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20 thoughts on “Shelter Dog Terms Targeting Unwitting Fosters and Terms Used to Describe Major Liability Dogs - A 2021 Addendum

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  1. I always appreciate these reports, because they are so insightful to the downright criminal behavior going on in shelters. Some of these ads are highly disturbing. The ones that stuck out to me were the following.

    “Must be the only dog in a LOW TRAFFIC and adult-only household”

    What kind of home is this? Even if you get a home with no people under the age of 18 and no other pets, what kind of home has dang near zero activity whatsoever? So the person who gets this dog can never have parties at their home, can never invite over younger family members, can’t even move the wrong way…what kind of life is that? Truly it must be a fantasy “unicorn environment” because I don’t know who would want to live like that.

    “He must have, though, had some negative experiences with children, as he is not comfortable with them and therefore is looking for an adult only family.”

    This sounds like there’s no actual evidence that this dog had a negative experience with children, but the shelter workers know it is vicious and dangerous so they’re making sure to advise people to not allow it around kids. But of course they framed it as if somewhere at some point some “evil” kids must have abused this p0oR pUpeR which is why it becomes uncomfortable around them. How about they just admit that the dog is a monster and shouldn’t be around other living beings!

    Honestly, I’m getting quite sick of the entire shelter industry. All they care about are the well being of dangerous dogs with no care about human safety at all. All of the dogs mentioned here should have been put down already. Such a sad world we live in.

  2. One tiny cute word to hint of caution (or two cute words to hint of caution) directly translate(s) into sudden tragic end of happy life. In this country, all layers of government allow predictably and/or unpredictably dangerous canines to turn our neighborhoods into fields of lost battles for life and limb. How hostile are Americas’ nice neighborhoods? Just look at the annual severe mauling statistics. Due to the tragic proliferation of dangerous canines, there are no nice neighborhoods in America. How many Americans see a unicorn every year? Compare that statistic with how many Americans see admittance to a hospital for reconstructive surgery every year, because a canine that was featured in a photo wearing a party hat turned into The Angel of End of Life.

  3. Another new term I am seeing is that the dog is “forward.” Used in a shelter ad may look like this: “Spike is often too forward with people and other dogs.” I interpret this to mean that the dog mounts and/or does excessive crotch-sniffing.

    On another note, we are in the process of trying to lease a no-pets-allowed property. A new trend is that prospective tenants fill out an application and put that they do not have any “pets.” It turns out they have an ESA that is always a pit bull or pit bull mix. They say that the dog is not a pet, it is a service animal. We’ve only shown the property twice and we are batting 100 on encountering these people.

    • Stick to your guns, Christy.

      Don’t lease that property to anyone who has any sort of pet, and that includes those service, support, or whatever they’re calling furry crutches these days.

      And remember this, people, it’s okay to be pet-free.

  4. Amazing, the way the shelter has spun this story in 12 different directions, always to flatter itself and paint the public as villains – and the reporters never notice. Look at what Paula Rivadeneira, “the executive director of the Humane Society of Central Texas, which runs the Waco shelter” tells the Patch reporter –

    “Rusty isn’t the dog you’re envisioning. It’s a kind thing to do, but he’s going to be a problem… “A lot of the issue is, people don’t believe us. Their mind and heart is set on this specific dog, and when we explain why it’s not a good match, they become so insistent.”

    They MARKETED this dog as a sweet dog whose minor issues were easily dealt with by the ‘right’ and ‘committed’ adopter. They minimized and literally laughed off his behaviors and risks.

    Video “He gets a little too excitable, he’s not the biggest fan of other dogs – which can be worked on – but he is CUTE as all get out.”

    12/8/20 FB listing
    He is sweet and small.

    1/29/21 video
    “This is our sweet Rusty… He’s not good with other dogs, he screams bloody murder when confronted with other dogs. Finding a home for him with just adults would be ideal…. he is not a fan of cats – well, he is, but only to eat them.”

    NOW, though, NOW that they are faced with sending the dog to a sanctuary placement in the spotlight they CREATED by demanding attention in the first place – NOW and only now do they admit in public that the dog bites.

    April 1 video
    please don’t judge the adopters. Rusty nipped at them and they realized that he is not right for their family because they often visit with small children.

    The shelter published a video from 4 days ago showing Rusty and other shelter dogs being trained for the AKC Good Citizen test. Rusty, in the background, spends most of his time trying to get to other dogs. Narrator at end has to mention this, acknowledges with a laugh that Rusty is at that moment staring hard at the other, similar-size dogs in the class, is ‘fixated.’ Rusty, she says easily, needs a home with no cats and no small dogs.

    Is it any wonder that people increasingly distrust rescue?

  5. Let’s call this all out for what it is, shall we?

    This is one grand-slam marketing scheme to keep donation money rocketing in. It has zero to do with what’s good for people, dogs or anything else. Every one of these dogs can be “sponsored” by numerous bleeding hearts per month for cash money.

    It’s a con.

    Try adopting a “difficult” dog. I did. A dog I knew I could fix and handle. Their answer? Nope, wrong home. You live near CARS. (I wish I was kidding) Please send us $50 a month sponsorship for the upkeep of FuzzyHound. A year later, FuzzyHound’s foster person died and the rescue was panicked. In that year, I could have *fixed* FuzzyHound’s chronic anxiety.

    As it was I bought a different dog. One that had never seen anything but a sledding operation. Never saw cars, buses or garbage bins. We worked it out. But then, I didn’t pay a rescue monthly–I bought a dog, and that $50 a month retail, bought it dog food.

    This isn’t about the dogs. Follow the money.

  6. An honest trainer will tell you that you don’t “fix” dog aggression.

    You *can* manage behavior if the dog’s not too mentally damaged.

    Then my question to the owner would be, “How much effort do you want to put in for the next 15 years to manage this behaviour, every day 24/7?”

    Most owners won’t even get off their cell phone when dog walking–never mind devote a couple of hours every day to managing a difficult dog.

  7. Addendum:

    Every single dog mentioned in this article needs to be euthanized, post haste.

    Every single one is a walking lawsuit for anyone that handles/owns/trains/fosters them.

  8. Two-word summary: Shelters Lie.

    Don’t donate your hard-earned money to them. And don’t buy dogs from them.

    • I agree. There is a car dealership that was advertising a car raffle with a 1 in 50 chance to win. I almost bought some tickets until I saw that the proceeds were going to benefit Austin Pets Alive( Austin’s (pitbull sanctuary )No -kill shelter. Noped out of that one.

    • Another news article on this dog-attacks-horse news story says that the dog died from its injuries. Due to the nature of the beast, it did what it is supposed to do, due to its innate nature. What did it do? It went for the kill, up to and including the death, even its own death. What else can be expected from deadly, up to the death, dangerous canines? If that dog was ever photographed wearing a party hat, that was just an attempt to mislead the public. So many websites bear ridiculous advice on what to do if ever attacked by a dangerous canine: “Make yourself look bigger”. So much for such utterly useless advice. And such websites bear many other such utterly ineffective advice. By the way, if receiving delayed effect mortal wounds failed to terminate the attack, it is manifest obvious that conductive and irritant defensive tactics would also prove to be 100% ineffective in preventing the victims from receiving great body harm.

    • As a recreational driver, a pit attack is my biggest fear when I’m out. When you’re riding, you can run, with a carriage you’re not that maneuverable and any quick turns at speed, or even hitting large bumps can flip a carriage. Plus bolting down a road is a very good way to get in an accident neither you nor the carriage will survive.

      I was charged by a pit on Christmas day two years ago, made me wish I’d had someone literally “riding shotgun”.

      I hate aggressive dogs almost as much as I hate their pathetic owners.

      • Oh, I left out that the horse was likely ruined for work after that attack. I friend’s riding horse who was attacked by an Am Staff recovered physically, but was so jumpy and nervous afterward it was dangerous to ride.

  9. This was on Inside Edition the other night, and the video has gone viral. Inside Edition identified the breed, unlike this story that called it a “dog” and a “pet.” Where is the argument, it’s how you raise them? Will anyone ask the owners if they raised this mauler to attack and kill horses. There’s so much BS out there. People who own livestock have to deal with these monsters. If they were bred to bring down bulls, here is one in action…going for the throat. This horse is amazing.

  10. I can’t even understand why anyone would WANT to own a dog that can’t be around other animals, can’t be around people, can’t be in a home with even the slightest amount of activity. Who goes out to the shelter and sees a dog like the ones listed here and says, “oh yeah, that’s the one I want”….

    Dogs that can’t live normally in society need to be put down. There are more than enough safe dogs out there. No one needs the “meatheads” and “unicorns”.

  11. Thousands of normal cats and dogs being euthanized every year due to lack of homes, and these pit-bull cultists want to spend precious resources trying to adopt out these dogs with a high likelihood of aggression and violence. It is despicable, and shows they don’t really care about dogs, cats, or animals in general, only an obsession with dangerous, potential killers.

  12. The most common euphemism we’ve been seeing at rescues and shelters for pitbulls is “American terrier mix”. If the dog is a mix, they’ll say it’s a “lab mix” or “collie mix” or whatever to disguise its pitbull-ness.

    When my daughter was young, she was a shy girl’s only friend. The shy girl’s family, headed by a crazy stepmom and a weak dad, had a pitbull they insisted was the sweetest dog ever and “it’s the owners who make the dogs bad.” Because my daughter was the girl’s only friend, I feared they would ask her over for a sleepover. It never happened–whew! The mom was a drama queen so I did not want to have to explain that no child should be around a pitbull. Luckily all daytime get-togethers occurred at the homes of the girl’s other relatives so my kids never encountered the dog.

    We haven’t seen the shy girl much the last few years. Periodically I wonder if she and her sibs are okay with that “American terrier mix” in the house.

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