Top Ten Reasons Dogs Are Surrendered to Shelters

According to the National Council for Pet Overpopulation, the top ten reasons that owners surrender their dogs to shelters are:

Moving
Landlord issues
Cost of pet maintenance
No time for pet
Inadequate facilities
Too many pets in home
Pet illness (es)
Personal problems
Biting
No homes for littermates

So, you see, great dogs have been left in shelters for reasons that could have been avoided through research. Above all, this shows that people need to make responsible decisions before getting a dog, to avoid adding to the pet overpopulation problem.

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Member Since 2009Permalink Reply by Cam & Oski on February 1, 2009 at 1:35am

Actually, I think that how dogs/pets end up getting surrendered to shelters is really a microcosm of the modern American psyche. Most people do not spend a lot of time thinking about how their choices/commitments will change their lifestyle. The walk into things with the underlying assumption that they will either be able to continue as they have (no changes in free time, no changes in financial status, no changes in their disposable income with another mouth to feed/vet bills) or that somehow things will work themselves out without significant effort/compromises on their side. This is not limited to pet ownership but also buying a car, buying houses, doing basic health maintenance or engaging in unhealthy activities like smoking....I think the current financial crisis highlights this quite succinctly. People were told that they could live the American dream & have a home that they truly could not afford to even make minimum payments once their ARM increased beyond the grace period. Yes, based on simple math you can see that once your percentage rate increases, how can you make those additional payments (in addition to your SUV payments, sky rocketing gas prices, vacations...) and yet people went blithely on assuming that somehow they would work something out by either refinancing or doing no improvements/putting forth no money yet being able to make thousands by "flipping" their overpriced home. There is no thought of not only consequences but also of the future--what will I do if I get sick & am unable to work or what if I'm laid off? There are no contingency plans made because the pervasive feeling is that the results of your actions will not catch up to you. When people approach their own lives that way, how surprising is it that they surrender their dog because they "don't have enough time for them?" They focus on what made them think having a pet would do for them, having their own personal cheerleader who thinks they're the moon & the sun, those endearing films like 101 Dalmations with anthropomorphized dogs that save themselves & take care of their humans without ever having accidents or destroying anything. They don't realize that you get out of life what you put into it, if you don't give your pet what they need to succeed (love, attention, adequate exercise, healthy food, shelter) not only will they fail but you had a huge role in that poorly socialized, humping, peeing in the house, shoe devouring animal. If your priorities are primarily focused on yourself, then yes, of course you'll choose the fantasy apartment that doesn't allow pets, not the longer commute, drab place that welcomes the furry members of your family. More personal responsibility for your impact on yourself & others & less self-indulgence.

When I was working I would be at work for 12h shifts, leaving the house at 6:20AM & arriving home at 7-7:30PM. I walked Oski in the morning before I left for work, had a dog walking service take him to an off-leash park for 3-4h in the middle of the day (a whopping $21 for a happy, clean, exhausted dog), & we would walk him together as a family before bedtime. It took me a total of 1 hour out of my day & cost a decent meal at a decent restaurant to do what I needed to do to have a happy, healthy, well-behaved dog. I'm not saying that you should go bankrupt keeping your pet, keep an aggressive pet that attacks you/you are allergic to/many unhealthy & highly uncommon scenarios. I'm suggesting that when you make the decision to take someone into your home you do not take that responsibility & commitment on lightly because it will change their lives forever however things end up.

I've said it before & I'll continue saying it. How you treat someone that is dependent on you/less powerful than you are is a reflection of your character. It can be truly beautiful & amazingly satisfying or dark & sad.

Sorry for blathering on. This topic makes me sad & frustrated.