When you’re employed at an animal shelter, your objective is to discover a everlasting residence for each animal that comes by way of. In order to make sure canine who get adopted by no means should return to the shelter, it’s as much as the employees to find out whether or not the canine and their adopter are the appropriate match.
However, in a single case, a shelter worker could have stepped over the road in dealing with a lady’s request to undertake a rescue canine named Rocky. The shelter employee posted their story to Reddit, the place it blew up and prompted a serious debate.
A Story About Rocky, A “High Energy” Dog
Redditor u/stinkyStuart requested the sub-Reddit “Am I The A**h*le” whether or not they had been within the incorrect for rejecting an obese lady’s adoption utility. They opened with this context concerning the canine:
“Rocky was taken to us several months ago by a couple that didn’t have the time/energy to care for him. He is a breed that will destroy furniture if not adequately exercised, but when he IS exercised, he is a very good boy. When I let him out of his kennel he showers me with kisses, and I’m always reluctant to put him back. In the several months I’ve known him I’ve hardly seen him tired. Because of his activity level, he’s gotten no adoption applicants.”
Then, in line with the writer, Rocky discovered somebody he favored at an adoption occasion.
“Rocky jumped on a woman and attacked her with kisses. Instead of pushing him away, she embraced him. It was love at first sight. Only problem? She was morbidly obese and drenched in sweat when it wasn’t warm.”
At this level, it appears clear the OP was judging this individual primarily based on appears to be like alone, regardless of including, “I know you can’t judge fitness by looks, but I’ve never met someone her size fit enough to run 2+ hours a day with a hyperactive dog or chase him when he jumps the fence.”
RELATED: How Do I Know If My Dog is Getting Enough Exercise?
When the lady requested about adopting Rocky, she was “interrogated” about her residence and way of life (which in itself is typical).
“She gave me mostly yellow-green flags. She worked full-time, but had flexible hours and could work from home. She lived in an apartment, but next to a dog park etc. But I couldn’t shake the uneasiness. I asked about her activity level and she said she had an ‘active lifestyle’ but didn’t elaborate. ‘Active lifestyle’ has many meanings nowadays.”
In the top, the shelter worker determined to belief their intuition. They claimed it was in Rocky’s greatest curiosity that this lady not undertake him.
“I learned after having this job for a while that you have to go with your gut and prioritize animals over peoples’ feelings. As excited as this woman was about Rocky, I saw him going home with her, getting little to no exercise, trashing a couch or two, and then being taken back here or worse, to a kill shelter. I’d rather he spend a few more months here, with staff who can meet his needs, and wait for a better home. I told her she couldn’t have him, and suggested she look at smaller animals like cats.”
Naturally, the lady was livid at what actually appeared like a purely fatphobic rejection. The poster stood by his actions, however clearly, posting his story to that specific subReddit means there’s some doubt about whether or not he did the appropriate factor.
“She got mad and said things I won’t say here. I didn’t mention weight, but I think she knew that was the reason I turned her away. I briefly doubted my decision. What if she WAS a good fit for Rocky? What if Rocky spends years in the shelter because I turned her away? But as I saw her struggle to walk to her car, I knew I was right. My boss said he would do the same thing.”
Truth Or “Rage Bait”?
The subReddit’s moderators have since eliminated the put up (they cite posting Rule 12: “This is Not a Debate Sub. Posts should focus strictly on actions in an interpersonal conflict, and not an individual’s position on a broad social issue.”) To many, it got here off as this individual’s try and blast fatphobia and be affirmed for that.
There are just a few different purple flags, like the truth that the account that posted the story seems to have been created only for this. Others level to the jarring declare that “I work at an animal shelter, so I basically get paid to play with dogs.” Personally, after I labored at an animal shelter, there was a good quantity of playtime, however largely it was poop scooping and cleansing.
The put up undoubtedly sparked a passionate dialogue no matter whether or not particular particulars had been exaggerated.
Weight, Managing A Dog’s Energy, And Wanting What’s Best
To be completely truthful, there’s help for wanting a canine’s power ranges to be the appropriate match for his or her adopter’s way of life. It prevents them from being returned or from turning to damaging conduct as a consequence of an absence of stimulation.
“I think the general premise of not adopting a high-energy dog into a low-energy home is valid. I do a lot of rescue work with those kinds of dogs, and we base our decisions on the current activity levels of the household, not potential ones. The issue is that a lot of people think a dog will motivate them but it really usually isn’t enough by itself.” – u/Odd-Zookeepergame967
RELATED: 5 Tips For Training Your High-Energy Dog
That stated, the problem largely lies with the poster’s assumptions about this lady primarily based on her look. For all he is aware of, this lady may give Rocky the whole lot he wants and extra. There may have no less than been a trial interval or a house go to.
Many stated precisely this within the feedback on Reddit.
“‘I know you can’t judge fitness by looks’ and then you immediately did just that. The best thing to do would have been a home check and two week foster trial,” u/Lumpy-Caterpillar769 replied.
“YTA [You’re The A**h*le]. How do you know that this woman wasn’t adopting a dog to help her continue on a fitness journey?” u/NUT-me-SHELL requested within the feedback. “Dogs are wonderful judges of character and Rocky chose this woman for a reason.”
The OP responded, agency of their stance:
“It’s not the dog’s responsibility though. It could take the woman years to get to the point where she could run for a long period of time or she could give up despite having an active dog and then where does that leave him?”
Yet others additionally level out that somebody doesn’t want to have the ability to do all the identical bodily duties as their canine so as to stimulate them correctly. Your capability to correctly care in your canine doesn’t actually have something to do together with your weight.
User Kitchu22 wrote: “OP has no idea what Rocky’s lifestyle would have looked like with this prospective adopter because all they saw was their weight. I know obese people with working breeds in apartments who religiously go to agility classes with their dogs, who take them hiking, send their pups to doggy daycare, take them swimming, will spend an hour doing trick training or scent games every day; and I know thin people who have surrendered working breeds because they considered themselves “active” as a result of they walked an hour every day and in any other case put the canine within the yard whereas they had been out of residence 10+ hours.”
Obviously, this isn’t a cut-and-dry subject, however I say we stick to the previous saying about what assuming does. It makes a YTA out of you.
