We have never had a dog before, and I thought it would be a good idea to get one. So, when I saw one at the Humane Society booth at a recent event, I let DD pick one, Daisy, who is shown in my avatar.

Everything was going fine, the crate training, the regular training, etc. Three days after we got her, she was at the vet with diarrhea. She had a temp of 104, which they said was high. She had coccidia and sperochetes (sp???). In the meantime, I found out she got her first shot at the Humane Society, her distemper. The vaccine expired in Nov. 2007. They gave it to her in April 2008 I called the HS to express my concerns on why this dog had the parasites, and was given an expired shot??? I was told that the dogs don't see the Dr. unless they appear sick, and Daisy did not. I agree, she did not. Even our family vet couldn't believe she had a 104* temp and was running around like a wild puppy I guess I thought all HSs operate like what you see on Animal Planet.

My disappointment continued to grow when she was then diagnosed with ear mites, and scabies (mange). Well, we've been battling the mange for a month now, and I think we are turning the corner. I even ordered some sulfur creme stuff of the internet, and it is really working wonders.

My question is, are most of the animals in the shelters like this??? This is now a no-kill shelter, so they don't take in every dog that comes to the door.

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Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

I think its the luck of the draw. My last 2 dogs came from the HS. The first dog was super, no immediate vet problems. My current dog had ear problems from the get go. I've heard all pups have parasites (worms) and I'm surprised that she wasn't treated at the HS for them. The expired vaccine was inexcusable IMO. Sounds like the place may be shortfunded like a lot of charity organizations these days.

It's wonderful that you're so obviously commited to Daisy -- she's a lucky pup!!

We have two rescue dogs, one we have had absolutely no problems with, and the second one, had tons of problems, starting about 4 days after we brought him home. I was very upset, because some of the problems seemed to be just from lack of care. I do understand that most of the people who work in the places are volunteers and resources are limited, but after our last experience I have to say I am somewhat turned off of the idea of a rescue animal.

Daisy is a cutie who is very lucky to have such a wonderful caring family who is willing to take the time, effort and money to make her a happy, healthy puppy.

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Nicole

My two girls are both rescues, but one from animal control and one from a rescue agency. We really lucked out with the animal control one, that litter of puppies could have been a MESS - I don't think AC does anything for them, not like a rescue agency.

I've heard both good and bad from people that have gone to HC's. When I was young, my parents got a puppy from an HC and it didn't turn out well. Two of my friends got puppies from the same HC and it all worked out fine.

Your new baby is just beautiful! I hope she'll be 100% healthy soon.

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First of all, good for you for rescuing your dog. There are so many out there in need of good homes!

I would imagine that the level of care received varies from shelter to shelter. I agree with the other poster who said it was inexcusible to provide an expired vaccine. That is crazy. I have rescued my last two dogs from shelters, and now that I think about it I'm only sure that one of them was treated by a vet (because she was spayed). The other may or may not have been, as they encourage you to take them to your own vet after adoption.

I hope everything works out for you!

We got our dog from the Humane Soceity. All their pets are Vet checked when they arrive at the center. Our Hayden actually had an ear infection when we got him, they made sure to explain what the problem was, and they also gave us the medicine and explained how to apply it. They also make sure that the animals have all their shots and they must be spayed/neutured before you take them home. Their adoption fees are a bit high, but they try their best to make sure you get a healthy pet. We paid around $150 for our dog, puppies are more and I think kittens go for about $125. Adult cats a little cheaper. I have always been impressed with our local Humane Soceity. They are a no kill shelter and they do an amazing job. Before you can adopt you must give them your Vets number so they can check to see if any other animals you have at home are not late on their shots. If they are, then they will not allow you to adopt until you get your other pets vet checked first.

We paid $150 for Daisy, and will get back $50 after she is spayed. That included on shot. My vet told me it had to get redone and I should call the HS to at least alert them to it, and hopefully they would give her the shot again. That's what I did, and they did reinocculate her (saved me $41). She did also come with 30 days of Pet Insurance. You pay the first $50 of each covered visit. I am still waiting on some payment back from them before I say wether or not they paid.

Ana21, I think worms are different than the parasites. I have heard that all dogs need to be dewormed, but, this was something different (according to my vet). I am so thankful that we seem to be on the road to recovery, and wonder what would have happened to her if she had not been adopted??

I definitely would not adopt from a puppy mill breeder, and can't see a reason to adopt a "pure breed" when so many wonderful animals are looking for homes, and sitting in shelters

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Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

2 of our 3 dogs are from the shelter. We went to get 1 a few years ago but saw the 2 of them together. They are the best dogs I have ever owned. (Our 3rd is a puppy from a friend.)

Thats awful. Hope she gets better soon. Thanks for taking care of her. A lot of people would have just dumped her back at the shelter. I think you're great!!

I have never adopted a dog from the shelter. We did adopt 2 kittens. They were flea ridden. Then they caught colds and kept passing them back and forth between each other and my other cat. They ended up being very pricey cats because of all of the vet visits but we are all so glad we got them. They are a wonderful addition to our family.

When my kids get older I want to get a small dog. The animal shelter or rescue league will be where I go.

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Never had any problems with the 5 or 6 shelter animals I have had.

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Raising my baby RIGHT!!!!!!

All the cool babies are wearing cloth!

I put my girly girls in my avatar!

We found both our dogs at Petfinder.com: Adopt a pet and help an animal shelter rescue a puppy or kitten.. I think it's an amazing site. We were willing to travel up to 6 hours one way for a dog we really wanted.

Piper (beagle-y!) was 4 hours away, Panda was 1 1/2 hours.

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My girl cat was very skinny, having been a foster kitten when there were too many cats to deal with, but she ate her way to a healthy weight, and had no other problems. She was from the North Hollywood shelter, where most of the animals seemed to be in good shape. Honestly, she was in the worst shape of any shelter animal we've taken in. Strays can be another story.

I don't think your experience was typical, but please stay tough while you're getting your pup healthy, and know what a good thing you're doing for her. Know too, that a lot of purebred animals, especially dogs, can have health and behavior problems bred into them. Breeding animals for certain desirable traits can bring out less desirable ones, too, like weak hips, and respiratory problems, and those tend to be a lot harder to treat than worms and skin problems.

Thanks everyone, it's been a roller coaster ride. Every morning, she seems to be doing a bit better. I need to call the vet this morning....she keeps licking her crotch area, and I wonder if she doesn't have a yeast infection??? She's on 125mg Clavamox 2x daily. Do dogs get a yeast infection??? She's just such a grateful dog, and so loving.

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Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

I personally refuse to take animals from my local Humane Society for 2 reasons.

Reason 1 - A feral mother cat had given birth under my neighbors shed and we were giving her a helping hand by feeding her some food (and the kittens as they weaned). We called the HS and asked them if they could take the kittens and they said sure they'd take them, but I had to trap them first since they couldn't come out to get them. So, I trapped the kittens and called them back and said I found some kittens, can you take them. They asked where the kittens were and I said in my powder room, I trapped them last night. And I was promptly told they wouldn't take them because they weren't feral. I said why aren't they feral and I got told "because they're living in somebody's house" No quantity of argueing could get them to agree to take the kittens. So I said fine, I can get homes for kittens - took them to the vet, paid for their shots, got 2 of them homes kept 1. By the end of it 2 out of the 3 kittens had died (including mine) and I had about $750 in vet bills. In the interum I trapped the momma cat and got the same story from them - if you managed to trap her she's not really feral and we can't take her unless you want to formally abandon her. I told them I was the responsible owner of 4 cats including the kitten they'd refused to take and 1 I'd gotten from them (see story below) and I did NOT Abandon cats. They said either you sign abandonment forms or we don't take her. Oh and if you sign abandonment forms we'll take back the cat you got from us since you're unfit. I still have that momma cat, she's a darling - almost makes up for the fact the kitten died. But you can add another $750 in vet bills for her care (parasites, neutering, mulitple tests, x-rays, all her first shots, treating her initial injuries etc) - and that doesn't include any vet care since then.

Reason 2 - The one cat I did take from them, I was told she was in perfect health and had only ever had worms. I thought it was odd it took them over a year to find her a home but figured maybe it was because she wasn't a kitten. Sweet cat, don't get me wrong - but We've wracked up somewhere north of $1000 and south of $2000 in vet bills trying to figure out what was wrong with her and trying to treat her and quite nearly had to put her down she was so sick. Found out at the end she had a VERY treatable condition that has only cost me another $750 or so since we figured it out 10 years ago (excluding yearly shots etc etc) and that they KNEW about it before they let me adopt her. I also found a technician who had personally treated her at the HS and told me she'd nearly died several times while in their care and she thought nobody would ever adopt her cause she was so sick and had so many issues.

And there are the 2 reasons (or should I say the 3000 - 4000 reasons?) I will never, ever, ever adopt any animal from my local HS. Let alone the time they stole a locally famous dog from the guy who had found it, saved it, and spent thousands of his own dollars treating its medical care. They solicited for funds for years in that dogs name, and when he asked them where the money had gone - since every time he went to the vet they told him to the vet told him that all of the money for the dog's care was gone and he had to pay out of pocket they wouldn't tell him. So he decided not to have the dog treated at the vet they suggested and go to another vet who was willing to give him a charitable break on the prices. They claimed non-treatment/abuse and came to his house one night while he was asleep and cut the dog off its lead in the yard and removed it. They first claimed they hadn't, so he called a local reporter who had covered the story of him saving the dog and talked to him about how the dog had been stolen. Finally said they had taken it, given it to another owner and he'd never see it again. My poor neighbor never has seen that dog he loved so much and its been several years now.

On the other side - I have adopted multiple cats from rescue/charity groups and been happy with every single one. I suggest you look into small local groups made up of dedicated volunteers who really do NOT make a dime (and in fact spend lots of their own dollars) taking care of the animals they're finding homes for. I'm sure some of you are lucky and your HS isn't bad like ours, I hope thats the case. But sad to say, it can happen.

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Meddle ye not in the affairs of Dragons, for you are crispy, and taste good with Ketchup!

Well, any mammal could get a yeast overgrowth, I suppose. You might want to try giving her some yogurt, to counteract the antibiotics. Then again, licking too much can be caused by anxiety, or itchy skin.

Sounds to me like your own county HS has issues. I have never had a problem with mine. I called about cats living under my house. They stank up the whole house with their spray and fighting all hours of the night. They said the same thing...you catch, we carry. Very easy. They brought out the traps, baited them with cat food cans, and left. Waited for me to call and say I had one and they were right out. Perhaps you shouldn't have touched them like the HS told me. They said when we had one just call. Don't touch.

I am sorry you had problems with your HS, but not all of them are bad. I just hope this doesn't discourage someone from adopting. Please don't get me wrong, I am not attacking you or your reasons.

Oh I'm sure lots of them are great, most probably. But it remains that some aren't. Ours has even been investigated for misuse of funds and other problems. I still think however that you get the best animals from the smaller, more local, more personally run rescue groups where the members consider each animal like their own child and want to make sure they go to the best home possible. They not only know Fluffy is a domestic short-hair, female, neutered. But they can tell you what her favourite flavor of fish is, what color toys she likes and so on. The larger facilities like the HS and others simply can't learn everything about every animal because they have to process so many of them.

One good way to see a great selection when you don't know all the rescue groups in your area is to use Petfinder.com: Adopt a pet and help an animal shelter rescue a puppy or kitten. - that way you can see lots of available animals from dozens of groups in your area (including the HS etc).

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Meddle ye not in the affairs of Dragons, for you are crispy, and taste good with Ketchup!

If you're looking for a particular breed, you can google rescue missions for that breed. We have an adorable Cardigan Welsh Corgi that we rescued. The fee was higher than the local shelter. I also rescued a Burnese Mountain Dog that I found at the farm where I buy eggs. Our cat came from the HS. She had issues, but they were not related to the shelter. I'd go to the shelter again. I think Duchess is right...it depends on the shelter. You might want to ask local people about your local shelter.

It can happen everywhere -- animals, like people, when stressed can easily get sick. Animals in shelters are usually very stressed because of the new environment, many other animals, people coming and going, not a lot of one-on-one attention, etc. Animal hide signs of illness because their insticts tell them too -- in the wild, a sick or injured animal is more likely to become dinner for another animal. Therefore, even if you are aware of an animals normal behavior it's hard to tell there is something wrong until the animal is very sick. In most shelters, the workers, no matter how dedicated they are aren't around each individual animal long enough to determine if they are acting 'normal' or not, especially since 'normal' can vary greatly from animal to animal.

Shelters usually run on a very small budget, sometime only donations. Most do the best they can, but they are often overburdened by too many unwanted animals, people who don't spay or neuter their animals or people who don't do their 'homework' first before getting an animal and too little money.

We have 4 cats and all came from different rescue groups -- one from the Humane Society, and three from different local animal rescue groups. All but one came with various issues -- the one that didn't have any issues was an 8 week old kitten when we got her -- all of which were fairly easily treated by either our vet or the rescue group's vet. Most reputable rescue groups will give you a time frame in which you can return the animal if it has issues or illness. Some will cover your vet bills within a set amount of time -- with our last cat, they asked us to take him to our vet within 5 days of adopting him. If we or our vet found anything wrong with him within that time frame, the rescue group would pay for the vet bill or allow us to return him to them (our choice). He had a few minor, shelter related issues which we chose to pay for out of pocket ourselves.

The expired vaccine surprises me, I guess, for a cash strapped organization, an expired vaccine in most cases is better than none at all -- most are still somewhat effective. Could it be that the exp. date was written wrong (2007 wirtten, but it was really 2008?). At least they agreed to revaccinate your dog.

Sarah..........

I understand all of this, and our local HS is no longer federally funded, since they became a no kill shelter. I went there today to drop off the half bag of puppy food I had. They remembered Daisy and asked how she was doing, etc. DD and I looked around and saw lots of adorable puppies, and I was glad I didn't go into the shelter to get a puppy, as I would have come home with 2, since they keep them 2 to a pen. I was glad they gave me the 30 days of Pet Insurance, it hopefully will help a little bit. I know they are cash strapped, etc. DD volunteers at there events.

As for the shot, it was clearly expired in 11/2007. They have me a paper that had the label from the bottle on it. My vet would not accept that as her first shot, so I had to get it redone, and was very glad the HS redid it. I did speak with the Shelter Manager, and she said they have been having "issues" there. I'm pretty forgiving, and do believe the HS is really trying to make a difference. I guess I was just basing my "idea" of the HS on what I had seen on Animal Planet.

I still don't know if I would get another HS animal. The price was steep, $150. I do continue to donate as much as I can to them. They were very happy to get the puppy food,too.

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Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

We adopted 2 cats from the Sioux Falls Humane Society. It was the best shelter I had ever seen. They treat the adult cats like royalty. A big room with plenty of overstuffed chairs where they can be themselves. The younger cats were in cages. We got the 2 because the promotion was "better with a buddy". We adopted an older very large male, Ralph and his little buddy "Jack" They are both the picture of health with great dispositions. Jack has the longest teeth I have ever seen on a cat and he is now called Drac Jack! Bad shelters tick me off. The animals only know that the person who has fed and been there is now gone. They were the kings of their castles and now are in a cold impersonnal place (in most cases) Report bad shelters. If you love animals and can volunteer a few hours a week it is a great place to really make you feel like you are making a difference. The one in Sioux Falls is exceptional and the people who work and volunteer for them are great.

Definitely agree about Petfinder! Great site