Have you been turned down by rescues?

[meepitsmeagan]

The guilt thread got me wondering about how many people have gone through the whole process personally and have been declined due to vaccinations, intact dogs, ect.

I personally had a super easy time dealing with rescue and apparently didn't realize this was out of the norm. DH and I lived in a popup trailer in a campground and were moving back to MI not a month later. I hadn't owned a herder before, they didn't do a home visit. I talked with the head of the rescue through email before sending in an app, wondering if I was wasting my time. She said no, submit an app. I did so, she called me about a week later. We chatted, I talked to two foster homes. I think it was like two weeks later we drove up 3 hours and picked Rider up at an agility trial.

The other rescue I dealt with via Lucy, I met on a forum and inquired about either adopting or fostering when I moved back to MI. We worked out details and I drove down to get her about half a year later, iirc.

I feel like a lot of times, rescues look insanely strict on paper but if you talk with them they aren't quite as bad. Maybe I'm just crazy.

 

[milos_mommy]

I never had intact or unvaccinated dogs, but no, I never got turned down to foster, even as a college student in an apartment with no fenced yard. I know some super strict rescues would have, but it's not too hard to find a rescue that will be flexible based on the info you give.

I think at the current rescue I work for we would most likely turn someone with intact dogs down. They're pretty anti-breeder, but I think if there was proof you were showing or something they may make an exception.

 

[joce]

Personal friends with the rescue we fostered through so does that count? Could they have said no lol!

And the pound we pulled from requires nothing but cash.

I would only foster if I had final say on adopters.

When I was fostering a lot(haven't in years literally) I was turning people down left and right. I thought all good reasons though. It was always things people would let slip during meet and greet to. Kids said dog drowned when tied by creek that flooded. Dad had no shame about that one. Lots of we have to hurry because mom, bf, etc will be home and does not want a dog so I have to get it settled in before they get home. will you take my hyper dog in trade, old dog on trade. Good one was girl who's mom admitted she got rid of a jack Russell I think because to hyper but was getting a Aussie mix? Didn't know where jack Russell ended up? Dumb things like knowing they were fixed or would have to be in case of puppies but then asking if they were allowed to breed them?

I am not hung up on fences.

By the time the person got to me they had already checked vet references( though all that really is generally is are they a client I think).

And I fostered the most when I had three of my own and two were intact at times and Byron always was. Never an issue.

 

[ACooper]

Never been turned down/away BUT...we own our house, do have a fenced in backyard, no intact animals, and keep all 'required by law vaccinations' up to date.

I do know/am friends with people who HAVE been turned away because of not owning their home and the fence issue. Of course it drove them right to a BYB and against rescues for life.

 

[release the hounds]

turned down for a cat actually, because we had an intact dog That was years ago and not around here. anyway, we are very good friends with 2 different people that run 2 different rescues now. We got a cat from one of them and now I have 2 intact dogs. They are all different that's for sure.

 

[kady05]

Have never adopted, but as I said on the other thread, I've been turned down to foster. I had fostered 2 pups for said rescue before, but when they found out I got Sako from a breeder they cut off all contact with me and wouldn't allow me to foster anymore. They've done the same to a couple people I know who also have dogs from breeders. Guess Bully breeds aren't that hard to find foster homes for?

 

[Jadex]

I had an intact dog, my cat was late on vaccines, and my yard wasn't fenced and the rescue still adopted Gypsy to me. All they asked was that I get the cat updated before we adopted her. The application also said that they do home visits and they ended up never doing one. All I did was talk to them on the phone and they did a vet check.

I think it was so easy for me because Gypsy had been in foster care for a long time, coonhounds don't get adopted out easily, and I had experience with the breed.

I got my cat from a different rescue and I pretty much filled out an app and walked out with her within an hour.

 

[Maxy24]

We were approved for the first dog we applied for (well we inquired somewhere about another but his foster family was keeping him). I really wasn't expecting to get him, honestly. He and his brother were 8 weeks old and small breeds, they told us they got TONS of applications for them, all on the first day they were up on petfinder (which is when we applied). So I figured with all that competition, what were the chances we'd get him?

When we applied we saw that they wanted a vet reference so we started panicking because one of the cats was not up to date on vaccines. So we made an appointment for the next day and got him up to date on rabies. They called our personal reference who basically just told them how much we loved our past/present animals. We do own our home but don't have a fenced in yard (neither do the people who adopted his brother). My parents both work, we said he'd be alone for 7 hours at a time. We have no small children but the people who adopted his brother have elementary school aged kids. All of our pets are neutered. They asked on the app if they could do a home visit (we said yes) but they never did. We didn't expect them to since they are not in our state, most of them are in TN.


Honestly I think we got him because we kept checking up on the application. The day after we filled out the application they were off of petfinder so mom e-mailed the rescue asking if they had already been adopted (and talked about how much she wanted him). That's when they told us that they took them down because of how many apps they got. I think we e-mailed a day or two later to check up again and were told we were in the top 10 or something. I think we called at some point also and they said they just had to speak to our personal reference but that when they called they were not home. So then like a day or two later we were told we got him. So yeah, I think being annoying worked out lol.

 

[SpringerLover]

I've fostered for two rescues and neither checked my own pets' vaccine records. I've never had an intact dog while wanting to foster or adopt so it hasn't come up. But I know people who foster for ESRA who have intact dogs so it must not he an issue?

I like to think we are a little less strict.

 

[sassafras]

Pip and Maisy are the only dogs I've gotten from small rescue groups. Previous dogs were from different (bigger, fewer rules) shelters or not from shelters.

I didn't have any trouble with them once I filled out an application. But at the time I was a married homeowning adult with a stable job and a fenced yard, and a veterinarian. Those things tend to get you a nearly automatic pass, I've found.

What I did have trouble with was getting rescues to respond to inquiries about dogs. Not returning calls, emails etc.

And I know several people (personally/firsthand) who have been turned down. In one case, a friend who had taken in their parents' 15 year old unspayed cat. Even after they explained the cat came to them as an unspayed teenager and they didn't feel surgery was appropriate at her age. In other cases the usual no fence, in one instance an approved application suddenly being reversed at the last minute because there was a child in the home. Several clients who are awesome pet owners for various minor infractions.

 

[iriskai]

I didn't technically turn in an application, just went through the preliminary discussions, but two different Greyhound rescue groups wouldn't consider my situation as I rent and don't have a yard. The third wouldn't adopt females to first time adopters and tried pushing two males as opposed to a single female. Not something I was equipped to handle at the time.

On the other side, I went with a friend when she adopted her 8 week old BC mix puppy a while back. They adopted out with no background or reference checks (first dog of her own, she was renting and just had to check the 'yes' box on the 'does your landlord allow pets?' question) though she didn't have intact pets. Here's the fee, here's your new puppy, sign the papers, out the door.

 

[ACooper]

turned down for a cat actually, because we had an intact dog That was years ago and not around here. anyway, we are very good friends with 2 different people that run 2 different rescues now. We got a cat from one of them and now I have 2 intact dogs. They are all different that's for sure.

Well apparently Catdog does happen, their fears are legit!! LOL

 

[Locke]

When I first started looking into rescues, I was really intimidated by the applications. I filled a bunch out, but never sent them in. I knew a couple who had been turned down because they had put both names on the adoption form to adopt the dog but weren't married, so I was convinced I was going to be turned down for living with my SO and his brother, in a small house with a tiny patio "yard" in the city.

I eventually sent in a foster application, had my vet and references checked, and a quick home visit, and had my first foster a week later.
I really respect the rescue I volunteer with as they look at every application on a case by case basis.
We've adopted dogs to people in apartments, people with huge properties but no fences, people with kids/grandkids, students, etc. we have turned people down for the dog they wanted, but suggested a different dog instead and it's worked out perfectly.

I wish more rescues were like that.

 

[RBark]

I got turned down by a bunch of Lab and GSD rescues which ultimately ended up with me going for a Husky rescue.

 

[FG167]

I got turned down for foster and for rescue (at different times in my life). I found a friend that ran a rescue and fostered through her for awhile. I gave up on the rescue thing, I just have breeder dogs now. :yikes:

 

[FG167]

Well apparently Catdog does happen, their fears are legit!! LOL

:rofl1::rofl1:

 

[Beanie]

The local sheltie rescue told me not to even bother filling out an application because of intact dogs, they won't adopt to me. This was when P was still young and growing and before I would have wanted to for his sports career, which is what I told them, and they had a bunch of dogs coming in from a hoarding situation, but nope, don't even bother. It's an eight page long application anyway so I guess that's fine.
My sister actually had an odd experience with them earlier this year and ultimately ended up feeling really uncomfortable, so she backed out.

Sheltie rescue in Indiana clearly states they won't adopt outside the state, so I have not bothered asking "for real?", and the one down by St. Louis where Kota came from might even though I am technically outside of their "adoption range" but they never had anything I thought was the right dog to apply for.

I don't think the local shelter would care about any of it but I never tried. My mom told me no on the only dog they got in that I wanted and that was many years ago, post-Auggie but pre-Pay.

 

[Slick]

I didn't get denied by the rescue in a "You will never get a dog from us." way, per se.

HOWEVER, I got denied from every single dog that I tried applying for in that rescue, so it pretty much amounted to the same thing.

I don't think any of the foster parents doing the decision making even gave me a chance, because I didn't have a backyard at the time, and I was applying for a border collie (even though Leo got WAY more exercise when I lived in an apartment than he does now that we live in a house).

Finally had success through a foster parent for a shelter who posted on craigslist and was currently living in an apartment, therefore didn't have the prejudice against it.

Next time around, I am planning on going with a breeder. That being said, its not like that experience has soured me on all rescues. I'd likely be a more desireable dogowner if I tried to go through rescue the next time, seeing as I now have a yard, am not a first time dog owner, and have previous border collie experience.

 

[Elrohwen]

I haven't applied for a rescue, but my friends were turned down by multiple rescues for not having a fenced in yard. They have a yard, and it's mostly fenced, but not completely. It took them months to find a dog and their criteria was pretty general. They wanted an older calm mellow dog, and finally took a 9 month old ACD because it was pretty much the only dog they could get. He's an awesome dog, but I don't see why nobody would adopt an older dog to them and why they possibly thought an adolescent ACD was a good choice for people who wanted a calm family dog preferably over 3 years old. They didn't have kids or other dogs, but knew they would have kids in the future, and owned their own home and were otherwise good candidates. It was really frustrating for them.

My friend was almost turned down because one of his references said that they were getting a puppy "as practice for having a kid". The adoption counselor freaked out and didn't want to give them a dog. He had to convince her that he wasn't planning to have kids ever, and the reference guy had babies on the brain because he had a 2 week old at home. I was the other reference and my call with her was really weird, because she kept talking about babies and I kept thinking I was pretty sure they didn't want kids. I felt really uncomfortable having a stranger ask me about a friend's plan to have children.

 

[Southpaw]

I had a hard time with Happy. I quickly got Lucy UTD on things but they called the vet before I had and we're concerned with that and I told them I do not and will not vaccinate my cat. They were concerned I had no proof of buying Heartgard but I get it free through the rep at work so I have no paper trail of purchasing it. These things had to be "cleared" through other people.

Ultimately I think if I had been applying for any other dog, it would've been harder. I flat out told them look - I just want to adopt this dog and give her a retirement home, my pets absolutely get necessary medical care.