Ok, so I volunteer at my local animal shelter, helping with adoptions. Well, I've had to deal with some pretty wacky people who come in, but this one takes the cake:
A young lady and her father came in to look at dogs and cats. She found a Pom dog that she likes but it was not up for adoption because of severe health problems. So that made her mad. I urged her to fill out the application anyway and we'd keep it on file for the future. While she was filling it out, she was telling me about her cat that ran away a few months ago, and described a black cat. (We've had HUNDREDS of black cats, and they all look the same... BLACK!) After she finished the paperwork, she wanted to look at the kitties. Well, the first black cat she saw, she INSISTED it was her cat "Linxie" and wanted to take it home. I said that a lot of cats look alike and that it's most likely not her cat. She argued and began to get really loud, saying it was her cat and she was going to take it home. To make matters worse, the lady who was adopting this particular cat came in to pick him up! Of course, this made the other lady furious. I was getting fed up with her, and said to prove it was her cat, we'd need proof, like vet records and several pictures. She said there was no records because she never took it to the vet!
By now I've realized this is an unfit pet owner and have made up my mind NOT to adopt to her. I finally said there's nothing she could do, the cat was going home to the person who adopted him. Well, she stormed out in a huff! Good, she's finally gone. I finished the adoption and Midnight (the black cat) went to a GOOD home, to someone who will actually take him to the vet when needed!
Well I thought it was over, but 1/2 an hour later, I see them pulling back in the dooryard. I quickly got nervous, not knowing what to expect, so I thought up a little white lie to diffuse the situation. The father came in and apologized for his daughter's behaviour, saying she just got out of the hospital for mental reasons (obviously!). I said no hard feeling, and (here comes the lie) that "the cat was owned by a little old lady who had him for 6 years, and she became too ill to care for him so she surrendered him to us. So it couldn't possibly be her cat." SCORE!
Midnight actually came to us as a stray, town unknown.
So, sometimes you just have to lie to diffuse a potentially bad situation. It all worked out well now and I'm glad she didn't take an animal home. She couldn't even take care of herself.
I'd love to hear other people crazy shelter stories.....
A young lady and her father came in to look at dogs and cats. She found a Pom dog that she likes but it was not up for adoption because of severe health problems. So that made her mad. I urged her to fill out the application anyway and we'd keep it on file for the future. While she was filling it out, she was telling me about her cat that ran away a few months ago, and described a black cat. (We've had HUNDREDS of black cats, and they all look the same... BLACK!) After she finished the paperwork, she wanted to look at the kitties. Well, the first black cat she saw, she INSISTED it was her cat "Linxie" and wanted to take it home. I said that a lot of cats look alike and that it's most likely not her cat. She argued and began to get really loud, saying it was her cat and she was going to take it home. To make matters worse, the lady who was adopting this particular cat came in to pick him up! Of course, this made the other lady furious. I was getting fed up with her, and said to prove it was her cat, we'd need proof, like vet records and several pictures. She said there was no records because she never took it to the vet!
Well I thought it was over, but 1/2 an hour later, I see them pulling back in the dooryard. I quickly got nervous, not knowing what to expect, so I thought up a little white lie to diffuse the situation. The father came in and apologized for his daughter's behaviour, saying she just got out of the hospital for mental reasons (obviously!). I said no hard feeling, and (here comes the lie) that "the cat was owned by a little old lady who had him for 6 years, and she became too ill to care for him so she surrendered him to us. So it couldn't possibly be her cat." SCORE!
So, sometimes you just have to lie to diffuse a potentially bad situation. It all worked out well now and I'm glad she didn't take an animal home. She couldn't even take care of herself.
I'd love to hear other people crazy shelter stories.....