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Posted by Alyssa on September 5, 2009, 4:30 pm, in reply to "Fair Chance Policy"
72.208.133.61
30 days in-house, then 30 days in a foster, and another 30 back in the shelter is a lot of bouncing around and in some cases, can create behavior issues. Furthermore, a minimum of only 2 weeks in a foster home may not provide enough of a chance for the animal to really settle and show its true self. Some dogs are on their best behavior; others unravel due to the newness of it all -- especially if the new situation is very dissimilar than their original home's expectations. I don't know how to address that, but those are my thoughts on that part.
I'd have concerns about the last part of the letter -- the wait listing. A growing number of owners who are looking to "get rid of" their animals are also very likely to dump them in the desert or abandon them in other ways (yards of vacant foreclosed homes are popular around here). When faced with a choice between wandering the streets in 110* summer heat with no shade or water for days and weeks at a time vs. euthanasia at a shelter, I'd really rather that dog be euthanized. Not all people looking to turn in pets are going to do this, but in my area, it's an unfortunate reality -- people want that pet gone NOW and if no one takes it, they'll dump it without a second thought.
Also, I'd include some information about the financial commitment required to implement a Fair Chance policy vs. continuing with the current policy. Of course, a Fair Chance program could be implemented within the current framework on a trial or smaller scale basis. That might be something worth looking into, rather than attempting to tackle the whole system at once -- prove that the FC program works (track adopted animals, their owners' satisfaction ratings, and the return to shelter rates) and can sustain itself in terms of volunteers to foster and financially, then look to expand it.
Good luck! Keep us posted on Boomer's progress. He is a neat dog!
Alyssa.
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