Free to a good home: 

The life of a second-hand pet in Nova Scotia

Did you know that thousands of dogs and cats are euthanized in Nova Scotia each year because nobody wants them? 

Shelter staff and rescue workers are hard at work behind the scenes trying to re-home unwanted cats and dogs.

One particular shelter in Nova Scotia has to euthanize 50% of the dogs they take in, which adds up to about 10 dogs per week!

Most of these pets come from well meaning owners who were ill prepared for the responsibility of having a pet, and indiscriminate breeding by unregistered individuals or owners.

Improper screening is a huge factor in the surrender of pets.  The commitment required to be a pet owner is huge.  Whether you purchase a puppy, or get a second-hand dog from the shelter there will be obstacles to overcome.  There is no easy way out.  Dogs are a lot of work, and require lots of gentle but firm guidance and training to become a good family pet.  Cats are often less work, but still require a commitment of 15-20 years of ownership.

Backyard breeding is producing an alarming number of unwanted pets, and there simply aren’t enough good homes for all of them.  Every litter of puppies and kittens reduces the number of homes available to the existing pet population.  Most of these puppies and kittens eventually end up in shelters, and many are euthanized.  Please spay/neuter your pet regardless of their gender, and even if you don’t think they will interact with other animals. 

Purchasing pets from retail stores is not recommended.  The incidence of health and behavioral problems in these animals is much higher than in pets from registered breeders.

Pet stores commonly supply pets from puppy mills and non-registered breeders, which further aggravates the cycle of unwanted pets.  Unsuitable screening of potential owners through pet stores is one of many reasons why the shelters and rescues are full of dogs ranging in age from 5 to 15 months. 

One local pet store manager told me about PIJAC (http://www.pijaccanada.com/), which is an organization working for industry certification outlining how pet animals can be sold in stores.  It would be great for the pet stores to come on board regarding appropriate care, selection, and placement of the pets for sale.  It will be interesting to see what the future holds, as the standards are currently lacking.

Some pet stores in North America promote adoption of shelter dogs and cats and do not profit from the sale of animals.  If all the pet stores adopted this policy, it would virtually eliminate the existence of puppy mills.

Registered breeders produce plenty of healthy, purebred dogs and cats if you choose to purchase a young pet.  You can find a list of them here:

http://www.grandane.com/NS.Kennels/

Good registered breeders have stringent policies on animal adoption so that their litters don’t end up with families that are ill prepared for the responsibility.  Typically you return the animal to the breeder if a situation arises where you can no longer keep your pet, although this is not to be abused.

The animal shelters and rescue organizations have lots of great older pets that need homes.  An older dog is often a good choice because it will probably already be obedience trained, housebroken, and past it’s destructive chewing phase.  Once a dog is beyond adolescence (3-4 years of age), their temperament is set so if they are friendly with people and other animals, they should retain those qualities.  These organizations also have puppies and kittens available.  Again, potential owners will be screened for suitability.

Perhaps the saddest situation is when a senior pet is surrendered.  Sometimes it is due to a death in the family, or because the owner goes into the hospital.  Other times, the family later has children and decides they no longer want their pet.  It is very difficult to find homes for senior dogs and cats, but it shouldn’t be.  They would make great pets for senior people if they just knew how to find them.  “Seniors for seniors” is an idea that most rescue workers in the Maritimes would love to see happening.

If you are thinking about adopting a second-hand pet please visit your local shelter and also check out the following website:

http://maritimeanimalrescue.com/

The last thing registered breeders, shelters, and rescue organizations are interested in is having their animals end up in the mass of unwanted pets.  For this reason, they will strongly encourage or enforce spaying or neutering of the pets.  This cost if often included in the price of adoption when dealing with shelters and rescues, so it also a bargain.

So, about that Underground Railroad…

Local animal shelters like the SPCA and privately run shelters are hard at work behind the scenes.  There’s also breed rescue clubs, and all breed rescues, and volunteer foster parents working to save as many unwanted pets as they possibly can.  It can be a very disheartening job.  Sometimes no matter how hard they try, the animal ends up losing its life.  These aren’t dogs that have bitten people, or farm cats that are breeding like rabbits.  These are people’s pets that they’ve decided they no longer want.  Or didn’t bother to spay or neuter so now there are 5 or 10, or 20 more that can’t find homes. 

Foster care for animals is a huge part of what’s helping to avert the pet crisis.  The shelters only have a limited number of cages available.  But, with the help of foster care a lot of the shelters have been able to become no-kill facilities.

Typically this is at no cost to the foster family.  You can expect the shelter or rescue organization to cover medical costs, spay/neuter, food, crates, etc. 

If you decide to foster a pet, please be prepared for this commitment as well.  You must be certain the dog or cat will integrate well into your household, and get along with any existing pets you may have.  Formalized foster care typically exists to help puppies, kittens, and sick animals make it to the adoption floor.  However, more and more organizations are expanding their foster care to include healthy adult animals as well.  These pets can take quite a bit longer to adopt, so please be certain to get clear guidelines from the rescue organization or shelter about the time commitment that is required, and what will happen if things don’t work out as expected.  It is unfair for animals to be bounced around from foster home to foster home, but unfortunately this happens all too frequently.

The sad reality is that the entire system is overburdened.  Until legislation is in place that requires pet owners to spay/neuter their pets, all programs are simply a stopgap measure.  The more you learn about it all, the sadder you become.  But, like they always say, “if you’re not part of the solution – you’re part of the problem”.  Please do anything you can to help.  Donations to the shelters and rescues make all this possible, so open your heart or home today.

- Angela Granchelli