How Good Dogs Wind Up Homeless, and Why It's Not Always Because Their People Suck

Rico, adopted!

Before I volunteered at a municipal shelter and worked solely with rescues, I used to get so angry when I'd see so many animals given up by their families. Especially the seniors. I uttered the words "I hate people" pretty frequently, though I had no idea why these animals had been given up.  As someone who has worked really hard to keep my furry family members when I hit rough times, I just couldn't think of a single good reason those former pet parents couldn't keep their animals too. After all, would they give up "their children" if life got a little bit hard?

About seven years ago I found myself looking for a home to rent while being the owner of a pit bull and a rottweiler. Those are two of the hardest breeds to rent with. I also had two little kids and I didn't have the luxury of "living in my car if I had to", the way I'd heard so many of my rescue friends vow that they would if it came to that. It took some doing, but I did find a house to rent through a Realtor and a private landlord. I know that if you're determined enough, it can be done, and I'm proof of that.

I will acknowledge that many people do choose to dump their pets in

Ajax, currently available at
Fairfax County Animal Shelter

shelters when life gets tough, mostly because they waited too long to DO SOMETHING about their situation that would end with everyone staying together. And there are many more who just don't want to be bothered with caring for their pets any more. And don't get me started on the ones who have their animals removed due to abuse and neglect. Or the ones who think having a baby means they can't also have a pet. But not everyone who has to part with their animals wants to. 

Over the last year I've learned of some reasons that people truly can't keep their pets. 

• They are military and they have to deploy, with no friends or family willing or able to keep their animals for them.  Yes, most of them know about organizations like Dogs on Deployment, but being able to take advantage of that program depends on the availability of a foster home, and sometimes the military just doesn't give a service member enough time to seek that out. 
• They die and none of their friends or family are willing or able to adopt their pets. Sometimes old people die and there's no family left. 
• They are seriously injured or ill and they can barely take care of themselves physically and financially, and truly cannot provide for their animals.
• They lose their homes. If a person's home goes into foreclosure and they're scrambling to find housing that will accept them with their financial baggage, they can't be all that choosy about whether they can keep their pets. And really, if the family can barely feed themselves, the animals are better off finding new families with the means to support them.
• They lose their jobs and can no longer afford to care for their animals.
• They're hoarders. Though animals in these situations are generally in pretty rough shape, this is a mental illness problem, and the people suffering with it don't have the ability to stop taking in animals even though they're in way over their heads. 
• Their children have severe allergies. I'm aware that people use this excuse a lot of times because it's a hard one to dispute. But, if it's true and a child can't breathe or live without being covered in itchy/painful rashes, or the allergy is life threatening, it's crazy to insist that they keep their animals. Sadly, many animal lovers don't see this as a reason to part with pets, and they judge these people harshly.  However, it's never OK to force a child to live life uncomfortably and on medication to combat the allergies.  Unless a person is old enough to make that choice for themselves, the health of an actual human family member has to come before the pets. I know I'm probably going to get blasted for my opinion on this one, but there it is. 
• They are fleeing a domestic abuse situation and don't want to leave their animals behind. My shelter has a program for people like this where they will keep the animals until the victim is on their feet and free of their abuser, but many places do not. 

Beanie, adopted!

Luckily, my shelter does not euthanize for space. Every adoptable animal is placed in a home or sent to rescue, no matter how long it takes. Unfortunately, many jurisdictions have so many animals come through their doors that they just don't have the resources to save them all. This is where rescues come in. Rescues pull animals, usually on kill day at the last minute, and care for them until they can find new families.

Again, I know that there are many, many animals that lose their homes for no good reason.  Many get lost (or are "set free") and no one comes to claim them.  Many have problems like anxiety or lack of training that make them hard to live with and their people just don't know how to fix it or cope with it. But in these cases, isn't it better for those animals to get a fresh start with people who are willing to work with those issues?

Being given  up is not the worst thing that can happen to an animal. I know some really great animals that have come from less than stellar living situations and moved on to live happily with people who actually love them.

If you find yourself visiting a shelter, or running into a rescue adoption day at a pet store, don't rush to judgement about the animals looking for homes.  So many of them are normal, happy, well adjusted animals who were just unlucky with where they used to live. And try not to judge the people who gave them up too harshly. If you adopt one, their loss is your gain. If they hand't given up their animal, you wouldn't have the pleasure of them being in your life.

Dyson, adopted!

Pisco, reunited with his family!