Am I just heartless?

[JessLough]

Ok pure curiousity here.

For those who have said they don't like when a rescue takes on a harder to place dog and spends so much time and money on that one dog, rather than spending that time and money on 10 other dogs, you do know that to take in an animal, most rescues need to have a place for it to go/a foster home, right? So if there's only that one foster home available, to take one dog, the rescue really couldn't help 10 dogs in that time necessarily. Or it's not like if there's 2 foster homes available, because they have that harder dog, the other home is not sitting empty, it likely is, as well, helping another dog.


It's just something that people apparently don't really think about, because we get a lot of that :-/ "but if you didn't take in that difficult/sick ferret, you could take in 10 more!" when we really couldn't, cause there'd be nowhere for them to go...

[Xandra]

Well, not at the same time, but you probably could move at least several young, healthy highly adoptable dogs through the rescue in the months it takes for the really hard luck cases to recover. I'm sure you could board a couple of adoptable animals until they found homes for the cost of multiple surgeries etc that some of these dogs need.

[Fran101]

It's about the money for me honestly.. not so much the space.
These places drop thousands on ONE dog for example.. and then end up needing MORE and asking for more via donations just for basic care (food, water, basic vet) for the other animals in their care.

IMO the priority should be the majority. Save the money for the animals they are caring for long term instead of dropping A LOT on one animal all at once and then later having problems due to lack of funds.

Yes that $5000 could rehabilitate/save that ONE sad case.. but it could also keep the place running and pay for food, basic vet care, and rent for the entire shelter.
Instead of the place turning around later and needing MORE just to keep afloat.. or worse, have the rescue close and then not be helping anyone.

[stardogs]

What Xandra and Fran said.

Yea, you can't fit 10 dogs in 1 foster home at the same time, but if it takes 2 years to get a dog healthy enough to be adopted out you could've used that foster for at least 3-8 "regular" dogs. You could take that kennel devoted to the human aggressive dog in the "no kill" (hate that term) shelter that will most likely live out his life there (so, 10 years?) and fill it with 15-40 more adoptable dogs. Not to mention that I personally find it horribly inhumane to isolate a dog in a kennel for years and years because they can't be handled by anyone except a select few people.

Similarly, like Fran said, how far can $5000 go if it's used to pay pull fees and basic vetting on "regular" dogs instead of the one high needs, hard luck case?

[Kilter]

Originally Posted by Xandra

Well, not at the same time, but you probably could move at least several young, healthy highly adoptable dogs through the rescue in the months it takes for the really hard luck cases to recover. I'm sure you could board a couple of adoptable animals until they found homes for the cost of multiple surgeries etc that some of these dogs need.

Totally agree. Some of the dogs I had in as fosters that had issues were really hard to adopt out. I had one dog for five months until I returned her (I asked them to make arrangements to move her for two months!) to another foster home. In the same time span I would normally have 3-6 dogs depending on their ages.

[Locke]

I am "heartless" as well. I do not doubt that saving that one hard case dog is so so worth it, but sometimes saying goodbye is the better choice.

Honestly, if any of my current and future dogs are ever diagnosed with cancer, I refuse to do chemo and/or radiation. If they ever require extensive surgery with months of crate rest with no guarantee of a better life, I will not do it. I would much rather my dog live a shorter, better quality life, than a life that is prolonged for mostly my benefit.

[CrystalGSD]

Originally Posted by Locke

I am "heartless" as well. I do not doubt that saving that one hard case dog is so so worth it, but sometimes saying goodbye is the better choice.

Honestly, if any of my current and future dogs are ever diagnosed with cancer, I refuse to do chemo and/or radiation. If they ever require extensive surgery with months of crate rest with no guarantee of a better life, I will not do it. I would much rather my dog live a shorter, better quality life, than a life that is prolonged for mostly my benefit.

I agree with this and mostly the bolded part. Why should the dog live a prolonged, unhappy life?

If this is heartless, I'm heartless as well, I guess. I heard of a dog who is so fat it can't walk, and has breathing problems, and suffers from seizures. That doesn't sound quality of life to me, does it? I wouldn't keep a dog alive if it didn't love life. If the dog is hating life and it's quality of life is extremely low, then you might as well say good-bye. It will go up to doggy heaven, and enjoy it up there too.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by CrystalGSD

I agree with this and mostly the bolded part. Why should the dog live a prolonged, unhappy life?

I watched my dog deteriorate before me as I tried every last hope of keeping him living longer. Looking back, I wish I had put him out of his misery earlier, but at the time I was so determined to make him better, I entirely lost sight of life versus living.

I think rescues that make every last effort to save a dog's life are incredible. I really commend them for loving and caring so much about each creature, but sometimes "giving up" on a dog is the more loving choice.



This poor puppy is a perfect example of when is enough, enough?
http://arfontario.com/AwanUpdate.asp

[crazedACD]

Just saw this one...a rescue is trying to help this owned dog..sorry but this dog looks MISERABLE.

We believe Jack has an underlying immunology issue. He has been treated for demodect mange for over 3 years now, with no clear scrapings yet. We have brought him to a new vet, and we're trying a new course of therapy, but if you read on, you'll see why this is so difficult for his owner. Jack's treatment right now is running about $300/month for meds and a special skin diet by Royal Canin. A 35 pound bag of the food Jack needs is over $100 and he will need about 1.5 bags a month. I have estimated the ChipIn at $1000 (to cover 3 months of treatment plus a little extra if needed) and hope to be able to cure him, with the help of the new vet we are seeing.

Smh..3 years like that? I can understand a mild chronic disorder or something not being properly managed, but this just seems horrific to keep him alive.

[PWCorgi]

Good lord, I can't imagine that dog is living a happy life like that

If it feels as bad as it looks the only humane thing to do would be to put that poor dog out of its misery