I'm going to chime in again on this issue. You know when hubby and I were in the process of getting a dog, we first went to different shelters but the shelters only had big dogs. We can't have a big dog. We live in a very small condo with no yard, just a small patio. The PetSmart near us also had adoptions for pets. We went there a few times to check out what they had. We were both turned off by that whole process. They wouldn't let us have a dog until we filled out a bunch of paper work then we would have to wait weeks before we could get approved. What the heck? I remember when people use to give puppies away. Gosh, whatever happened to those days. Anyways, my mom also wanted to get a kitten after their yorkie died and she had the same experiece we did with the adoption. She didn't want to go through all that "red tape" just to get a kitten. AND on top that the woman was giving my mom a bad time because my mom was probbly going to keep the cat an indoor cat. So, she gave up that idea.
So, what hubby and I did was, We RESCUED our dogs from the pet store.. Yup, no problems there. NONE!!!! (hey, those dogs need rescued too) We went in, saw the puppies we wanted, went to the register, paid for them and left. We also got free vet service for a year. We have beautiful happy dogs with no problems..
As for you Ellen, here ya go :blowkiss: :blowkiss: I'm on your side. If I had to give my dogs away for whatever reason, I would make sure they were placed in a GOOD home just like you did.. But because you are famous and I'm not, you have to deal with all this BULL S*IT!!
You make some good points, PaperDoll. I rescued a cat from a shelter and had a somewhat decent experience. The woman I dealt with, however, completely ignored my requests for the type of cat I wanted. I specifically told her that I was looking for a young (but definitely not a small kitten), all grey (my favorite kitty color), short haired and relatively calm female. My request for a particular color was admittedly, a shallow one, but the other requirements were based on practical matters that were important to me. She kept showing me raggy looking, crazily active, multi colored, male and female, small kittens with extra toes (YUCK!). I told her I was just too squeamish to deal with the extra toe thing and not interested in crazy kittens. So she shows me a senior, long haired part grey cat that I didn't feel any affinity for. I thanked her and said I would come back another time in the hopes that she'd have something more to my liking. As I was about to leave, she reluctantly tells me about an all grey cat in the back that I could look at. The kitty in the back was EXACTLY what I was looking for (and had ASKED for)--a four month old, all grey, shorthaired, sweet tempered female. I promptly fell in love, filled out the paper work and brought home the original Natasha-Cupcake. We all love her dearly and I'm glad things turned out the way they did. But, I was a little annoyed by the woman's obvious attempts to palm off the most undesirable animals there while hiding the exact animal that I told her I was looking for.
Fast forward to several years later. I tried the shelter route again to find a dog for my kids. Most of the animals were too big, too rambunctious, too traumatized, or too unhealthy for me to deal with. I was also put off by the offacious attitudes some of the staff had and the combersome paperwork approval process. I, too, ended up going to a small, non-chain, puppy store that deals with reputable breeders and got the exact dog that I wanted-- a sweet, small llasa apso/poodle mix, who doesn't shed, bark excessively, or knock my kids around.
I don't discourage anyone from going through a shelter or rescue organization. I think it's an admirable thing to do, but the bottom line is that you do no animal a favor if you rescue one that does not fit in with your life style or sensibilities, however shallow or noble those sensibilities may be.
