the colour; it sheds; it’s strong; it pees on the floor; they can’t afford the vet bills or even feed the dog now; their child is allergic to the dog or just doesn’t like him; they just wanted it for a while and now want a new one; they think animals are disposable. The saddest of all is when the owner dies and no one in the family wants the dog. I had one that was 12 years old I adopted from rescue because her owners died. She was heartbroken and died two weeks after I got her. She was just too old to handle her new situation.
I volunteer with a breed rescue and while it might not be the case with your breed, we average 40 individuals on our waiting list. At one time we averaged 60-80 intakes a year. Last year it was less than 20. Most of the list is looking for a young female or a puppy. We seldom have a puppy surrendered, maybe one under the age of one every three years. I fostered an eleven month old girl two years ago and she was placed with someone I had never met before but on paper and after talking to the family they were a great match. Nearly none of our dogs are returned and typically when it happens it is due to a family issue and not with the dog. I believe that is because we match the dog to the person, not with who is next on a list. Most rescues are all volunteer and they work hard to save as many dogs as possible.
Maybe the issue is that you are only willing to adopt a pit bull puppy because there are 8 adult pit bulls in our local shelter right now and they need homes too.
If you could, the So Cal Shelters and rescues and shelters have an abundance (sadly), of pit bulls. You might check a few. Also, there is a rehoming way to adopt directly from a family who must relinquish their dog due to loss of job, moving, etc. There is no cost, whatsoever. It’s called “Home-to-Home,” rescuing.
I know this comment is a bit old, but I live in Philadelphia PA, and if you don’t mind traveling a lil bit you should check out Animal Care and Control in Philly. That’s where I got my pitbull mix from just this past August. She wasn’t a puppy, but they have so many pitbulls/pittie mixs come through there I’m sure if you keep checking their website you’d find a puppy. ACC isn’t picky like so many rescues are. In fact they could probably stand to be a little bit more picky, if only to ensure a good home for the dogs.
The Woman’s Humane Society in Bucks County also tends to have pittie mixes available and if I’m remembering correctly I do believe they sometimes get in older pittie mix puppies. I’ve known people that have adopted from them and I’ve been told they also don’t seem to be as picky as the rescue orgs. However, don’t expect a prompt reply from them. I know when I inquired with them they took close to a week to get back to me.
It’s a shame how many good dog owners end up going to breeders because they become frustrated by the lack of response of the rescue orgs or because they just get turned down by rescue after rescue. It’s a real problem.