[jaguarundi]

My friend lives in a smallish town in Texas. She went to her local shelter to walk dogs with her brother, and they met a sweet pup they both really liked and wanted to adopt. The shelter took the dog's temperature and sure enough, he had a fever.

Instead of letting my friend adopt the dog, and since the shelter didn't have the vet resources to treat a sick and possibly contagious dog, they had to put him down.

Isn't that sad? I can't believe they just euthanized a well-behaved dog with an imminent chance at a home. Has anyone else had a similar experience? Please tell me this is not the norm.

 

[chubby]

Maybe they had bad experiences in the past where adoptive parents sued them for allowing them to adopt a less than healthy dog? Maybe they don't have paperwork that releases this liability? I don't know, but it's so sad

 

[trainingjunkie]

Maybe they had a decent reason to suspect parvo? In that case though, no one should have been interacting with the pup to begin with.

Sounds nutty. I would guess there is a whole other side to this story that we are missing.

 

[jaguarundi]

Yeah, you're right. There must have been more to it than I heard. Just such a shame.

 

[Pawzk9]

Unfortunately, there are shelters that would rather euthanize than adopt.

 

[Tofu_pup]

Maybe they had a decent reason to suspect parvo? In that case though, no one should have been interacting with the pup to begin with.

Sounds nutty. I would guess there is a whole other side to this story that we are missing.

I was thinking Parvo too.

 

[Pawzk9]

I was thinking Parvo too.

All sorts of things can cause an elevated temperature in dogs, including stress. If the potential owners were informed and willing to take the dog to a vet, seems like a better solutuion than just killing the dog.

 

[Alerondogs]

All sorts of things can cause an elevated temperature in dogs, including stress. If the potential owners were informed and willing to take the dog to a vet, seems like a better solutuion than just killing the dog.

I have to agree. Even if the puppy did have Parvo, many puppies recover from Parvo and live normal, happy lives especially if treatment is started early. It sounds like this puppy had no symptoms other than a fever? Having a fever is a really, really poor excuse for killing a puppy who had a family willing and ready to adopt.

 

[Tofu_pup]

All sorts of things can cause an elevated temperature in dogs, including stress. If the potential owners were informed and willing to take the dog to a vet, seems like a better solutuion than just killing the dog.

I agree. The only reason I thought Parvo was because that's the only thing in my head that kind of(not really) justifies the shelter's actions. A better shelter would have the puppy into a vet ASAP and warn potential adopters of any illness/veterinary treatment required.

 

[jaguarundi]

many puppies recover from Parvo and live normal, happy lives

^Agreed. My dog had just recovered from Parvo when I adopted her, and I am so glad someone put the effort in to treat her rather than the other option. I guess both me and my pup are some of the lucky ones.

 

[HollowHeaven]

Unfortunately, there are shelters that would rather euthanize than adopt.

It's extremely unfortunate that this is true.