The Adoption Process
Dear Frankie, Beauregard, a newcomer to the area, we recently became friends. At first, I couldn’t understand anything he was saying because of the way he barked.
Finally, I asked him straight out. “Why do you bark like that?”
He said, “I was born and raised in Georgia, and that’s how all the dogs barked there.”
He then told me how he had come to live in the north and how his adoptive parents had found him online on a pet site. He said they searched for a dog his age, size, and breed, and when they saw his pictures and read his bio, they knew he was the dog for them.
He laughed when he told me they were so eager to adopt him that they sent a check for his adoption fee, and air transportation, with his application form to impress the agency. I guess it worked because a few days later, his foster mom told him he had been adopted and was being flown that afternoon to Massachusetts to meet his new parents.
I asked him how he felt his adoption had been handled. He said it all happened so fast it was all a blur. Don’t you think Beau should have had time to process the idea that he was about to be adopted? Shouldn’t he been told about his new family and where he would be living?
Furthermore, why do humans get to make all the adoption decisions? Shouldn’t families who want to adopt a dog be required to post their pictures and bio on the adoption pet site so that the dogs can search for a family that meets their requirements?
I think it’s only fair that humans and dogs have an equal say about such a significant and life-changing decision.
Bixby
Dear Bixby,
If only life was fair. What a wonderful world it would be for both dogs and humans. In all fairness, not all adoptions are as one-sided, cold, and slam-bam as Beauregard’s. A reputable dog agency would never approve an adoption without verifying that the person submitting the adoption application was legitimate and that the information they provided was truthful.
There is no denying that dogs don’t have much say about who adopts them or, for that matter, who surrenders them. Some canine adoption agencies consider a dog’s unique qualities when they approve a family for an adoption. Despite the lack of regulations and oversight for canine adoptions, millions of rescue dogs have been adopted by responsible, loving, and forever families. I, for one, can attest to that.
Best, Frankie
© 2022 Geneva Woodruff
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