Annoyed w/Editorial Bashing Humane Society

This morning I was reading my local paper.
A woman wrote an editorial regarding her hostility toward a local Humane Society (the same one where I just adopted my new cat from.)Apparently she adoped a dog there and when she took him to the vets for a check up, he had some bad (infected) teeth that need to be extracted. They are causing him pain and trouble eating. She's upset because she paid $75 to adopt him and the vet estimated the teeth extraction bill to be about $175. She brought the dog back to the shelter. She wrote a venomous editorial stating that they should not allow sick animals to be adopted and that they should have known that the dog had problems.

This particular shelter ran an article in the front of the same newspaper a few weeks ago because they are overwhelmed with pets. They have 60 cats (only normally have room for 30). They are in need of volunteers & pet supplies. They can't possibly afford to pay for vet bills and are doing the best they can.

I think that the woman should have sucked it up. . . paid the bill. . .

When you open your heart & home to an animal you need to expect that they will need health care. I spend over $1,500 on my "George" and only had him for a year. I did not dream of giving him back and I'm not blaming his previous owner.

What are your thoughts?
Should I write a reply to the paper (Letter to the Editor)?

Here is the link to the dog on PetFinder (I think it's him. . . . they only have one dog with this name. . . ironically the same name of my poor kitty that passed).

http://www.petfinder.org/pet.cgi?act...=1&row=0&tmpl=

If anything, I'm hoping that the editorial sparks attention so that the right loving person adopts this poor dog.

Laurie

Alot of shelters offer pet insurance free for 2 months just to help cover these kinds of costs so new pet owners wont feel overwhelmed with big vet bills right away and bring the pets back. Our local shelter was on tv this morning talking about it. Its a new program here and it sounds like a really good idea.

I also think the woman should have paid the bill too. People should take into account that they will require veterinary care when they are adopted.

I adopted a kitten from a shelter and from the very start I have spent hundreds of dollars trying to get rid of a severe upper respiritory infection and vaccinations, etc. I would do it again ten times over, he is worth every penny I have spent on him. He is the sweetest kitty.

Wait, the only thing wrong with this dog is some poor teeth?????


I could see her being a little peeved that the humane society didn't tell her up front about the problem (or did they notice it at all)? BUT, taking ownership of a pet comes with financial responsibilities including emergencies that may happen the first day of ownership or many months down the road.

This Humane Society probably is overwhelmed, and probably has lack of funding and volunteers. I would be more concerned that if the Humane Society didn't notice the teeth problem, and therefore didn't properly care for the dog. In that case, I'd volunteer to help the animals and do something proactive and positive, rather than give negative publicity to an organization that is already underfunded.

You can tell from this woman's actions that her main concern is not for the animals welfare, but for her pocketbook. I'm sure if George had any illness down the road, she would put him down rather than pay.

I'd write a response back to that paper, stating facts about pro-animal responsibilites and ownership.

Write a response please before I do she didn't have much concern for the dog either, why give him back if you know he isn't getting better care there? What a witch! That's like adopting a kid and noticing something is wrong and you send the kid back to foster care! What The F!

That woman didn't deserve the dog. When you take in an animal, it's for life, regardless of their problems. We found Ellie Mae abandoned in a Park N Ride in Houston. She had just weaned her pups, had mites, ticks, fleas, and her front teeth kicked out. For a year she would squat and pee in fear anytime we reached out our hand to pet her. A lot of patience later, she became the best darn dog you ever wanted to meet.

I think the rebutal to the paper is a wonderful idea!!

Just for grins, here is my Ellie Mae after 13 years of loving her....on the couch where she belongs with my husband sitting on the floor to give her room. Look at that smile she had!! She crossed the bridge in January from a stroke.

You can tell what kind of an owner she would have been! If her complaint was only that he should have been provided with better care while there, I could understand it, but not returning the poor dog. If she'd really cared, she would have just paid for the care & complained to the shelter that they should try to take better medical care of the animals. But it's not like they tried to conceal something like heartworms or diabetes. That poor dog, he's so cute, too!

I'm kinda sure she wouldn't be the best kind of owner for the dog... i always believed that if u want to adopt any animal, it should be for the love of the animal rather than what it can do for you... i agree with what russian blue said..she might just put him down and get another dog... i would write back to the column and rebut it back... a lot of shelters are overwhelmed and they need help rather than such criticism... go write a reply and check with the shelter if they need any help... offer help in any form... they would be glad..

I agree with all in here , that woman should have paid for the vet . She is better off not having a animal . When I got Toby my dog , he was suposed to be put down at the shelter since he cant see in one eye and people did not want him . The lady from the animal control just got him out so he wont be killed . Thats how I got him . I had to pay over & 600 dollars for his eye treatmends and his heartwurm treatments .And he still don't see in his one eye . I am not sorry I did it , I know I saved his life .That woman was counting her dollars , she better never ever get a animal I would feel sorry for it if it gets sick one day .

Yes write back people need to see the other side of a animal and you could be the person to show it to them

people like this really fire me up, if she cared anything at all about the dog, she would of gotten his poor teeth fixed, i help my local humane society when i can and i know they do the best they can with the funds they have, if they gave vet care to all the animals they couldnt function, the vet i go to does do a reduced rate for the society if they need to bring in a animal or if you adopt a animal from them they take the animal to my vet to get it fixed and shots and a over all check up for a pretty low cost, if a person doesnt want to put any money in their pet they dont need one, ohhhhh people like this makes me mad, i hope this society can get some help soon.