A Pet Tale

I can definitely sympathize with Ellen the Generous. Some of these adoption places go overboard, in my opinion. I know they're just trying to do a good job, but sometimes they can make things very difficult. We had quite a few surprises when we tried to adopt a dog.

We started off at the nicest shelter near us, Pasadena, because someone told us they had cute animals there. My kids had been lobbying for a dog for a long time, and altho my husband had finally given in, he really wanted nothing to do with the dog. We'd had a bad experience with a big dog once before, so we compromised by looking for a little dog this time.

So we started in Pasadena, and my son found a cute Datchund he liked. So we went into our interview, and were immediately told that small dogs don't do well with children, so we should get a Labrador. Um, did she even HEAR the part about us looking for a SMALL dog? It wasn't clear that she was going to LET us even try to adopt the dog we'd picked out, but we continued with the interview process. Was our yard fenced? Well, not yet, but will be very soon.
-Is it, or not? Oh, yes, yes, it's fenced.
-Are your cats neutered? Well one is for sure, the second I'm not sure.
-Is it, or not? Oh, yes, yes! They're both neutered!

She told us that first the dog had to clear the waiting period, then the first person on the waiting list gets their crack at adopting the pet. First they have to interact with it, and if that doesn't go well, you can't have it. If it DOES go well, then the dog undergoes further testing to make sure it's adoptable. Excuse me, shouldn't that be done FIRST? Why get people's hopes up if the dog's not adoptable?

Anyway, this dog already had a waiting list, and the first person on it had a positive interaction with it, so we moved on.

Next we visited the Glendale animal shelter, where we'd successfully adopted our youngest cat a few years earlier. I hadn't realized this, but in that time the shelter went from being government-funded to privately-funded and no-kill. Maybe that explains why so many dogs there seemed mean - like they were really picked-over and only the snarling ones remained. Lots of pit bulls. We still found one that was fairly cute, so we went to the office where we were told we'd have to take a class in pet care first. Also, since it's privately funded and no-kill, it cost about $200 to adopt a pet there!

Wow! For that kind of money we could have gone to the pet store! Or maybe a breeder. Luckily they had a sheet there with the names and locations of all the other shelters in the area.

My children pressed me onward, so next we went to the Burbank animal shelter. There we saw a dog my son liked (it could lick it's own eye!), but we had to wait for it to clear its waiting period. On the day it cleared, you had to show up right when the shelter opened to hopefully be the first one there to adopt it. If more than one person showed up, then it went to a lottery system. Also we'd need to bring in the whole family (including pets) to make sure we all got along before we went home.

K was having none of that. No way was he going to the shelter, as he didn't even WANT a dog! And take our cats? We'd have to catch them first. And frankly, we're afraid of the oldest one. I can't imagine he'd take kindly to such a visit.

So, having to wait for that dog anyway, the kids lobbied to go to one more shelter. So finally we went to the dregs-of-LA, under-the-freeway animal shelter (actually the same North LA shelter that Heather ended up at). The no-questions-asked shelter (except for, "Do you want it?" and, "Can you afford the $75 adoption fee?"). The kind of shelter that unfortunately DOES have to kill the unadopted pets.

There, I'm happy to say, we found the cutest dog of all. I stuck my fingers in the cage to see how nice it was, and it gave me a friendly nibble. The kind of dog that knows how to not bite hard! We were told that it would clear its waiting period the next day, and we should try to be the first ones there. If more than one person showed up to adopt the same pet, it went into an auction-type situation where the person willing to pay the most got the pet.

Well, the dog we liked came available the very next day. The Boy was so excited I think he even set his own alarm to wake up early, so we could get there when the shelter opened. I think it was 8am. Somehow we got down there very early, and were the ONLY ones (so far) that wanted "our" dog, and so we got him!

They brought him out to move him, and the kids played with him briefly. After that, an official (dogcatcher?) walked up to me and said that he noticed the Girl moving quickly around the dog, and advised me to watch her and tell her to not make sudden movements around the dog, so that he wouldn't get scared. So even there, they were watching and trying to make sure the dog would work out in our home. But not in an overly bossy way.

Truly, if you really want to save a dog, I say to get it from there. Not only because they make it easier, but you REALLY feel like you're saving an animal there.

I saw a woman outside carrying a pit-bull puppy, and asked her if she got it there. She said no, she was going to drop it off there, but then she found out that the unclaimed dogs get euthanized. I told her to take it to the Glendale Humane Society, as I know they are a no-kill facility.

And I have to say, the dog we got couldn't be any better! (OK, maybe a little less barking...) He's so cute and nice - he was already mostly potty trained. He's a lot like the dog in Garfield though (Ode), pretty clueless when it comes to cats. They gave him a few welcoming swipes, though, so he pretty much steers clear of them now.