Save a life, adopt a dog - but we're going to make it as hard as freakin' possible

Seriously, if I knew having kids was so much easier than adopting a dog, perhaps I would have just opted to go the Duggars’ route. Okay, well, that’s a lie, I don’t want another kid – don’t want to be pregnant again, don’t want to waddle again, don’t want to endure labor again. So that’s out.

But in all honesty, it shouldn’t be so freakin’ hard to adopt a dog. I mean, I understand why they won’t let just any derelict adopt a dog, though it does seem contradictory when any derelict can be in charge of who receives dogs. Allow me to explain …

First I find this dog at the Scott County Humane Society on Monday. I e-mail asking to set up a time to see him (since they are all in foster care rather than at a shelter). She says I have to complete the application, even if I just want to meet the dog. A little annoying, but I guess I can see the justification, since you want to make sure these people are actually interested in the dog. I send in the application, and the woman starts calling my references (really, references are necessary?) within hours of receiving my application. Sounds good, ball is rolling. I don’t hear from her again for FOUR MORE DAYS in which she tells me that there’s been “an overwhelming response” for that dog and she has to review all the applications. Wha-huh? This is like applying for a job all of the sudden.

Frustrated by the lack of response from Scott County – because, you know, I figured if they wanted their dogs to get adopted they’d be all about processing applications to get it taken care of. To me, taking their sweet time is proving they don’t believe in the very cause they are promoting because, if I were running the joint, we’d be turning around dogs as fast as we could generate legit interest in them.

Anyway, so we head out to Lexington Humane Society on Wednesday and there were a couple that I loved, one that Scott and I both loved, but we held out because Jocelyn wasn’t thrilled (which was something we really didn’t expect – she loves dogs, but she was tired and hungry, so she was cranky, and it was loud in there, so I understand her apprehension). So we left empty-handed that night.

Last night we decided to take a drive to Paris to visit Paris Animal Welfare Society and see these adorable boxer mix puppies. Well … that was a giant mess because we got lost and didn’t make it until 15 minutes after they closed. But of course. It was at that point Scott and I kind of looked at each other, feeling remorse over not adopting Pyro the night before, so we decided to follow-up with him today.

Unfortunately for us, Pyro has a new home. Oddly enough, he was adopted on Wednesday, which is somewhat funny because we were there until they closed on Wednesday. But, whatever, as long as he’s in a good home, that’s all that counts, right?

Now, don’t think that the cluster that is the way the Scott County Humane Society operates was the only cluster I encountered along the way. Oh no, I wouldn’t be so damn pissed over all this if that were the only snag.

Lexington Humane Society, the employees are fantastic, everyone we encountered up there was great. Problem being, they don’t particularly like answering the phones. I understand being busy, but seriously, let’s hire someone else. To me, if the phone isn’t answered, it just makes people more irritated and less likely to continue the adoption process.

PAWS, well, the idiot girl there gave me wrong directions. Sigh. Plus, well, it’s in Paris. Nothing good comes out of Paris, Kentucky. (See last night’s Facebook status.)

All of that, and even the idiots at SCHS aren’t enough to top this one. Woodstock Animal Rescue had this gorgeous black lab/border collie mix Scott and I fell in love with online. On the site there are two different numbers for the animal shelter, and a number embedded in the ad for information on that specific dog. I call the first number for the shelter and get a machine. Call the specific number for the dog and I get a message that it’s been disconnected. Finally I get someone on the third number, though she only answered the phone, “Hello,” so I had no idea if I had the right place or not. Finally, we manage to realize I called the right place and I mention this particular dog. She goes, “He’s in Louisville, isn’t he?” Umm, no. The ad says Lexington. Here’s a shock, woman, I can read. Then she asks me for the number embedded in the ad, which I give her and she goes, “Ohhh, he was adopted awhile ago. He should have been taken down and wasn’t.” Well, great. Way to prove how effective your organization is. Over and over and over again. Makes me regret the fact I took both Booger and Demon to Woodstock Animal Hospital (they are, obviously affiliated) to get fixed 10 years ago – but I was a broke college kid, I was going for cost effectiveness. Now I know why it was so cheap – I guess I’m just lucky I got my cats back after I dropped them off for surgery. Knowing how well they operate, it’s entirely possible they would have handed me a newly-spayed dog and sent me on my way.

I understand that a lot of these organizations are run by volunteers, but for the love of God, if you screen potential owners like they are running for public office, you should do the same for your volunteers. They represent the face of your organization. I swear, if it wasn’t so damn important to us to rescue a dog, we might just head back to a breeder.

This is a random dog I found online, none of the ones we were looking at.
Good thing too, cause I'd be going to jail for stealing this one when people didn't answer phones or return e-mails. :)