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BEYOND furious at rescue group

post #1 of 55
4/20/07 at 6:37pm
Thread Starter 
Sorry for the long post but I'm just so mad about this!

I have been trying to find a home for the pit bull my brother has been caring for. he is not agressive or anything like that but he does have some behavior problems (jumping on people and chewing on you, which can be a little scary if you dont know him). I have been trying for months and can not find him a home. So I started contacting rescue groups. I was starting to get use to no one calling me back or telling me that they where full. So tonight I was calling around and came across this one rescue one petfinder. I wont name the rescue but it didn't sound half bad at first.

This is how the conversation on the phone went.

"Hello, this is **********"
"Hi, I was hoping you could help me find a home for a pit bull."
"Didn't you listen to the message?"
"No, I didn't get a message. It was just you that picked up."
"oh, well were full and we dont accept any animals"
"Ok then. I was just hoping that you or someone you knew could help me find a place for him. He has some behavior problems and I'm scared that a regular shelter wont take the time to work with him."

This is where is gets ugly...

"well why dont you take him for training"
"I cant really afford to"
"Well, why did you get the dog in the first place if you couldn't care for him."
"It's not my dog . Its my brothers."
"well then why did he get the dog?"
"He thought...."
"MAYBE its my pain medication thats making me a little nasty, but I'm sick of people who get animals and can't properly take care of them. If you cant care for them for all of there lives then you shouldn't get them. I'm sick of always getting phone calls from people like you. People who dont care about there dogs enough. You people disgust me. I'm sick of people just like YOU!"

Click...

WHAT? WHAT DID SHE SAY TO ME? And did she just hang up on me.... (I had some choice words I would have liked to scream at her if I had gotten the chance)

Anyone who knows me (and you can feel free to check through all of my previous posts) knows that I foster and own special needs animals. I pay out of my own pocket and devote my own time to help get this animals healthy and find them homes. I AM A GOOD PERSON! I am not some piece of trash dog fighter or person who could care less about animals.

I can't keep the dog at my house because he doesn't get along with cats. Otherwise I would. He can't live at my brother's anymore "because my SIL is pregant and with his jumping, they're afriad that he's going to hurt her or the baby on accident" I would take him for training but I have already spent a small fortune treating him for heartworms (when my brother found him he was heartworm positive), vaccinating him, neutering him, and all the other blood work he's had done....He is also being boarded at the vet's office I work at right now. Which isn't cheap! So I dont have the money.

I'm SOOO steaming MAD. Here I am, trying to do the right thing for the dog and this woman reams me out for it. I felt like an aweful person... Then I started thinking about it... I'M not the aweful person, she is. She doesn't even have the whole story and she is give me crap about how I treat animals????? I treat my animals better then some people treat there kids. My animals even have there own ROOM just for them! What right does she have to say those kinds of things to me! UUUUUUHHHHH!!!!!
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post #2 of 55
4/20/07 at 6:46pm
She doesn't. Every once in a while though, I think we're all guilty of jumping to a conclusion. I do it occasionally. I'd probably call her back and leave her a message, though, and then I'd call a superior if she has one, and tell them about her behavior. It really doesn't foster good will toward pet kind for someone in a position normally respected to act that way..

As a helpful note, though, if you get the opportunity to use it.. if the dog jumps up (and this didn't work on the Dane because she was too long for us to reach her back paws..) but we've found that in every other case lightly tramping on their back paws every time they did it taught them not to jump up. Cesar Milan's tricks work wonders, if someone has the patience to sit through his episodes and then try to work with the dog in question.

Other than that, which I know probably isn't a viable solution.. I think you're doing all that you can to help. Sorry for your frustration! I hope you find a solution soon.
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post #3 of 55
4/20/07 at 7:00pm
She doesn't have the right to say things like that to you, and in all of my time answering admission calls for my shelter I never actually lost it on a phone call.

However, you have to remember that most of the people we deal with are, in fact, irresponsible morons. I would be lying if I said I never thought exactly what she said to you. And yes, there is a lot of actual truth in what she said to you...your brother isn't acting in the most responsible way...the way we admissions people see it is that you need to exhaust every possibe option available to you before you get on the phone wanting us to take your animal (and it's also true that animal shelters are at or over capacity 99.9% of the time).

If this woman wanted to actually help, there are several OBJECTIVE suggestions she could have made, and they would be valuable because you'd know they were coming from someone experienced on the outside without the emotional entaglement you have with your brother. The first being to speak to a behaviorist, and there are FREE national behvaior lines, PM me if you'd like one. The next suggestion she should have made was for your brother to open up a credit card, pawn something, or take out a small loan to pay for training. Training, as you probably know, is just as important as heartworm prevention and neutering, especially in a bully breed. If that was impossible, he needs to be fostered until he can be rehomed privately, because being in a stressful shelter environment is going to exacerbate, not help, his issues.

I know this is frustrating, and she had no right to treat you like dirt. It's her responsibility to give objective advice and suggestions...and the cold, hard truth if necessary, but to do so in a respectful, courteous manner. She's obviously lost you now, and she probably could have done a ton to help. Pity.
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post #4 of 55
4/20/07 at 7:53pm
Thread Starter 
Fortunatly, I got a hold of a woman at another rescue group call wishbone animal rescue who was VERY nice and VERY helpful. She said she was full but to try and call this other shelter she knew of. She also said she did know of 3 homes interested in adopting one of the pit bulls they had and would discuss with them the possiblty of adopting the one I have, since obviously all 3 couldn't get the one dog they have up for adoption. She said that if the shelter she suggested wouldn't take him, that she would work with me to find another that would... Shelters need more people like HER who are willing to do there best to find a proper placement for an animal.

The problem with the training thing, is that my brother is not a good dog owner. He does not have the patiance it takes to work with a dog and train them properly. He is just not the kind of person who should own a dog that is as active as this one is. Thats why I'm trying to find the poor dog a home.

I know what it takes to train a dog. I have a husky with seperation anxiety and there were points that I thought I was at my wits end with her. I kept at it though because I love her and I made a commitment to her when I took her in. I'm not willing to risk bringing the pit bull into my home at the risk of my cats though. I have too many disabled cats who wouldn't be able to get away from him if her went after them.
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post #5 of 55
4/20/07 at 8:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shorty14788 View Post
Fortunatly, I got a hold of a woman at another rescue group call wishbone animal rescue who was VERY nice and VERY helpful. She said she was full but to try and call this other shelter she knew of. She also said she did know of 3 homes interested in adopting one of the pit bulls they had and would discuss with them the possiblty of adopting the one I have, since obviously all 3 couldn't get the one dog they have up for adoption. She said that if the shelter she suggested wouldn't take him, that she would work with me to find another that would... Shelters need more people like HER who are willing to do there best to find a proper placement for an animal.

The problem with the training thing, is that my brother is not a good dog owner. He does not have the patiance it takes to work with a dog and train them properly. He is just not the kind of person who should own a dog that is as active as this one is. Thats why I'm trying to find the poor dog a home.

I know what it takes to train a dog. I have a husky with seperation anxiety and there were points that I thought I was at my wits end with her. I kept at it though because I love her and I made a commitment to her when I took her in. I'm not willing to risk bringing the pit bull into my home at the risk of my cats though. I have too many disabled cats who wouldn't be able to get away from him if her went after them.
I can tell from your posts that you're well-informed and you didn't really sign up for this responsibility, and it should be your brother's butt on the line, and the sad fact is that the responsibility of making sure he doesn't own another dog again got stuck with you since he's obviously buffering himself from having to do this himself. I'm gad you found someone more helpful, but the dog really can't go to a shelter...if you work for a vet, you probably know what I'm talking about with the constant stress. It's good that some homes are interested...perhaps they'll let you contact the interested parties directly?

When I'm at the shelter, we work really hard to ensure the proper placement of that animal, which 9 times out of 10 should be the home it was adopted into! Most people are perfectly capable of working things out and keeping the animal...they just don't know how or understand the animal they brought into their home. That's we're there for, and that's the assumption we work under. Of course, we're always there for that one animal (cats in our case) that doesn't deserve to be in a wretched home. We can't take housecats because of licensing/liability issues (we take in only strays and ferals) but we'll take back our adopted cats when the owner INSISTS on returning it for a dumb reason and is unwilling to take no for an answer or any suggestions...usually, it's the stupid and unwilling owners that are unfit, not the poor or elderly or what have you. We give people a lot of suggestions and options, and I'm happy to report that several people take our advice and make it work. When one man was put on pubic assistance, we offered him food and basic vet care for the cat if he came every morning and worked as a shelter caretaker, meaning he helped feed, water and clean for the kitties. He did it happily in order to continue caring for his cat. Could he afford proper care? No, but he was willing to make an unusual tradeoff to keep his kitty. This is what we like to see.
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post #6 of 55
4/20/07 at 8:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by lionessrampant View Post
We give people a lot of suggestions and options, and I'm happy to report that several people take our advice and make it work. When one man was put on pubic assistance, we offered him food and basic vet care for the cat if he came every morning and worked as a shelter caretaker, meaning he helped feed, water and clean for the kitties. He did it happily in order to continue caring for his cat. Could he afford proper care? No, but he was willing to make an unusual tradeoff to keep his kitty. This is what we like to see.
What a great solution -- a real win/win!
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post #7 of 55
4/20/07 at 9:03pm
I'm glad you found someone/someplace helpful!

I must agree with Allie....I've jumped to conclusions before. But, I have never & will never ever say anything like that to anyone surrendering either in person or on the phone. That is just plain RUDE!

Sometimes....there are legitimate people who take in an animal to try to re-home it....or take them from abusive situations.
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post #8 of 55
4/20/07 at 10:07pm
Glad it seems like there's a light at the end of that tunnel! I'm sure it's a relief to hear that you might have placement for the pup. I know how frustrating it was to have to muzzle our Dane while we were frantically searching for a home...(she was a rescue, and then ended up killing my cat.. story under rainbow bridge forum.. about Tavi, if anyone wants to read).. and you wouldn't believe how many people would call us with an ad that read IS NOT PLACEABLE WITH SMALL ANIMALS OR CHILDREN and say well, we have a cat.. is she okay with cats... well, we have children, you aren't really serious about children, are you? I'm like.. hello this is a Great Dane we're talking about.. do you really want to take the chance with your child given that the dog could put your kid's head completely in her mouth? Amazing, that. We were completely honest about all her issues on the ad/listing...we didn't want her to go to someone the way she came to us. We were completely blindsided and knew none of her issues, until she bit my child, went after the neighbors, started chasing my cats..

Anyway, I'm glad you're having some luck now. It's a difficult place to be put in and I'm sure you'll find a home as great as we did... she's got a great family now.
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post #9 of 55
4/20/07 at 11:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by lionessrampant View Post
I can tell from your posts that you're well-informed and you didn't really sign up for this responsibility, and it should be your brother's butt on the line, and the sad fact is that the responsibility of making sure he doesn't own another dog again got stuck with you since he's obviously buffering himself from having to do this himself.
It sounds as though he shouldn't have a dog - but, didn't you say earlier Shorty that he just found this dog and took him in? So he actually rescued him in the first place? That vindicates him to a large degree if he did rescue the dog rather than go and get him and then decided later he didn't want him.

I'm a bit confused!
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post #10 of 55
4/21/07 at 4:16am
Thread Starter 
The dog was found a couple of months ago wandering my brother's neighborhood. He had an inbedded collar, was under fed, and had wounds on him. My brother did what he thought was the right thing and took him in to stay at his house while he looked for a home. He named him kahne. I told him if he was going to have the dog at the house, then he needed to bring him in for vaccines, and a heartworm and fecal test. He turned out to be heartworm positive and had hookworms. My brother asked me if animal control would put him down. I told him that since it was a pit bull who is heartworm positive.... more then likely. So my brother was suppose to find him a home while we treated him for the heartworms and hookworms.... I dont know if he never looked or never found a home, but after the treatment my brother said he was going to keep him... Well, now my SIL is pregnant and Kahne is still as untrained as before (I think he's actually worse then when he first found him) So they decided they cant keep him.

Now, its hard for me to admit... but I think my brother might hit Kahne. Last time I went over, Kahne was jumping everywhere like usual. My brother turned around and yelled "Kahne, get the..... down!" Kahne layed on the ground shaking. He had that look like he was terrified of my brother. Now, I've never seen him do anything to Kahne but Kahne's reaction to him made me worry. Thats why I decided he needed to get out of there as soon as possible.

This poor dog has been through soooo much. I was just really amazed by what that first woman said to me. If you don't have the full story, you shouldn't judge someone. I have been working my butt off to help this dog... And then I get yelled at for it....

The woman who is actually helping me, has a shelter that is about 3 hours away. Its not like I'm not trying everything here. I have called places all over the state of florida trying to find this dog a home.... Thank god for people like her... She just wants whats best for the dog. Thats the kind of person who should have a shelter....
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post #11 of 55
4/21/07 at 6:59am
In your brother's defense, and you may be right but I have to say.. Elisa was with us for two years... we worked and worked and worked with her, and she always presented herself as the alpha. She also had issues.. for instance, I guess the previous owners used to beat her, and from her reactions we gathered that they must have called her in that "I'm so happy to see you" voice, and then beat her for whatever she did.... she'd do it to a female entering the house, but particularly to men (nephew)... She'd throw a fit hearing someone come in, and then when we'd greet her.. she'd run and hide and shake and pee all over the floor. We never broke her of that habit, and she was with us for two years..and we never hit her. We always put her up when we left, so that she had no access to destroy the house.. so unlike the previous owners.. we didn't let her run loose and she was happier being confined while we were gone (we tried giving her some space, and she just got crazy when we got home like she'd done something wrong).

Anyway, the point here was..it might just be the dog.. I'd get aggravated with Elisa (who was too huge to be bouncing around our townhouse and leaping in the air and throwing herself around..and *would* not be discouraged by talking to her) to the point where I'd try to tell her lie down, I'd put her in a down stay, over and over again.. and then I was like "ELISA LIE DOWN NOW!!!!!!!" and of course she'd lie down and then shake.. five minutes later....she'd get up and start all over again. I know you're not supposed to yell at them, but sometimes.. that was the only thing that would get through her skull. I'm pretty patient usually (not always) but after three hours of being patient and doing it the right way.. the patience hit the door.

But in any case I'd still call her superior and/or someone and file a report. That's not doing the animal community any good if she's acting that way. Maybe if you can accomplish getting something done about that, it'll maybe give you a better feeling about it overall, because then you're ultimately helping the animal community? Okay, okay, I know it's a stretch here... but I'm trying to help you feel better about it ultimately..!
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post #12 of 55
4/21/07 at 7:15am
I sent you a PM about the dog. It sounds like Kahne needs out of there, and FAST!! I am going to post a thread on another site to see if we can get some help for this baby....
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post #13 of 55
4/21/07 at 7:42am
I think that lady jumped on the wrong person for sure. She should have been jumping on your brother and SIL, as they are the very, very irresponsible dog owners.
That dog is not adoptable in his current state. He does need obedience classes, and I just can't accept the fact that the dog can't be in their home because he will jump on a preganant woman. Whose fault is that?

The poor dog will suffer and most likely be dumped. Poor thing.

But it isn't your fault.
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post #14 of 55
4/21/07 at 8:01am
Obviously the woman was out of line. If I were you I would wait a week (that is about how long it would take ME to calm down!) and compose a polite letter with all the facts (most importantly that you were calling on behalf of an adult relative whose behavior is not something under your control, and that you were asking for any kind of assistance, even if only contact info) and send it to the president of the rescue organization, indicating that this type of unwarranted response is not in line with their stated mission of saving animals. Period. I bet you get a polite response back.
We all have days when we are sick and tired of it, but that is not an excuse for being rude to a complete stranger IMO.
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post #15 of 55
4/21/07 at 9:21am
Probably what the deal is, that the woman probably did not believe she was calling for her brother, she probably thought that was an excuse. Believe me, rescuers hear it all.

Your brother may have rescued the dog, but once he did and decided to keep him, that made the dog HIS responsibility.
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post #16 of 55
4/21/07 at 10:04am
Thread Starter 
I have to say on my SIL's bahalf, that she didn't want to keep him from the start. She knew it was more then they could handle. She knew that my brother was not the right person for Kahne from the start and had been pushing for him to find a home for Kahne. Its my brother that is the shumck who fooled himself into thinking he can handle it. He's a good person but a poor dog owner...
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post #17 of 55
4/21/07 at 1:20pm
I'll be totally honest. I don't think the lady was out of line at all. Shelter and rescue workers are very underpaid, if paid at all, and spend most of their time listening to people whine about their dog/cat who jumps/digs/pees on the floor/tears up the furniture etc. Your brother should have taken the dog to the shelter when he found him if he was not prepared to care for him. Contrary to what seems to be popular belief, a dog can be raised around a child, but it takes training. Jumping is something that is VERY EASILY trained out of a dog and is a poor excuse to give up a dog. You were probably just one of a million calls the poor lady had that day about people wanting to give up their pet.
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post #18 of 55
4/21/07 at 1:39pm
That is undoubtedly true, but it does not give her the right to be rude, or to "shoot the messenger". Her message may be valid, but just as we say here about that kind of situation, you can't educate if you alienate the person approaching you. She probably means well, and maybe she was having a bad day, but it still doesn't excuse her. It's just fortunate that the person she reamed out in this instance was not one who would go off in a huff and give up trying to help the animal as a result.
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post #19 of 55
4/21/07 at 2:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by fosterkitty View Post
You were probably just one of a million calls the poor lady had that day about people wanting to give up their pet.
That's definitely the other thing: you sit there and take calls all day about people who want you to deal with their problems, and yet won't listen to your advice half the time, and you never have anyone call and say "keep up the good work" or "is there any way I can help?"

I was lucky in that I was in public outreach, so I got to balance taking the (ungodly high volume of) surrender calls with doing interviews and adoptions, working with volunteers and then helping in Development (for those of you that don't know, Development workers work with grants, sponsors, bequests and individual gifts), so I at least got to see the happy side of things. So many volunteers get so mired in surrenders and euthanasia and whatnot...I wouldn't be surprised if this were the case with this woman.

So yeah, I don't begrudge this woman her THOUGHTS one bit...but you have to keep your cool and not jump to conclusions right away. You can't just haul off and yell at a caller, especially a first-time caller. Of course, you also have the responsibility to deliver the cold-hard truth if they need it (and most people are clueless and do need it), but like I said before, there's no reason that can't be done objectively.
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post #20 of 55
4/21/07 at 2:11pm
Thread Starter 
The problem isn't that fact they are afriad he would jump on a child. They already have a 4 year old, whom Kahne does not jump on at all. The problem is that me and my SIL suspect that my brother was hitting the dog. My brother claims that he didn't want the dog anymore because his wife was pregnant. My brother even tried to claim that Kahne tried to bite him... This dog would not bite anyone. Heartworm treatment can be painful. The injection site get VERY sore. He also had a skin scape to check for demodex. Through out all of it, he was an angel. A wiggly angel but an angel none the less. I feel that he was just looking for an excuse to cover for his wife's REAL reason for getting rid of him (the fact that she thinks he hits the dog). LIke I said before though. No one has seen him do it. When Kahne first arrived at his house, he was not fearful of my brother at all. Now he cowers when my brother even looks at him. Its just one of those feelings that me and my SIL have...

He was going to be taken to a shelter, until we found out he was heartworm positive. All the shelters in my local area where full and the only ones that weren't would put him down because of the fact that he was a heartworm positive pit. We even had flyers up... no one would call.... no one wanted him. We treated him for heartworm and still no one wanted him. THats when my brother decided to keep him.
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post #21 of 55
4/21/07 at 2:26pm
Thread Starter 
I know what shelter work is like... I worked for a local shelter for a while. Fortunatly we were a NO kill shelter. I saw cats that had been there for over 5 years and never found a home. I saw kittens die from URI's. I saw 4 week old puppies with rubber bands on there tails because the person wanted to doc the tail themselves. I saw people return there cat that they had for 11 years because they where moving someplace that wouldn't take animals. And let me tell you, its hard to place an almost 12 year old cat. I saw one dog get returned FOUR times before he finally found his forever home. But you know what, I never judged the people. For all you know, the owner could be dying of cancer. They could have been layed off and cant afford to care for the animal.

She never even heard the whole story. What I posted is exactly what was said. For all she knew, I could have had some brain tumor that was killing me. I know its hard to see animals come in day after day. Its hard to see the cages SO full that you cant take in even one more animal. I know what its like.... She was still not right to have told me that "I digust her and make her sick" She makes me sick... I was just asking if she knew anyone who could help me find a home for the poor dog. Its not like I dont care what happens to him. Why else would I be doing all of this? Why would I being calling shelters across the state to find him someplace that won't put him down or give up on him? I know I cant properly care for him and neither can my brother. I just want to find a home that can....
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post #22 of 55
4/21/07 at 3:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by fosterkitty View Post
I'll be totally honest. I don't think the lady was out of line at all. Shelter and rescue workers are very underpaid, if paid at all, and spend most of their time listening to people whine about their dog/cat who jumps/digs/pees on the floor/tears up the furniture etc. Your brother should have taken the dog to the shelter when he found him if he was not prepared to care for him. Contrary to what seems to be popular belief, a dog can be raised around a child, but it takes training. Jumping is something that is VERY EASILY trained out of a dog and is a poor excuse to give up a dog. You were probably just one of a million calls the poor lady had that day about people wanting to give up their pet.
I have to say that I disagree....indeed.. she is out of line. When you get into shelter and rescue work, you'd have to be awfully naive to think that this was not the type of thing you're going to deal with day in day out. How can you have a love for animals and want to help in this particular line of work and NOT know that people are irresponsible with animals? It's really just not logical to make that connection. You're trying to rescue animals. Whether she's right about a person calling in or not, and in this particular case, wrong about the caller.. she CHOSE to be in this line of work because, in theory, she wants to help animals. She has chosen to take whatever her pay rate is. If she took it because it's the only job she could get, then she's definitely in the wrong business and even more out of line...but I can't imagine that there are very many non-animal lovers doing rescue or shelter work... You don't get anywhere with helping them (animals) if you're judgemental to the owners or the people who currently have the power over the animals you're trying to help.

I mean, if she had been right about Shorty... what good did she do for that dog? Absolutely none.

Now, that being said, it may be understandable, and it might not be totally inconceivable how someone could reach the point where you'd snap at people calling in because it's surely a stressful line of work for animal lovers. That, however, in no way makes it acceptable and ultimately she does not serve the animal community by acting that way.
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post #23 of 55
4/21/07 at 6:18pm
I really, really hope that if they can't find a home or rescue for the poor dog, they will do the right thing and take him to the vet and hold him and tell him they love him while he is PTS. I hope they won't dump him in a cold shelter with strangers to be PTS.
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post #24 of 55
4/21/07 at 7:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shorty14788 View Post
The problem isn't that fact they are afriad he would jump on a child. They already have a 4 year old, whom Kahne does not jump on at all. The problem is that me and my SIL suspect that my brother was hitting the dog. My brother claims that he didn't want the dog anymore because his wife was pregnant. My brother even tried to claim that Kahne tried to bite him... This dog would not bite anyone. Heartworm treatment can be painful. The injection site get VERY sore. He also had a skin scape to check for demodex. Through out all of it, he was an angel. A wiggly angel but an angel none the less. I feel that he was just looking for an excuse to cover for his wife's REAL reason for getting rid of him (the fact that she thinks he hits the dog). LIke I said before though. No one has seen him do it. When Kahne first arrived at his house, he was not fearful of my brother at all. Now he cowers when my brother even looks at him. Its just one of those feelings that me and my SIL have...

He was going to be taken to a shelter, until we found out he was heartworm positive. All the shelters in my local area where full and the only ones that weren't would put him down because of the fact that he was a heartworm positive pit. We even had flyers up... no one would call.... no one wanted him. We treated him for heartworm and still no one wanted him. THats when my brother decided to keep him.
I would have to say that if the dog is being abused, then any DECENT shelter/foster care worker should do WHATEVER it takes to get the poor animal out of that living situation. If someone wants to get rid of their animal for WHAT EVER reason, it's better to try and help them find the animal a home than to try to force the people to keep the animal, because I don't think an unwanted animal is going to receive the proper love and care that they deserve. It certainly doesn't do the dog or cat any good to have the owners either guilt tripped or shamed into keeping the animal. If a person chooses to go into that line of work, they should THINK OF THE ANIMAL FIRST, and keep their personal feelings to themselves. The fact is there are a LOT of people who get animals when they shouldn't really do so., and unless they pass a law where you can't have a pet until you pass some sort of screening or testing to see if a person is fit to care for an animal, it's going to keep on happening. The person who works in a shelter should be grateful that these people are calling for help, rather than just abandoning the animal, somewhere far from their home, which also happens a lot. As far as I'm concerned, THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR THE WAY THAT SHELTER WORKER TALKED TO YOU.
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post #25 of 55
4/21/07 at 7:29pm
I completely agree that this shelter staff person was out of line entirely. It's the kind of a job that you really must know what you're getting into...you must enter into that profession knowing that your job is to pick up the pieces for animals whose lives have been shattered by irresponsible and selfish humans, and if not by that, then by some other unfortunate scenario, such as an owner dying, or placed in a health care facility. It's most often a very sad and challenging profession...and it's impossible to avoid any disconnection from complete emotional involvement. People do this job because they care. Now, having said all of that, I'll go back to the original point, which is that the woman on the other end of that phone knows the rap...and yet should always proceed with professionalism and an open ear, irregardless of her own emotional involvement, or what the rest of her day looked like...because this is her JOB. She basically didn't even let the OP finish her story, nor did she take the time to provide ANY help whatsoever, and she was very indignant. Part of her job is to listen, even if it's the same old song-and-dance she's heard a million times. But, she didn't even wait to truly hear or process what was being described. She was way out of line, and I too would be HOSTILE.

There are a lot of professions that are hard. My job as a special ed. teacher isn't easy...I've dealt with a lot of heart-breaking family situations, neglect, child abuse of all varieties, children in the midst of divorce, parents that can no longer care for their children due to severe behaviors, etc. And I would never dream of putting my personal feelings in front of the real task at hand...MY JOB. Not listening to people (no matter how agonizing it can be) really solves nothing, and can set the situation even more backwards. Blah. Bad news.

Yes, write a letter and complain to her superior, if such a person exists in that shelter.
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post #26 of 55
4/21/07 at 8:19pm
I just want to toss out....it is possible that the brother isn't abusing the Pit. I mean, he was a stray with an embedded collar. Obivously, not well cared for. So.....who's to say the original owner didn't hit the dog? My rescue girl...after 3 years....still hits the deck when I yell. I have never once in my life hit that dog(or any for that matter)....yet she always assumes yelling means she's going to get beat. Because her former "owners" beat her.
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post #27 of 55
4/21/07 at 8:33pm
Thread Starter 
The thing is, when my brother first took him in, he never showed any signs of fear. I can yell at the top of my lungs and he wont flinch. My husband can yell at him and he wont be afraid. When my brother looks at him or says his name, he shakes with fear.
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post #28 of 55
4/21/07 at 8:45pm
It might be that you're brother is hitting the dog, but it also might be that he associates your brother with the original owner. It's hard to tell. I have to say, in the time that we had Elisa.. we didn't hit her, until I flipped out when she killed my cat.. that's the only time she was ever beaten, and I hate to say it but in all honesty, I would have killed that dog had I been able to at that moment. But Elisa did act like a loon about the stupidest crap... when we'd try to give her a treat, when someone who lived here came through the door and called to her..if you raised your voice to her. I mean, we've had dogs throughout our lives, and every one until this dog has been well trained to the point where they wouldn't even beg for food. We even had a boxer at one point when I was a lot younger.. that was petrified of fire (this was in NC, in a town where dog fighting was popular.. and we think he came from the dog fighting rings .. they used fire to goad them into fighting..) and we didn't have a problem with that dog either. I mean, some dogs just need Cesar... wish there were more Cesars out there. It was a daily battle with her, but she associated things, even after two years, with her original owners.

Obviously you're making the best that you can out of the situation. Regardless of whether the dog is being hit or not.. they are having issues with handling the dog and it needs placement. You're doing the right thing, I think. And, honestly, you'd probably be doing this whether you think your brother is hitting the dog or not, at this point. I don't know. It's a rough situation and unfortunately that woman didn't make you feel any better about it.
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post #29 of 55
4/21/07 at 9:40pm
The lady at the shelter was out of line. Everyone has bad days, yes, but what her kind of behaviour leads to is people not calling shelters at all because of the bad experience they had with the staff, and instead just dumping their animals by the side of the road, or worse, killing them themselves. It happens. It happens all the time. If you can't get help at a shelter, you end up not calling one at all and taking matters into your own hands. If she was any good at her job, she would know this.
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post #30 of 55
4/22/07 at 5:05am
Thread Starter 
I just couldn't believe how aweful this woman made me feel. I was crying like a baby thinking that I was doing something wrong to Kahne. He is SO sweet and if I could, I would keep him. But my house is already over flowing with 9 cats, 2 dogs, 2 turtles and a snake. I know I couldn't give him everything he deserves. He needs someone who has lots of time for him and with all of my other animals, I just can't give that to him. Plus the whole, trying to eat the kitties thing.

Aftercrying for a little while, I thought about everything I have done in the past year to help animals. I have transported 3 oppossum babies, 2 squirrel babies and a marsh rabbit to a wildlife rehab woman I know. I have reunited 4 lost little animals with there owners. (only one was microchipped so the other 3 took some work) I have taken in 3 animals that would have been put down for health reasons because there owners couldn't afford treatment.
Yuki - 4 week old kitten - Had half of the skin missing off of his tail, over 100 maggots crawling on and in him, URI, flea aneima, and coccidia. (His owner was a mentally slow and didn't know there was anything wrong with him) He is now living happily and with a full tail in his new forever home.
Neko - 9 year old cat - Was dying from SOOO many fleas. His PCV was 7.5. Death normally occurs around 7. He had to have a blood transfusion to live. His owner couldn't afford it. He was going to be put down. Before I had even SEEN the cat. I said I'd take him and pay for treatment. The greatest reward was seeing the relief on the mans face when I told him. He was so grateful that his baby boy was going to have a shot at living. Neko still currently lives with me because he developed AIHA after all of the trauma he had been though. I think his is going to become part of the family.
Skylar - 7 year old cat - Her owner was going to put her down because she couldn't afford the insulin. Once again, I took her in to get her regulated so she can find her new home. (She is still currently searching for her forever home)

ALL of this on top of having ...
Jennifer - Hyperthyroid
Neville - Osteogenesis imperfecta (brittle bone disease)
Weeble - Cerebelluar hypoplasia
Spaz and Pheelicks - Prone to UTI's
And a Husky named Mika with seperation anxiety.

I think I do more for animals then a LOT of people out there. Do you want to know what my first purchase was with a credit card? The 1000 dollar bill for fixing a stray puppy's leg. Someone beat him so bad that his femur was shattered and had to be pinned together. Oz is now 4 years old and the best dog I have ever had. Every last one of my animals have a story like this. I cant stand to see an animal suffer. There's not a lot of people who either would, or could spend 1000 dollars to help a stray puppy.

The thing that kills me is, if what she thought was true, would she rather the dog stay in a bad home with people that aren't going to care for him properly then trying to find a home for him? She just had no idea what kind of person I am. Even if she didn't want to help, all she had to say was, "sorry, I dont know of anyplaces that are accepting dogs right now." And left it at that...
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