There is nothing like bringing a new pet into the family. The search for the perfect-fit candidate can include hours of online research and “window shopping” for adoptable animals. But, how can you really know where these animals come from?
Unfortunately, puppy mills or hoarders may be posing as legitimate rescue organizations. Anyone can create a convincing Facebook page or website. And breeders are capitalizing on the growing interest in animal rescue and adoption by using phrases like “for adoption” to hide the true nature of their operation.
It’s easier than you may realize to fall for “fake rescues.” For example, in a recent animal cruelty case, a couple hoarded nearly 300 dogs in appalling conditions under the guise of a non-profit animal rescue organization. People truly believed the people involved were running a real shelter and didn’t realize anything was amiss until it was too late.
So how can you be sure that an organization is offering truly rescued animals for adoption? Knowing what to look for can be the difference between life or death for many helpless creatures.
As a general rule of thumb, a legitimate animal rescue organization will be transparent about its animals and their care. Honesty is still always the best policy.
The organization should also have clearly defined policies and a mission statement, either available on its website or explained in person. If the organization is operating with the animals’ wellbeing in mind, the animal’s adoption fee should also include vaccinations, veterinary care if needed, and a spay or neuter surgery.
A breeder posing as a rescue may only offer purebred or “designer” breed puppies (e.g. maltipoos). Most rescue organizations will have a variety of animals with different breeds, ages, or even special needs.
Start your online search by visiting your city or county’s official shelter website, or using a trusted aggregator like Petfinder that thoroughly screens every organization it lists. Don’t simply trust what you read in a Craigslist or Facebook listing — always dig deeper.
Always ask to see where the animals are kept. If the organization refuses permission, that’s a red flag. If allowed in, look to see if the animals seem healthy and active. Is their living space clean? Is there a reasonable amount of animals considering the number of caretakers?
By asking the right questions, doing a small amount of research and briefly investigating the physical environment, you should be able to discern if the rescue operation is above board.
What’s New…
An informative read.
Animals should be spayed or neutered upon arrival at shelter.
Stop all these acts of animal abuse and cruelty
I’m so happy for Sandra. She is so very adorable. I’m sorry she lost her baby to the zoo. I pray her transition to the sanctuary will go well and she can finally enjoy her life. And let’s hear it for the judge who granted her “non human personhood”. All animals should be thought of as such.
Please stop the cruelty on abusing and eating the animals. Please allow your country to teach your people to be compassionate for animals and people!
Don’t even look at these sites, go to local shelter for adoption. Actually, I have never had to do that, simply adopt any who show up at my house. in 40 years, have gotten 2 dogs and over 30 cats. all my animals live to 18, 19 and a few to 20, 21.
” If the organization is operating with the animals’ wellbeing in mind, the animal’s adoption fee should also include vaccinations…”
This is where I must disagree, and I will keep on saying it until people wake up and look at the evidence. I started researching vaccines back in 1982, and spent much time in medical libraries reading the journals, where I found that what was being reported in the journals was the opposite of what was being reported to the public.
My first epiphany, being a rescuer (and not vaccinating, because that was how it was for most people back in the 50’s and 60’s) was when I started bringing vaccinated dogs in, and they were the ones getting the diseases they had been vaccinated for. The unvaccinated dogs weren’t “catching” it from them.
But the bottom line of what I’ve learned over the decades is that vaccinations are being promoted to the max, pushed to invade everywhere, and truthful information about them is censored.
Just to start, I would ask everyone to look up the Perdue dog vaccine studies – there is so much more. The challenge is being able, in the space of a comment bubble, to interest folks enough to begin to want to unravel decades of deliberate brainwashing by the most powerful industry (which controls media and governments) in the world.
And I must disagree with your “broad” statement. Yes many vaccinations are not needed, BUT there are those that are and I will continue pushing that agenda. Rabies, parvo infuenza, worms. and if coming from some other countries, hookworm.
If you wish a really good read, Jane Sykes “Canine and Feline Infectious Diseases”
I have read about canine and feline infectious diseases in depth over the past 37 years. And I’ve also intensively studied the information which is deliberately kept away from public scrutiny, including the fact that vaccines of all kinds can, AND do, instigate the disease. Are you aware that Harvard University conducted a study which confirmed what had already been common (but hidden) knowledge? – that appropriate administration of Vitamin C kills viruses, including rabies virus, and can be used to prevent rabies. (However, don’t give Vitamin C intended for humans to animals). Optimum health comes from good nutrition (and a discussion about dog and cat food would be appropriate to that, too), clean purified water, and nurturing environment. NOT from injection of heavy metals, toxic chemicals, and foreign cells from other animals, and insects.
“Mild” adverse events from vaccines (which ensure expensive trips to the vet – all part of the plan) include itchy skin, ear infections, and digestive problems – and then we get to the bigger problems. Look up “Vaccinations, Cancer and Autoimmune Disease” By Stephen Blake DVM.
The bottom line, as you’ve demonstrated, is that people have been so successfully indoctrinated that they would rather argue the point rather than look into what has been purposely hidden from us. There is a law of nature called “Survival of the Fittest.” It’s not a kind law, but it’s made to strengthen each species. I can confidently say that with mass vaccination, there will be no ‘fittest’ left.