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23 thoughts on “What's Behind the Clickbait Web Advertisements of Aggressive Shelter Dogs Available for Adoption Today?

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  1. I imagine this type of stuff goes on at almost every shelter in the country these days. But wow! Eye opening. I'll stick to adopting greyhounds off the track, I know what I'm getting, plus the greyhound people are great at matching you with a low prey-drive grey if that is what you desire. As we have cats and children, and neighbors with small dogs, that is what we desire. It will be interesting to see when the tipping point occurs, when shelters are held accountable for adopting out known dangerous pits. That day is coming.

  2. People who in any way support this need to go to jail, period. This IS unlawful. "Civil liability will result from adopting out a dog that is known to be dangerous, is known to have dangerous propensities, or is misrepresented as being safe when the transferor has no reasonable basis to make that representation. A dog known to be dangerous or vicious must be put down or cured of its potentially injurious tendency." https://dogbitelaw.com/adoption-organization-liability-for-dog-bites/the-legal-duties-of-a-transferor

  3. Very, very horrible. Why can't all of these dogs be tracked even across county and state lines? Full disclosure attached to chip. What's hard about that? One of these dogs pictured above, looks like the dog that attacked my mother. The time line would fit. Hum… how would we ever know? How could we find out if we really wanted to know? I doubt there's a way. But what if? This is why all records should be attached to their chip number.

  4. Your Quiet Neighbor nailed it. Sugarcoating a dog's issue's/failing to mention them at all is nothing other than lying and misleading to the buyers. But honestly, all the cover up expressions they use are pretty obvious. "I shouldn't live with kitties." Potential cat killer essentially. "I should be the only dog in the home." Most likely attacks other dogs regardless of if they live in your home or not. "I do best with older children". Probably stalks and chases children like prey.

    And this is just me, but I don't think dogs that are "no other dogs, no cats, and ESPECIALLY no kids" dogs should be allowed in public period, because there is just no way to avoid these things these days unless you literally live in the middle of no where. I'll never even understand who'd want a dog with that description anyway. Even if you don't have kids, cats, or other dogs, why even take that chance that someone else's could be hurt by your dog.

  5. Another tip: "doesn't get along with" in reference to dogs, should be read as "attacks/kills."

    "Returned to shelter because he didn't get along with the owner's cat…he needs a cat-free home, please." = "Returned to shelter because he killed the owner's cat, and will most likely kill yours."

    "She doesn't get along with other dogs…she needs to be the only dog in your home." = "She has attacks other dogs, and will continue this behavior."

    "He doesn't get along with other male dogs, but may get along with some females." = "So far, he has attacked only male dogs. We haven't personally seen him try to kill a female yet."

  6. No Kill is not only a fraud, but it is animal and people abuse. Everyone should be working to destroy No Kill if it has infested their local shelters.

    No Kill was taken over by the breeders so they could pretend there was no overpopulation problem and pretend that they were not overbreeding. A game to cover up the crimes of the for-profit animal trade.

    After pit bull advocacy did nothing but expand the numbers of breeders and dog fighters, No Kill now gets into the game to further the abuse and cruelty. And pretend that nothing is wrong.

    Until the overbreeding problem is solved, and the lack of breeder regulation and accountability resolved, No Kill is impossible and is causing harm to all. A TOTAL FRAUD

  7. Wow. All those cases above, I swear the dogs' posted profile sound exactly like ones I read in my state of PA. Also like they keep regurgitating them all over the country. That or some self proclaimed put expert has written a guide on how to write a softened description on how the market these dogs.

  8. The shelter where we got our cat charges $500 if you return an adopted animal for any reason and you have to sign a contract agreeing to that. As above, they likely take them to another shelter when it doesn't work out.

  9. It's time for a website like the Mail Talk Manual. It would be a reference library for the deceptive rhetoric used by shelters and rescues.

    Here's my contribution: Homeless pets. Which is a pity-pot way of saying "pit bulls."

  10. People re-homing dogs on craigslist have taken the cue from shelters and rescues. I see a lot of "dog selective" and "dog reactive" descriptions. I even see it with other breeds not just pit bulls. I don't understand why so many dogs are dog aggressive now.
    We just had a shooting outside of a coffee shop in Portland because of two pits that attacked a Burmese Mt dog. The owner of the Burmese shot and killed one of the pits to save his dog. People are leaving flowers on the sidewalk for the poor wiggle butt! It was on the local news last night and all they did was talk to a lawyer about whether or not the shooter would get into trouble. No questions about why the aggressive dogs were out around other animals and not controlled by their owner. They didn't even mention whether or not the beasts were on leashes. Anyway, these are the types who buy or adopt dog aggressive dogs.
    The Humane Society of SW Washington (which serves the area of Vancouver just North of Portland) advertises a group of dogs with a special adoption price of $50 because they have to go to a home with no other animals. One is described as being able to escape a kennel with a lid and 6 foot privacy fence. They advise the adopter must only take the dog out on leash. As if someone is really going to take them out on a leash every single time they need to go to the bathroom. And who knows if that dog can be held with a leash anyway.

  11. These "Humane Society" directors, employees and volunteers should be forced to watch the autopsies of victims of dog maulings.

  12. What they are doing is outright fraud and SHOULD be a crime. It's up to us to pressure our law makers to make it one.

  13. What I find annoying about a lot of dog people is that they often think anyone who doesn't get their dog from a shelter or rescue is some sort of evil person. The problem is – if shelters are going to be this dishonest, then why should people go to shelters? Personally, I don't want a dog that I have to worry is going to attack people or other animals.

  14. I am completely disgusted by the behavior of shelters. With every new study on them, it seems their behavior and out and out lying gets worse. I stopped supporting shelters and other "animal rescue" organizations, because it is clear they do not care about animals (nor humans), when they refuse to euthanize dogs with a history of killing or attempting to kill other animals. These covers for serial animal killers should be ashamed of themselves. Workers at shelters who knowingly adopt out dangerous animals should be charged with manslaughter if the animal kills a human.

  15. I too am disgusted by the proliferation of pit bulls and the glossing over that shelters seem to use in describing them. Of course, as with any breed, there are exceptions, but these dogs do what they were bred for-killing, and they are very good at it.
    I had a "war of words" with the "star" of a popular TV show about pit rescue-not sure if I can mention it but you probably can figure out who it is. Hint-New Orleans, parolees, t-shirts that say "if it ain't pit it ain't s__t. She purportedly has up to 600 pits/pit crosses. I think the number of pit bulls has risen since the Vick dogs and that show have become popular.
    I have worked at a couple of shelters but this was before the vogue of no kill. I don't condone killing every dog that comes in but far too many potentially dangerous dogs are moved around, re-named, given glowing descriptions, and then go out into the world and hurt or kill people and pets.
    I support laws that ban pit bulls and I think that many places are too lenient on owners whose dogs of any breed have caused harm or death to people and pets.

  16. I experienced this. I adopted a dog from a shelter described as a "wallflower" who needs to be in a "home without children under age 8." The dog was actually aggressive and fearful of most everything. He was completely unsocialized and none of the training helped. It isn't just a danger for the adoptive family and their neighbors, it is horrible for the dogs to be passed around like this.

  17. So true, Garnet. People harass and berate people who go to breeders over shelters but no one seems to give a crap about all of the shelters lying about the aggressive dogs they try to sell. Imo, it's too dangerous to get a dog from a shelter nowadays. Most are mixed with some form of pit, which makes the workers work that much harder to try to get them sold by any means (read lies) necessary. And I for one refuse to support any place that is worrying more about a dangerous dog getting an owner, than the safety of the public.

  18. Looks like Fairfax County Animal Shelter finally in 2019 got out of liability for adopting out aggressive dogs based on the technicality that essentially, the shelter is part of the county and the county can’t be sued. Nice, government can do wrong without re-course.

    From article, “In addition to citing legal standards, the Fairfax County Animal Shelter argued in its motion to dismiss that McCabe had failed to state a claim sufficient for relief to be granted and that the shelter’s status as an entity of Fairfax County means that, under Virginia law, it cannot be sued.”

    http://www.fairfaxtimes.com/articles/litigation-in-the-name-of-love/article_d3ec7f2a-475e-11e9-a1e5-b3524c90c91b.html

  19. What a pit show. Volunteers refusing kennel staff direct orders to relinquish leashes then walking away (Arnie). MA brushing off everything. Snippy office staff like the facebook and dispatch personnel. And the sheer amount of money spent on veterinary care for these aggressive dogs. Joline was so insane as to injure herself yet they went ahead and called in an orthopedic surgeon for full leg surgery–all on the city’s dime!

  20. Thank you for making this information available. We live in New Mexico and were recently the victims of this sort of unethical re-branding of a vicious dog by a non-profit dog rescue in Albuquerque. We were looking for a family friendly Border Collie to be a canine companion for us and our other Border Collie. We naively thought we could trust a dog rescue organization to vet a good dog for our family. We had to jump through a lot of hoops to adopt our new dog along with paying a hefty $250 “contribution “. The only warning we received from the dog rescue director was that our new dog “didn’t share toys well” with other dogs. Upon arriving home with our new dog we were dismayed at her displays of aggression that included aggression to our other dog, attempting to attack a friend’s chihuahua, escaping out of yard to attack a passerby walking his dog on a leash, lunging off her leash to try and attack cyclists, pedestrians, runners and other dog walkers. Other unwanted behavior included extreme anxiety separation when we left the house for half an hour. It became so bad that either my husband or myself had to stay home with our new dog in the event she went on a spree of destruction. We are part of the ultra marathon running community and through our extensive network of friends and acquaintances, we were able to find out the true history of our new dog. First off our new “Border Collie” was actually an American Staffordshire and Australian Cattle dog mix with not one ounce of Border Collie in her DNA. Second our new “family friendly” dog had attacked and bitten a child and had to be quarantined afterwards. After this incident, the original owner gave this dog to an acquaintance who had a small farm. The dog continued it’s aggressive behavior and after 6 months the second owner was going to euthanize the dog by shooting. The second owner’s sister was friends with a dog rescue volunteer and was able to save the dog by placing her with the dog rescue organization. Apparently the dog rescue folks were well aware of the dog’s history but went ahead and placed the dog with us. When we found all this out we contacted the dog rescue organization and complained about being de-frauded and lied to. Their reaction was to tell us they were coming to our house to take back our new dog. Looking back there were red flags that we should have heeded. The director of the dog rescue told to us about how terrible the local dog shelters were and bragged that she had run into the back of one of these shelters and kidnapped a dog that was in the process of being euthanized for aggression. The volunteer that came over from the dog rescue organization for a home inspection also had a similar tale that she was all too happy to share with us. Another red flag was that after adopting our new dog, the director claimed she didn’t know if our dog was spayed and the only adoption paperwork we walked out with was a photocopy of a veterinarian’s scribbled notes concerning recent vaccinations. Also we both noticed that during our meet and greet with our potential dog, the director kept her on a tight leash and seemed very nervous. We are distraught that we now have an aggressive dog that could potentially be vicious and attack children. On top of all this we live directly across from a city park that is frequented by children and dog owners. Thankfully we are getting help for our dog. The manager of the dog shelter located in the city where our dog bit a child is trying to locate the original animal control report of the biting incident and has been able to supply some much needed vaccination history. Our local shelter is going to help out with one of their trainer/behavioralist. My husband has a friend who is a dog trainer who is doing an assessment on our dog this week. One thing we will not do is turn this dog over to the rescue organization who sold her to us as we have zero faith they will ethically do what is in the best interest of public safety. In the unfortunate event our new dog attacks or injures another person or animal-we are going to have her euthanized. Of course this is not the outcome we would want, but when a dog cannot be rehabilitated from attacking others, euthanasia is part of the burden and responsibility of being an ethical dog owner. I now understand why so many people steer clear of dog rescue organizations.

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