Why Is It So Hard to Adopt a Dog?

It’s a common gripe on over small talk, and on social media—the process of adopting a dog or cat from a shelter or rescue can be time-consuming and frustrating.

“Years ago, when I lived in western PA, I had great vet references but could not get approved for a senior dog from a shelter or rescue because we did not own our house,” wrote Rachel O’Rourke Williams on Facebook. “We had landlord permission and a yard. Some of the dogs we applied for were still listed on as months went by. It was very upsetting.”

“I had applied for numerous dogs over multiple months from various animal shelters,” wrote Blake Ploutz, who lives in an apartment in northern Pennsylvania. “I either never heard back or was rejected because I don’t live in a house or have a fenced in yard. I did eventually get a dog, though it was not through a shelter but rather a.”

Such posts are typical on social media from people who struggled to adopt a rescue pet.

But with  why?

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The Difference Between Shelters and Rescues

The first thing to understand about some of the challenges faced by many people looking to adopt a pet is the type of facility they are looking to adopt from.

Those looking to adopt from overcrowded, open admission or open intake shelters (shelters that accept any and all pets) that are desperate for adoptions may find the process fairly easy. These larger shelter systems, such as Animal Care & Control (ACC) facilities—city or county agencies that are authorized to enforce laws regulating the care, control, and sheltering of animals—often require less paperwork, and sometimes people can take a pet home that same day.

However, smaller, independent shelters and most rescues have extensive applications with pages of questions and references required before a person will even be considered to adopt.

With rescues, compatibility takes precedence

There’s a very good reason for all the red tape, says jme Thomas, Founder and Executive Director of the foster-based  in Redmond, Washington.

“The thing that we’re looking for at Motley Zoo is  she explains. “We want to make sure that this dog is compatible now and forever.”

The thing that we’re looking for is compatibility. We want to make sure that this dog is compatible now and forever.

Thomas says for her rescue, exhaustive applications are necessary to ensure that the dog or cat fits into the lifestyle of the adopter, so the animal doesn’t end up back in the system. She explains that “that [some] shelters have about a 50% return rate because that compatibility doesn’t last once they get home.”

Motley Zoo’s -based model allows the rescue to wait until they find a dog’s or cat’s perfect home. “We have the luxury of doing so because the animals are in private homes,” notes Thomas. “They’re not going to die tomorrow because of time or space constraints.”

When organizations don’t follow similar models, Thomas says, pet relinquishment rises.

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Tackling the root cause of pet surrenders

“Right now is the worst time in animal welfare that anyone has ever seen,” says Thomas, “and 

While buying a puppy from a breeder is a guaranteed way to bring home a new dog, many are not prepared for a puppy—or that breed—and often those pets end up an animal shelter.

The animals that end up in rescues have been failed before, and we’re trying not to fail them a second or third time.

Thomas says are to blame. Respectable breeders provide a nurturing environment for their dogs, and rigorously look for the same qualities from families looking to adopt one of their puppies. Responsible breeders have measures in place to keep purebred dogs out of shelters, such as taking the puppy back in the rare case the adoption doesn’t work out.

But this isn’t happening.

“Right now, in Washington state, our shelters are full up with purebred German Shepherds and Huskies,” Thomas reports. “Someone keeps breeding them. People keep buying them. And they keep getting surrendered.”

“This isn’t a transaction, and ultimately that’s the problem,” Thomas says. “Do people want a transaction, or do they want a relationship?

Do people want a transaction, or do they want a relationship?

Rescues, Thomas says, put a lot of time, money, and energy developing a relationship with the pets in their care.

“Fosters have them in their home. We’ve nursed them back from [in cases of abuse or neglect] the brink of death. The last thing we’re going to do is put them back in a risky situation.”

Thomas says that this is why they tend to be extremely careful with their adoptions. “The animals that end up in rescues have been failed before, and we’re trying not to fail them a second or third time.”