Would you feel comfortable adopting a dog or cat from a dirty pet shelter?

When I visit pet shelters they always tell me to not go into a certain area, the areas are sometimes dirty or smelly. Can we trust that they have given the pets all their required shots? Do you feel comfortable taking their word?

nopenopenope

Honestly I would want to adopt from a place like that to ensure a dog doesn't die there from the filthiness. Most shelters don't vaccinate anyways so it doesn't matter. Save a life, adopt a shelter pet, especially a dirty kill shelter.

anytime you adopt you should take the animal to your vet to get a check up just to make sure the animal is truly healthy. Most shelters will offer free vet care for a few months or so. I never really take their word, I get a second opinion every time. Good Luck.

No.

ARE YOU FUCKING INSANE? OF COURSE ITS FINE

I would rather give my adoptions fees to a shelter that strives to take better care of their animals. Cleaning doesn't take much money, just time. I would ask for vet records for shots.

I would but I would still take the pet to a clinic.

yes. but still take them to the vet.

i wouldnt because lately alot of "shelters" are not shelters one whose name i cannot mention is rather famous because a Hollywood actress got her dog from there.they breed the dogs...and "adopt" them out for about 300 unaltered just like some of the people running "private" rescues on craigslist and petfinder.people adopt these dogs and are told they are fixed and had all their shots and some of them end up with pregnant dogs (wow they are fixed but they magically get pregnant? hmm) or they get parvo, kennel cough ect....only adopt from reputable shelters or rescues! dont support back yard breeders and puppymills that pretend to be rescuing animals they use pity to sell them and breed more and more ....taking away homes from true rescues they do not breed for health or ability..money thats what they breed for. get dogs from reputable shelters , rescues or breeders never back yard breeders, puppymills or fraudstheir are such things as reputable shelters and rescues that are certified this place your talking about most certainly is not reputable or certified if they cant even keep clean living conditions.

Go with your gut feeling. Some shelters are run by volunteers, and just plain don't have enough people to keep up with the housekeeping duties. A better way to judge is by interacting with the animal. As far as health goes, I would make sure you can take the dog or cat to your vet to make sure he or she is healthy. I wouldn't get a new puppy from a breeder with a dirty kennel though, because that just screams "puppy mill." Hope you find the right pet for you who will love you forever.

There's no excuse for a shelter to not be as clean as possible. I would not adopt from a shelter that couldn't keep up basic hygienic standards. Of course a shelter will not smell GOOD and of course I don't expect a kennel with 10 puppies in it to be totally spotless, but there is a basic standard of care.

Are you calling all pet shelters dirty, or are you asking specifically about shelters that seem dirty?If it were my only pet (or fist pet) I wouldn't mind - you can always re-do shots and clean a pet up.If I already had pets, I'd be more concerned about any diseases the dog could pass on...however, I suppose that's always a risk.As far as shelters in general, I already have to shelter dogs and they're great.

Coming from a shelter volunteer, the off limits areas are for your protection and the protection of the animals. For example, we have an area called "Observation" where dogs that are believed to have some sort of aggression problems have their behavior observed to evaluate whether or not they can be adopted. We also have an area called the "Animal Care Center" where puppies and kittens are kept for the first two weeks they are at the shelter to evaluate their health to make sure they are not infectious and would then contaminate the healthy puppies and kittens on the adoption floor. We also have a "Recovery" area for dogs that are being treated for heart worms, mange, spay/ neuter, etc. Lastly, we have different areas for for mothers that have just had puppies. These areas are usually quieter and therefore, less stressful for mom and puppies to grow up. None of the animals that are contained in these areas are available to be adopted and therefore do not need to be seen by the public.Our building is over 100 years old. It's not our fault. We used to handle animal control for the city and the county but a new organization made a deal with the city to create a new shelter to cover animal control services for the city, therefore now we only serve the county. They have a brand new building and receive city funding while we receive little funding from the county. Yes, our building can seem disgusting to some. We have bugs and sometimes the kennels are not completely spotless but that does not mean that our animals are not taken care of by the staff and volunteers. We are understaffed. A shelter of our size should have around 45- 50 employees, we have about 10. The 10 kennel workers we have (if it's even that many) are tasked with cleaning the kennels and feeding and watering and medical care of 300 dogs and 200 cats AT ONE TIME. The staff LOVE these animals and NEVER complain about having to clean up after them and take care of them. The volunteers stay for HOURS after the shelter has actually closed to help the staff close up and do last call water rounds in all the kennels. During the winter, they stay late to pass out blankets to the dogs who have drafty kennels. Volunteers lie awake at night thinking about the dogs that have been in the shelter for years, the forgotten puppies that grew up and then just disappeared in the sea of the other 300 adult dogs that the shelter houses. If you don't feel comfortable adopting from a certain shelter then don't adopt from them. When you do adopt, however the vet you pick your dog up from will give you a document of proof of what they did that day, including the vaccinations they received that day. If the dog is ready to go home directly from the shelter then the shelter will give you a that dog's vet records so your vet is able to start a file or the dog. Do I feel comfortable taking their word? Yes. I don't judge a book by it's cover. I have never come across a shelter that intentionally tells the adopter the dog has or will receive vaccinations and then does not follow through. That's unethical and can get them a bad reputation very quickly. If the dog does not come with shots then they will just tell you, they won't deceive you. Instead of judging a shelter based on the conditions the dogs live in, try judging based on the condition of the dogs themselves. If you walk through our shelter, you will never see a dog that looks malnourished and if there is one that is looking a bit thin they are on the extra feeding schedule to get them back in shape. You will NEVER see a dog or cat that has bald spots and you will never see an animal that looks like it has ear mites or even a runny nose. We may not have the best facilities, but I'll be damned if people are able to accuse us of not loving our animals enough and not providing them with the care they need.