The Rescuers, The Hoarders And The Rehoming Process
AnimalCare 
Mar 5, 2012 
AnimalCare, NGOs 
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Thank you very much to all who have participated in the poll I set up last night:http://myanimalcare.org/2012/03/04/the-rescuers-and-hoarders-defend-themselves/
Your views have been most enlightening.
In just last week alone, I’ve had THREE bigtime rescuers applying for food subsidy, and all from out of Selangor.
1. One intends to breed and supports an illegal breeder, so she did not qualify at all. She understands, and withdrew her application.
2. The other is a confirmed hoarder by all counts and all definitions. Two residents in that town have confirmed this fact and their recommendation is a resounding and very emphatic “NO!!”. I have said “no” to the food subsidy she has asked for because my sources tell me that she is collecting dogs and cats off the streets and confining them in her home without vaccination or spay-neuter (or even sufficient food and water). She confirmed this on the phone, too. I only offered vaccination and spay-neuter subsidy for her existing animals (it now stands at 12 dogs and 50+ cats, since 18 dogs have died from a distemper outbreak). You can imagine how badly her animals are treated when one of my sources said that the 12 dogs are actually better off dead than with her. I have heard descriptions of how bad her animals are when they were eventually brought to the vet’s. If we reject her, what would become of these 12 dogs? At least if we “force” her to get them vaccinated and hopefully, spayed-neutered, these 12 dogs would be in a better state of health. So, this first offer is the first step to education. I won’t say “re-education” because there is no education in the first place!
3. The third is Kelly Tan, whom we have supplied 6 bags of kibbles to, but our condition is that since her shelter already has more than 100 dogs and Kelly and Jacinta already find it so difficult to manage the existing dogs (financially and physically), they should not accept anymore. A rescuer must know her limit and know when to stop. However, according to them, many of the dogs and puppies had been dumped at their doorstep. So, I do understand that. When puppies and dogs are dumped right at their gates, and they do have a shelter, a compassionate heart would not be able to ignore them. Having said that, they hardly rehome their dogs, and the reason given is that they have done that before, but the experiences have been bad ones. The dogs were not well looked-after and some died in the hands of irresponsible owners. This broke their hearts and they have decided to rehome ONLY to friends or people who live nearby (so that they can run periodic checks on the dogs).
Before we pass judgment here, let’s take a look at 4+1 types of rehoming/adoption process:
A. Give up the animal to the first person who comes along, ie. “You want? Here, take it!” No follow-up after that.
B. Screen the potential adopters, and let “the best” adopter take the animal. Check in on the animal in the first few weeks. Let it be after that. Let go.
C. Screen the potential adopters, and let “the best” adopter take the animal. Check in on the animal in the first few weeks and conduct periodic (discreet) “checks” (by then, they would have become friends, so it is merely enquiring about the animal, in the spirit of goodwill and with all good intentions). Give the adopter the option of returning the animal should the adoption fail or other unforeseen circumstances crop up.
D. Screen the potential adopters, and let “the best” adopter take the animal. HOUND the adopter till no end after that because the rescuer actually doesn’t quite trust the adopter (and anyone, for that matter!) in the first place.
E. “What rehoming? Nobody is as good as me. I’m keeping all my animals!”
I’m not running a poll on which is the best rehoming process here because I believe each rescuer has her own standards and resources, and it is not for us to question. If the rescuer has the space, time and resources to hold on to the animals, then she can afford to be more choosy in selecting the best possible home for her rescues. I think most individual rescuers do this. And even for (E), if the rescuer has the space to keep them, time and resources to look after them well, then that’s fine. The trouble is, many do not have the resources and start seeking help from others. That’s where the problems begin. Are they worthy of help? They heaped the problem upon themselves and now they are asking others to dig them out. There is a very fine line between responsible caregiving and hoarding. One can cross over without realising it…
I’m told shelters cannot afford a stringent adoption process. Most of the time, they can only evaluate the potential adopter very quickly and if “good enough”, they will hand over their animals and that’s usually the end of the story. I understand why – they have too many animals to take care of, so they can only hope that the adopter would be a good one.
We “adopted” (with a high fee) Mac and Bobby from a vet. Bobby was from a litter of two from Sungai Petani while Mac was returned by his first owner. I took my two young children to view and after asking us some questions and watching us handle the puppies, the vet let us take them home. I thought the adoption was “so easy” but it was only very much later (after we became good friends with the vet) that he told us he was very fussy when it came to adoptions and more often than not, he would refuse to give up the animals even to those who were willing to pay a handsome price for them.
Meiji and now, Kelly, have had bad experiences with adopters. Meiji told me about the case where she had many rescued cats and a neighbouring house wanted them, citing their desire to keep them as pets. After a few weeks, Meiji discovered the cats had been eaten by their foreign workers. If that’s not a rescuer’s nightmare, tell me, what is? Even some of her dogs had been ill-treated by adopters, so she is very reluctant to give up her dogs now. She doesn’t keep anymore cats now because of the presence of too many foreign workers around her sanctuary.
Kelly tells of a case where a puppy they had adopted out was tied to a tree until it died in the sun.
Can we blame them for wanting to be more stringent with the adoption process to the point of almost refusing to give up their animals?
So, we come back to the question of why some rescuers are so reluctant to give up their animals. They have taken such good care of them, and to surrender them to an unknown person….is scary and worrisome. I think we can all empathise with that.
I remember when I was trying to rehome Xiao Li, a wealthy couple came to view her and wanted to take her home immediately. But I had bad vibes about them, so I said no. And what gave me the bad vibes did not require any psychic power whatsoever. It was because after the husband held Xiao Li, he quickly brushed her fur off his shirt as though it was something very filthy. “Does she had fleas, does she have fleas?”, he kept asking, in a scared voice. Uh-uh…no, no. You can’t have pets if you cannot stand fur. You’ve got to take the pet, fur and all, even fleas, if any. Their first cat was also not vaccinated or dewormed and had never been checked by a vet ever since it was picked up from somewhere. They weren’t interested in learning about Frontline either. I think they only wanted Xiao Li because she was pretty. So, no, I said goodbye to them: “I’ll call you, you don’t have to call me”. Of course, I never called them ever again.
The animals that we have rescued from the street and are now under our care, are our responsibility. I know so much have been said and will be said, but all I want to say here is:Let’s take good care of them, as best we can.
Good care:
(in this order)
1. Give lots of love and care for the animal in a responsible manner.
2. Deworm, vaccinate (at least the basics for first year) and de-flea. For dogs – heartworm prevention.
3. Take to vet when sick, not wait until almost dying.
4. Spay-neuter.
Source: http://myanimalcare.org/2012/03/05/the-rescuers-the-hoarders-and-the-rehoming-process/
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