To think animal shelter charities push potential pet adopters towards breeders with their absurdly stringent adoption criteria?

[Thepeopleversuswork]

OK so I’m probably being grumpy about this because I have had bad experiences and maybe unfair.

But I have just been turned down for a third time in five years trying the adopt a cat, apparently (as far as I can tell) because I have a job and live in a city.

I’m a middle aged woman living in a quiet street on the outskirts of SE London with my own home and a teenager and partner. I have sufficient income to support a cat. I have a large back garden. I am an animal lover who has had cats before.

The last two charities I have applied to had ridiculously detailed diligence procedures including several home visits and a dodgy quasi isometric test. Another agency which imports stray cats from overseas required me to send videos of the traffic on every street within a half mile radius and character references.

After weeks of consideration I was told in each case that I couldn’t adopt due to traffic risk.

I get that the volunteers at these places become very attached to their animals and of course it’s only right that people are vetted before taking an animal, especially one that has been mistreated. But the rigmarole in the application process is ludicrously over the top and it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that they basically don’t want you to adopt a cat unless you live in a huge rural stately home and don’t have a job. As soon as they hear the word “London“ or any indication that you work outside the home they basically rule you out in my experience.

I’ve now gone down the route of getting a cat via Gumtree but it makes me sad and it seems so self defeating; these charities are putting well meaning and committed animal lovers off applying and making it far easier for unscrupulous people to breed and sell animals.

Can anyone who works for one of these charities try to explain why it’s so difficult?

@GraveyardWhistling

We’re not going to give an animal to a person who is only at home and awake for a couple of hours a day, when we know that if we go through a few more applicants, they’ll be someone who doesn’t work full time away from home and is more suitable.

But you seem to want to have it both ways. On the one hand you openly denigrate people who acquire animals from anywhere that’s not a shelter but on the other you basically are ruling out the vast majority of families from using shelters.

If you want a set of criteria which is so restrictive it basically stipulates that to have an animal you can’t have a job or children under a certain age or live in a city or have an active social life or volunteer you are going to have an incredibly narrow pool of people.

You say you don’t have problems finding adopters but the fact that animal charities market so aggressively and the fact that there are so many of them suggests this isn’t wholly true. You can’t in good faith call out for help rehoming animals if you’re not prepared to work with people who are crying out to adopt.

Rescues will always keep asking for adopters so that we keep a steady number coming through. That doesn’t mean there’s a shortage, on the whole there’s not. Its more a time/resource issue.

But you seem to want to have it both ways. On the one hand you openly denigrate people who acquire animals from anywhere that’s not a shelter but on the other you basically are ruling out the vast majority of families from using shelters.

I believe true animal lovers would re frame their thinking. It’s not about you, it’s what is best for the animal. If you believe it is your right to have an animal, even if you’re circumstances aren’t good enough, you’ll never understand that. That is the issue. People start from a place of ‘I want an animal and I’ll do whatever to get that’. I don’t agree with that thinking.

Some breeders are responsible. They’re not really advertising an animal on gumtree that you can take home tomorrow.

I believe true animal lovers would re frame their thinking. It’s not about you, it’s what is best for the animal. If you believe it is your right to have an animal, even if you’re circumstances aren’t good enough, you’ll never understand that. That is the issue. People start from a place of ‘I want an animal and I’ll do whatever to get that’. I don’t agree with that thinking.

I don’t think I have a “right” to have an animal. I am perfectly content not to have one if I am not deemed good enough and to have oversight and scrutiny of my application. I completely accept that the charities need to do their homework.

I just think if I am being objective: a life in my large, quiet house in a pleasant part of town with a loving family of relatively decent means with a lot of affection towards animals and a desire to give a cat a home is probably better than life in a cage in a large room full of other animals for life.

The idea that someone would veto that on the grounds that there is a theoretical risk the cat might be exposed to traffic if it wanders five roads away or that I am considered feckless and selfish if I leave my house a few times a week strikes me as profoundly self defeating and silly.

Dogs Trust UK
Annual income: approximately £100,000,000
paid staff = 1600
volunteers 2500-3500
Dogs currently available for rehoming = 742

So if they give away those dogs, where's their collateral? This is why they have the silly rules where ostensibly they're desperate to give the dog a forever home, but it just won't be yours.

To be fair, yes there will be dogs under their care undergoing the process of being made suitable and they do work to improve animal welfare in the UK and abroad, so that takes up some of the 100 million quid, but come on...742 dogs?

It's a business, staffed mainly by free volunteers and designed to keep the CEO etc well-funded.

Go to Spain for a dog or a small local cat charity for a cat. They do the usual home checks, give you a health-checked, spayed and vaccinated pet and send a DEFRA vet to your house if you adopt from abroad.

I have been home pretty much 24-7 for the last three days. My cat is now very clearly sick of me and has taken herself out on a big hunt😂.

i must have a stern talk with her - if u can’t leave her alone for more than four hours then surely she can’t leave me alone for more than four hours!

I swear I saw he roll her eyes at me during Covid - you, again????

I was also told that Dogs Trust use the tag line 'we'll never put a healthy dog down' but they do take '7 day dogs' from the pound and if they don't meet their trial criteria, they get sent back to the pound to be PTS.

But it’s not true that all rescues would not let you have a cat if the risk from traffic is quite far away from your home.

Some rescues will rehome a cat as long as the busy road is not the road you live on, some do it based on distance or other occasionally use statistics such as number of cat injuries/deaths in road traffic accident in an area.

It’s also not true that leaving your house ‘a few time’s’ a week is a problem. That’s minimising the issue of animals being left alone for long periods regularly, as you well know.

My last 4 cats came from Battersea Old Windsor (a pair 13 years ago and a pair 6 years ago).
When I got the two 6 years ago, Battersea insisted I get a cat flap, so I bought one and told them I had, (I didn't get round to telling them I hadn't fitted it 🤣)
My policy is twofold

1. Just tell the charity what they want to hear,
2. If you don't like the response from one person, speak to someone else.

Our cats have free outside access (as long as someone is around to open a door or a window) and appear to have a great life.
As an aside - it really pisses me off that since Covid, Battersea OW is no longer open to the public - this really doesn't help with adoptions.

The thing is, I'm not an exceptional dog owner. I know two women locally who have high-drive dogs that pre-date their babies, and their dogs get exercised with the babies in backpacks.

Sundry relations and family friends have had dogs and young DC. They've walked and exercised the dogs.

I've only ever known one family surrender a dog because they couldn't cope with both dog and DC. They're a couple with a lot of health issues, and at the time both their DC were very young, one with SN. The dog in question was a rescue from Europe. He was obviously going to be massive and need bucket loads of exercise and training and he should never have been given to them. He lasted with them about a month.

They've got a puppy since. Much more suitable breed and it's not been a problem as far as I know.

Unfortunately, you see the cases where people haven't been sensible. But there are a lot of families out there were dogs and DC happily coexist.

Most pet adoption organisations/charities have ridiculous criteria. I did adopt a cat from one who were normal and reasonable - they came to my flat, had a look around, and came up with a very practical "You seem like a nice lady in a nice flat. We can't give you an outdoor cat as it's not suitable for you and unfair on the cat, but we can find you an indoor only cat no problem." DCat I adopted was much loved and had a great life, he had never been outdoors in his previous home so was very happy being an indoor only cat.

When me and DH wanted to get a dog, we didn't even bother with adopting based on previous experiences tbh. We got DDog from a great breeder. She "interviewed" us to make sure we were suitable, and was happy that although we both worked FT, we'd made plans in order to accommodate DDog - DH works long shifts and I mostly WFH. On the very odd occasion DH is at work AND I have to go into the office, DDog goes to PIL for the day or I'll take a long lunch and come home at lunch to break up the day for DDog. In 3 years we've only ever been caught out once where PIL couldn't take DDog, my dog loving colleague (who was WFH that day whilst I couldn't for various reasons) happily had DDog in her flat for the day. I'm well aware adoption agencies would have blanket said no to us because we both worked FT 🤷‍♀️

If anyone's interested in adopting a cat in the South West or Wales, the reasonable, nice and pragmatic adoption agency I got DCat from was https://bristolandwalescatrescue.com/

I completely agree with your first point @Grumpyoldpersonwithcats. I actually want to go and see the cats but it's no longer possible. Choose a cat from the website, go along and meet it and pick it up within 48 hours - if Battersea would adopt to me I could only have a cat that's on their website Thursday or Friday as I can only collect at the weekend!

I did try telling them that I'd take the cat proofing down once we knew what sort of cat we were getting but no, it had to come down first and they wanted pictures. We're open to an FIV+ cat so it seems pointless taking it down to have to put it up again. I've also spoken to more than one person but I'm obviously on their black list as they all said the same!

When we took some of Harry's stuff there it was like getting into Fort Knox. We had to call first and make an appointment, wait for the gate to be opened and then wait outside reception until someone came to take it as they wouldn't let us inside!

All the rescues near us were closed during lockdown. Such a shame as we had to go to a breeder. Having said that we love them.

Just had a very similar experience. Reasons given were:

• you have a 4 year old
• you live on a busy road
• you don’t have a catio?!

my 4 year old turns 5 next month and is the most gentle and sensitive child you could ever meet - although in fairness I’m sure everyone says similar.

we live in a very quiet grove and our large garden backs onto woods and a stream.

We ended up buying a pair of kittens from gumtree off an owner whose cat had an unexpected litter (for half the price the rescues were asking for!).

I have just looked at the website for one of our local rescue kennels, some of the dogs have been there 3, 4, 5 years. You have to wonder why they are still there.

However this is the same rescue that was being lauded because they raced to rehome a XL bully to Scotland on the 30/12.

Lots of rabbits at the RSPCA, I'm guessing they are often a failed Christmas present. I'm not in the game for a pet (allergic to cats and rabbits, not a dog person) but it does seem that things can be a lot harder than they should be.

I however do have a hamster. He is a proper rescue, having been abandoned in an empty property.

@CinnamonJellyBeans I'd love to know how many dogs Dogs Trust re-home each year for that £100 mill. Even if we assume the average stay is 10-14 days (which seems quite short), that's not more than 20,000 dogs a year. Which is a lot of dogs, granted, but costing 5k a dog to rehome. Some dogs are going to have complex health issues and cost £££ to fix, but you can kennel a dog for £150 - £200 a week, where the kennels are having to pay everyone, no volunteers.

I'd not done those sums before. I do accept that DT will have overheads like advertising and endlessly updating their website, but still.

That being said, I have a lot of respect for the people who work at the coalface in rescue, because they must see some serious issues close at hand. But less respect for the extreme restrictions.

@GraveyardWhistling

It’s also not true that leaving your house ‘a few time’s’ a week is a problem. That’s minimising the issue of animals being left alone for long periods regularly, as you well know.

Of course but I was very clear in my application that this wasn’t the case. I said I worked outside the home for approximately 5 to 6 hours twice a week. I can’t know whether that was a factor or not but it can’t have helped me, based on your four hour rule.

If I was the kind of person who would merrily leave a cat alone for days on end I would hardly provide such an honest and detailed response in my application.

It seems such a zero sum game. Like you are either a SAHM in a huge house with a private garden and nothing to do or you’re a feckless negligent person who just wants a “toy”. Complete lack of nuance or subtlety.

I've not had an issue with cats,as we seem to acquire the ones that no one else wants ( they just turn up and stay forever). I did have a problem with a very well known horse charity when we tried to take on a rescue pony though.
We have a farm,our own land, stables,could provide references,our hay and straw was produced on site. I didn't care about age,colour,breed,sex,or health issues. I had years of experience,had dealt with colic,EMS,Cushings,Laminitis and was confident in managing the conditions. We had existing ponies,so it wouldn't have been on its own. I applied 3 times over 10 years and never heard a peep from them. Bransby on the other hand,were very proactive and approved us for two ponies at different times.
I do think that there is some truth in the theory that some of these charities operate purely as a money raiser and don't actually want to get to the stage where all their animals are rehomed, because that would threaten their existence.

But the reason you have been given is traffic risk. If multiple rescues say that, then it’s reasonable to assume that the cat is at risk from being injured/killed by a vehicle. Or do you actually believe that the rescues are lying and don’t want to rehome the cats?

I do think that there is some truth in the theory that some of these charities operate purely as a money raiser and don't actually want to get to the stage where all their animals are rehomed, because that would threaten their existence.

In normal circumstances, rescues on the whole will never be able to have a day when all animals are rehomed. It’s like a never ending conveyer belt. In rescues I’ve worked at, people wanting to surrender their dog’s for example has outnumbered the dog’s we can take by at least 3 to 1, sometimes 10 to 1. It’s the never ending task made worse by bad breeders, bad owners, cost of living, housing crisis. I love that you’re so hopeful that you think it’s actual possible, I lost that hope years ago.

@GraveyardWhistling

Or do you actually believe that the rescues are lying and don’t want to rehome the cats?

Since you ask…In some cases possibly. The people working there get very attached to the animals. I think there probably are volunteers who don’t want the animals to leave. More often though I think it’s a combination of factors.

Some of it is genuinely well meaning people applying over stringent procedures because they are cautious. Some of it is box ticking. Maybe sometimes money making on behalf of the charity - some encourage dubious donations to get you through the door.

But a lot of the time I think rescues attract a certain sort of person who has a bit of a messiah complex about animal welfare and assumes that in order to be considered worthy of owning an animal a person has to reshape their entire life and adopt a kind of religious fervour; committing to adhering to a set of rules equivalent to the adoption of a child.

And if I am brutally honest I don’t think these people are very rational. I absolutely accept the need to vet people taking in animals but a lot of the rules seem to be more about creating a sense of pious virtue in the charity and less about finding practical solutions.

In taking this approach they allow their own sense of “mission” to cloud a proper risk/reward analysis and a lot of animals miss out on being rehomed because the home isn’t deemed “perfect”.

I think it’s unecessary and counterproductive.

Why don’t you volunteer at a few rescues?

After more than 25 years working with animals, much of it in more rescues than I can remember, in various roles from volunteer to vet nurse to behaviourist and trainer, your beliefs are way off in most cases.

The best way to find out what rescues are like is to be in them.

@GraveyardWhistling

Why don’t you volunteer at a few rescues?

Because I have a job and a kid.

And apparently this deems me unsuitable for animal adoption.

Seriously I do have a lot of respect for people who volunteer at rescues and I appreciate they do valuable work.

But I do also think on this point a culture has set in in some of these places which sets the rescues up as a kind of moral judge and jury of ordinary people for failure to adhere to unattainable goals.

I think until you actually see the inner workings and the effort and work put into rehoming, you will keep being mistaken in your thoughts. Obviously you can think what you like, but my experience says your beliefs are wrong.

Pointless thread full of people with no real knowledge, just peoples random made up thoughts because they were told they weren’t suitable and are annoyed.

Have a good night.

Some breeders are responsible. They’re not really advertising an animal on gumtree that you can take home tomorrow.

I agree. Gumtree is the worst of all possible options. If you want to buy from a reputable breeder, choose one where you can go to their home, see the conditions where they are kept, and see the kittens with the mother.

Some rescue centres have overly stringent rehoming requirements, but as many posters on this thread have said, others are a lot more flexible, and it is worth persevering.