And what the FU<K is that about no kids under 14?!?!? Oh Em Gee, that's who pet dogs are for!!!!!

Yeah, kids can't take care of dogs by themselves, but they are the PRIME target audience for the pets. DoubleYou Tee Eff!?!?

Mistake on Ellen's part for not reading the contract (which she admitted to).

Power trip in general on the rescue group's part. Apparently the Sheriff's Department was called out to "repossess" the dog and the Sheriff had to pry the dog out of the the younger girls arms.

Everyone at that agency is going to Hell.

Oh yeah! No one is coming here for a home visit and basing my pet parent status on whether I have dirty dishes in the sink. I'm not opposed to some sort of reference check, but unannounced home visits? Not a chance. Talk to my vet and hear how many thousands of dollars I've already put toward Boris's care. He gets whatever he needs - no matter the cost. He gets special food and medications from the regular human pharmacy and his favorite treats and for pete's sake even eats off my plate and drinks out of my glass from time to time (meaning whenever he wants what I'm having.) And yet, I know I'd fail a home inspection.

Meanwhile, the human interest news here is full of stories about the shelter overflow crisis.

Here too.

And here the shelters are super uber picky about who they will adopt to as well. I would not qualify to adopt cats because I'm don't get home until late in the evening.

No problem with her using the bully pulpit. It was that she essentially melted down on her show, sobbing and talking about how it was impossible to go on pretending to be funny when things were going so horribly wrong, blah blah blah.

You can watch it here. The emotion is honest, but I wonder what she'll do when something truly horrible (rather than just a big pain in the ass) happens.

While I understand that adoption agencies don't want dogs to go to bad homes, I think this situation is a bit out of control. Dogs don't always work out. Usually they are returned to the adoption agency, but I can understand that Ellen figured she was doing the right thing by adopting out the dog herself to a good home. I certainly think the dog is better off with 2 kids in a good home than in a crate with no real "parents".

As for he under 14 rule, I think it is ridiculous. There are some breeds that don't mix well with children but, in my experience, the Brussels Griffon is not one of them. I have 2 that I currently watch and they are some of the most laid-back dogs. They also, although on the smaller size scale, are not incredibly fragile. The breed is actually on my own top 5 list based on my experiences with them.


I know quite a few of the local adoption people and there are a few who are real Nazi's about the adoption process - so much so that they discourage what could be really good placements.

Pulease, my dog, Pluto, eats better than me.

Chicken and rice and vegetables, most nights, with vitamin powder and flax seed oil for his coat thrown in. He eats better than most humans on the planet.

I admire an agency wanting to assure that dogs go to good homes, but the thought of one putting more nazi obedience effort into it that most child adoptions or foster care placements makes my dog-loving blood boil.

My mom has experienced this with some of the rescue groups she works with. Occasionally someone has asked my mom to take their dog for whatever reason, and she has often taken them on privately because she felt that the group she was fostering for was just a bit *too* strict on pet placement. However, she agrees with some of the rules, such as the one about not letting tiny dogs go to homes with small children.

Now, IMHO, 12 and 13 are big enough to deal. Perhaps the group had a rule against it, and I know MANY groups do have a stipulation in their contracts stating that if you give up the dog, you have to give it back to the group. This is to protect the dogs from being sent to the pound or being given to highly inappropriate homes.

In this case, I think the group could have insisted on reviewing the new owner's family and home, and perhaps could have granted an exception based upon that review, as well as get the new owner to sign a contract as if they had adopted the dog directly. Facing a reposession of the dog, the new owner would probably have complied. Then everybody would have been happy (if a bit inconvenienced).

This group could still save face by coming back and being willing to offer the above opportunity to the hairdresser, or by holding the dog till the younger child turns 13 and then granting a special exemption.

We could have a "who spoils their pet more" contest!

Never mind that the shelters think we're all loser rejects.

(Of course, right now Boris is complaining that I haven't turned on the heat yet this fall, and he would really like to sleep on the bathmat atop the furnace vent in the bathroom.)