AIBU about “adopt don’t shop”?

one adoption place said they would ‘allocate ‘ us a dog no choice on breed and we couldn’t meet it beforehand.
This sort of thing would be unbelievable if it hadn't happened to so many of us. People on a power trip using poor helpless animals to make themselves feel important. They even boast about it as if making adoption difficult is something to be proud of in its own right.
It's tragic.
Sometimes I think most of the rescues should be disbanded and new sensible ones put in their place, that actually want to find homes for the animals. Ones that don't need to (or get off on) guilt tripping people who want to love and save an animal, because they genuinely want that too.

We had the same when we wanted to adopt a dog.
refused because

• we hadn’t had a dog before
• we had a child (he was 11)

I was at home all day & we had a garden.
one adoption place said they would ‘allocate ‘ us a dog no choice on breed and we couldn’t meet it beforehand.

We did adopt a retired greyhound from a greyhound rescue group who has been spoiled loved but all for the past ten years. 🐾

Most of my animals have come from someone who knows someone "getting rid" of a pet - cats, turkeys, reptiles, rabbits etc. The kids have also brought home kittens and a stranger once tracked me down at my sports club to dump a dog on me as they knew I took in animals.
I got hens from a charity rehousing ex farm birds and I got 2 dogs from abroad.
I've also brought stray pets home from my work including a snake that had been found stuck to a glue pad.
I once told a man I'd take in 2 guinea pigs and he turned up at mine with said guinea pigs, a cage full of mixed sexed rats which turned 10 rats into nearly 30 and a box containing mice.

Happy days!, I love it!

Just get it out on the grapevine you're after a cat and the offers will roll in.

Hardly impossible when you could have let the kids have an afternoon off school...not ideal but hardly the end of the world.

I would love to but my cats would probably lose their sh*t 🤣

It’s the same with dogs. We ended up getting ours privately from a friend of a friend who needed to rehome as our local shelter made an issue of us both having jobs. Surely most people have jobs, it has never prevented me from owning dogs all of my life previously.

It is controversial, but I actually agree. Any life is not always better than no life.

I agree OP, I wanted to adopt cats and give a loving home to animals who needed one. I would have been their devoted, responsible and knowledgeable hooman.

But none of the local rescue charities would allow me to adopt because I live three doors up from a B road and was not happy to agree to keeping the cats indoors all the time.

I ended up buying a litter of kittens from a friend of a friend who constantly lets her cat get pregnant. I love them dearly and look after them very well but I know my purchase gave the 'breeder' a reason to encourage the production of ever more baby cats.

How does insisting you both have a cat flap and keep the cat indoors work?

Forgot to add pics - this is Pinky the Pirate - thinking of getting him an eyepatch.

Not really related to your question, and this may be controversial, but I think the pro-life / no-kill shelters are not the greatest. Before I adopted my first cat, I thought I'd go to the SPCA as they have a short time period of looking for a good home before putting to sleep. So I thought I'd be saving a life. Then, I started volunteering at a no-kill shelter. Some of the dogs and cats had been languishing there for years and were clearly depressed. I know every animal has a right to life, but is keeping an animal in a shelter for years and years perhaps more cruel than putting it to sleep after a few months, if no good home is found?

So I changed my mind and decided to adopt from a no-kill shelter, to rescue the cat from possibly years of waiting for a home. I adopted a 1 year-old, one-eyed boy. He was so happy to be brought home with me and is the most loving and affectionate boy. But he came with a host of health issues - snuffles (a high percentage of shelter cats have snuffles), an autoimmune condition that caused him severely painful gum disease and loose teeth, and parasites. Luckily I live for my animals and have pet insurance so was able to pay for him to have all the necessary vet visits and treatments to get him healthy.

So I'm conflicted - shelter cats can make amazing, grateful, loving pets, but often come with physical or mental health problems. For me, I'd prefer to adopt from a place like this because I feel I'm rescuing a cat from a horrible situation. But I have no kids and am dedicated to my pets, and this may not be the best option for other families.

I think there needs to be better regulation of the no-kill, 'hoarder'-type shelters. I donate to them, because they do need the help and they do have good intentions (even if they are a bit batshit, as a PP said). But I think they sometimes keep the animals in less than ideal conditions.

Thanks. Do you want him? half joking

He has his own long running thread 🤣 Lots of pic on there

www.mumsnet.com/talk/the_doghouse/5319893-for-the-love-of-pod?page=22&reply=146241447

But perfect shouldn’t include the crazy criterion some demand

I’m on quite a few cat rescue pages and the rising trend of insisting many kittens go in pairs or to homes with an existing cat bemuses me. Cats are largely solitary and territorial by nature. Studies have shown that most cats in multi-cat households either tolerate or learn to tolerate each other rather than actively getting along. My experience of bonded kittens is that once they hit maturity love turns to hate! I’m aware that some cats do actively become or stay bonded but it’s often more of an exception than the rule.

Given the circumstances OP just be aware that your existing cat may not take so well to a newcomer and even if they appear to get on as kittens it is no guarantee they still will once they start to mature.

We ended up getting a kennel club puppy which I didn't want to do.

The strict criteria is having the opposite effect to what they want. People just end up buying.

We had similar with an RSPCA centre, passed the telephone interview and home video. They wanted to see all of us (me, DH and 2 DDs) together for a meet and greet, all good but they shut at 4pm and the centre was 45m away from us and our kids got home from school at 3.30pm so it was impossible to arrange.

She has cats and breeds them. That doesn't make her in any way awful. She may be supplementing a low income or it may allow her to keep her cats. Despite what everyone seems to think breeding animals for sale is not a high road to huge - or any - profit. Vet bills, food bills, bills for housing, bedding, vaccinations etc all mean that for the most part a breeder will make very little - if you factor getting up 4 times a night to feed kittens because mum won't or can't, then any profit is miniscule.
No, I don't breed cats.

Completely agree.
Got turned down as I was pregnant and I "might love the baby more than I love the cat" 🤣
Full of women who want to hoard animals and not actually re-home them.

So many pet rabbits are neglected through ignorance. They're really not the best choice of small furry pet.

Simple answer: yes there appears to be. I don't get it either. Our rescue has some cats suitable for an indoor only home, but most prefer outdoor access.

And if people live in houses it's more or less impossible to stop cats going out anyway.

I've only ever had rescue pets for the last 20-odd years. I have a job, a child, a rented house, a disability, a small garden, usually other pets... and I've never had an issue. The most I have paid is £175 for my shih tzu, which can't have covered the costs of vaccinations and spaying her.

There are far too many unwanted pets in the world, and however you frame it, buying them off randos on the internet is just funding the next litter. Accidental litters don't happen if you neuter your pets.