The Choice
Dear Frankie,
Ava, a new dog at the park, trotted over and introduced herself. She told us she had been adopted from a foster home. The foster family she had lived with worked with a shelter. Before the shelter allowed potential adoptive families to visit her, they required the family to sign a statement stating that they had reviewed the dog’s bio and picture.
Ava said that the first three families that came to meet her decided not to adopt her. One family said they wanted a non-allergenic dog with hair. Ava has fur. Another family wanted a small dog. Ava weighs 55 pounds. The third family wanted a low-energy dog. Ava is still a puppy.
She wondered if these humans knew how to read and understood what it felt like for her to be rejected. She said, if she were Queen of the dog kingdom, dogs would also review a family’s application to decide if they were the kind of family they thought might be worthy of them.
Dexter
Dear Dexter,
In a fair world, both the dog and the family would have a choice. Humans, however, don’t score high on social justice for their own kind, let alone for dogs.
I keep thinking about you getting your hopes up before meeting each of these families, only to be told they didn’t want you. No dog should have to suffer rejection over and over again like this.
In defense of the shelters, they do try to match a dog with an adoptive family. For example, if a dog is not child-friendly or dog-friendly, they wouldn’t place it with a family that has small children or one that already has dogs. They also wouldn’t put a large, energetic puppy with someone who was confined to a wheelchair.
Regarding the human’s ability to read, the average adult in America reads at a fifth-grade level. Fifth graders are ten years old. So, if the dog’s bio had big words and long, complicated sentences, the adoptive family might not understand what they had read.
Another possibility is that the families are so excited when a shelter approves them to see a dog, they sign without having read the paperwork or gloss over it.
Best, Frankie
© 2025 Geneva Woodruff
Comments and letters can be sent to Frankie at dearfrankiecolumn@gmail.com. The Fairhaven Neighborhood News publishes the Dear Frankie column. To receive a free online subscription, readers can email neighbnews@comcast.net, request their name be added to the email list or visit www.neighbnews.com to read the paper online or to download the latest issue.
•••
Click here to download the 10/2/25 issue: 10-02-25 Riverside
Support local journalism, donate to the Neighb News with PayPal
