# Miami Dade Animal Shelter - article



## Allie (Aug 7, 2008)

This was posted on the local ABC affliate website - http://www.justnews.com/family/19913540/detail.html - grim statistics - 100 dogs per day pts at AC. The person featured in the article seems very genuine but one has to be concerned about the number of dogs she is taking - 400 in 5 months. 

Any thoughts from the experienced rescue people? I know the other rescue groups in Miami that have been around a long time are not able to handle nearly that many dogs.

Mary Lou


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## pupresq (Dec 2, 2005)

Our group might have that number of dogs come through in a couple of months but only when you count dogs we transport from our member shelters to other approved rescues so it's not like we're trying to place that many ourselves. I don't see any way for one person to adopt out that number of dogs responsibly.







Even if you live in a metro area with a lot of potential adopters, processing applications, doing home visits, assessing dogs' temperaments all takes time.

That she's adopting them out via Craigslist and within a couple days of pulling them are both red flags. It sounds like she's essentially running a secondary shelter out of her home. Her adopters may not be any worse than those approved at the local shelter or then again they may be. Besides which, one hopes that rescues set the bar a little higher than that in any case. And I would expect the incidence of HWs to be pretty high down there. What happens to dogs like that? Is she treating them? Not pulling them in the first place?









I have seen this kind of operation before that starts with a well-meaning person's visit to a shelter and they jump in trying to help - which is wonderful - but they do so with extreme naivete about where dogs can end up and that there are worse things out there than death.


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## OkieAmazon (Jun 14, 2005)

Off Craigslist she is probably supplying a lot of "bait" dogs and possibly snake food.


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## HeidiW (Apr 9, 2009)

How sad 100 dogs pts. At least she is trying to help. Looks like she is.


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## APBTLove (Feb 23, 2009)

Not many people will pay $100 for bait dogs, they want them free or they will steal them/find them running loose... Snake food..? $100 for a small dog for snakes is also a bit high, when there are dozens of Free to Good Home adds.

As long as she keeps adopting them out, and doesn't become a collector, I say good for her... At least they aren't dead. 

I know this is not the best way to rescue dogs, but she isn't starving, beating, leaving them out in the elements, or giving them out for free, chances are she does more digging into the new owners than the shelter would, so would you prefer someone picks them up from the shelter instead of her home or they die? Either way, they still get adopted by the same people. I've seen a lot of local shelters post their dogs on CL. And I've known people who passed the shelter's applications and then brought home a cheap pure bred to let him or her rot in their backyard, or they got tired of them and sold the dog/took it back to the shelter.

Her home looks clean and none of the dogs look ill, she's dishing out her own cash to help, so for now, I think she is doing okay.


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## Allie (Aug 7, 2008)

On the positive side, this article hit the news today when people in Miami are again angry about the mega millions being spent on a new stadium for the Marlins and it also brings to light, again the dire situation at AC. I am sure this person only has the best of intentions and she is doing what she can, I only hope she is not doing too much. 
ML


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## HeidiW (Apr 9, 2009)

It is amazing how they spend so much on sports when there is so much suffering and help needed in your own back yard.


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## pupresq (Dec 2, 2005)

Here's the problem though - you really can't know what she is or isn't doing from that article and if the numbers are correct, they are certainly enough to raise some red flags. 

IF the animals are altered (perhaps at the shelter) before they go out and IF she really charges $100 adoption fee and IF she treats medical conditions and feeds and houses them adequately when she has them and IF her adoption standards are at least equal to the shelter's then yeah, it may not be ideal but on balance, she's probably doing a good thing. 

The problem is that that's a lot of IFs and you really can't answer all those questions from a short article and a snapshot. 

Here's a link to another group that was receiving similar accolades in the press for helping dogs from a similarly desperate shelter a few months before they were busted:
http://www.pet-abuse.com/cases/13336/KY/US/

It is EXTREMELY easy for people to get way in over their heads with more animals than they can care for and/or be seduced by the lure of selling dogs at a profit (and maybe that starts with good intentions "I can put the money into helping more dogs!" etc) and then have the whole thing come crashing down and the animals are the ones who suffer most. 

I'm not condemning this woman - I don't know enough about her situation to know what kind of job she's doing, but neither does anyone else and I have seen too many cases of "rescue" gone awry to assume the best case scenario. From a purely labor standpoint - and let's even give her the benefit of the doubt and say she has no outside job - how many dogs can one person care for on a day to day basis? 10 dogs? 20? 50? 100? If she can't do it all every day, how much poop left in the kennel is too much? Does she even have kennels? How long in a crate is too long? Is it okay for a dog to stay crated for days at a time in his own feces if he is fed and watered and then gets a home? At what point is compromising care still reasonable because at least he's not dead? 

I am not trying to attack anyone - just trying to illustrate the real conundrums that rescuers face when there are far more animals that need them than they can realistically help. It's a VERY slippery slope from good intentions into neglect and I have seen far too many well-intentioned folks slide down it.


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## brt (Sep 16, 2008)

> Originally Posted By: pupresqHere's the problem though - you really can't know what she is or isn't doing from that article and if the numbers are correct, they are certainly enough to raise some red flags.
> 
> IF the animals are altered (perhaps at the shelter) before they go out and IF she really charges $100 adoption fee and IF she treats medical conditions and feeds and houses them adequately when she has them and IF her adoption standards are at least equal to the shelter's then yeah, it may not be ideal but on balance, she's probably doing a good thing.
> 
> ...


That is a lot of IFs and a huge number of dogs in a short amount of time. 

I do know that this shelter completely vets animals when adopted/rescued including spay/neuter but many of the dogs coming from there suffer from kc, mange, etc. and some of course are HW+. Many vets/boarding facilities in the area won't take dogs from there for health reasons.

The only adoption requirements are a FL ID and the adoption fee.

I've never personally been there but know from people who have that it's a horrible place. I could see how it would be easy for a well intentioned person to get in over their head pulling dogs from there. The sheer numbers are mind boggling. It's been an ongoing problem for years and getting worse with the state of the economy these days.

My latest addition is a refugee from M-D.


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