Despite several posters saying they are not judging anyone who needs to rehome a pet, many of these post sound inflexibly judgmental, implying that anyone who has a different life circumstance, anyone who has a different set of priorities is just plain wrong.

Some posters have shared, quite bravely I think (given the tone of the thread), their decisions to rehome, and have been told by the others, "Well, I don't mean you. Obviously, your circumstance is different." That is exactly the point! All circumstances are different.

The one thing we all need to remember here is what is best for the animal. It is not always to stay in the original home. I have always had rescue pets, both cats and dogs. And I would say that the vast majority of my animals (if not all) have been better off with me. And every single one of them was rehomed from a far worse situation. Adoption and rescue pets PROVE that rehoming is very often in the best interest of the animal.

I say we should support the people whose circumstances we don't know and help them with tools to solve some of their problems, or at least the tools to help them find a forever home, rather than judge and stigmatize.

*Handing over soapbox to next animal lover*

I can agree with this logic, because it would have completely changed their living conditions, like taking a banker and expecting him/her to become a coal miner. Not gonna happen. And with this, I can agree that rehoming (if you can really call it that -- more like, "caretaker reassignment") is the best option.

The general impression I get from the slew of pets-in-search-of-new-homes threads here on EF though, is more of "we can't be bothered anymore and Fido/Fluffy needs a new home".

Interesting recently I have found myself in a predicament which had me thinking about re homing my dog (something I could never have imagined and I also used to be upset at the re-homing posts on here)

Situations change beyond your control. My little dog has been through the mill recently, 10k's worth of tierspital stays and operations which has led her to be very unsettled, barking at anything and everything in our new place, slightly agressive to my little one (but I am not overly concerned about this yet)

With additional personal pressures to deal with the pressure of my little dog was becoming too much. Knowing that we can not leave her home alone anymore at all is a huge stress. My mum sensing the stress I was feeling said maybe I should bring her over to the Uk to hers and I actually considered it for a short while (less than a day) but got sad then thinking about leaving her. We are still trying to figure out what to do and it's not easy but having an animal is never easy - having to consider moving is just a nightmare but maybe we will have to.

I now have empathy for those facing probably far worse challenges than we have been and having to re-home. If an owner puts time and energy into finding their pet the perfect home then what hardship to the animal? they are going to another loving home, in many cases a better home - i sometimes think our dog would be happier elsewhere - she spends most of the time avoiding my toddlers advances.

Just remember there's very likely a sad story behind these re-homing posts and as Nil and BHBT pointed out earlier a child comes first - I am aware that the anti kids brigade would disagree (i may have done once too) but the fact is a child does come first and if your child and pet are incompatible then action has to be taken. What would you say to a parent re-homing a pet because their child was allergic for example? should they re-home the kid instead? actually some people best not answer that

I am sure there are circumstances that one could not foresee that make it necessary to find a new home for your pet. But as somebody mentioned earlier, sometimes it's just the "I can't be bothered anymore" attitude. Or what else would it be that someone gives away a small fishtank with one goldfish (all the other fish died) because they had a baby?

I think it's easy to judge and hard sometimes to find a solution. I believe that a lot of people really go through a lot of heart-wrenching thought and try very hard to work through their issues, finally being left with no choice but to rehome a pet.

At the same time, I don't think others are necessarily being judgmental, but if you've been in a shelter, worked with an abused dog, it makes you so angry that someone could be cruel to an animal, throw it away like a piece of trash. As many beloved pets as there are, there are just too many who aren't. I think it's just as heart wrenching. I'm not saying that people who need to rehome their pets are treating them like trash either...

I try not to judge people too harshly, but I also know that when people start talking about the need to rehome a pet, others will speak up out of past experience. And defensiveness all over the place. Ah, the Internet.

Pet + human

That's lovely glowjupiter but not everyone has the same situation. I have pictures of my dog and baby like that. Fast forward 6 more months to 12 months plus and the story is different. Now toddler wants to pull poke and prod my poor little dog. I know this stage is short and he'll out grow this stage but it made me realize I am glad I have a docile dog how only snaps a warning to my little boy with no harm.

Excellent thread.

As a dog owner for life I try not to judge anyone but it's hard when you see pets suffering their owners irresponsibility.
I recently moved to new canton (FR) and new appartement and guess - our consierge who lives just under has a dog. He & his wife leave home in the morning and come back late afternoon. Sometimes in the weekend they go out for the whole day and .................
they leave their dog home alone for more then 8-9 hours each time.
The poor sweet york cries & howls the whole time, driving me to insanity, since I can't ignore anima'ls suffering.

I complained to the owners of the dog, to the owners of the building to the agency and finally to the Society of animal protection in Fribourg.
The only reactions I got are fired on me as a forginer who should shut up and go to where I came from.
Just for the record. I am Dutch & live in CH for more then 8 years. Never had any issues before, at least not in canton Vaud.
Now in canton Fribourg, well, that's a different story..........

So, please pets owners - be responsible and take care of your pet. If you can't be home to walk the god, to take care of her, do find a pet-sitter, or pension or give the dog to someone how will care.
In this I rather see pets rehome than suffer.

not to mention... it would be really nice if people when to shelters to find pets to care for before getting them from breeders.

In the US, puppy mills are horrible and everywhere. Not sure about it in suisse

Nobody like to leave a pet behind. My personal bugbear (after so many years in China) are the expats who get a pet and then just sort of pass it along, from one keeper to another, until the pet becomes a well-maintained (they're good about that, at least) stress-reliever without any clear home or person.

Just irresponsible. Some places you can't ship your animals to, fair enough - but I see red with people who KNOW they are short term visitors buying animals to soothe their homesickness, then discarding them.

I jumped through the hoops and paid the massive fees (3k CHF or so, for a rescued Shanghai street cat and a Haerbin fur cat who I bought for about 2 francs including shots) to bring my two moggies to Europe with me - and I treasure every penny spent on those two lazy, ungrateful, furry little buggers.

Here they are, ignoring me with malice aforethought, because every thread needs more kittehz

We've had several threads recently on how difficult it is to adopt from a rescue; the increasing numbers of people giving up their pets is one of the main reasons for this.

Yes, there are indeed situations where all other options have been exhausted and one has no other choice. This is terribly sad - and this is the reasons rescues exist, to help the animal and family in such situations.

However, based on my experience on the front lines this accounts for only a small percentage of animals ending up in our rescue. Most are abandoned because the owner simply no longer wants the responsibility. It is a reflection of our 'disposable society'.

I'm very glad that Switzerland has instituted the SKN theory course requirement for prospective first time dog owners - this is indeed helping to make people understand the very great responsibility they are about to undertake, and helping prospective owners to reflect on whether they are truly ready for this, at this time in their lives.

I'd like to go further and see it extended to all pet ownership.

My personal plea, as I stated upthread but worth repeating ad nauseum until we start to see changes in society's attitudes toward pet ownership :

If you can envision a situation - no matter how legitimate - where you could give up your pet, then please: do not get a pet at this time. Wait until you are settled enough, wait until your family/financial/career situation is stable enough that you can hand-on-heart say that you will offer the pet a forever home, come what may.

I know what you're saying, meloncollie, but I think you should qualify exacly how you define 'could give up' against 'must give up', because I can't see where that line is.

I had to give up my iguana (who I had for 6 years after taking her when her first owners left China) because CITES does not allow transport of iguanas without proper documentation of origin, which doesn't happen in China. I took her knowing I couldn't leave with her, and knowing equally that I could never stay a lifetime in China.

Was I supposed to stay there until she died? I could have, but I chose to move because it was necessary for my personal growth and development - so I take a little issue with your hard line as you have it now.

OC, I do take a hard line.

Years of rescue work has left me in despair - more dogs are being given up these days, and more are dying, than ever before.

A large part of the problem is the 'over-production' of pet animals. This is driven by market forces i.e., people wanting a pet - now! - without fully understanding what they are undertaking. It is easier than ever before to get a pet, on a whim, at a moment's notice even.

All too often it's a case of easy-come, easy-go. And the cold hard reality of the pet overpopulation problem today is that there are not enough homes available for the number of pets being born every day.

Battery farmers keep producing puppies because selling two out of a litter of seven still reaps a profit. That those other five puppies end up in rescue - or dead - is of no interest to the producer.

If, however, all prospective pet owners would do a bit more soul-searching before acquiring a pet, if prospective pet owners would forgo getting a pet until such time that they could commit to the pet for it's lifetime, the drop in demand would eventually result a drop in 'production'. And thankfully then a drop in the number of unwanted pets as fall-out.

Working in the sharp end of rescue where, despite all the hard work of so many dedicated people, dogs still die every single day - I stick by my comments. There has to be a fundamental change in society's attitude toward pet ownership.

I've been preaching on my soap box here on EF for years now, and I know that most do not feel the way I do.

One must follow one's own conscience.

@mellon - can't argue with you there, esp. on the issue of the pet trade. I've never had a pet who wasn't a rescue of some sort (Mao Ze Cat, the Haerbin fur cat was purchased, but if he hadn't been he would have become earmuffs or a scarf for Russian tourists).

I don't get the whole purebred thing, don't understand animals as fashion, and cannot abide people who don't make the commitment to their animals. I just think that sometimes people are put in the position of having to rehome their animals.

For me, the line is the emotional pain - if it hurts to do it, if you have to do soul-searching to come to terms with the decision, then I can respect the necessity.

Thoughtless, shallow people who just hand off their pets when they are inconvenient are not people I want to know.

You dont like me because I am pure bred?

@Jordan



I mean I don't understand why some people obsess over (certified, papered) purebreds, especially considering the genetic nastiness that creeps in from all that inbreeding.

I know some people breed, and some people show, but generally it seems to me that it encourages puppy mills and pets as fashion.

Had a great day on Wednesday. My apartment manager called me at work asking about a parrot seen next to our front door. They thought it was ours but they described it as grey which doesn't match ours at all unless they've been playing in the fireplace (which we don't have). I called my wife and she went outside to look and eventually found him. Turns out it was an African Grey. He was clearly upset at being outside but he wasn't so afraid that he didn't recognize a sympathetic parrot mom when he saw one. She got him inside and fed and watered him (apparently something he hadn't been doing a lot of lately by the sound of things!). While she did that, I got on the internet at work and managed to track down a promising 'lost bird' notice from the week before. Time from first call to return of bird to original owners: < 2 hours.

Well phdoofus and mrs too. Must be one of the quickest reunions on record.