No fault of their own?

catkins

I used to help a bit with rescue and some of the reasons for giving up dogs (and cats) really annoyed me. Very common were "he/she chewed wires/shoes/furniture" (just add whatever you like) and "he/she messes on the floor" - these almost always being about puppies. Did they not realise puppies chew and mess on the floor until fully housetrained? One woman said she couldn't cope with the puppy getting her up in the night to toilet in the garden!

New baby was another common one, often before the baby was even born. Would it not be commonsense if you don't believe pets and babies mix and you intend having children not to get a pet?

I realise there are valid reasons but, unfortunately, for every valid reason there are far more invalid ridiculous reasons

con1888

owner gets pregnant is one we see a lot. I get that as someone stated above, a sick baby or a dog that totally turns against a baby IS a valid reason, being pregnant is not.

I have a dog and a cat, I have no kids but I sure as hell do want them and they will become part of my family, my family includes my pets. I wouldn't kick them out in the same way you wouldn't kick your first born out if you happened to fall pregnant again.

We have had a variety of reasons at the rescue ranging from dogs chasing nearby livestock, pregnant, doesnt like the baby, working longer hours, moving to a smaller house/flat, moving and landlord wont allow pets, moving abroad. the list goes on. What we find though is a lot of the time people say the dog is fine etc and that's not always the case. If people were more honest and upfront in the first place about any problems the dog has it would help a lot.

lollipopsarah

what about the welfare of the pet?
my daughter was rushed to hospital and is expected to be away for at least 8 weeks, luckily her friends are amazing helping out where they can, but it can't be much fun for her moggy being all alone, and I do wonder if it would be kinder for it to be rehomed, especially as she will eventually be coming come with a very tiny little man who will need constant special care.
Before you ask, no I can't take him unfortunately.
xx

Sally_A

For a mere 8 weeks, hopefully she has plans in place for such an occurrence for such an unforseen event.

I'd be gutted to be taken into hospital for 2 months, and come back to find my much loved pets rehomed.

Person_one

lollipopsarah wrote: »

what about the welfare of the pet?
my daughter was rushed to hospital and is expected to be away for at least 8 weeks, luckily her friends are amazing helping out where they can, but it can't be much fun for her moggy being all alone, and I do wonder if it would be kinder for it to be rehomed, especially as she will eventually be coming come with a very tiny little man who will need constant special care.
Before you ask, no I can't take him unfortunately.
xx

If it really is the welfare of the cat you're concerned about then its much better for it to have a rough 8 weeks and then lose some of its owner's attention then to go into the rescue system.

Animals can put up with difficult circumstances for a while just like we can. If you asked them they'd probably choose to tough it out, stay in their own home and wait for their owner to come back.

The cat may also be a comfort to your daughter if times are going to be hard for her.

bugslet

Person_one wrote: »

A baby is a valid excuse? Did nobody explain to these people how long dogs live for? Or that tons of people manage perfectly well with both it just takes a bit of (gasp!) effort?

The previous owners of mine cried buckets as they handed them over, so I'm told, but as they both had untreated medical problems and other signs of neglect I don't really care how those humans felt. I'm just glad they did the right thing and gave them to a rescue rather than keep neglecting them or dumping them.

The OPs question was about dogs being re-homed through no fault of their own and if that was correct and that was what I responded to. So I gave an explanation based on my experiences, not an excuse or a judgement.

The woman that gave up her dog (re-homed the same day :T) before she had the baby, well personally I think she should have tried first and put the spadework in to get a comfortable relationship between dog and child. However, the last thing I am going to do when someone is at least doing one thing right ( as opposed to tying the dog up to a lampost), is give her down the banks. If I start doing that, she is at liberty to change her mind about handing the dog over and then you don't know what would happen to the dog. Nor am I going to start quibbling with an 8 months pregnant hormonal woman:rotfl:.

I broadly agree with you person one, but unfortunately there are muppets that don't think ahead about the commitment and the potential life changes that affect their dogs ( or their children for that matter), and it's a case of being pragmatic enough to deal with a situation as it is, not as it should be.:(

krlyr

lollipopsarah wrote: »

what about the welfare of the pet?
my daughter was rushed to hospital and is expected to be away for at least 8 weeks, luckily her friends are amazing helping out where they can, but it can't be much fun for her moggy being all alone, and I do wonder if it would be kinder for it to be rehomed, especially as she will eventually be coming come with a very tiny little man who will need constant special care.
Before you ask, no I can't take him unfortunately.
xx

Might be worth buying a Feliway plugin if you can - they're meant to help relax cats and I've heard some great reviews on it. It's not ideal, but realistically there aren't homes freely available and as person_one says, I'd be gutted to have had my pet rehomed for what is, really, only a short period in the cat's entire life. 8 weeks of an unideal situation vs 10, 15, 20 years in a loving home..

catkins

con1888 wrote: »

owner gets pregnant is one we see a lot. I get that as someone stated above, a sick baby or a dog that totally turns against a baby IS a valid reason, being pregnant is not.

I have a dog and a cat, I have no kids but I sure as hell do want them and they will become part of my family, my family includes my pets. I wouldn't kick them out in the same way you wouldn't kick your first born out if you happened to fall pregnant again.

We have had a variety of reasons at the rescue ranging from dogs chasing nearby livestock, pregnant, doesnt like the baby, working longer hours, moving to a smaller house/flat, moving and landlord wont allow pets, moving abroad. the list goes on. What we find though is a lot of the time people say the dog is fine etc and that's not always the case. If people were more honest and upfront in the first place about any problems the dog has it would help a lot.

Working longer hours may not be ideal for a dog but still better to be with a loving owner they know than in a rescue surely?

Moving to a smaller house or even a flat surely does not have to be a reason to give up a dog does it? I have a fairly large breed of dog and only a smallish house. I know quite a few people with dogs who live in flats with no garden and they manage perfectly well.

I had to move into a rented house and it took my ages to find somewhere that would allow my to bring my dog and cats but no way would I have given them up. I would rather live in a caravan with them than a mansion without them

I moved abroad and took 6 cats with me. When I came back to England I brought a dog and 8 cats back. If you moved abroad you would take your children (I hope!) so why not your animals?

catkins

lollipopsarah wrote: »

what about the welfare of the pet?
my daughter was rushed to hospital and is expected to be away for at least 8 weeks, luckily her friends are amazing helping out where they can, but it can't be much fun for her moggy being all alone, and I do wonder if it would be kinder for it to be rehomed, especially as she will eventually be coming come with a very tiny little man who will need constant special care.
Before you ask, no I can't take him unfortunately.
xx

Cats are better at being on their own than dogs. No it is not ideal but 8 weeks is nothing compared to the life of a cat is it.

Rescues are full to overflowing and a lot are refusing to take any more cats in so there is no guarantee the cat could be rehomed.

With regard to when your daughter is home, whilst I appreciate she will be busy with her son, cats need a lot less time spent on them than dogs

krlyr

catkins wrote: »

Working longer hours may not be ideal for a dog but still better to be with a loving owner they know than in a rescue surely?

Moving to a smaller house or even a flat surely does not have to be a reason to give up a dog does it? I have a fairly large breed of dog and only a smallish house. I know quite a few people with dogs who live in flats with no garden and they manage perfectly well.

I had to move into a rented house and it took my ages to find somewhere that would allow my to bring my dog and cats but no way would I have given them up. I would rather live in a caravan with them than a mansion without them

I moved abroad and took 6 cats with me. When I came back to England I brought a dog and 8 cats back. If you moved abroad you would take your children (I hope!) so why not your animals?

Again, not black and white. Working hours might be workable, but they might not. For example, my dog suffers/suffered separation issues. It was workable because I finish at 4pm so worst case (nature of OH's job helped, and my boss was quite understanding and let me do flexitime/work from home for a while, but it just wasn't possible to never, ever leave her), she'd stop barking then. Had I worked until, say, 7pm, it would be a big issue as the neighbours would be disturbed and I may well have EH on my hands forcing me to rehome her due to the noise disturbance.
One of my older brothers leaves the house at 5.30am and gets home around 7pm, partly due to long hours, partly due to the commute/having to go on the M25. That would be far too long for a dog to be left, and a change in financial circumstances due to a job change could mean a dogwalker wasn't an option either.

For some, a caravan may not be a practical option - with young children it could be unsafe, unsuitable, and just not a possibility. A flat could present an issue with an older dog, or younger dog with mobility issues. A smaller house could be problematic if the owner had two dogs who clashed at times and therefore needed (as in, essentially, not preferably) separate areas - one dog may have to be rehomed for both of their safety.

Moving abroad may be a necessity rather than choice (perhaps having to go back 'home' to care for a sick relative, for example) and they just may not have the funds to take the pet. It doesn't cost £4000+ to take your children along (that's a quote I heard of to take a dog back to Australia).
Not just financially, but the flight could be very hard on a dog too. A sick or elderly dog, a dog that doesn't travel well, has separation issues, etc. may really struggle with a long flight, especially as dogs usually aren't allowed in the main cabin as handluggage (small dog on certain flights, maybe, but even that's not guaranteed)
Also the climate may not be suitable for the dog, e.g. a heavy coated breed like an Akita may not fair well in a very warm country. If the move abroad is for work, it may be a combination of relocation and working hours.

Many people have to rehome pets when they would really rather not, but sometimes I think it is unavoidable. Sometimes not, but I don't think you could say every reason is simply an excuse.