Rejected by Rescues: I Abandoned the System.

So, you are on Facebook, minding your own business when up pops a "news" story about an abandoned dog. His ribs are sticking out, flies land on his eyes. Scared, he retreats to a drainpipe to get away from his rescuers. You begin to weep uncontrollably.

But there's good news! You can adopt this dog and give him the home and love he deserves. That idea had never crossed your mind, but now it's an obsession.

You post a comment on this story and you get a response. You notice there are literally hundreds of comments from people all wanting this particular dog. There are other kind souls out there. You are not alone. You feel better but now, you actually want to help. If they can do it, so can you.

I'm sure we didn't meet Heart of the Catskills
qualifications either, but they knew no one
would adopt two old dogs together, so they
did the right thing and let us skip the adoption
application. I have Mitch and HoftheC to thank
for this wonderful year with Clark. 

You click on the website of the rescue and you begin to fill out the application form. With each passing question, you wonder, am I adopting a dog or a child? Neither are easy processes to be sure. Here are some of the questions that our family failed when trying to adopt a dog after Clark died.

1.) Fencing Lesson
We don't have a fence. We have an electric fence, but not a physical fence. Many rescues don't think it's humane nor effective in keeping dogs in the yard.
Our stubborn dachshund would sometimes discover that the fence was off or that her collar was not charged or as was the case the day she died, her human took her collar off because it was causing scabbing on her neck. While she had run our of the yard before, she had always come right back. Not that day. And still, we have no fence.

2.) Population and Demographics
How many people live in your house? Do you have children under 15 or elderly relations? If there are people that live with you that don't want the dog, you may not get the dog. In our case, this means the dog would never have to be crated, left outside to brave the elements, or be alone all day. But for some reason, I don't know if this was a good thing.

3.) Canine Companions
They ask you if you have other dogs. I thought this would be a good thing. Surely, if you have a dog already, they must realize how much you love dogs! But this turned out to be the most troublesome issue. If you have a dog, what kind is it? They want to know how old, how the dog deals with other dogs and a huge surpise and deal breaker is if the dog is neutered.
Rescues do not want you breeding your dog. Our remaining dog is a pure bred English Setter with papers. We had originally wanted to breed his predecessor, Oz who was smart, handsome, and obedient. Maverick, not so much. But the breeder asked us not to fix him and we didn't. I don't see why I should subject him to an unnecessary operation and expense since he would never come in contact with another dog unless we wanted him to. That's our business, no? It's not as if we are breeding him or don't care about where he is so that he can breed? I would totally get the rescue neutered if that's the rule, sure. But him? Why?

4.) Dog Family History
Then they ask you to list your other pets and how they died. This was painful but as you all know, I rather enjoy expressing my pain.
I wrote about Oz and Otse and what they meant to our family. How our neighbor at the time (in Africa) had shot and killed them becaues he found them on his property. The shelter I had applied to responded that she couldn't give us another dog because she wouldn't feel right putting it in danger. We live in the USA now. I doubt very much our neighbors here in Poughkeepsie would shoot our pet! But she stopped responding.

More recently, I wrote about Chelsea and how she was my shadow. How her loss was something I had to live with because I had taken her collar off that day. One minute she's next to me, the next she was gone. I found her a little over an hour later hit by a car blocks from our home. I wrote about how devestated I was because I was her pet. There's that fencing problem again, rearing it's ugly little head.

I wrote about Clark, how we had adopted him from a rescue after he'd been found by our friend Mitch. Mitch had come across the two old malnourished brothers walking along the road in the middle of the woods. According to the dog warden, who, it is worth noting, is also the mail carrier, their owners had left them there three times that week. One time with their collars. One time without. And the third time, Mitch picked them up and called the warden once again.
   We took in both elderly dogs and named them Lewis and Clark. But only Clark would make it home with us. Lewis didn't recover from the neutering. For a year, Clark followed me around, cried when I would leave him behind, and lived a happy, healthy, and loved life for the first time in his 12 years. He had gained weight, regained full use of his arthritic back legs, and had just settled into our lives and our home when he had a seizure and never came out of it. Again, we rushed him to the emergency vet - the first time was in Syracuse while visiting Macallan, his ankled swelled up and he was in visible pain. Another time, he was lethargic and had a fever. We joked that we had spent more on Vet bills for Clark than our other dogs combined.

5.) Vetting based on Vet Bills
Which leads me to the questions about our Vet. We had no regular Vet and many of their vaccinations Peter and Macallan would give them. We really should have gotten them rabies shots, but up until recently, we had no medical coverage, we certainly couldn't afford regular visits for our pets. So, when the rescues would check out our care of our animals from the Vet, they weren't happy with the answer. No, we hadn't had our dogs checked each year. Our dogs' vaccines were not updated as far as they were concerned. And none of our dogs were fixed, except for Clark.

I have to say, I applaud the work that rescues perform. I admire the dedication to animals' care. I think it's amiable to make sure pets are in homes that will give them a healthy, happy life.

What I wonder is, how many dogs are not homed? How many dogs remain with unstable futures in fostercare? Fostering is short-term and yet there aren't enough "qualified" adoptive families for the dogs to go to permanently. How many dogs die before the rescue decides which home is suitable? How many live in kennels instead of a loving home because of strict regulations?

But other than going through a shelter/ rescue, there are few ways to acquire dogs. There is buying a dog from a breeder, a pet store (Please Don't Do That! Many dogs from Pet Stores are produced in puppy mills, with breeding dogs in horrendous conditions resulting in odd mixes and poor health for the puppies.) and on Craigslist.

I've seen the stories of dogs being used for dog fights and puppy mills coming from Craigslist. I hadn't gotten a positive response from any of the rescues so I started looking for dogs that might fall between the cracks. I only started looking that day and up popped an ad for a coonhound puppy. I answered it right away. And she answered right back. We had a dialogue for an hour or so. Peter was unreachable at a conference. I had to wait to ask his opinion and ask if he would be willing to drive an hour to go meet the owner and the dog.

Five hours later, with no forethought. We were driving home with a coonhound puppy. I had always noticed them in a crowd, but never thought about owning one. After the personality of Clark, I wanted a basset hound. I wanted a companion, not just a pet. Coon Hounds had similar person-like personalities, just like Clark. As I held this little guy, I hoped he too would be as attached.

Meet 11 week old Black and Tan Coonhound,
Westley Fitzwilliam Darcy,
the perfect companion
for me. 

Long story, just a little bit longer...It's been a week since we went to get him. A month after losing Clark. I wanted another dog because I saw how much of a difference we made in Clark's life. I thought about his brother, Lewis, who never made it to our home. I remember crying after the rescue called to tell us he wouldn't recover from the surgery and thinking, "I hope you knew we wanted you. Your family didn't , but we did."  And that's what I wanted to do for another dog.

I looked for an older dog that someone might not want. I searched and applied for abandoned or homeless dogs that needed someone to love them. I didn't find one through a rescue.

But I think, this dog was meant to be. I will give him the care that Clark should have gotten. From the start, I can give him the love and trust a dog needs to feel safe and secure. He'll have good food, a soft bed and positive attention from caring humans.

With Clark, I got to see him go from being a guest in our home, to knowing he belong here with us. With Westley, I get to see him blossom and grow to reach his greatest potential. Our home will always be his home, the only home he'll know. That's something I can give him. And for many dogs, that's something they never receive.