Post by RealPitBull on Feb 28, 2014 10:17:00 GMT -5
Just thought I'd share this story.....
My friend just adopted a Cattle Dog mix from a rescue called Moonshine something-something in TN. She found the pup (about 9 weeks old) on Petfinder and filled out a super short application, talked to some guy for a couple minutes, then BAM! she was told she was approved to have the puppy and a transport company would drive her up to NJ the following weekend. Oh yeah, payment upfront via paypal before you even see your dog. $350. Then $150 paid directly to the transport company.
So an out of state adoption, home unseen, references unverified (don't see how they could have verified anything so quickly and they didn't ask for much), all happened within a few hours. By the following weekend, my friend was driving to Parsippany to pick up her puppy at the drop off point which was a hotel, at 5am.
Now, the puppy is absolutely adorable, healthy, and supposedly has received proper vet care up to this point. Frankly, I think my friend lucked out. There were so many things that could have potentially gone wrong with this. I was trying to coach my friend through it, she knew there was a possibility things could go bad, and she recognized how crappy this rescue was to be sending her a puppy across state lines with no homecheck. She could have been some puppy murderer, skinning puppies and wearing them as hats for all this guy knew.
Thankfully, this pup ended up in a good home, my friend is a great dog mom, and the puppy seems really nice so far. But this sort of rescue operation is NOT ok! This isn't how rescue is supposed to be done. This is like online sale of dogs as far as I'm concerned. It's really messed up, and the potential for bad things to happen is enormous.
But I see another side of things, and that is, this is an easy way to get a dog - and feel good because you are "adopting" a homeless animal vs buying from a breeder. Many rescues are super difficult to adopt from; many local shelters or rescues may not have the dog you are looking for, or perhaps the dog that catches your eye and makes your heart melt is actually all the way on the other side of the country. So while ideally you should adopt from a reputable rescue or shelter, locally, sometimes people just hit a brick wall, they want to rescue but end up having to go to some less-than-stellar, sometimes out of state, operation to get their dog.
Now, I don't approve of these sorts of rescues, obviously. But are they an ok alternative for people who try to adopt "the right way" and can't for whatever reason? It's better than having them go to a breeder which is a crap shoot anyway. I would never recommend someone do what my friend did or support a rescue like I described above, BUT at least she didn't get the BYB Pit Bull puppy from a litter bred by an acquaintance of hers. Right?
Thoughts?
P.s. My friend's other dog is a Pit Bull mix she adopted from a local high-kill AC shelter.
My friend just adopted a Cattle Dog mix from a rescue called Moonshine something-something in TN. She found the pup (about 9 weeks old) on Petfinder and filled out a super short application, talked to some guy for a couple minutes, then BAM! she was told she was approved to have the puppy and a transport company would drive her up to NJ the following weekend. Oh yeah, payment upfront via paypal before you even see your dog. $350. Then $150 paid directly to the transport company.
So an out of state adoption, home unseen, references unverified (don't see how they could have verified anything so quickly and they didn't ask for much), all happened within a few hours. By the following weekend, my friend was driving to Parsippany to pick up her puppy at the drop off point which was a hotel, at 5am.
Now, the puppy is absolutely adorable, healthy, and supposedly has received proper vet care up to this point. Frankly, I think my friend lucked out. There were so many things that could have potentially gone wrong with this. I was trying to coach my friend through it, she knew there was a possibility things could go bad, and she recognized how crappy this rescue was to be sending her a puppy across state lines with no homecheck. She could have been some puppy murderer, skinning puppies and wearing them as hats for all this guy knew.
Thankfully, this pup ended up in a good home, my friend is a great dog mom, and the puppy seems really nice so far. But this sort of rescue operation is NOT ok! This isn't how rescue is supposed to be done. This is like online sale of dogs as far as I'm concerned. It's really messed up, and the potential for bad things to happen is enormous.
But I see another side of things, and that is, this is an easy way to get a dog - and feel good because you are "adopting" a homeless animal vs buying from a breeder. Many rescues are super difficult to adopt from; many local shelters or rescues may not have the dog you are looking for, or perhaps the dog that catches your eye and makes your heart melt is actually all the way on the other side of the country. So while ideally you should adopt from a reputable rescue or shelter, locally, sometimes people just hit a brick wall, they want to rescue but end up having to go to some less-than-stellar, sometimes out of state, operation to get their dog.
Now, I don't approve of these sorts of rescues, obviously. But are they an ok alternative for people who try to adopt "the right way" and can't for whatever reason? It's better than having them go to a breeder which is a crap shoot anyway. I would never recommend someone do what my friend did or support a rescue like I described above, BUT at least she didn't get the BYB Pit Bull puppy from a litter bred by an acquaintance of hers. Right?
Thoughts?
P.s. My friend's other dog is a Pit Bull mix she adopted from a local high-kill AC shelter.
I look forward to learning much here