Addy, CGC
Let's go for a- walk! | 
 | | Barked: Fri Jan 27, '12 5:36pm PST |  | |  | | But, Sarah, the fact that good breeders can make exceptions and be flexible is why people frustrated with trying to adopt from rescues wind up going to breeders rather than continuing to try over and over again after they've had a few frustrating or enraging experiences.
A friend of mine was interested in adopting a dog from a rescue where I know several of the people involved. She and her brother at the time had two dogs, a Maltese who was about seven at the time, and a beagle who was about fourteen or fifteen. The rescue took her application, liked what she said, talked to her, talked to her vet and personal references--and loved her. Fantastic dog owner, they said.
Except for one thing.
Their property is not fenced. Part of it used to be fenced, but the beagle kept digging his way out, and any hole the beagle could get out, the Maltese could get out. They couldn't afford a fence that would completely and safely contain the beagle, so they gave up. The fence came down,and they tethered the dogs for their morning potty break, and leash walked them the rest of the time.
My friend was willing to commit to leash walks only for the adopted dog, no morning tethering. That wasn't good enough. She and her brother both had to agree to leash walks only for all three dogs, or better yet, build a fence. My friend and her brother were not willing to do something they had found to be unsafe for their dogs--the fence--and given that they had kept the beagle and the Maltese safe, happy, and healthy for, in the beagle's case, fifteen years, they weren't willing to be dictated to in how they cared for the two dogs they already had.
They'd always rescued before, though the Maltese and the beagle were private rescues. This time, though, after her experience with this rescue, a few others, and a shelter in the area that had the type of dog she wanted but decided that the dog needed a retired couple so it would never be alone for a few hours, she finally gave up and got a puppy from a breeder.
And, oh yes, the breeder also requires leash walks only for the dog, no morning tethering, but doesn't think she can dictate the care of the dogs that didn't come from her and whose excellent care and condition played a big role in her being willing to sell my friend a puppy.
You can say all you want that the author of that piece didn't check with the rescues, but she's a columnist, not an investigative journalist. She's writing about her experience and the experiences of other people she knows or has talked to.
Besides, that's an impossible standard to set: the rescues aren't going to reveal the details of specific cases, and without that, you have nothing but them stating their general policies and assuring the questioner that yes, of course, they apply their rules fairly and appropriately, and are not turning down suitable adopters for the pets they have looking for homes.
If people feel they're being denied unfairly or that the rules are just impossibly restrictive, they may try another rescue, and they may try another after that, and maybe a fourth or a fifth, but at some point, they're going to stop doing what feels like beating their heads against brick walls, and if they haven't been discouraged altogether from getting a pet, they'll get it somewhere other than at yet another rescue. |  |  | |  |
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