As much a I love dogs, do you think it would be kinder on the dogs unlikely to be rehomed to be put to sleep

[Lardlizard]

Rather than live the rest of their lives cooped up in a shelter
I’m just not sure it the best for the dogs letting them live for years and and years in shelters
And I do say this because I do love dogs

@Enb76 2 months until being put to sleep is unfair. One of my dogs is a black with faint brindle male staffy was in the rescue home for 4 months when we adopted him, he was very young around a year old and was a stray. He is a very loving sweet dog, no issues with him at all. My female staffy also black was in the same home for 7 months before we adopted her, she had been returned from a failed adoption, she was young and high energy and they adopted her out to an elderly woman who could not cope with her so she was returned. We were the only ones to show any interest in her during that 7 months. I don't know how long she had been in the rescue before her first adoption. The fact she was returned was the rescues fault not hers, they should have told the woman she was not a suitable dog for her and helped the woman find a more suitable match. She had some issues with mouthing and pulling on the lead when we first got her but it didn't take long to teach her not to do it. Again she is a very sweet dog and still abit crazy and high energy at the age of approximately 9. With your 2 month time limit they would have both been killed but they both found a loving home it just took awhile.

If the dog is unadoptable or has been returned multiple times due to extreme anxiety or aggression, then I think that has be treated as a quality of life issue. It's not nice for a dog to live in fear, thinking that every it sees/hears is going to kill it, or wanting to kill everything it sees/hears. So yes, there comes a point when euthanasia should be considered in those cases.

Maybe advertising could be better (I know it’s a case of money though).

When dogs are featured on TV programmes, they become inundated with offers of adoption.

My husband is a volunteer at a shelter. They have a no-kill policy. You’ll be surprised at how many people take in old and disabled dogs. For some people they feel it’s a calling. There was an 11-year-old disabled dog at the shelter that they assumed would not be re-homed. We adopted him and he’s here by my feet right now. After we brought him home the shelter still continued to receive calls and emails from people wanting to adopt “the big old dog” that had been on their website. They regularly get people contacting them specifically looking for an old or disabled dog. Not everyone wants a puppy.

Any rescue that hasn't allowed visitors since March isn't fit for purpose and should be closed. Absolute neglect. We were in restaurants all summer 'eating out to help out', tradespeople and cleaners have been working in private homes throughout. Absolutely no reason why someone couldn't attend a shelter to choose a dog, and for a socially-distanced home inspection to take place.

@Whatwouldscullydo

I've often wondered this.

It would be absolutely brilliant if idiots would stop buying sick puppies from farms and then handing them.over when they cant afford the bills.

It would be brilliant of people researched their dog breed ajd whether ot was compatible with their lifestyle before taking a fashionable dog on.

It would be amazing of people realises the sheer about if work required in socialising their dog, house training their dog, teaching more than just a basic sit and half hearted recall and having an all round well trained obedient well socialised dog

It would be great if owners realised they need mental stimulation and have mental needs as much as rhey have physical ones of eating and walks

I know there are plenty who have had ti give up their pets tbrough illness disability and unavoidable circumstances and my heart goes out to them. I'm sure most those dogs are probably fairly easily rehomable

But ther are so many idiots. And instead of berating a shelter for putting them down we should be angy at the owners who made them so unrehomable and caused so many issues that the poor things need months of work and a rare specialist home .

So I do think jts just torturing the poor things tbh . Uts probably kinder to put them to sleep than have them go through multiple unsuitable homes or sit there hoping that someone who lives in the middle of nowhere, sees no other dogs , has plenty cash for every dog workshop known to man and just happens to be looking fir a three legged, diabetic, food aggressive border collie...

I wish there were harsher punishments fir letting that happen then maybe it wouldn't even be a decision anyone would have to make

A lot of this has already happened in many places, it's becoming increasingly difficult to get a dog, other than from a breeder. Though I think it's an open question whether registered breeders are better than pet dogs that have a litter ot two over their lives.

@Enb76

Two months is a ridiculously short amount of time. They are in pens, not cages. They get walks, which is something that some dogs with actual owners don't get and they are looked after by people who care about them, even if they don't have loads of time for each individual dog. And then if they get adopted, they could have 10+ years in a happy home.

So sorry, I'm going to have to disagree with you there.

I have a couple of people on my timeline who seem to have a never ending stream of pets...

Some are actual breeds so there's no way they'd have got them at an affordable price if from anywhere half decent. There will he a dew weeks of photos then it will all go quiet... no mention of whats happened to them and maybe a hint if trouble with allergies with the kids. Then y did u get another cat u let breed rehoned kittens then? Then a few week later its another one

@Whatwouldscullydo

To be fair, shelters are trying to get stricter in terms of matching dogs to suitable owners so that they don't go through multiple homes. If a dog is returned once, then they really need to crack down on why that was and what kind of owner the dog needs to stop it happening again. Some shelters do this, others don't.

But yeah, we need harsher penalties for people who abuse and neglect animals.

I bet the amount of animal related crime would go down if we brought the stocks back.

I think one of the real issues is (a) how long and (b) how difficult it is to adopt from shelters.

I've tried to adopt a car from shelters and repeatedly been refused because we have young children. Children that are very used to cats, and whoever supervise closely. I know many others have found the same thing. That the shelter want someone who doesn't work (but obviously has enough £), they refuse because there is already a cat at home (obviously some cats need to be the only pet, but not 90% of them), because they have children under 5, all sorts of reasons.

Yes, shelters need to be careful (even more so with dogs and children) but it's honestly easier to adopt from the other side of the world, than somewhere 10 minutes down the road. Then the shelters complain about how long the animals have been there...

You’ll be surprised at how many people take in old and disabled dogs

One of my old boys was at the rescue for 3 years before I adopted him. He was black, male and reactive. He is 12 and a half now and his back end is going but he is snoring next to me on the sofa and is a real cuddle monster. I love the oldies but the big down side is how they break my heart when they die.

Yes, shelters need to be careful (even more so with dogs and children) but it's honestly easier to adopt from the other side of the world, than somewhere 10 minutes down the road. Then the shelters complain about how long the animals have been there.

When I a kid we tried to re-home a kitten/cat. It was insane. Too near a road , you have kids ( we were young teens ajd had grown up with a cat we knew how to treat them/feed them) then they wanted us to have 2 . Ended up with a rescue/stray kitten brought into a vets several miles away.

But yes it was very difficult to get a cat. And they don't even require walks ajd training. We were experienced cat owners too

You might call it a pen but if your neighbour kept their dog in a pen apart from two walks and occasional play you’d say they where bad neglectful owners as a dog deserves company and to be part of the family.

You can’t have it both ways either is acceptable as a way of life for them or it’s not. 6hours alone bad, most of the time fine if in a rescue. Can’t live in flat but can live in pen. It’s complete double standards and the only thing being punished is the dog. Because rescues won’t be realistic, a happy life in a flat taken for many walks, doggy daycare a few days a week, or a dog Walker who comes in twice during a working day plus time with the owner outside of work is much better than living in a pen.

Although I’m not talking only 2 months like some but by the time a dogs been in a rescue as in a cage/pen rescue for a year+ if there has been nobody suitable at all or it’s been brought back more than once you’ve got to start asking difficult questions regarding what’s best for that dog really and is it living it’s life in a pen or just slowly drifting off to sleep forever while being cuddled or whatever.

We adopted three of our dogs from the local dog shelter. All had 'issues; when they arrived but they became legends in our family. I'm currently waiting for a puppy from a recommended breeder, because four grandchildren under 5 makes me wary of bringing in a dog from our local shelters. The dogs they have the past year are different than the collie cross, the young German shepherd or the kelpi/cross breed who were our last rescues.

I looked for months pre-lock down, visited the two shelters locally. The dogs were mainly bull dog crosses, or elderly German shepherd dogs with behavioural and health problems. Those dogs wouldn't be suitable for our family and even if Id wanted to try, we'd have been ruled out with the uncertainty of the dogs behaviour and our young grandchildren.
I don't know how long dogs should wait in what is often a poor environment that doesn't help the problems the dog arrives with. Our three rescues all came to us within 6 weeks or so of them arriving in the shelter. Most dogs can be rehabilitated but they often need experienced handlers to become the best they can be.

I don't want to start a war but - bringing in dogs from the Med/Eastern Europe who have lived on the streets, killed prey to eat, never lived in a house etc etc is something I struggle with. Many of those dogs end up with the Dogs Trust or similar organisation because the new owners can't handle them.

My DB really wants a rescue dog. He lives with our cousin who works at home. My DB start works early/ finishes early so at home a lot. Owns own house with a big secure garden. He's forever going on hikes and he dog walks / sits for family and neighbours. Got rejected because he didn't have enough experience? We grew up with dogs and he's the most doggy person I know. I understand they need to get people vetted but keeping a dog in a kennel when it could have a home is awful.

They would be happier as strays than in a shelter for life I suspect.

I don’t agree that it’s kinder to kill them. If I got a life sentence in prison I’d still prefer that people don’t kill me and I expect dogs feel the same.

@Mumbum2011 your DB might want to look into adopting a dog from Romania, there are shelters there that do regular trips to Uk to rehome their strays with families here that get turned down by uk shelters. Very odd situation but my friend adopted a wonderful rescue puppy from Romania so it can work very well.

@Whatwouldscullydo

Yes, shelters need to be careful (even more so with dogs and children) but it's honestly easier to adopt from the other side of the world, than somewhere 10 minutes down the road. Then the shelters complain about how long the animals have been there.

When I a kid we tried to re-home a kitten/cat. It was insane. Too near a road , you have kids ( we were young teens ajd had grown up with a cat we knew how to treat them/feed them) then they wanted us to have 2 . Ended up with a rescue/stray kitten brought into a vets several miles away.

But yes it was very difficult to get a cat. And they don't even require walks ajd training. We were experienced cat owners too

A lot of the shelters and rescues here will not allow people to adopt if they intend to let the cats outside. Which means anyone who actually wants a cat for rodent control has to find one somewhere else.

In general I don't find rescues are very good about understanding working animals, or sometimes even the needs of working type animals that are kept as pets.