Hard Decisions in Responsible Rescue and Sheltering

Imagine for a minute that I have this awesome car.  This car gets amazing gas mileage, although it only has front wheel drive, it handles beautifully in the snow, it is small enough to fit in those tight parking spots with ease, but is large enough to safely buckle all three dogs into the backseat, and it is my absolute favorite blue.  I love this car like crazy but it has this strange issue.  Periodically, without warning (or sometimes with some warning but by the time it shows those signs it’s too late) the brakes will fail and there is no way to stop the car.  I’ve had it to my mechanic, to the dealership, and even to a brake specialist–I’ve replaced parts, tried different things but every time we think it is fixed I find myself in the terrifying situation of having no brakes.  It has resulted in quite a few accidents along the way, though thankfully only minor injuries (because I’m careful driving).  Although I love this car, I really do need to have a safe ride.  I would love to sell it so I could get some extra cash to afford the new car but I know it is not the responsible thing to do.  Even if I sell it to someone who is made very aware of the brake issue, intends on using it for parts, and swears no one will ever drive it again, it’s a risk. What if the person does drive it around for a while and they don’t experience the brake malfunction and they decide that I was crazy and they will either drive it themselves or will sell it whole.  What if someone else gets hurt or killed (or someone driving it hurts or kill someone else) after I sold it?  I knew without a doubt this car was dangerous and it would be on my conscience forever if someone got hurt if I passed it on to someone else.

This is as close to an example as I can come up with to the reality when it comes to dogs who have been deemed too dangerous to place by a rescue or shelter (or who should be).  It is not appropriate to place that dangerous or questionable dog in the hands of a foster, new adopter, or another organization–even if that dog has redeemable qualities (they almost all do). It is also not as simple as relinquishing that animal to a sanctuary or another rescue to live out its life, even under the agreement that the dog will never be placed.  Sometimes dangerous or questionable dogs simply should not make it out of that shelter/rescue and should be humanely euthanized.

What if the dog attacks a neighbor, kills a neighbor’s dog, hurts the foster, or maims a volunteer of the organization that stepped in to take it for sanctuary.  For many of these dogs, they rely heavily on environmental management to prevent tragedy and unfortunately, breakdown in management eventually happens. A door doesn’t latch, a gate is damaged in a storm, a person unwittingly opens the wrong door, a leash breaks, a kid trips, falls, and squeals–some little thing happens that is outside what the dog can safely handle and it results in serious harm to someone else.  What if the sanctuary that takes the dog says they don’t see the concerning behavior and places the dog regardless of the agreement and it hurts someone.  I recognize that there are a lot of “what ifs” but when  the health and safety of other animals and people are at stake, it’s my opinion that we have to err on the side of caution and safety.

Sometimes we have to follow what history tells us and if this dog has shown dangerous behaviors and continues to show them, even if being worked with, the responsible thing to do is to consider humane euthanasia and to follow through if deemed the safest choice. I personally question the ethics of warehousing un-adoptable dogs in kennel situations indefinitely. What are the effects of long term kenneling? What type of enrichment and resources are needed to stave off those effects, if possible?  I have serious concerns about the quality of life for dogs in long term kenneling situations, especially more typical situations where they may not get the level of enrichment or interaction that they need to not just live but have quality of life.

Over the years I have seen the effects of what happens when a shelter/rescue decides to place a dog or put them in a foster (or simply continue to warehouse them) who showed seriously concerning behaviors while in the shelter or who had a documented history. It’s heartbreaking to the adopters/fosters and seriously detrimental to their mission and the rescue movement as a whole (*I’m specifically referencing dogs who have a documented history of concerning behaviors prior to adoption/foster or listed on their intake from their previous owners.  I’m not referencing dogs who showed no concerning behaviors at the shelter but once in a home display concerning behaviors).

I’ve passed the tissues to a family as we discuss the options for their unpredictable newly adopted dog who had a documented bite history that was not seriously disclosed, I’ve answered late night panicked calls and listened to the sobs on the other end hearing about a fairly recently adopted dog (who had concerning notes in his file about issues with small dogs that was not disclosed) killing another animal in the home, and I’ve held the hand of an owner and told a dog how much I loved him as he crossed the rainbow bridge because he was just too dangerous to manage.

These families did not deserve this outcome.  When they went to the shelter they wanted a pet, not a dangerous project.  Some of my clients were never informed of the issues or told of memos of concerning behavior in the file, some never had the behavior evaluation explained to show the red flags that were there, some were vaguely told about the concerning behaviors through flowery language that made the incidents seem minor and not concerning, and some were told while they had their new dog in their arms and were so excited and flooded with dopamine, oxytocin, and serotonin that they could have been told the dog was an alien from another planet and they wouldn’t have heard it or cared (shout out to Lilo and Stitch!).

While it’s heartbreaking for the families, foster families, volunteers (and certainly the dog) when dangerous or questionable dogs are put in situations where the fail, there are far bigger implications that many people do not consider in making choices on whether to place dangerous or questionable dogs.  Most of the families I’ve worked with in these situations have a level of frustration and definitely distrust toward the organization they adopted from–to my knowledge, none went back to that same organization again to adopt.  Some were so scared of it happening again and upset by the situation that they will never adopt again.  And a small, but powerful, number were so upset that they don’t think twice about sharing their awful experience with friends, family, and anyone who might listen–so they are poisoning a sizable pool of people against adopting because of their horrific experiences.   They were living examples of the mythical horror stories of adopted dogs that the rescue and shelter community has work for years to dismantle.

So, when John Smith tells his neighbor about the aggressive dog they got from the shelter/rescue, John’s neighbor, who had wanted to go to the shelter to adopt a new friend since his old dog passed, is going to think twice (that is one less good home that would have adopted a dog in need).  Taking this one step farther, where else can John’s neighbor go to find a dog fairly quickly and easily–puppies on demand?  That’s right, the pet store down the street (who get their dog from commercial breeding operations, aka puppy mills), the irresponsible backyard breeder he found in the paper/craigslist, or the irresponsible breeder down the street.  He will be going to the exact people that are contributing to the shelter dog population.  So by placing these dangerous or questionable dogs, they are quite likely pushing people into the hands of the irresponsible breeders/pet stores that are contributing to the shelter population. If asked by a friend, there are absolutely shelters and rescues I do not recommend getting a dog from based on what I’m seeing coming out of that organization because I simply do not trust that my friend would get a SAFE dog. I hate I just can’t trust recommending them, but they might get a great dog but they also might end up with a dog who is a ticking time bomb.

At the end of the day there are many lives and well-beings at stake when dealing with placement decisions. The dog, the possible foster owners, the possible new owners, any other animals in the home, the general public who come in contact with the adopted/foster dog, any animals in the vicinity, and all the dogs still at the shelter relying on people to feel safe to adopt.  Some dogs are simply not safe to be put into someone’s home and should be humanely euthanized.

I want people to feel safe adopting their dogs from their local responsible shelter/rescue because if people don’t feel safe doing so, more dogs will absolutely die in shelters.  I want my clients to adopt nice dogs (even if needing training to be well mannered) so they do not have to experience the pain and heartache of falling in love with a deeply troubled dog who they cannot safely manage.
There is one thing I know with complete certainty… there is no easy answer.  But, in my opinion, the big picture risk and ramifications of adopting out, placing into foster, or passing off to another sanctuary, a dangerous dog are very real and it goes beyond just that dog’s situation, it goes toward the overall health and well-being of the entire rescue community.  When the community of potential adopters does not trust that they will get a safe companion from a shelter/rescue, they will not go that route and more nice dogs will face euthanasia for space reasons.

*Contrary to what some readers may think after reading this (if they have never read my blogs or worked with me to know the truth), I am a dog lover and a rescue and shelter advocate.  I have fostered, I have transported, I currently volunteer with a few rescues, I am a manager with one of those rescues,  I provide free advice to my rescue friends, and I have donated to a variety of rescues and shelters.  I put my money and time where my mouth is, but I do think we absolutely must think of the big picture in order to maintain the progress that has been made toward the public choosing ethical rescues/shelters instead of going to the pet store or an unethical breeder–there is a very real risk of people back pedaling on their support for rescues/shelters if dangerous dogs are being placed or passed to other rescues where they go on to hurt people or other animals.  

Meet Shayne … my 11 year old dog who I adopted from a shelter 10 years ago, and who holds my heart. She was a very nervous dog in the shelter, was emaciated on intake, and showed some food aggressions issues while at the shelter. Once she gained weight and settled into my house, the extent of her behavior issues became more apparent and concerning. It took years of work and strict management for her to become the mostly friendly and mostly well-adjusted dog that she is today. I am well aware that if she were placed in almost any other home, that she may or may not still be living and she could have very well hurt some one (*she is a dog who didn’t show most of the issues she had while in the shelter because she was so shut down, so not exactly the situation that this post is talking about, but could have certainly been a candidate for behavioral euthanasia. I’m sure glad they didn’t but I also am not an average pet owner and she pushed me to the ends of my knowlege and skills at the time. She was a many years long project to become the really quite safe and wonderful dog she is).