Robert M.

If you really have feelings concerning the number of puppies and cats that are born annually to people and then abandoned at the local humane society and later have to be euthenized you would understand why they have this policy. I know for a fact that t… Read More

If you really have feelings concerning the number of puppies and cats that are born annually to people and then abandoned at the local humane society and later have to be euthenized you would understand why they have this policy. I know for a fact that the Potsdam Humane Shelter has been undergoing a a fund raising drive for sometime to be able to enable them to accept and care for more of these unwanted animals and possibly be able to become a no-kill facility. This is a major undertaking since Potsdam is located in a rural area where the human population is very low, this is near impossible to accomplish without the help of organizations like zootoo. I was very satisfied with the treatment I experienced with this shelter and the one thing that impressed me the most was the interview they conducted before I was able to actually take the puppy home. They asked me many questions that basically gave them a good idea that I wouldn't be returning the puppy to them because I didn't realize that cute puppies can also cause damages by not being house broken, chewing your slippers, etc., they grow up and aren't cute anymore or they require a lot of attention. They asked me about my house and yard (was it fenced in, etc.), would they have shelter when they were outside, my experience experience with pets, did I presently have other petsand yes, I did have other pets. I had a cat and I also had another beagle at home. I was also asked if the were spayed or neutered. They both were and had been since they were about 6 weeks old. Had they not been I would not been able to adopt the dog. The onle option I would have had was to have them operated on before adopting the puppy.

I feel that the breeding of dogs should be left to the legitimate professional breeders. I have been told by many people, over the years, that you should let a female dog have one batch of puppies and they will make a better pet. There is no scientific proof that there is validity to this. I know many people who have bred there dog and raised the puppies and sold them with no proplems. I also know two families with no medical experience with animals that had horrible experience in attempting to breed there dogs. In one case the mother and all the puppies died during the birthing. In the other case the mother died as did one of the puppies. The puppies that lived were given to an animal rehabilitator and I have never heard (or wanted to) how these puppies turned out. Both of these families had young children who were devistated by these events and the last I knew the parents would not consider ever getting them a dog again.

It certainly wasn't the kids fault or the dog's fault this happened. Had the pregnant dogs been seen by a vet regularily this tragedy may not of happened .

Better yet, had they had the dogs spayed it would not have happened. I commend the Potsdam Humane Society for their policy. They not only try to protect the dogs they have for adoption from ending up this way they are also trying to encourage people (except quailified breeders) to have their pets spayed or neutered. Read Less