responsibility ends when?

[RebelGSD]

I will take the unpopular (and take the bashing for it) view that if a dog has lived with its family for years, it is not particularly humane to drag the animal cross country, stress it, house it with vets and stranges, to be euthanized by and among strangers - so that some policy can be satisfied and the rescue can feel reputable. The people who ruined the dog or lived with the animal for years can do that as well (and take the responsibility for it). The outcome is the same, but it is less stress for the dog.

After fostering for many, big and small, and taking in many returns that nobody else in the rescue would touch, I have yet to find the ivory tower rescue where there is nothing wrong with the organization. Some were better at the show than others.

Maybe those that have 5 dogs for 400 volunteers have everything going rosy. If I had the money I would still rather donate rescuers like Missy.

[oregongsdr111]

The reason we take the dog back is so we can evaluate the dog.
Way too many people confuse GSD behavior with aggression due to bad advice from a vet or trainer.

We take the dog in, let it settle, and make a determination based on what we observe. I placed two 6 month old pups that were from a shelter, went to a GSD rescue, (out of our state) and were returned for aggression to the shelter. We took both dogs in based on age, and our experiences with described behavior. Both dogs took a few months to work through the behaviors, and now live in homes with families and other pets.

We have had one return that was so damaged we did end up after a few months having to PTS. It is case by case. We feel that we made a commitment to the dog; we owe it a final evaluation. If it is PTS it has been with us and is not in the arms of strangers. With a shelter back ground you quickly realize most people will lie about the reason they are going to PTS the dog. For dogs trying to enter rescue, we recommend the owner PTS for some situations after talking to a vet, and a behaviorist because we know we could not correct the behavior, and or find a safe placement.

I agree that no rescue is perfect. We learn and grow. I do feel that people doing personal rescue need to partner with rescues close to them, to see if there has been an issue with the adopter. If this had happened in this case, I would bet we would not be in this situation today.

Many times rescues have a waiting list of approved adopters. We would have gladly let an adopter know if a person had a dog to place and try to match them up. We did it all the time. We just need to try and communicate, and work together for the betterment of rescued dogs.

[pupresq]

Quote:There is a difference between breeders and rescue volunteers. Breeders choose to put dogs into this world

I completely agree with this. Rescues and breeders are apples and oranges. In the same way that a foster parent for humans volunteers their time to take care of a child who needs someone is dealing with a completely different set of expectations than someone who gives birth to a child. I think we all have an expectation that parents will be responsible for their children no matter what. When they're not, it's a failing of their parental responsibility. A foster parent, in contrast, may chose to accept responsiblity for someone else's child but their obligation (or not) to do so is very different.

I do believe in taking dogs back if their adoption falls through - but not because I believe that rescues have the same kind of responsibility that the people who created these dogs in the first place do. I believe in it because I care about all the dogs I foster and I choose to be there for them. I'm not saying it very well, but it's a different dynamic.

[Fodder]

i did not read thru all of the replies - but i think i have the jist of this thread.

i only wanted to add that i've done a couple private party adoptions with rescue backing and there are a couple of ways to go about it. one being that you contact the rescue, "surrender" the dog to their organization and just operate as a foster home. OR... what i did because i felt comfortable enough doing the screening process myself and wanted control over setting a fair adoption fee - i posted a courtesy listing on the rescues website, with permission used their adoption application and agreed to donate the adoption fee that i collected from the adopter to the organization... in return, they allowed me to revise the contract stating that i carried out the adoption myself but should the adopter not be able to care for the dog for any reason - that i be contacted and if i am not in position to take the dog - they would surrender the dog to that particular rescue.

one fault of mine that i'll make sure to do next time is that i provided a line for my signature as well as the adopters, but i did not get a signature from the organization saying that they agreed to it. i only have correspondence documentation thru e mail which may or may not stand if that particular volunteer leaves the rescue.

live and learn.

[pupresq]

That can be a good way to create a safety net if you can find a good group willing to do that.

[DorianE]

ty for this thread. I am unsure of the circumstrances or what the turn out was, but it was very informative and does help clarify issues that some people may never ask.