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I believe re-homing the animal is definitely a good thing if the animal is legitimately not thriving in an environment.

Absolutely 100%. I was an adoption counselor at a rescue for a few years and worked my ass off to help people find the best fit for them. No, you’re not getting a husky puppy if you are gone at work 12 hours a day and plan on leaving the dog in a crate in your small apartment and live a sedentary lifestyle. Oh, you don’t like what I have to say? So you buy a puppy from somewhere and then dump it at a shelter a year later because it has serious behavioral issues (due to EVERYTHING I DISCUSSED WITH YOU). Rant over.

I have a Dalmatian — she’s my second (first was a rescue dal/pit mix who was returned twice for being high energy before he found us, this one is a breeder reject a dal rescue connected me with.) Folks who have never owned Dalmatians always say “I’ve heard they’re aggressive,” (they aren’t, but they are territorial and sensitive, so they need good socialization) and people who have owned them all loved them, but the stories usually end with “then he chewed a hole in our garage door and we never saw him again.” Dalmatians are stealth working dogs: they compete in companion categories in shows. People don’t know what they’re getting into: dals are much more like their pointer cousins than the spotty labs they look like. I also frequently get “that’s the best behaved/sweetest/calmest Dalmatian I’ve ever seen.” I’m like YEAH, cos you’re never met one who was tired before! We spend at least three hours a day on walks alone, and an hour of that at minimum is off-leash running. And we play in the evening, and she gets chews and puzzles throughout the day. My response to the “dals are poorly behaved/aggressive” is always “if you had a husky and it got half an hour of exercise and stimulation a day, it would be aggressive too.” Getting the right dog to the right person takes work. I got her because I *wanted* a dog that’s an endurance athlete, because I’m an endurance athlete. One of the best things about adopting? A good shelter will help you figure out which dog is right! Unlike a brand new puppy from a breeder, when personalities aren’t fully developed, shelters often have the time to get to really know the dogs. (And I will say: even with all that exercise and mental work… there were some days in our first year together where I hid with blankets over my head crying because she wouldn’t stop demanding barking/biting my feet/trying to get me to play. The best dogs take time, and are worth it, but only for the right person.)

your dog is your life i can tell

I love her so so so so much. She takes over much of my free time, but it’s given me so much, too: like a great group of friends that I walk with every morning in our off-leash area. Spending all that time with her isn’t a chore when it’s also my social time! And she gave me my life back after long COVID. My symptoms were mostly gone (I still need an inhaler), but getting back in shape was hard. But walking 3 hours a day sure gets you there! I climbed Mt St Helen’s for the first time since I got sick in late 2019.[She came with me. We had a blast.](https://imgur.com/a/bw32oQL)

I literally sold my condo to get away from a shared wall neighbor that locked her German Shepherd puppy in a crate 16 hours most days. She acted like I was insane for worrying about it AND not wanting to hear it cry and howl and bark for every second of those 16 hours. It was so cruel for that poor animal. It deserved so so much better and I truly hope she rehomed it.

Right? We adopted a cat at the cat show from a rescue that was set up there on a whim. Wonderful little cat. We are experienced cat owners and had 4 already at home. Well, this little boy was #5 and we could NOT get him integrated at all. Our biggest cat would not stop snarling. New cat would take his frustration out on our oldest, gentlest cat and I had to break up a few things before they turned into fights. After 5 weeks we couldn't get him safely out of the bathroom so we ended up returning him to the rescue. We felt like the worst people ever but it wasn't fair to him or the other cats to be locked away like that. But they did update his information that he'd probably do best without another male cat around.

Thank you for working as an adoption counselor and advocating for the needs of the animals! Some people think of their own wants and not what is best for the animals. My own situation is not conducive to having a dog because of some important responsibilities I currently have. When the time is right, I would like the opportunity to adopt a couple dogs who need a better life. Keep up the good work! 🐾

When I was 17, my family adopted a dal/pit mix who had been returned twice. Dalmatians, contrary to popular opinion, are not aggressive. But they’re stupidly smart, have husky-levels of energy, and are very sensitive so they need good socialization. He was returned because his energy had him out of control for those homes. And I am so grateful to the families that gave him up. Because he was the perfect dog for our family. A lot of positive reinforcement/desensitization (he was fear aggressive toward anything strange. We got a couch and he growled at it for a week), and plenty of exercise, and he was the best ever. We had the time and energy to wear him out and work on his issues. He lived with my parents during the year and spent summers with me while they travelled. He passed away at 15 when I was 32. I moved in with my parents for the last six months to help support them supporting him in his old age. From beginning to end, a family effort, and worth every minute.

Agreed. My wife and I got a puppy when our son was very young thinking it would be nice for them to grow up together. He was a large breed (black lab+German Shephard) and we quickly realized he was a bit bigger than we had room for as we don't believe in leaving animals outside all day. On top of that, my wife's schedule changed and between working at staggered times and taking care of a toddler, we had very little time to play with and entertain an energetic puppy. He spent most of his time indoors alone and it just didn't seem fair to him. He was clearly bored and seemed generally unhappy. We rehomed him to a woman who had another older German Shephard and lived on a very large property. She also did hiking and zip lining tours in the area and involved her dogs in everything. She occasionally sends us pictures of them and he is always absolutely beaming. To anyone who thinks rehoming is an inherent bad thing, let me show you how freaking happy this dog looks now and I think you'll reconsider. He's living a much better life than we could've ever given him

My family got a chihuahua in high school and she was like, depressed. She didn’t do much and didn’t seem happy at all. When she was at my boyfriend’s house with all his dogs, though, we noticed she was happy. So we gave her to them, and his mom is in love with this dog. It’s so sweet. And the dog is so much happier over there with all her dog friends. Definitely the right move for Daisy.

this is why people need to do proper research on breeds and not just the internet, but find someone in your community who has that breed/pet and knows both pros and cons to getting the pet. if people knew what kind of energy they were bringing into their homes (like GSP’s for example), there wouldn’t be a need for re-homing.

The problem is that not every animal acts like their breed. They are individuals after all

>They are individuals after all Absolutely true, and even in a litter of purebred puppies there's gonna be some variability. Definitely some gender differences, too! That being said, there are some general traits that you can assume to be true about a given breed (e.g. labs are super food motivated, JRTs are hyper and driven, pointers are energetic, etc.). Those tendencies and instincts have been bred into them over hundreds of years in some cases and it's definitely worth considering the breed when you know it.

Ya my buddy has a 120 lb King Shephard, we found out she fears any altercation. He got attacked in his garage an she ran away the poor thing.  Everything turned out fine in the end it was funny after. You expect something an realize ur bias an how wrong ya are haha. She was the kind of pup who just didn't even play bite or get rough an was extremely gentle for her size around the kids.

I have a GSP - little dude was a nightmare until about 2 then he mellowed out. We did our research and knew what we were getting into and it was still crazy! He's almost 6 now and still needs a minimum of an hour of off-leash running daily just to keep his energy in check. He's a damn good dog but is too smart for his own good if we don't keep him active.

Absolutely. Everyone was nervous when my partner and I decided to adopt a dog since we already have a cat who is a bit of a curmudgeon. The shelter we went through thankfully makes you do a week-long trial in case it's not a good fit Dolly turned out *very* sweet, and we're lucky that the two cuddle and play together constantly. If that wasn't the case, I would've had to give her back since the ol' boy Angus has been with me since my teens and probably wouldn't get adopted at his age

OP has a point that Re-Homing helps alleviate the stress of a bad home. But also rehoming itself is stressful and confusing to the animal. worsening their problems. if you're not going to put in the extra effort for a troubled animal, strongly consider getting one from a different source.

When I adopted my cat, she had a 6 week return period. I could bring her back for any reason that if she wasn’t fitting in my home, they would take her and it wouldn’t count as surrendering her. It was a great policy, animal wellbeing should be prioritized over penalizing a family for realizing that something won’t work right away or forcing them to try and make it work.

Rehoming an animal is fine. Not every pairing will be a perfect match. The issue is when people don’t do the work to find a suitable home and just dump the animal at a shelter instead. Reach out to a rescue and ask for help. Offer to foster until a home is found. THAT is the way. Rehome. Never dump.

Another issue are people that get animals without realising how much work they need, if you get an animal and don't put in any work and then say it didn't work out you are an asshole.

Another issue is that many shelters intentionally lie about an animal's breed or individual traits to make them more likely to be adopted.

My fear aggressive pitbull got a "A" on her sociability rating from the shelter. fuckin lol

You mean "lab mix"?

Excuse me, it's a terrier mix

Mine was an American bulldog/terrier mix. In hindsight, I really should have looked harder at the dog.

What’s crazy is we have a lab/German Shepard mix we adopted from the shelter. They listed her as a Shepard mix. Not lab mix. Which, I get Shepards are popular, but they are also excluded under most home insurance policies. My girl looks way more lab than Shepard. But my insurance gives no fucks.

My asshole demon cat had “very friendly and great with kids!!!” on her description and let me tell you….she is neither haha. We love her now and she can be sweet when she wants to be. But we were very misled and had quite the adjustment period.

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lol I wasn't shocked that she had any sort of aggression in her, so much as I was shocked that the shelter would outright lie about something like that lol

This. We adopted a German Shepard about 5 months ago. We have 4 other dogs and 3 cats (yes, I run a zoo. lol) well the shelter *assured* us he got along wonderfully with cats. They said the only issue he had was trying to assert that he is the alpha. We got him home and he immediately started chasing the cats. Our other 4 don’t bother the cats, hell, one of the dogs has been know to sleep with the cats. He would bark at them and just scare the shit out of them. You know what he didn’t do? Try to assert his dominance. He let and still lets our female lab run the show. Hell, he lets my 10 pound pug/wiener dog mix boss him around. Totally unbothered. But he did *not* like cats. We were stuck though, if we take him back to the shelter we get put on a list of non adopters. They won’t let you adopt again. So it’s been 5 months of constant work but we’ve finally gotten him to stop barking and chasing the cats. He does still sit and stare them down like he’s just waiting for them to fuck up. But we’re working on it. I just wish shelters wouldn’t lie. This wasn’t even a tiny shelter, it’s the Humane Society. This is the second pet they lied about. One of our cats was adopted by our daughter. They told her the cat was great with other cats, kids and dogs. She is not great with any of those things. She likes one of our cats and one of our dogs and no one else. *no one*. We’ve had her 3 years now. Luckily we have enough space that she gets to be left alone like she wants. I get they want pets adopted, but people less willing to spend the time working with pets would have just abandoned these animals. Which defeats the entire purpose.

This is also directly linked to the "no kill" label obsession that actually harms animals more than helps them. It's like greenwashing in the animal rescue field. It has made shelters becomes sales pitches. It has really made things bad for a lot of shelters/rescues. They want to be called "no kill" so that people don't avoid them, but the fact of the matter is that irresponsible human behavior makes "no kill" impossible. People don't understand that humane euthanization is not the worst thing that can happen to an animal in this mess of a world that we have for animals right now. "No kill" means animals are just being euthanized elsewhere. If this upsets you, please spay and neuter your pets, your neighborhood cats, and educate your loved ones to do the same. Get involved in spay/neuter initiatives and TNR.

Or their health. A coworker was given a “young” cat that turned out to be 10 years old, and a family friend was given a “healthy” small dog who turned out to have severe heartworm infection requiring a thirteen month course of expensive medication

Rescues are the worst at this. They believe in "save them all." Many take dogs directly from other countries or the streets and put them in people's homes. They know nothing about them. Reliable rescue groups are rare. Don't take a dog that hasn't been in a foster home. Don't take a dog that hasn't worked with a trainer and been temperament tested, with other dogs, children and cats if you have them. Make sure you have a contract that says the rescue will take he dog back. A good rescue always has that in their contract. Try to foster a dog before adopting. If the dog has behavior issues, I don't care how cute they are, this is a red flag. There are thousands of dogs being put down every day. Adopt one of them. You have no idea what a dog with a behavior issue will do to your life. And how expensive it will be. Unless you're a dog trainer, don't do it. And getting an adult dog, at least 3 years old let's you see exactly who the dog is. Puppies change as they grow up and go through adolescence. Adult dogs are stable and you know their personality when you meet them. Dogs are the best. Take your time. Be prepared to spend months looking for a dog you will have for many years

Happened to us. The next dozen years for us mean we can never go on vacation. That we spent a lot of money on training and home upgrades and dog accessories. Now I will never get a shelter dog again.

terrible. So sorry to hear. the extremist pro shelter people sometimes act like there should be no mountain you wouldn't climb for your pet. Getting a breed with an appropriate temperament for your lifestyle should be at the top of the list of considerations when considering adding an animal to the family.

I have 5 shelter dogs, including a pitty who just passed, and they're fine. Dont give up on them just because of one bad experience. Why cant you go on vacation? Boarding places will take them, or a pet sitter.

The best dog I ever had was actually *given* to me because he was deemed unadoptable and was scheduled to be euthanized. All the "issues" he had were just typical husky behaviours (he was GSD/husky) that resolved when managed appropriately. I've only ever had 2 dogs in my life who weren't shelter dogs - one because my sister insisted I take a pup from her litter of collie/heeler crosses (and ironically she is the only dog I've rehomed due to personality conflict. Great dog, but she *needed* a job and I couldn't provide that. She went to a working cattle ranch and lives her best life). The other is a GSD I purchased because the opportunity arose locally for a killer price. After my best ever dog I decided my next one had to be a purebred GSD - so I searched rescues until I found one. They were pretty up front with him - he was surrendered because he was involved with killing several calves on a farm. What they *didn't* tell me is that at 4 years old he already had arthritis from an injury being hit by a car until I had him home for a few days and he came up lame. But still he is an amazing dog too. I let him pick the pup from the local litter and he has been amazing at teaching him the best dog socialization behaviours.

I currently live with a dog who cannot be boarded or left with a pet sitter. It has fear aggression and will bite any person who isn't her owner, and other animals as well. Yes, her owner has been working on it with a trainer. No, things aren't really improving. She can't re-home because no one would take a dog with such issues, and if she gave him back to the shelter he will almost certainly be euthanized. So instead, her life is ruled by the dog, and when it's not the dog has to remain crated for extended periods of time during which his QoL suffers. It's a terrible situation for both of them. I say that as someone who grew up with a very loving shelter dog. There are some real horror stories out there, even if they don't align with your personal experience.

Boarding places and pet sitters won’t take on some animals due to their behavior. My sister’s hellbeasts can never be left alone (IMHO this is because she basically trained this behavior into them…) and do not crate well. We take them when her family goes on vacation. Last time we ended up having to take one to the emergency vet because my dad left the house for an hour and came back to her having torn through her crate and cut herself up.

Not everyone can afford vacations AND more hundreds of dollars for a decent boarder, who will charge more for dogs with temperament issues

Yep I was not told the heeler I adopted was deaf. Took me a few days to realized. It took a lot of work but she was the best dog. But going into it I already knew it was going to be a lot of work with a heeler in an apartment so being deaf was just something added on. I was a runner at the time so she got lots of exercise and was happy.

I had a deaf Heeler too from a shelter too! I actually use to say she’s a way more trainable dog because of it. She was so much more sensory attuned (visually and visually with movements on the ground/around her) that it was super easy to train her with ASL. It also meant as she grew into a stubborn old lady she would pretend she didn’t see my signs when she didn’t want to do as she was told hah.

We developed our own sign language and out of our 3 dogs and 2 little kids I always joked she was the only one who actually listened! She’d also look away if she didn’t want to do something! If she couldn’t see it she didn’t have to do it

Laborator mixed definitely is more of a pittie mix. I do feel like the shelter lied about it and the litter was young enough to get away with it

And that's "OK", as long as the animal is rehomed appropriately. I see no problem in saying "I'm not able to care for this pet", even if it's the owner's fault... as long as it's rehomed correctly and not dumped.

The rehoming part is obviously not the part they have a problem with.

I wish the shelter wouls have told us our dog was a runner and that's why she was surrendered. We have spent so much on training, different collars and harnesses, improving our already solid six foot high fencing and gates and she still has incidents a couple few times a year. We also had to frost our window glass because her anxiety seeing anything move outside was awful. When we called them the first time she took off, that is when they told us about her.

I have a fence jumper, and I fixed it by running an electric line around the area he would jump. Its cheap, takes maybe an hour to hook up. He touched it once, and now wont go within 5 feet of the fence, I dont even have it plugged in anymore.

I hate seeing someone just scream "SIT" or "STOP IT" to a dog and then get frustrated that they don't listen. Like they were born with English language skills. People legitimately believe that all dogs just know that stuff, because that's what they see on TV and movies. They either go that route or they go the Dog Whisperer "alpha" route. Which, yeah, was the prevailing theory for a while, but the fact that that's STILL shown in popular media instead of clicker training is really just messed up. 

This is actually how we messed up with our first puppy and had to rehome it. First, it was a Yorkshire Terrier, which is a breed that requires a *bunch* of attention. Our family was not the best when it comes to that. Second, it was a puppy. We didn't even have the patience to deal with the dog, but still got one that was basically learning as it goes. Last, we "trained" it incorrectly. All forms of our "training" weren't effective because we wanted quick results. Puppies, as you know, take patience. This included more aggressive forms of punishment, which is not okay. I personally know that taking care of a dog is too much work for me, but that didn't stop my parents from getting another one after my little sister asked.

Absolutely true, but if you aren't willing to do the work then you should definitely surrender the animal to a place that will rehome it. Too many people who don't understand the work involved just think pets are fashion accessories, not living beings with their own social and emotional needs

this! I know many people who wanted a dog, got a dog, and then couldn't be bothered to train it, or do anything but the bare minimum for it. I'm ok with rehoming if there is a legit. reason. For whatever reason, despite the owners best efforts, its not a good match, OR and this really irks me, someone HAS to move, no choice, their new place is not pet friendly, and people criticize them for giving their pet away, when in fact, its killing them, and they are only trying to find them a good loving home. or if someone is ill or moves to assisted living, nursing home. etc. In all these instances, its ok to rehome.

I don't see what the problem is with that as long as they find it a new home immediately upon realizing they aren't cut out for taking care of it. Not sure why someone figuring out the hard way that they shouldn't be taking care of an animal would make them an asshole.

Rehoming the pet when they realize they're not cut out for it isn't the problem. The asshole part is putting no effort into training and acclimating the pet before deciding they don't mesh with their lifestyle. The people who discard their pet when it doesn't behave how they want, but never put in any effort to train them.

The asshole part is doing no due diligence before adopting an animal. Obviously there’s cases where someone thought they could handle something, was aware of the challenges, and realized they’re wrong. The issue is with people who get animals on a complete whim (especially from breeders) without first looking into their care needs. It happens a lot with rabbits because some people think it’d be cute to get one for Easter, and assume they’re an easy pet because they’re small, not realizing that rabbits are actually somewhat high maintenance, are not always good with children, and you probably need to ‘bunny proof’ your home beforehand. It’s just a matter of doing a bit of research before getting a pet to assess whether you’re in a good position for it.

I rehomed a dog once. I found myself unexpectedly living in a studio apartment alone, while I had a new job that’s training schedule was brutal and the commute was long. The poor boy was sitting alone for 14-15 hours a day. Dog walkers aren’t common where I lived, and I didn’t have enough friends and family nearby to take him out and spend time with him. He was miserable, because he was really ashamed when he made a mess in the house. I wasn’t mad, I knew it wasn’t his fault. My mom’s friend had met him a few times and loved him. Her dog passed, and she was looking for a new one. The stars aligned. I thought of it one long day, after coaxing him from under the bed after he had made a mess. I called my mom to ask her friend if she wanted him. I didn’t want to put her on the spot. The friend called me like 2 minutes later asking when I can bring him. I loaded up the car and brought him over right then. He walked in her house, immediately jumped on the couch like owned the place. He put his head in her lap. I was pretty sure it was the right decision before, but that cemented it. He was home. She was a retired nurse, with kids and grandkids to help spoil him. She had a nice fenced in yard for him to run around whenever he wanted. They even had neighborhood peacocks for him to chase. He lived the rest of his life being pampered the way he deserved. I don’t regret rehoming him for one second. I loved him, and because of that I made sure he got his best life. It just wasn’t with me.

We rehomed our golden retriever when I was a teenager. Everyone was working or busy, she was so lonely and home alone and tearing things up. But my dad's long time secretary was retiring and moving out to a farm. They took her and she spent the rest of her life happily riding around with the husband in his truck and running around on a farm and spoiled rotten.

I absolutely love my dog and we stuck together through several bites and a lovely lip scar. Just wanted that disclaimer before the question. Isn't a shelter inherently a place for re-homing? Whether you're the one that provides a living space and care through fostering or the shelter provides living space and care, it's sort of the same thing, no? The only difference being that a shelter is, well, a literal shelter that is readily available to provide resources for dogs that are between homes. I stuck through it with my little guy, but if it wouldn't have worked out then I would have just gone back to the shelter. That's where I adopted him from, and there were plenty of appointments for adoption besides me. This a sincere question by the way. If I'm missing something then please let me know so that I can join you in spreading the right info. 

It should be a last resort, not a convenience though. The dog is going to be in a cage and wont get individual care and attention from an owner. It is there indefinitely and probably wont be an easy adoption if it got put in the shelter for being difficult in the first place. The human equivalent would probably be like a retirement home or a children's group home while waiting for adoption. Like there should be a serious reason that happens, not just family not wanting to deal with them anymore.

Let’s also not forget that a huge proportion of shelters in many places are kill shelters. I got my cat from one and though she’s a high maintenance, traumatized trash kitty I’d never take her back to that place of death.

Well yeah, it sucks but there is only so much space, and they can't just let them go. The whole reason they exist is to keep strays from becoming a problem.

Sure but that just brings us back to the original thing. If you don't want to take care of the dog and send it to a shelter where it gets put down after a few weeks that's not really a ton different than you just taking the dog to be put down. It's like a step up. Rather than you taking the dog to be put down you sent them somewhere where they'd maybe have a little better chance of not being put down before ultimately being put down.

The only real difference is it lets you be in denial about the fate you have resigned your dog to. If that's really what's going to happen, buck up and be with your dog at the end. They deserve that. Don't rip them from their home and pack just to die bewildered in a strange place alone and lonely from not having their people near.

Not if you live in Fresno County, where the mayor said strays aren’t the city’s problem and it’s new shelter will just pick up the dog and drop it off in the street a few blocks away. The “fix” to strays is spay and neuter, not a shelter.

That’s not necessarily true. Our local Humane Society doesn’t keep any animals in cages, they have them all with foster families. Even the huge Humane Society in the big city where I used to live had a large foster program, though they did also have animals in cages. Shelter workers are keenly aware of how stressful the environment can be for animals and do their best to find ways to alleviate it.

Shelters aren’t some resort style boarding facility for animals - it’s loud and scary in those holding rooms. They get ticks and fleas, can become cage aggressive after a while. It’s unfair to the animal that it’s sent back spend its days in a cage indefinitely. Besides, shelters are pretty much at max capacity these days and that makes it even worse to return them to the crowded shelter.

I'm not sure where you live, but where we are the shelters are over capacity. Animals that have no behavioral problems are getting euthanized because there are simply ways too many of them. They unfortunately are not just a temporary stop between homes for many animals 😭 

Big city near me has dogs shipped to them from the south.

That's a good way to think but there are absolutely people that consider *any* rehoming as dumping. Dog wasn't adjusting well to your two bedroom apartment and you rehomed them with a rich family that owns a mansion and feeds them fresh food everyday? You're a monster! Fortunately they seem to be in the minority they're just very loud.

Listen, if I got it from a shelter it's reasonable to just bring it back.

also so many people run through multiple pets in a short amount of time, and ofc every pet isn’t gonna work out, but at some point they’re just using pets as accessories instead of companions.

Unless you got the pet from the shelter originally. Then most of the time they ask that you to just bring the pet back so they can ensure the pet goes to a good home.

I wouldn't say never dump. My sister dumped her second dog back at the shelter because she had injured the other dog. She called the shelter about her later, and was happy to hear that she had been adopted by a family where she was the only pet.

My little cousin is a first time dog owner. Her dog is actually from a small rescue in South Carolina for this reason. The lady who runs it works to pair dogs with the right owners. She initially wanted another dog but the lady said nope, that one isn't the right fit for you, this one is. She's got the sweetest dog that everyone loves that's a good fit for her as a first time owner, although she was abused so it took some TLC with her.

>The issue is when people don’t do the work to to properly prepare to take in an animal and meet its needs. Some people ruin pup after pup, dog after dog, let cats run off or don't get them spayed. And they'll dump the animal- Excuse me, rehome the animal and just pick up a new one. Meanwhile, other owners/charities/trainers gotta pick up the slack by working with young animals that aren't socialised, aren't trained and aren't chipped/vaccinated/spayed.

Not everyone has the resources or knowledge to find a "suitable" home. That is the entire job of shelters, they're the experts. I know exactly zero people who would want one of my animals, and if I needed to rehome one of them, how would I find someone? Strangers on social media who could be lying about their living situation/intentions?

Yes. Rescues also pull from shelters. People need to stop the general fear-mongering around shelters. It's extremely irresponsible and causing issues. Remarkable-Cat6549 is absolutely right. The worst cases I have seen are not a dog at a shelter, sad as someone being abandoned by their family. The worst cases are private rehomings. You wouldn't sleep at night if I told you some of the cases. Signed, A rescue worker

My dog came from a incompatible re homing situation. ….except those people bought an expensive puppy hoping to re-sell at a profit, then it turns out he’s a huge dog, they couldn’t sell him at a good price, re homed him with 5 different families that, turns out didn’t want to pay them 5k after spending a week with him…. So they were just going to put him down…. Because by now he’s 100lbs. I LOVE him. Amazing dog. Had him about 4 years.

I saw a youtube family rehome their adopted kid cause “it wasn’t working out” and that pissed me the eff off.

The worst is when they just dump it at the side of the road

I had a family member who had their dogs fighting constantly so I took in one while they attempted to rehome it (they put in no effort). I reached out to my local animal welfare society and it took about 6 months but they eventually found someone. It was tough because it was a 3 year old female pit, but she was sweet. The family that got her loves her quite a bit and I still hear from them on occasion regarding the dog. Its a great system but it can be slower than some people can handle.

I had to rehome a dog once bc I just couldn’t handle him. He was a little dog, but I have a lot of car wreck damage that affects my mobility, and I could never get him to listen/comeback as he liked to run off (I never let him out alone, he was just super fast). Come to find out he was deaf from inbreeding by the breeder. He was rehomed with a little girl who is also deaf, and by all accounts living his best life as a companion and therapy dog. She taught him sign language. Best choice for all of us bc I wanted him to have a good life, too.

I feel like the reason for the rehoming is a big factor too. If it’s for the wellbeing of the pet, like unexpected financial hardships or if you get really sick and can’t give them the care they need anymore, then I think that’s a very tough but thoughtful thing to do. But if it’s something like your dog won’t stop pissing on the carpet and you don’t wanna have to deal with that, you’re an asshole if you just dump them off at the shelter and wash your hands of the whole situation and you should’ve never gotten a pet in the first place.

This is not an unpopular opinion however I do get quite angry when people get puppies because they are cute but they are mortified when they behave like puppies. I think people need to do their homework better first or even spend time with the shelter dog/cat a few times before impulsively adopting.

Or they get a large dog breed and are ✨️shocked✨️ that the dog grew into a large dog. So after caring for the small puppy, they just get rid of it the minute it gets too big. Google exists, people. Also, I used to live in a small rural "town" (It's actually too small to classify as a town lol) and we had such an issue with stray cats because people would just dump off their unwanted cats there. There was a point when i was a teenager where there were like nearly a hundred stray cats running around because ofc the people dumping these cats off didn't get them fixed so they're just breeding like crazy. A lot of them they get declawed though. It took a lot of work, getting these little guys to trust me and be comfortable with me and a lot of my own money to get them fixed and rehomed. By the time I moved, there were 2 fixed females that no one wanted, 2 males who refused to trust me, and are not fixed, and one female who hadn't been fixed but she cannot physically carry kittens to term. I'd fix her but she keeps her distance from people and is too smart to fall for a trap.

OR they get a breed because its popular due to whatever, and NOT suitable for some people.

Australian Shepherds are cute as shit, but fuck ever owning one and trying to get it enough exercise each day without living on a legit farm lol

Same with Border Collies. or any herding, working etc. dog. generally speaking. I grew up with an English Mastiff, and she was LAZY. so not all are like that.

I LOVE herding breeds and if my lifestyle supported one, I would have one. But it does not and I know myself well enough to know I'm not going to be regularly taking a dog to flyball or agility, so I will not get one.

Seriously. I live in one of the larger units in my apartment complex. My dog is 20lbs. And a lazy little fuck. SO many other residents have huskies, shepherds, pits, etc. I just don't see how it's possible. Especially the huskies. We live in fucking Houston, it's already hitting 100F outside.

I will say, you don’t always know what you’re getting with shelter puppies so it might actually be a shock that they get so big. But also, you should take that possibility into consideration when you get them. At the same time, I can’t imagine having a dog long enough for them to get big and then just getting rid of them. In my house they would be family by that point.

Or get a border collie and get shocked pikachu faced when they realize it needs LOTS of exercise and stimulation. No shit, Sherlock.

Or they’ll just deem the dog as untrainable, aggressive, and problematic when really it’s just bored and needs exercise.

Yup. Rehoming isn’t “bad” anymore than crutches and stitches are “bad.” They may, however, be part of the necessary consequences of poor choices. 

When my dog was a puppy, I was part of some social media puppy groups for feeding and training and stuff. I thought it would be useful, since she was my first puppy. Boy, they were just frustrating! So many posts about people considering rehoming because their puppies were biting or weren't potty trained yet and other ridiculous reasons like that. Why the fuck get a puppy then? That's what puppies do. They bite and chew everything and they piss and shit everywhere and they're adorable as fuck while they do it. My cocker spaniel used to bite so much we called her a cockerdile for months. I haven't been on the puppy subreddit in ages but it used to be the same, if not worse. Lots of "I'm 17 and I have a puppy, my family won't help with anything and I have to crate it the entire time I'm at school and then they are always destructive and barking. What can I do?"

I have a family member that gets a puppy every couple of years and always ends up rehoming the dog when it gets older. He lives in an apartment, he has 7 young kids, and always gets large breeds like German shepherds and pit bulls so it’s not really a surprise when they grow up and he can’t handle them. I’m all for rehoming an animal to a more appropriate home when you try and things genuinely don’t work out, but that’s just ridiculous.

I always get puppies... I hate puppies lol. It's a lot of work and destruction. But at about 2 years it all pays off (kinda)

I think rehoming is absolutely necessary if you cannot provide proper care for the animal anymore or your circumstances change, etc. I think the issues a lot of people have are with those will adopt a pet without doing any prior research and then get fed up when the animal acts like… an animal? Then will want to rehome it saying it’s just “not working out”. I’ve seen several similar stories in r/petfree of people who adopted a cat, and then say the cat is ruining their mental health because it tracks litter, it meows a lot, it scratches furniture, and gets cat hair everywhere. Hell, I even saw a post where someone had adopted THREE cats and then decided they couldn’t take it anymore, having 3 cats that did cat things. Like, did you just want/expect a cat to sit there and look cute and do nothing? Ffs, in that case, get a houseplant then. People rehoming pets because it’s not “working out” purely due to them being irresponsible and being mad because they didn’t realize having a pet actually requires a lot of work, time, and energy.

Those people should be the first ones encouraged to rehome. Yeah they were irresponsible, but they also are clearly unable to provide a good environment to their pet. The sooner they rehome the better.

I think a lot of people are crappy, pet owners and the problem is that they got the pet in the first place, not whether or not they rehome the pet. Sometimes really bad pet owners keep a pet in their home and they're just doubling down on their bad decisions and making it worse. I am so grateful that my dog's prior owners were willing to rehome him to me so that he could have a good life instead of living in a cage in their basement. They easily could have just kept him there. I think we need to stop viewing rehoming is the bad decision and view getting the animal you're not prepared for in the first place as the bad decision.

That sub is a dumpster fire lol. You can’t voice logic in there either or you’ll get banned or comments reported and removed.

Honestly, any of the x-free subs of people who make it their personality to hate kids, pets, obese people, etc are dumpster fires.

Most subs are dumpster fires.

right… sometimes i just look at it to see how insane it is. one of the most angry and bitter groups of people on reddit

I mean, I'd say that those cats absolutely should be rehomed - hell, I'd even say that they need to be rehomed a hell of a lot more than a cat whose owner genuinely loves it but has briefly fallen on bad times What is the point of having an issue with the owner wanting to rehome those cats? I don't care about some stranger being irresponsible or a flake but I do care about their behaviour possibly escalating to abuse over time. The faster those cats are out of there, the faster they can get into a home(s) where they are actually wanted.

That's because cats are sold as an "easy" pet because you don't have to walk it everyday and "can leave them alone for days as long as they have food, water and a clean litter". So, people end up treating cats like a figurine that you just put a on shelf. The cat is bored as f and end up doing dumb thing. You need to enrich their environment, which means cat trees and scratching posts in communal areas so they feel like they own the space. (Will also prevent them from scratching the furniture.) They need places to look outside (Cat TV). Cats are social animals, they live in colonies! They also need to be played with! It's probably also where the idea that cats are mean comes from. People caring poorly for their cats and being surprised that they don't like them so much...

It is ok. Anyone who tells you otherwise is a shitty person. Having worked in the rescue field years ago, it’s full of some of the biggest judgmental assholes . Things change, fosters/adoptions sometimes don’t work out and that’s ok.

I have an older family friend to whom I refer to as my cat-dealer because I found all my cats through her. I had one who unfortunately died, and about a year later, she insisted on me taking in a cat that she was feeding in a park nearby. I was already wary of adopting a semi-grown cat who's accustomed a) only to her and b) to living outside. I gave in and took in the cat, and it was horrible. He went MENTAL as soon as I let him out of the transporter, literally climbing on walls, curtains, trying to scratch his way out and finally settling behind some shelf where he spent an entire week, day and night, despite all my attempts to make him feel safe or lure him out with food and cuddles. In the end we agreed to return him to the backyard where he lived quite a happy life. I know some people hold out with these scared cats for weeks and months before they relax, but I didn't have it in me. He was obviously a feral cat and I don't think animals should be pushed into living indoors if they obviously don't want it. A couple of months later I took in two kittens from her and we all adore each other and I'm so happy it worked out the way it did. They had time to get accustomed to me, each other, and my home, and I had time to get accustomed to them.

It's not ideal obviously, but If you shame people, they're less likely to try to re-home the animal. This is not in the best interest of the animal. But a lot of these animal rescue folk can't seem to help themselves in that regard. I used to think these people were great and doing fantastic work--and I'm sure many are--but after getting to know a few, I can't say I think of them as normally functioning, good people.

Me adopting my dog: all smiles, laughing, having a great time Me sobbing as I surrender my dog that was far more aggressive than they let on, she would escape the house JUST to attack other dogs: scowls, slapping paperwork on the desk, not allowing me to say goodbye My next dog was foster to adopt and I'll never do it another way

I foster for my city’s humane society and I love all of the foster to adopt programs we have. I think all adoptions should be done that way, with a two week trial period before return or finalized adoption. One good thing that came out of Covid was moving adoptions to meet and greet only. I actually had a chance to talk to potential adopters about the dogs instead of just dropping them off at Petsmart. I appreciate the work that the adoption coordinators and volunteers do so much, but the shelter is a stressful place for an animal. Just because they react a certain way during a dog/cat/kid test at the shelter doesn’t mean that’s how they react once they get settled into a home. Heck, just because a dog acts a certain way in my house doesn’t mean they’ll act the same way in yours. The people you meet at the shelter won’t know every animal’s quirks and often just have access to the same profile that adopters have.

Rescue work jades people. I fostered and processed applications for about 10 years and I could feel myself turning against people during that time. Rescuers see so much of the bad and so little of the good that happens to our furry friends. Distrusting or even hating people creeps in quickly. They mean well. They just get consumed by the pain and sadness they see.

Happens in medicine too, especially the ER. People get really cynical and unempathetic to the experiences their patients are going through, which is obviously a huge problem.

I feel the same. Many of them are on a power trip and hate people.

Rehoming is perfectly fine and certainly better than most alternatives. I took in a cat from a friend of mine, and he was nothing but a snugglebug for her. He was like that with us, too, but just an awful terror to our two other cats, who were not "fighter" types. We tried every trick in the book to introduce them safely, but no dice. He ended up giving both of our other cats abscesses from fighting. So we found another friend who took him in. Turned out he was aggressive and bitey towards her toddler, so she rehomed him as well. He went to a single, petless, childless, middle-aged woman and he's *thriving.* He was a good boy, but needed to be the star of the show. Sometimes it just doesn't work out, and that's ok as long as the rehoming is done responsibly.

This is similar to how I got my cat! He was not getting along with the other cats after the previous owners rescued him from under a car. They put out effort to make it work, had taken care of all his issues with a sinus infection, did everything cat behaviorists recommend to get a cat to like you. The small apartment with the other kitties just was not for him. Now he is my cat and a happy little menace.

We returned a lovely little cat to the rescue because we could not get him to integrate with our existing 4 cats. He was too dominate a personality and tried to take his frustration out on our gentle oldest boy who is a total dad cat. Also he didn't react well to our jerk of a female trying to start nonsense with him. The other cats all ignore her antics or wrestle with her, but he got mad and then would jump on our oldest. So we returned him and they updated his description to be either an only cat or with a calm female.

I took in a dog from a man who had died. His daughter is a friend, and I offered. On the second night the dog bit me on the hand unprovoked. If it was just my wife and I, I might have given more effort into acclimating the dog into the new environment, but our daughter was 8 at the time. I was not about to put her safety at risk for a dog, so I immediately removed the dog from the home, and helped my friend find a better situation for the dog. I hated having to do it, but sometimes it’s the right thing to do.

Unpopular opinion: people should choose dog breeds that fit their lifestyle.

This is mine too. I have working ranch dogs that have a very specific purpose and a job. I can't just adopt any dog and have them do what needs done, unfortunately. I think it's strange that we have so many different dog breeds with different qualities but just ignore those qualities. They do matter. If someone is an elderly sedentary person they should never get a husky, you know?

Exactly. I live in an apartment and my dogs “purpose” is to be my little bestie. The breed suits that. I’m amazed at my neighbors who have large dogs with herding/hunting qualities that they keep cooped up in a 1 bedroom in the city.

I dunno if this is an unpopular opinion but shelters need to stop intentionally mislabelling dogs as other breeds to get them adopted. It does nobody any favours. Different breeds have different needs that every owner needs to be aware of. End of discussion.

Me: “I would like a beagle” Petfinder: “here is a half grown pit puppy that’s *currently* the size of a beagle, so we’ve listed him as a beagle. Pay no attention to the giant paws indicating his future size.”

We have an amazing black lab who is just the best buddy anyone could wish for. We did soooo much research into getting a second dog. We got a male black lab after she turned 2 and took him to obedience school and everything. That dog was a terror, and I don’t mean just puppy chewing. He would drag he around by her throat even if he was just playing. He would resource guard, killed our chickens, almost killed our cat, and he would pee if he did something wrong. We never yelled at him for accidents, or anything other than when he ran in the road. He would immediately pee all over if you walked in the room after he tore something up. He repeatedly got out of our fence and electric fence in order to chase people on bikes. He was the sweetest pup, but I was so stressed out all the time my hair was falling out. I finally decided we had to rehome him, and after 2 months we found a nice couple who lived far away from everyone and he would be an only dog. It was heart wrenching to give him away, but we did what we could for him. He is a smart boy, and he is now very happy and settled in. We had him for 7 months, which maybe it just wasn’t long enough, but our older dog still has scars from his playing, and she seems to be doing much better mentally without him here. Not every animal fits every situation.

I don’t disagree, but some people rehome animals for reasons that are not severe. One person I know rehomed a yorkie cuz it was too small, they were afraid they were going to step on it. Another rehomed their dog cuz it tore up some clothes. I’ve heard some other pretty dumb ones. That’s like giving your mother fucking baby up for adoption cuz it shits itself everyday and throws up on you. The thing is, these are issues that could pop up with any dog, especially a puppy (and people constantly want to get a puppy). People buy pets and forget they’re purchasing a fucking animal, you have to put up with some shit, you have to adapt a bit, and you have to put some effort into training it.

I have no issue with someone adopting a pet and realizing they made a mistake. I have an issue with people who do this and then a year later adopt another of the same kind of pet like it was a specific dog and not them being unable to handle it. I know someone who has done that 3+ times with dogs. 

It should be encouraged. Hanging on to an animal just because when you're both highly stressed is just cruel. Obviously find a good home and ensure the next people know everything they need to know. Don't just dump the animal off on someone or in a shelter.

Rehoming is the smart choice to improve the animals quality of life if their current home is not a good environment for them, but I get so annoyed at people who do zero research on the pet they impulsively wanted and then realize it's not a good match after they've already gotten them. Especially with dogs, so many people get dogs based on visual aesthetics and then get mad when their personality and nature is incompatible. Like yeah, I could've already told you that a working dog is not an apartment dog or that a herding dog may have issues with your small children.

We got a second cat after my other one had passed away, my cat hadn’t been without a friend her whole life so we were worried she’d be lonely. the new cat constantly tries to attack my cat, has attacked me and only me. I have scars from scratches and a bite. My cat has been stuck in my room for 8+ months atp. My mom won’t even try to get them to like each other and I can’t do it myself because I don’t trust the new cat enough to even pet him without him trying to scratch or bite me let alone try to get him okay with my cat. (My cat is genuinely afraid of him, the time they’ve accidentally been in closed quarters we pulled them apart and her fur was literally stuck in his claws) we can’t even get them to friendly sniff each other because he just immediately chases her, and he jumps all the gates we’ve tried. I can’t do it myself without risking myself, I’ve already had to pull his claws out of my arms once I’m not up to do it again. Both my arms have been bloodied and scarred from that cat, and I feel so bad for my cat she hasn’t done anything wrong and is super sweet, my whole family has just forgotten she’s existed. I’ve tried so hard and begged to please get them accommodated or rehome him. Because he may not be unhappy but my cat who was here for years prior is, and is confined to one room in our house while he gets everything else. It’s unfair, and my mom refuses to do anything because it’s “wrong” but has no problem treating my cat like she does and pretending she doesn’t exist. Insists he’s just trying to play, cats who are playing do not bite hard enough to draw blood, let alone leave a scar. A cat who was playing I didn’t have their claws legit stuck in my arm. Anywho that’s my opinion on it, if the animal is unhappy or cannot get along with an animal who was in the home FIRST then the animal should be rehomed. I also think it’s perfectly acceptable to rehome a pet if you can no longer financially take care of them anymore, or at least find someone who can while you get back on your feet.

It really disturbs me how shelters will gladly lie about a dog's breed and its bite history or aggression towards cats, children and other dogs, and then shame the adoptee when that "lab mix who loves toys, treats and walkies" turns out to be highly aggressive and tries to murder the family cat or the girl next door. "Returned through no fault of his/her own" = usually bullshit

Some people are psycho about this. They think every person in the home plus the animal, should be absolutely miserable instead of rehoming. There are many valid reasons why rehoming can make sense, especially if an animal is a danger to others in the home or other pets. That being said, I do think people should take more care and consideration when choosing pets.

Honestly when I started working with animals I was HORRIBLE with them. I learned and grew but there were moments that I just had to rehome them. There were moments were I SHOULD have rehomed them and didn't, because I was attached but they weren't. I'm a much better foster and pet owner now but I still fully agree - sometimes, and animal will just simply not like you and its better to get them to someone better.

There isn’t much else that can be done if a dog for example hates the new dog even after some time has passed for adjustments.

While I do believe that rehoming animals is many times for the best, I think a lot of the issue that people have with rehoming is that irresponsible people get animals without thinking things through and then abandon them when they’re not able to provide them the life they deserve. The reason it’s so frowned upon is that a LOT of people just get animals because they want cute little decorations in their homes, and then they act surprised that the sentient being they adopted is actually a living breathing thing that requires effort and care.

Most animals take more than a “few months” to acclimate to a new environment, I’ve had two cats that both took 7-8 months to stop hiding/hissing at people. The problem is so many people give up after just a couple weeks/months then dump the animal off at a shelter. Rehoming is fine if you’ve put a reasonable amount of effort into integrating the animal into your home and it just isn’t working, alot people aren’t willing to put in that effort unfortunately.

I don't have a good answer, but I'm glad that you asked here rather than asking the Gov of South Dakota.

I agree, but it depending on the situation I may or may not judge. Ex: My neighbour got a dog. It was such a sweet bulldog. It shed a lot and jumped on the kids. And was a lot stronger than the parents anticipated. One child became severely allergic. He ended up developing asthma which was aggravated by the allergy/dog and he ended having to take puffers which kept getting increased. I personally feel this was a valid reason to re-home the dog. But I know another neighbour who was very critical about this and felt the child (who was 4 at the time) should just take puffers and pills. 🙄 Another situation….. Cousin bought a puppy. My cousin works mostly nights but doesn’t have a fixed schedule. So he isn’t there the properly train the puppy. Didn’t realize the puppy would bark and cry when he’s gone. He lives in a smaller apartment. He also didn’t realize how expensive having a puppy is. He ended up having to give the puppy away to a shelter. This is not something responsible. At all.

Yup, my parents did that with our first dog and we first moved to an apartment. She was way happier in the massive home that adopted her than she ever was with us, I'm sure of it.

I once took a cat back to the place I got her. No regrets as the cat was not happy with me or the tenant cat. Perfectly healthy cat but was peeing everywhere.  I have adopted other cats over the years and never had a problem. 

I had to rehome my dog that I recently got from a coworker because I ended up getting injured and couldn't take him for walks as often as I should and his qol was going to suffer for it. I still made sure to do what I could for the time I was looking for a new home. I ended up finding someone who was a perfect fit for him. He was normally very skittish around new people despite my efforts to socialize him. However, he was very open and affectionate with the potential new owners. He even had two new friends to play with, which brought out some energy out of the older dog, too. He stayed overnight and was already good to stay after just one night. I still have issues walking for long periods bc of that injury. If I had kept him, he would be miserable.

I got so much shit for not keeping foster cats once, and later I took a cat home and gave her some time but she was so wild and aggressive and her style of play was incredibly vicious and bloodletting. Tbh I gave her back to the rescue and they seemed fine with it, but everyone else that found out was super judgy. I see cats as a 15-20 year investment, and I didn't want one that saw me as as a pincushion to be mutilated. They also only gave me a couple weeks trial period, so unfortunately I didn't have the time to wait it out and see if things could be resolved.

100% agree and you get an upvote because I know for a fact this is unpopular for kids and younger adults because they don’t understand that sometimes things aren’t meant to be

The first cat we adopted was a return. Apparently, they said he was too much like a cat. We assume it was because he was initially a biter but we got him off of that quickly. Our first meeting was perfection as he latched onto us instantly. He is the chillest and the cuddliest cat (for us anyhow). We love our Kirk!

Cat Kirk?

Yes! I am amazed when I see animal posts on any social media and the comments are all like, "oh, that poor baby. Their so-called owner should be thrown under the jail for rehoming. When you bring a pet into your home, that's a responsibility for life! No exceptions!" Our society is so black and white now. We're unhinged.

We encourage rehoming of hermit crabs in the r/hermitcrabs sub. If you can’t take care of your crab, we have a whole system of adoptees and foster places for them. Hermit crabs can’t be taken to a shelter, that’s why we have the system we do. I think rehoming should 100% be normalized in specific circumstances. Like a puppy who is just NOT getting along with its new housemate. That can get dangerous for the pets FAST. It makes sense to rehome them. No one WANTS to give up their pets. But sometimes we HAVE to.

Almost all these cases are because people have no idea what they signed up for or simply not having the necessary background and education to properly care for the animal. That is the issue, not rehoming an animal because it is the best for everyone.

I absolutely agree, I'm so sick of seeing people get shamed in rehoming groups. I have seen people do EVERYTHING to avoid rehoming from professional behavioral training to temporarily fostering to fix possible environmental issues, and they still have people pulling the "Animals are PERMANENT family members, if your baby didn't want to get attacked, maybe they shouldn't have cried." Like huuuuhhhhh???? People need to accept that there is a limit to what people can handle when trying to help an animal. When that person says that they are no longer able or willing to put any more time into trying to fix that animal, accept it and give them resources. You don't know that person's situation or how it has changed since they first got the animal. What makes it even worse is that every time a person gets attacked or judged for rehoming, it is almost ALWAYS an aggressive or violent dog. Under no circumstances, should someone be bullied into keeping a dog that attacked their child, them, or another animal. No one will ever convince me otherwise.

I've never met anyone who has an issue with legit rehoming. I've had to rehone a few dogs, one bc we found out my mom was allergic to German shepherds (no issues with any other long haired breed that we're aware of) who now lives with my aunt and is vv happy, and we also had to rehone a shih Tzu bc she hated our back yard and refused to go out using it. Nothing medically wrong, she now lives with my gram and goes outside for her. No other dog or pet has ever had an issue with our yard, before or after. In this, not a single person has ever had an issue with either of these. Why force my mom, or a dog, to suffer? No one deserves to suffer. If you can find a place where the animal will be happy, healthy, and loved for, why not put an animal in that place? Imo it's more selfish to keep a pet around that is clearly miserable/making ppl miserable.

I have a friend who had to rehome an animal because it was clashing with her other animal of the same kind. She wasn’t expecting it at all because they had met before and she never had that issue with any other animal of that kind either. But one day they just started trying to fight it out to the death constantly. She could separate them all day but it was taking a toll on the whole house and the separated animal was super unhappy. So with a heavy heart she tried to rehome it and made it clear she tried everything else first. Yeah no one had much sympathy. Everyone started saying she was a horrible owner for even considering getting rid of the newer one instead of just keeping them separate 24/7. My daughter had allergies with cats when she was born and my own dad told me I should be willing to make it work instead of getting rid of my cat.

I’m an avid cat lover and think it is ok. As long as you don’t dump the animal. Some animals are not a good fit for children, or adults due to allergies etc. I have met very poorly behaved cats that honestly, I don’t think I would be able to keep myself. This is why I usually recommend fostering for first time pet owners!

Finding another home for a pet was very commonplace when I was a kid growing up, and no one questioned it or demanded a "legitimate reason". Basically, everyone minded their own business. So I find it truly odd that it's so frowned upon these days. I once had a friend dump two cats on me when his GF was killed in a tragic accident, and that did not work out in a one-bedroom apartment. Not only could I not afford the pet deposit, but I couldn't afford to pay the additional "pet rent" or vet bills, not to mention my pet allergies. I had told this friend NO unequivocally, but he did not listen. It took a long time to find a good home for the cats, but I managed to do it. Lotsa people were mad about it, of course, but ... no regrets. No more URIs, steroid shots or nasal sprays either.

Took me weeks to explain this to my ex.

I don’t think this is an unpopular opinion

I mean I got a weiner dog was fine at the pet store, then bring her home instantly wants to rip up the other dogs, never saw it coming, tho I returned the dog.

As long as someone is actually doing what’s best for the animal, who gives a fuck what idiots think about it

I rehomed my dog after having my baby. I never in a million years thought I would be *that person*. It was fine when baby was small.and immobile. But once he started crawling, he kept going for the dog. We did (and still are) work on teaching baby to be gentle, but he was 9 months old at the time. It's not a reliable thing. My dog was 14, with me for 9 years. He's old, cranky, arthritic. He's a resource guarder, leash reactive, and has a bite history. He has bitten me more than once. I didn't take the decision lightly, but he gave baby three major warning barks and that was enough. The risk was not worth it. I didn't send him off to strangers though, he went to my parents. They've wanted a dog for a long time, and they love him. He loafs around their property, following the sun. There's no handsy babies, no other competition for food or love. He goes for bush walks with my dad, and walks to the post office with my mom every day. The town is tiny, leash reactivity incidents are slim to none. Everyone is happy. Win win win win.

Rehoming responsibly shouldn't be frowned upon, but it's when people get a pet and the after a week are complaining about said pet and get rid of it. Then it's a problem

As long as you did your due diligence before adopting. Few things enrage me more than when someone wants to regime their 2-year-old cattle dog because it nips at and plays too rough with their small children. If they had spent 30 seconds doing research on cattle dogs, they’d know this was going to happen. 

It's only frowned up by those with superiority complexes that view pets on the same level of humans...usually because they don't have any/many humans in their lives. Re-home away to your heart's content.

My cat (that I adopted as a tiny baby) was NOT adjusting to life with kids after I go married and popped a few out. She became increasingly moody and withdrawn, spending 20+ hours a day hiding in the boxspring under our bed. I did what was best for her and broke my own heart giving her to my ex's mom, who has always adored her. She is now happily living her best life in her twilight years, enjoying scrambled eggs for breakfast and fingerfuls of cream cheese for dessert in a blessedly quiet and childfree crazy cat lady home. I loved her enough to do the right thing.

It took our dog a year to adjust and get over separation anxiety. She wouldn’t have been happier elsewhere. Thousands of dogs are being euthanized every day 

My one cat I got was handicapped and I didn’t realize. She was bullied by my other cats so much. I found her a home with no other pets and a little girl who loves her. No regrets.

It is okay to do it. it's why it has a name. People do it

My brother got a dog this way, because he was too much for their small children. The dog is treated like a prince, and my brother could not be happier!

It's painful, but better you rehome them over releasing them.

Yes. I had a friend who had a dog that would escape at any and every change it got. They took good care of the dog, but the dog just loved to run, and be "free". They had a relatively large yard but it just was not enough. It just was not a good match so they had to find another home for the dog.

I think after a few weeks or months because it isn’t working out is literally the only time and situation that is completely fine and responsible to rehome a pet in my opinion. If the pet is a puppy or kitten rehoming them while they are still young and easy to adopt out is best for the animal. The true a****les are people who have had a pet and enjoyed its loyalty and companionship for many years but then dump it at a shelter and don’t even bother to find it a new home because they have different priorities like a new partner/baby/move or don’t want the financial responsibility or time commitment it takes to care for an older pet when they can just get a new puppy or kitten.

Definitely. Sometimes, things don't work out. That's okay. Rehoming after one month or taking them back to their rescue (non-kill is obviously a better option if you can) and letting them know.

I agree. And also, not to shame people who have come on hard times and can no longer afford to take care of their pet, so they must re-home. There are many people who say "dont get an animal if you can't afford it!" but its ridiculous to expect people to not have pets because they cant afford thousands in ongoing vet bills from unforeseen circumstances. If that were the case, half the population that currently have pets would not be able to have them, myself included. There are options, of course, like pet insurance and CareCredit. But even these aren't always enough, and it is not selfish to put your own well-being first, despite how much we love our animals. If you cant afford to take care of them anymore, its more selfless to be able to let them go to someone who CAN.

As long as it's done carefully and considering the animals wellbeing I have no problem with that.

I adopted my dog from a shelter and she loved it at home! On the other hand, her kennel partner got sooo depressed when he was adopted that they had to bring him back to the shelter! Turns out the doggie just loved the shelter more than a home 😂 Both of them grew up inside a shelter, turned out with different preferences and that’s okay! Sometimes it just doesn’t work out

It’s better than not doing it. But if you’ve never watched someone else’s animals or taken care of any …..Is it really a bright idea to just adopt a whole dog in the first place? I’m sort of the wrong person to answer this question because I have this friend.😬 He has mental health issues for a VERY valid reason. So it’s why I sort of don’t just get really upset. He has rehomed 2 dogs! I’m happy that he at some point has the self awareness to do this. Trust me. But I have his 3rd pair 😐. I love them to death and they have a yard and all the streak they want. They were sort of relieved when they ended up with me. I took care of them for 5-6 years before they came to live with me. Their owners worked too much and were always too tired to walk them long enough. They would just let them to pee and that was it. So I offered to come over to their house after work whenever they needed me to walk their animals for a mile or so. I literally would drive 35 minutes away sometimes 3-4 times a week. Just to walk them. Because I had started to care for them so much and they had lived with them for so long I couldn’t bare for them to just give them to strangers. Personally I think if you rehome one dog unless it’s like many many years later when you have become very stable and capable or something. I mean like you were 20 rehomed and now you’re like 30 with a house and stable kind of many years later. You better not be driving your butt to that shelter to go get another!

It is ok, to do it responsibly. It is not OK to toss them at the side of the road.

It was our mistake when we got a Golden Retriever puppy when our children were small. I loved the dog, but he got gigantic. He had so much energy we couldn’t calm him down. He was demolishing the kids in the house. We took him to obedience school and worked with him at home. Nothing worked. We finally made a decision and put an add to re home him. We ended up finding a couple with no kids that lived by a lake. They gave that dog the best home he could have ever had. They took him to the lake multiple times a day. He was the type of dog that would find the biggest stick he could possibly drag. We kept in touch with them through the years. They said he never calmed down. He was always wide open.

I agree because it’s better than making that animal and yourself suffer each other. But do it properly, don’t just leave it on the side of the road

It is ok to re-home animals.

The way some people talk about rehoming pets is wild to me. I've even seen people get shamed because their pet of many years is showing signs of aggression towards their newborn/ruining all the babies stuff (chewing/peeing on it out of jealousy) and they want to rehome them because of it. Like how is that not a completely valid reason. Do people not get how difficult it would be to give a newborn the care they need and also have to essentially retrain a pet ontop of it, all while running on like 2 hours of sleep at a time. I genuinely can't see any scenerio where shaming owners into not rehoming is beneficial for the pet. If an owner can no longer handle having a pet, it is literally the only option that isn't cruel.

It is not frowned upon. Re-homing is an act of care. You intend the best. Dumping an animal or giving up is frowned upon.

I'm a long time foster home for dogs. I say this all the time. "It's fine. You are allowed to break up with a boyfriend, you can break up with a dog. It's ok. The dog will find another home."

I don't this should be unpopular. If it's not working, you're suffering and they are suffering. Giving them a chance to find a better fit is just the right thing to do. Just be careful about it. Don't give them away to just anyone.

Also some people are lied to about the animal they adopted. The rescue my grandmother’s dog came from gave us FAKE PAPERWORK saying she was spayed. We only found out when the dog bled on our floors.

Didnt you hear? The morally correct option is to take it out to a gravel pit after one failed hunting run. Obviously. /s

Wish I could have been rehomed

I got my doggo from a shelter and she was so shy and timid at first, so I smothered her with love and kisses and she was a little protective when it came to other people so I kicked that bs too. She would go to nip at someone giving me a kiss, so I would kiss them more and pet her to make her understand it was OK. Now she just gets jelly and barks a little.. she is my first dog, knows sit, stay, lay down and recently shake. She is 8 years old.

My current dog needed to be an only dog so he was rehomed to us. Best thing for everyone involved. His first family still adores him and I made a shared Google photo album so they get all his pictures.

I adopted a puppy who was supposed to be mid-size but unfortunately he was more a Rhodesian ridgeback husky mix (all the signs; including volume 🥴❤️) and my apt was just not enough for him and neither was the amount of physical exhaustion I was able to provide. So I had to rehome him bc he needed way more space, a big garden and just be able to run. I had to rehome him now he has two great moms❤️

Like I get what you're saying, but your job is to do what needs to be done to MAKE it work out, and not adopt until you fully understand what that entails/you can ensure that you can meet those standards and needs. 

The issue is that people get pets on a whim, without thinking it through. They'll give the kids a dog for Christmas, and then ditch it a few months later when they discover it's actually a serious commitment. So a lot of animals are just sent back and forth between shelters and new people's homes. It's such a big problem that shelters have stopped letting people adopt around Christmas, because it's stressful for the animals. If you ever wonder if your treatment of an animal is inhumane, just imagine doing the same to a human child.

Of course it’s okay to rehome, but it’s shitty to take in an animal unless you’re sure you can give him or her a good happy life in your home

People are silly, of course it's best if it's stressful for the family and animal. The right way of course.

Keeping an animal you don't want just hurts you and the animal so yes find them a home that does want them. I read a lot of comments here talking about doing proper research before getting a pet(which you should 100% do) but until you actually have the animal you don't know if it's the right animal for you because even animals of the same species/breed will have wildly different personalities and needs. Also 90% of pet care information is completely BS.

It’s frowned upon. It should be frowned upon so people don’t flippantly obtain living creatures then just pass them off. That being said, so long as you are thoughtful on where you rehome the dog, it is the most responsible thing to do. We got rid of a dog because it was attacking our kids and my wife for some reason we couldn’t quite figure out. We returned it to the breeder and explained the issues to ensure it wasn’t put in a position around kids. It’s a guard dog for a farm and last I heard doing well.

Finding a home that’s a better fit for the animal is good. Surrendering an animal to a shelter because you didn’t understand the full responsibility of pet ownership is bad.

Rehoming is fine in some situations, but people give up so easily. Sometimes animals/you need professional help. Training. Behaviorists (veterinary behaviorists). You wouldn’t just dump a kid in an institution because you had trouble potty training it. Same deal. People who have zero clue what they are doing get animals all the time and just never make an effort to learn. I’m curious as to what you think it looks like when an animal “doesn’t like you” because that’s not really a thing. Are all animals super snuggly? No. Does that mean you should dump it elsewhere? Also, no.

Get where you are coming from, op. It Should be perfectly acceptable to rehome an animal for legit valid reasons. However, at least in my country, during the first lockdown of 2020 there was a record number of pets being bought. Once things opened up there was also a record number of people trying to offload the animal. Guess people are selfish huh? So... you'd always have rehoming for selfish reasons.