Have you ever given a dog to the pound?

Question

If so, why? Do you think, looking back, that it was the best choice?

What do you think are legitimate reasons for giving up an animal to a shelter?

Answer 1

NO, I wouldn't be able to do it.. We bought a dog from a petstore years and years ago. 25+. Shepherd x pitbull.. She was all dog problems rolled into one.. The only thing she had going for her was healthy and we had socialized her TONS.. She had separation anxiety, she was destructive she was hyper, she was everything.. She was a huge lesson learned, and I would never ever get another dog from a petstore, but we learned a lot from her and all her issues.. But I never ever once thought about getting rid of her.. My thoughts were always ' how are we going to fix this .. '

Answer 2

I have never given a dog to the pound and never will. I don't believe there are any legitimate reasons for giving up an animal.

If anyone is considering a pet; whether dog, cat, bird, or other animal, you must consider that a pet is almost like a small child. They need constant attention and care. Not just making sure they have food and fresh water everyday, but they also need to be exercised every day, played with, taken to the vet at least annually and loved. A pet will love you without any strings attached and are faithful and loyal companions.

If you have a dog which you can not longer care for, please try to find a loving home or contact a rescue facility.

T.

Answer 3

Alright lol, are you all ready? This is gunna be a long one. I've never had to give up a dog, but I thought I'd add a little to what everyone else was saying. A couple years back I adopted my dog from the local animal shelter. She's a wonderful dog and I absolutely adore her. -Now I was working for the shelter at the time my little girl came in. She came in with her mother and siblings at the age of 2 weeks (they were put in foster care until they reached 10 weeks). The person that brought her to the shelter was a lady that did not care about her dog in the least bit. She had let her dog astray to roam around the neighborhood where incidently she became pregnant. The lady wasn't a responsible dog owner in the least, but she did realize that she couldn't afford to care for the puppies and their mother. So she brought them into the shelter. I believe that the lady did the right thing. She couldn't afford care for the dogs, so she brought them to someone that could. Nowadays shelters have been getting a bad rap. People claim "never bring your dog to the shelter. They kill dogs there." That's not always the case. At my local humane society as long as the dog is of good health and temperment there is no set time at how long the dog can be held there. I've known dogs, one in paticular, Onix who was a lab mix, that were at the shelter for a whole year before ever finding that perfect home. Now some people might claim that it's cruelty for a dog to live at a shelter for a year. Not at all. At our local humane society the dogs are walked daily, are given time to romp in the outdoor pen with other dogs (if compatible) and are taught basic obedience. These dogs are given one on one attention every day that they spend at the shelter. Now that's not the case at all shelters. I understand that. But given this information how is it that people can still claim that all shelters kill dogs, all shelters are "evil"? Personally I believe that there are legitimate reasons to give up a dog to a shelter. If a person has a dog for a couple years and all of a sudden someone in the family falls ill. They can't afford the dog and nobody they know can take it in, then they bring it to the shelter where it will be well cared for, temperment tested and put up for adoption where it can find a home with someone that can afford to own him. If a person can't handle a dog and they've tried to work things out I believe they have a legitimate reason to give up the dog. Some people bring a dog into their life and find that it just won't work. They can't handle a dog. Maybe they didn't think about the time and expenses before taking in a dog, but then why should they try everything to keep it if they won't be able to provide the dog with everything it needs? Especially when they can bring the dog to a shelter where it can find a better suited home...? I do believe that there are cases where bringing a dog to a shelter is neccessary. Now on to breeders since many people have brought it up. Not all breeders are "bad" people. A responsible breeder is someone who breeds to better a breed of dog. I've said this before and I'll say it again. Even after working at a shelter for years I will still stand behind responsible breeders. People who can tell you the history of a breed. The standards. Breeders who make breeding their dogs a way of life. They work with their dogs and use them for what they were bred to do. Hunting, agility, rescue work, herding. In my eyes a responsible breeder is someone who will take a dog back if a person can no longer keep the dog. They will spay/nueter dogs that will not be used to show. Now on the other hand there are puppymills, petstores, and backyard breeders. They are completely different. Puppymills, petstores, and backyard breeders breed irresponsibly. They breed to make money. They don't care about the welfare of the animal and it is usually these animals that end up in shelters when their new owners find that they can't keep them any longer.

I personally believe that there is a lot of confusion and misunderstanding when it comes to all of these topics concerning shelters, breeders, and puppymills and I hope that at some point these issues can be resolved.

Answer 4

I would hate to be the person having to make such an awful decision. Luckily, I have not had to give a loving pet to the pound. I suppose a legit reason for giving your dog/cat to a pound would be if you lost everything and was living on the streets. Even then I would do what I could to find a family member or friend to take my pet in until I could get my life together. Another reasonable reason would be if I was dying and there wasn't anyone else to care for my pet. I believe the act of giving up my pet to a pound would kill me before any disease. This was a very good thought provoking question. I certainly hope you are not in a position where you have to give your pet to a pound.

Answer 5

No way absolutely NEVER would I or have I. I really can not think of a good reason for anyone to give one up unless there was a medical reason and there was no other solution. All too often people give them up because of bad behavior which is the humans fault and not the dog. And if you do give one you shold not be aloud another. People all too often see animals as throw aways at their conveince and that is wrong. God forbid I ever had to give up my babies I would find them a home on my own but I would rather die first.

Answer 6

Yes, unfortunately, I have.
My daughters friend's (15 yrs old at that time) neighbor abandon a Pomeranian. My daughter's friend thought that since I already had Pomeranians, that I would like another one, so she gave him to me. (daughter's friend begged and pleaded with her parents to keep him, but they refused) Anyway, I could not financially afford another dog. I had talked to her and she knew nothing about the dog or his medical history or if he was vaccinated. I did check, and he was neutered. My guess is he was about 3 years old.

I bathed him, brushed/groomed him (he was matted mess) and put blue bows in his hair and took him to our local shelter. He looked great! He had 3 potential new owners before I even checked him in. (3 different people seen him as I was checking him in and put their name on the list!) I checked back about 10 days later and he had already been rehomed. That probably was the quickest a dog to be rehomed at our shelter.

There is really no ligit reason for giving a dog the the shelter except for maybe the owner died. All other reasons are NOT reasons, they are excuses for irresponsible people.

Even my "reason" was not a good enough reason to put the dog in a shelter, but I knew they would do a better job at screening potential owners than I could and because of that, I think it was the right choice.

Answer 7

No- my parents once had a dog that had severe separation anxiety - even though we all loved giddeon our English Springer Spaniel we decided it was better we give him to a family who worked from home- he was much happier afterwards. So it was the best choice.

Legitimate reasons:
1. Can't afford to pay medical care due to lost job etc- and even this is a 'maybe'

That's pretty much it- anything else and you can take the time and find a new home.

Answer 8

No. As a matter of fact, I've never owned a dog, but I have paid to have the neighbors dog spayed and dewormed. I also do trap/neuter/release with feral cats. I used to volunteer at a shelter and it sickened me how many beautiful animals just languish from lack of attention and spend their lives holed up in little boxes through no fault of their own--and those are the "lucky" ones not euthanized. The whole experience has made me a spay/neuter zealot. I don't think anyone should be allowed to breed anything until this county stops euthanizing millions of perfectly healthy dogs and cats each year. What kind of county keeps doing this mindless killing when it would be so easy to get your dog/cat fixed and get them out of the reproduction pool?

Answer 9

Yes, but they were not my pets.
I think that it was the best choice.
The Humane Society sent people to my small town for a few days last year. They were interested in bringing back dogs and puppies with them. I went for a long drive through the poor part of my town (see video links), and I picked up puppies that were walking around. I also went to an old lady's house to inform the old lady about the Humane Society being in town. She has over 30 dogs tied up in her yard, and her females always have puppies every 6 months. I asked her to let me take the litters that she had and give them to the shelter.
She let me take them, and I know that they have homes now.
If they stayed where they were, they would probably be dead by now, or living a miserable life with that old lady, or her relatives (who also collect dogs). The puppies that lived in the poor part of town, would have been shot already, or would be starving looking for food like the other dogs who live in that area.
Here are 2 videos of the poor part of my town, if you want to get a mental picture in your head of how easy it was for me to find puppies running free.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3rKKfjWDg4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnzKrJMUemc

A good reason for giving animals to a shelter would be to give them a chance at a better life like I did for those puppies.

Answer 10

When I was six year's old my Wire Haired Terrier nailed my sister in the face (near the eye), she still bears the scar. Taking 'Beauty' to the pound was a better fate than what my dad had planned.

When I was 13, my German Shepherd shredded an Heirloom bedspred and my mom gave me a choice. Either train the dog ... or take her to the pound. I learned from that that the way to prevent dogs from going to the pound was to train them. The rest, as they say, is history.

I think my dad had a 'legitimate reason' to take Beauty to the pound, but I think my mom had the best choice suggestion.

Tony Ancheta