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RSS FeedFoster homes or animal shelters: Which is better for stray dogs looking for a home?
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| Shelters | 19% | 75 votes | Total: 405 votes | |
| Homes | 81% | 330 votes |
Shelters
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Add to FavoritesThe number of abandoned and abused animals brought into shelters each year is heartbreaking. Cats, dogs, horses, hamsters and many other numbers of animals of all types and breeds make their way to the rescuing hands of local shelters each day, all set up for this very reason, to care for those who need their care.
Coming from a neglected background, many of these animals generally suffer from special physical, emotional and medical needs, and these brought on by the very hands that were meant to care for them. The hands of their irresponsible owners. These animals often arrive with a large variety of problems brought on by their past and they are in desperate need of experienced care!
The individuals who work within these shelters have the experience, or are acquiring the experience, to care for these animals. They are able to access what types of problems the animal may have upon arrival at the shelter. They then decide if the animal is in need of immediate medical attention, and if so, if their medical condition is contagious to other animals. If it is indeed an infectious condition then most shelters are equipped with the space to isolate the animal so that others within the facility will not be infected. In a foster home setting this isolation is often times difficult to accomplish, or may be delayed due to a lack of experience in diagnoses. Because of inexperience on the part of their new caregiver, a lapse in time could cause other animals within the home to unfortunately be exposed to the illness, and to also contract it.
Abandoned and abused animals are very much like humans, they wind up with a wide variety of psychological problems stemming from the physical, or emotional abuse that they have previously suffered. They may now be very angry, afraid, or otherwise emotionally scarred from the treatment that they have received and these are all emotional imbalances that must be slowly and patiently worked on. The effects of abuse don`t disappear overnight, and although love can sometimes accomplish miracles, it often takes training and experience to know the proper behaviors to be used in treating an abused animal for them to have a successful recovery. Providing the consistent behavior that is needed in the treatment of these abused animals is very important, shelters have the regimen, the staff, the facility and the experience to successfully provide this much needed consistency.
In the lives of previously abused animals, once rescued from harm, shelters are their first step in the direction of going to a true home. Shelters provide the immediate care that is so desperately needed by these animals when they are rescued. Shelters provide the medical, physical and psychological care that these animals need to once again associate with humans. The animal receives the medical attention to mend its wounds or illnesses, it is fed and begins to trust that its food will be there on a consistent basis, and through consistent behavior the animal learns to no longer fear its caregivers.
They learn again to trust in humans, to once again enjoy the play and companionship that humans can provide, and they in effect learn to be pets again. It is at this point then that the animal is ready to go to a foster home for care, or if it is really lucky, then into a new home for adoption.
It would be wonderful if shelters were not needed as desperately as they are. Unfortunately the number of abandoned and abused animals brought into shelters each year is heartbreaking. Even more heartbreaking is knowing that there are thousands of animals each year who don't manage to make it there.
Help break the chain of abuse if you are at all able to.
Learn more about this author, Lady Mermaid.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
Homes
I have done dog rescue, and all of my dogs were glad to live in foster homes.
Over 90% of the dogs at shelters have had previous owners. Only about 5% are actually strays and a few are feral. Many never-owned strays (watch Animal Cops on TV) are un-socialized, sickly, diseased, or injured. Many are aggressive, frightened, or dangerous animals with unknown backgrounds.
Owners reclaim a few of the lost dogs. Most strays, abandoned, and un-socialized dogs are euthanized.
If you look at the ID tags on the kennel doors of animal shelters, most of them come from homes. Most of the dogs are owner-relinquished due to owners moving to places that don't allow pets; divorce; family allergies; the elderly who can no longer physically care for or afford the pets; people whose homes are being foreclosed; etc.
Now the question becomes, do previously-owned, socialized dogs do better in animal shelters or foster homes?
Limited resources are serious problems for state run shelters. They never have enough money, time, staff, kennel space, food, quarantine rooms, or recovery rooms.
Among shelter workers, it is a well-known phenomenon to see dogs go "kennel crazy." This is the human equivalent of posttraumatic stress disorder. Dogs are pack animals that require human contact to stay socialized. It only takes about 3 to 4 months for a "normal dog" to develop PTSD and become un-adoptable.
Many dogs pick up kennel cough and worms in community shelters. Airborne sicknesses and whipworms get recycled through feces and are chronic, never-ending problems.
I met a shelter manager who spoke strongly against using foster homes. He said foster families often became too emotionally involved-they couldn't see the dog objectively and recommend a proper placement. He said about 25% of the shelter dogs were un-adoptable or aggressive and had to be euthanized; most fosters couldn't/wouldn't make that determination.
Dave said he rotated workers so they didn't become too involved with any specific animal. The dogs had expiration dates. If they weren't adopted by a certain time, after being given a fair chance with advertising and public exposure, they were put down to make room for the next batch.
Although shelter workers and volunteers kept the dogs housed, fed, vetted, and clean, kennels are a terrifying environment with constant noise, odors, and rotating shifts of staff and volunteer contacts.
State run kennels are a business, after all.
I believe dogs can sense death in kill shelters and wonder if they will be next.
About 25% of dogs in shelters are purebreds, and breed rescue organizations will often quickly claim them, put them in foster care, and get them re-homed. All adoptable dogs are altered and given basic vet care before being turned over to rescues.
The lucky dogs are kept in a normal home environment with adults, children, other dogs, other pets, and human visitors. They are treated like other family pets. Most rescued dogs are eventually adopted.
My daughter and I did mixed breed dog rescue for 4 years. We dealt with shelters, dog trainers and vets. We accepted dogs from owners who were going to turn their dogs over to shelters. Our commitment was made possible only by the use of foster homes.
If a dog had problems with excessive barking, submissive urination, separation anxiety, food aggression or any other relatively minor problem, a trainer worked with the dog and prepared it for a new family. We helped 120 dogs find new homes.
Fostered dogs got vet care, training, daily love, and, eventually, a new family that loved them in the same way. They had no expiration dates.
Foster homes are the lifeblood of rescues. Rescue programs cannot run without them. It is emotional for the families, especially those with children who become attached to their "temporary" dogs. It requires daily sacrifice in time, care, re-training, and home space. Families must allow potential adopters to visit, so they also give up some privacy.
Some excited, frightened, new foster dogs make unavoidable messes before they acclimate, and some chew destructively out of stress. Fostering dogs requires deep commitment.
There are never enough foster homes. Shelters are a fact-of-life for the majority of homeless animals. Millions of unwanted animals are euthanized annually.
Reality is hard, but choosing which is better, between a kennel and a foster home, is easy.
Stable, loving foster homes with families are obviously the better, more humane choice for socialized, companion dogs waiting for permanent homes.
Learn more about this author, Karon Brandt.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
Difference of opinion? Debate now.
- Animal Rescue & Adoption
- Breeders or dog owners: Who is more responsible for the excess of abandoned or sheltered dogs?
