We belong to a Facebook group for lost and found pets in our area. Recently, an elderly pittie was posted as found and turned into a local animal hospital. Seeing the condition of this sad dog upset most of us, of course. And when the information was posted that the owner didn’t want the dog and was signing it over to the hospital, several people stepped up and said they wanted her. People cheered! One woman took her. People called her a hero! But then came the news that the dog was highly aggressive to her other dogs and she needed to turn the old dog into the shelter. People applauded her for trying to help.
We saw this scenario as a major fail for several reasons. First, the woman meant well but she didn’t know what she was doing. She gave the new dog immediate access to her other dogs. That’s a huge no-no when taking home a dog with an unknown history. Second, the animal hospital should have turned the dog over to Animal Services where she would have received a thorough medical and behavior exam. If they found that she had aggressive tendencies, then they would have asked rescues to take her. A rescue will know what to do to help her and keep her safe. Finally, the poor dog has now been bounced around from being a stray, to staying at the animal hospital, to living with strange people and dogs, and now in a shelter. Can you imagine how scared she must be?
Now this poor dog has entered the shelter with a history of aggression which may not have occurred if she had been properly introduced to the dogs in the home.
We know everyone means well but for the sake of the dogs, please know that shelters and rescues are here to give their expertise and are better equipped to help.
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