The DANGERS of dog adoptions on Facebook

Let me be clear.

This is likely the most important post I have made in the last two years of running Let’s Adopt! and posting daily.

Read it please, and share it. You will be saving lives if you do.

Yesterday night we saved the life of a dog. We literally snatched him away from a family that would have either lost him or dumped him at a shelter in a matter of days.

The family called themselves animal lovers, but they were clearly incapable of taking care of that animal, they would have NEVER been able to cater to his needs, to provide him with the right veterinary care, to fulfill the basic needs of the animal.

That adoption should have NEVER taken place and the dog is lucky I intervened.

It is VERY VERY easy to find a home for a dog on the internet, but it is VERY VERY difficult to find a good home.

In the last few months we have had to intervene to rescue animals that had been given away on adoption to the very wrong people by animal lovers who didn’t follow the correct procedures. The story is always the same. Someone finds a dog, puts his picture on Facebook and asks people to apply for it. Someone applies for it, and he gets the dog,  no questions asked. The nightmare starts there… Two days later the dog is again on the streets or taken to a shelter.

Rescuing and rehoming dogs is a great mission, but is also a SACRED responsibility. Let’s Adopt! is not in the business of passing dogs from one hand to the other, what we do here is to finding homes for the next 15 years of the live of that animal, and we will NEVER compromise for the sake of comfort or expediency. This also means that we cannot work under pressure, and that we will take the necessary time to find the perfect home for that animal.

I encourage all of you to rescue animals and to take action where needed, but I must also beg you to follow a system and apply strict rehoming procedures, otherwise the result could end up in death for the animal you have just rescued.

I am going to explain again what are our Adoption Rules in an attempt to make you understand why we are so strict and why we will never again make exceptions.

1. FAMILY MUST HAVE A DOG RIGHT NOW… If the dog has died recently it doesn’t count.. if they have a bird? doesn’t count, if they had a dog when they were young? No… The reason for this is simple risk management. The only way I have to be absolutely certain that you can take care of our animal is when I see you are already taking good care
of yours. There is no other way.. the alternative is for me to believe in your story and your intentions, and think about it.. why should I?

You may like dogs or cats all you want but how can I be sure you will not change your mind after a few hours. People change their minds incredibly fast after a couple of pees on their favorite carpet.

2. Dog MUST live inside the home, not in the garden. No factories, no office animals, no farms. Many reasons for this, but mainly the fact that we are looking for long term adoptions, not short term arrangements. What are the chances a dog living on a factory will receive the necessary veterinary care and attention when he is sick?
Same as a dog living on a farm…

3. Dog MUST be fed raw. This is a particularity of this group. Raw feeding is the ONLY biologically appropriate diet for a carnivore. To me, agreeing to follow this rule means that you will be putting the interest of the animal above your own, and that is precisely the kind of person I am trying to find.

These are MY rules, and after two years of rehoming on Facebook our success speaks for itself. These rules are applied in all our networks, not only in Turkey. Canada, USA and France will follow exactly the same procedures. These rules are not here to satisfy my ego as some may think. I personally don’t care what you think of me but if you are reading this message right now it means you somehow value my opinion.

Our rules are there to ensure the life of the animals and I strongly encourage you to follow them in your own particular rescues.

In Turkey, statistically only 1 out of 10 applicants is capable of taking care of an animal. 1 out of 10.

Please share this on your profiles.