Website going to far?

Actually, I think it is good because it is an eye opener to people who get rid of their animals for stupid reasons. Not all of them are stupid (for example..allergy reasons) but there are people out there who might be ready for an animal and want to save and animal who is about to lose it's life. I work for a rescue, a no-kill shelter, but I would rather see someone adopt a dog who is about to get euthenized than from the no-kill shelter. If I could adopt another dog then I would definitely go to that website and see which dogs needed to be adopted.

I know all the animals in the world (or even on that website) can't be saved but even if a few of them can, it would be worth it.

I think education is the key..education about spaying/neutering pets, being ready for an animal before going out to adopt one, etc. That is why some of those animals are in that predicament...because some people just don't take pets as serious and think they can throw them away like trash or breed them like crazy and then don't know what to do with the litter so they give them to animal control or whatever.

If people don't want to look at the website then they shouldn't go there. But I think they are targeting people who want to save pets' lives. Some people go to those types of shelters to adopt those animals and foster them until they find a good home for them. I think those people are good samaritans (as long as they don't hoard them...then that runs along the line of just being crazy and perhaps just as bad as puppy mills).

So overall, I don't think it is wrong.

I think it's a great site. I agree that if you're not interested don't go and look.

I know that if I was looking for an animal I'd start there to see if MY animal was there. If I could find the one I was supposed to take home why wouldn't I start there?

That's so sad! Effective though ... I wanted to drive to Reidsville and adopt one that only has 1 day to live!

Most rescues do have strict rules depending on their blanket rules or the temperament of the dog. Most rescues are stricter then humane societies or shelters so it depends on what it was.

It's not fun but Ellen knew what she was signing when she did it. The dog should go back and the new family should be evaluated, if they don't pass then there is another family that will. They want to be SURE that the dog isn't going to be bounced around. The only reason it would have probably worked out is because it's Ellen.

I don't know for sure but my guess is that that site stops the count down while they file your application and check to see if you're a fit home. If they don't that's another issue.

I agree Liz. I think that is a crazy rule as well and have never heard of such a thing of protecting animals from children.

If I were the owner of a rescue group here is what I would do: Instead of saying you have to bring the dog back to us if you don't want it anymore, I would say if you find a good home for the dog to please let the rescue group know just to make sure that the home is fit for the dog. A simple home visit by the rescue (to make sure it wasn't given to a puppy mill or hoarder) would be good enough. That way the dog doesn't go back to the shelter if it doesn't need to and it still has a good home.

I wonder how the rescue group found out Ellen gave it to her hairdresser? I don't think that is mentioned anywhere. The only thing I can think of is some rescue groups do follow-up calls to make sure the animal is doing ok in its new home and maybe that is what happened and Ellen told them what she did.