Why do shelters & a lot of breeders have unrealistic qualifications?

Question

My local shelter had a dog my family wanted to adopt. It was a 4 year old neutered male Husky mix. He was good with other dogs, cats, and young children. His only problem was that he
had epilepsy. The shelter advertised him on our local cable station. We went down and filled out all the paperwork to
adopt him. We were denied. The only reason given was that our income wasn't over $75,000 a year, which is what the shelter requires of all adopters. No one else applied to adopt the dog and he was put to sleep 10 days later.
Most shelters around here have that requirement, some even insist on more income at least 6 figures.
We live in an are where good jobs are few and far between. My husband is lucky to have one. We are buying our home.
Our mortgage is current. We have a 4 bedroom on 1 acre.
Invisible fenced yard. 2 well behaved toddlers. Other dogs.
Superior vet references. But, a shelter would rather kill a dog than let us adopt it. Please explain this to me ?

Answer 1

First, let me say I am NOT saying you would not have provided a good home for this dog. I'm going to answer why shelters do what they do in general, but please do not take it personally.

Many people look for free or low-cost adoptable dogs because they don't have or don't want to spend money on buying one. (As opposed to those who truly want to save a dog's life, as it sounds that you were.) Shelters set their standards high because they want a dog to have a healthy, happy home, with proper vet care (hence the income requirements), proper food, grooming, etc., a home that will not be forced to return the dog due to monetary problems, family problems, moving, etc. They are trying to weed out people who are looking for a 'cheap' dog that they will then tie out in the backyard and starve to scare off intruders. It sounds awful, but watch Animal Cops sometime and see what people do to these dogs. Shelters are trying to protect them. And even worse, but true, is that sometimes euthanasia is far kinder than what some people do to their dogs.

Shelters want to help dogs, but it gets tough when they have to worry whether it's better to send a dog to an inferior home (again, not talking about you guys) or have it put to sleep. Sometimes they make the right call, sometimes they don't. They're not trying to make life difficult, they are just trying to protect the animals.

I hope you are able to find a dog that you can help. Try the pound or animal control shelters, usually they have more relaxed standards than private shelters.

Answer 2

Many times shelters have unrealistic expectations of what they think makes a good family environment. I myself don't understand their theory. The best I can say is don't give up your desire to give an animal a good home. I am a breeder and don't require puppy buyers to make a certain amt of money. What I do require is someone who is willing to offer the puppy a good quality home and be willing to take care of the puppy it's whole life. Which includes the cost of vet care. This can be substantial if an animal has a condition requiring constant care and treatment. That could be why they have the financial income guidelines. But irregardless, I think if there was a family willing to take the dog they should have been given the opportunity and maybe offered assistance by the shelter, if needed, to help cover the costs associated with a dog that has a disability. Just because the dog has seizures doesn't mean he isn't worthy to live. I know many dogs that can live fairly normal lives on medication. I am very sorry that they didn't give your family a chance. I wish I could offer you a better explanation but I can't.

Answer 3

That is tragic. Of course they are strict because so many people buy or adopt without any real idea of the responsibility involved in caring (well) for a pet. It is unreal how many people take a pet then want to give it back and when they are faced with the embarrassment of bringing the pet back they dump it. People can be so cruel and thoughtless. Some people actually adopt pets to abuse. Millions are put down each year in this country because people just gave up. It sounds like you were in a position to give the dog good care. Huskies are not the easiest breed to own however. I had one and so did my boyfriend. They HAVE to run. They like to hunt and are not the smartest on the dog intelligence list. But all that aside if you were denied and the dog put down only due to your income I would write a letter to the president of the shelter and tell them that if you cannot get a reasonably satisfactory answer as to why killing the dog was preferable to giving it to you that you will write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper telling them this story. Maybe there is something more that they didn't say to you that will clear up some of this terribly sad story. I am sorry for your experience.

Answer 4

I have never heard of a shelter having a minimum income requirement of $75k.

For a dog with a known medical condition like epilepsy, I can understand a shelter wanting to make sure that the adopters would have enough money to give him the proper medical treatment that he needed, but as an across-the-board requirement? What shelter is this?

Having worked with rescue groups in the past, I'd think that the invisible fence would be a larger issue than the income.

Answer 5

What state do you live in?
I work with shelters and have never heard the requirement that you make $75,000.00 a year.
Was this the only reason you were denied the dog?
I see an Extreme redflag in your post, the invisible fencing alone is reason enough to deny an application.
Alot of shelters I deal with would deny you on the invisible fencing alone as it is not a viable alternative to a physical fence to keeping the dog safely inside and other dogs out so this is probably the main reason you were denied. Yes I know you say it keeps your dogs in,but dogs playing will go right beyond the boundries and not realize it.It is not as secure as one would like to think.
I would suggest you add a chain link fence and then reapply to adopt a dog.

Answer 6

The rescue I work with, does not have a financial requirement. The adoption fee is $150 for dogs, and the main requirement is that you have a fenced yard (we don't accept invisible fences). Volunteers will come by and do a house check, which involves looking thoroughly at the fence to make sure it's secure.

Other than that, any other requirements depends on the individual dogs, such as whether or not small children, cats, other dogs, etc are accepted.

But then again, we're no-kill, so these dogs remain in foster homes, until the right home comes.

Answer 7

I've never heard of having to have a minimum yearly income to adopt. That does seem wrong.

The shelter is probably doing that to assure that whoever adopts will be able to be financially responsible for the pet, can take it to the vet on a regular basis and be able to afford emergency surgery bills if need be.

You should call the shelter and asked them exactly why they do it that way.

Answer 8

I'm sorry I cannot explain it to you, but I am appaled that shelters are putting dogs down because people make less than $75,000 per year. That is insane! Most people have children on incomes less than that. Hopefully someone can explain it to you, cause I sure can't. I just wanted to express my outrage and that shelter.

Answer 9

What Shelter is this??? Sorry - I think your story is baloney.

I don't believe any shelter requires a six figure salary unless you are trying to adopt an exotic animal. This is obviously not a public shelter - and most private shelters are no-kill.

Your story has major holes in it.

I work with shelters across the US and have never heard of this - I believe you were denied...but I dont believe it was due to salary.

Answer 10

I agree that the shelter has unrealistic guidelines. I can understand if the dog has special needs that require expensive medications, but otherwise that high of an income requirement is crazy.