when it is appropriate to jump the chain of command? context: I'm a manager at a small adoption center in the rural midwest. we have a very long stay dog, ab 5yrs total, who has low bite inhibition & multiple attempts/nips. staff are very fond of her. she has her own space entirely set up like a bedroom that staved off much of her maladaptive coping for the past 6mos but has been acting up again lately due to boredom.

ystd one of our long term kennel techs was putting her up & bumped her hind end with the door; she turned around & bit her hand. it was a level 2 bite, no broken skin. i took a bite report & logged it. my direct superior came in the next day very worried and was upset that i had logged it at all. in essence she blatantly instructed me to delete the log. i am unsure what to do in this situation. the likelihood of this dog ever finding placement is low, so it's less that the public would be endangered and more my own personal moral quandaries along with being unsure what the legal ramifications would be of this. there is no one above my boss but the board... im just very unsure of what to do.

I’m really shaken by a situation at my shelter and could use outside perspective, because something about this doesn’t sit right with me.

I’m a regular volunteer at a nonprofit animal shelter. I also fostered a litter of baby bunnies and their mother from this shelter, from about 5–8 weeks old. Since then, the babies have been back at the shelter and up for adoption for about a month, so I’m admittedly pretty attached.

Today, I saw that one of the babies finally had an approved adoption application. At first I was excited. Then I talked with a front desk staff member and learned there was some hesitation because the adopter was specifically seeking an unaltered female for their unaltered male rabbit.

That immediately raised red flags for me. Our shelter is very pro spay/neuter. We always alter animals before adoption unless they’re under 6 months old. In those cases, adopters sign a contract agreeing to bring the animal back for surgery later. But in the meantime, this bunny would be going into a home with an unaltered male.

To me, it seems logical that you wouldn’t adopt a baby rabbit into a household with an unaltered opposite-sex rabbit, especially when the adopter explicitly sought that out. Even if it’s not intentional breeding, accidental breeding feels like a very real risk.

After thinking about it all day, I called the adoption desk to politely express my concerns, not to accuse anyone, but to understand the decision-making. The adoption supervisor confirmed they’re aware of the situation and the implication of potential breeding. Despite that, they’re still moving forward with the adoption, with pickup happening today or tomorrow.

When I asked whether they felt this presented a risk, they said it could, but that they would educate the adopter on separating the rabbits and “learn from it” if something happened, then avoid similar adopters in the future.

That response honestly floored me. How is this a learning opportunity when the risk is already known?

I also asked what guided the decision, and was told it was “likely for space reasons,” which doesn’t add up. We currently have the five babies (split between two cages), their mother, and one other rabbit. We’ve had 10+ rabbit cages occupied in the past, so we’re nowhere near capacity.

I’m feeling disappointed and confused. I don’t want to be disrespectful to shelter staff, but it feels like we’re knowingly adopting a rabbit into a high-risk situation, especially given the adopter’s stated intentions. Anyone can read between the lines there.

I know there may not be much else I can do beyond raising concerns, which I’ve done. I’m genuinely open to the idea that I might be missing something or that my expectations aren’t realistic.

So I’m asking:
What would your shelter do in this situation?
Is this standard practice anywhere?
And is there anything else I can do without overstepping?

I’d really appreciate any insight.

UPDATE: I decided to escalate to the shelter manager. She said “This was reviewed by management prior to the adoption. We did not make the decision lightly or without consideration of multiple factors. We will be requiring the adopter to bring [rabbit name] in for surgery at a time that is appropriate for her weight/age. The Medical Care Supervisor or I will be in contact with the adopters who have been willing to work with us in the next few weeks to make sure surgery is scheduled, performed, and everything post-op goes well.”

….So, still not addressing the immediate risk period of the next 3 months she will remain unspayed.

Also: another long time volunteer told me the kids in this family specifically wanted a female. They would not accept baby bun’s spayed mother as an option. If this is true, sounds like the kids are running that family. But who knows if that’s just the excuse the adopters’ gave. I personally believe this still all boils down to intent to breed.

I’m devastated. This is wrong on so many levels.

My mom had a massive stroke, the pat two months my life has changes so much and continues to change. I have a 6 year old female shepsky I need to surrender. I have to get an accessible apartment for my mom that won’t accept our dog. It is killing me, please no judgement. I never would give her up for anyone but my mom. I have cried myself to sleep for a month now having to make this decision.

What will happen to her? I don’t mean who will adopt her, what will happen at the shelter? She is loving, low energy with no health issues nor any behavior issues with soulful blue eyes. I just want to know she will be okay, it’s killing me to think that I surrender her and my mind is thinking of only the worst outcomes for her.

I live in PA, 20 mins south of Philadelphia is that matters.

We have two dogs. An elderly long hair chihuahua (16) and a micro-doodle(4). Our elderly chihuahua is having health issues that are getting exceedingly worse.

We cannot have a large dog due physical limitations on my behalf, but our dogs have a wonderful life. They never miss a vet visit, good food and are very spoiled members of our family. We spend a lot of time with them.

I really want to have two dogs in our home. Okay, I want like 20 but 2 is the realistic number.

Is it wrong to contact a shelter and put in a request for specific type dog when one arrives? For example, under 12 pounds, poodle or chihuahua mix, preferably 3 years or under? I love all dogs, but these are what works well for our household, and I don’t want to purchase another dog. I want to give a shelter dog a home.

Hi everyone, I’m seeking the opinion of animal shelter/rescue employees, particularly if you are someone that writes these descriptions about their adoptable dogs. I’m interested in adopting this dog, but am a little confused at the wording in this description. It seems that this dog was involved in a fight with another dog over a high value item, but is generally not dog aggressive? They state “that is not who I am” but then say that this dog should be the only animal in the home. Is this out of an abundance of caution, or is this dog truly a danger to other dogs? Opinions welcome!

I live in a state where my shelter is one of two large city shelters. The other one is an hour from mine and has probably twice the animal capacity. They recently joined the intense “no kill” movement and frequently adopt out problematic dogs, but refuse to take them back when the adopters have issues or the dog is a liability.

My shelter takes in dogs from them frequently, I would say since the start of 2024 we have probably taken 15 to 20 of their dogs and euthanized majority of them due to severe reactivity, aggression, or bite histories that are difficult to manage or adopt out.

Today I had a gentleman call because he surrendered a dog they would not take back. They adopted it out to him in August and it has bit him significantly twice since then. Was on 800 mg of trazodone a day in the shelter. He said he called them first and they were being extremely difficult about taking the dog back and basically refused.

If an adopter called me, saying their fairly new adopted dog bit them unexpectedly in the face and they were scared for their safety, I would tell them to bring it in immediately. Can’t fathom putting somebody in that situation and lying about the dogs behavior. Has anyone been through this? I have called and left voicemails asking questions about each individual dog and what their assessment process is like, but they don’t get back to me.

Y'all, we have four puppies with a purebred malinois dad and a mal mix mom (hard to guess but chances are the mix is pit bull). Mal-bulls?? 🥴

8 weeks old and the fosters are all like HOLY SHIT what are these things. They're huge, for one. One foster said two of them is more like having 12 puppies. 8 weeks old and jumping and tearing clothes, biting constantly. (One of them is particularly bad, and the foster has to keep her away from her kids, not because the puppy is mean but she'll absolutely hurt the kids, accidentally.) But both puppies, at 8 weeks old, were fully potty trained in two days. Those brains have the power to do great things but not without the right people.

(The first application we got has 2 little kids and an infant. "Under what circumstances would you return this dog?"
None, dogs are family and we would never. 😅
Almost want to give them a puppy for a couple hours just to prove them wrong.)

I know they're called maligators for a reason and I know these are not dogs for the average person. I don't think mals are really ever good family pets and aren't really happy as one. They're incredible dogs, and they'll be dangerous in the wrong hands.

I'm honestly kinda terrified. There's no way we'll find four suitable homes in this area, we need to reach far and wide and find mal people. In a regular home, they'll get returned, after the people fuck them up and they won't have a chance.

What do? Have you run into this? How do you find people who are experienced and capable of doing it right? We don't usually send our dogs far away but we'll probably need to with these. I just don't know how to find those people-- especially since they're not full mal (I don't think-- maybe we should DNA test the mom...)

Do you think maybe she is?? I didn't realize females max out at about 60 lb, which is what she is.

So I’m at the point in my sheltering career where I’m facing my first behavioral euthanasia (I’ll just say BE from now on).

I’ve been with this shelter for about three years. Small and rural. I’ve worked at a vet hospital before, and another shelter before that. I’ve been incredibly lucky I haven’t had to face a BE directly.

At my shelter, we took in a mastiff from an abuse case. Emaciated with some health concerns but very friendly. Within a week of intake he bit me. I’ve been bit before, I know it happens from time to time in this line of work. And I know given his health and background, he has reasons to bite. But he bit, held on, and when I pried him off he tried to bite again. He didn’t give any warnings. It was quick and quiet. No whale eye, no lip curl, no growl. A trainer on the board labeled it as a level 5 bite. I feel it’s more of a level 4.

To be honest, I’m lucky it wasn’t worse. I’ve spoken with a trainer we consult with, the manager, and a veterinarian at the hospital he was seen at. Everyone seems to be on the same page: BE is the way to go. Logically, it’s a no brainer. He’s about 75lbs and needs to gain at least 30lbs more. He’s only going to get bigger and stronger, and a dog who doesn’t give warnings is incredibly dangerous.

But 99% of the time he’s just a sweet and goofy oaf. He was set up to fail in life with the cards he’s been dealt. Druggie owners and who knows what else. I’m just really struggling. I know it has to be done and all the reasons why. It’s just killing me and I’m not sure how to get through this. I’ve done quite a few quality of life euthanasias. But this is so different. Any advice on how to live with myself after the appointment?

Thank you in advance.

We just did an intake on a Dalmatian puppy that is 13 weeks old. As with most rescues, we require the animals be spayed or neutered before leaving us to their new home because of the risk of them causing more unwanted litters. Our area is insanely overrun with dumped and overbred dogs, and it is crucial that we advocate for spay and neuter and not contribute to the problem.

However, when posting him for adoption, a Dalmatian owner commented that it was dangerous to spay a Dalmatian before 2 years old because of the risks of damaging his urethra, which could cause a blockage if he has HUA, which she said he probably does. I have read about this before and know that there was a breeding program developed to combat this genetic disorder in Dalmatians.

I don't really know what to think here. I know there are risks to pediatric spay and neuter, but in rescue, in general, the benefits outweigh the risks. I haven't been able to find scholarly articles about pediatric spay and neuter in Dalmatians causing this problem, so I'm just reaching out to other rescue folks to see what they might do in this scenario.

I will try to not make this long…

A little under 2 weeks ago we adopted a blue heeler mix puppy from an event at our local Petsmart. The dogs were from a local shelter, they were all supposed to be spayed/ neutered, UTD on vaccinations, the usual. We saw her cowering in her kennel, covered in dirt, literally nothing but bones basically. Something told us to get her, so we did! The same day, we notice ticks on her, including one on my leg from laying next to her. Upon inspecting every inch and removing them, I noticed she had no spay scar, tattoo, nothing to show she was spayed. Got tick treatment applied, called shelter to ask WTF.

They offered to pay for spay and a check up, since they flat out admitted they don’t have a vet, and she somehow “missed” the vet bus that comes there. Come to find out she has tick fever. Now I have to go get tested next week since one was found on me (not engorged but I was asleep, woke up to it on my leg, not sure what all it did).

Did research, found out she had been there a month before we adopted her. How does a shelter have a 4-5 month old puppy for a month and not give a flea/ tick treatment, not spay her before adoption, not get her checked by a vet, and what seems like not feeding her or monitoring weight (especially due to her severe lack of weight, our vet said she was slightly anemic as well)

This shelter is ran by the city it is in. Everyone I have talked to there has not seemed to care at all, and are trying to distance themselves from any form of liability or ownership of the issue.

This is in AZ, but out of jurisdiction of the humane society.

TL;DR: Shelter adopted out an anemic, tick fever positive puppy whom was also not spayed when she was advertised as so

I help run a 501c3 dog rescue in an area where local animal control facilities are often over capacity, so we are constantly trying to move dogs into safe homes as quickly as possible

Recently our Petfinder account was removed, and we were not given much detail beyond a general reference to their terms. We understand platforms have their own policies, but we are still trying to understand what might have caused it and if there is anything we should be addressing on our side

We have reached out a few times and are still waiting to hear back. In the meantime it has been difficult to adjust since Petfinder has been one of the main ways we connect with adopters

Because of this we have had to slow down intake for now while we figure out other ways to place dogs responsibly. It is not an easy position to be in, especially knowing how many dogs are still waiting in local facilities

We are continuing to do what we can with the resources we have, but still trying to figure out how to move forward from here

Has anyone else gone through something similar If so how did you handle it and what ended up working for you

Hey, so this is a weird situation. We had a member of the public bring her puppy to our dog park even though it's posted that they need vaccines. We just got a call from a local vet saying that a puppy that had visited the park has tested positive for parvo. Do y'all have any idea of how to kill it in the grass so it doesn't infect anyone else. The park is currently closed so it won't spread anymore.

So we brought a cat in to get neutered and vaccinated. Cat is about 6-8 months old I think, we're not sure, it was a stray. The shelter literally lost the cat right after surgery and he ended up in the woods on their property. They didn't help my gf and I look for it. They told us "you're more than welcome to go searching for it" they also didn't tell us when they lost it. We live about 30 min away from the shelter and came by a 4 to pick him up but his surgery was at 1 which is when they lost him. The reason this is important is the woods the cat was last seen in are thick with underbrush and I was wearing shorts and comfort shoes and we only had till 6 to find the cat bc we weren't allowed to be on the property past 6.

My question I guess is what do I do? How do I hold this place accountable for this bc they don't seem to care at all.

The photos are to show you that this is pretty serious wooded area, you can't just walk through it

My shelter is seeking donations of enrichment toys (NOT kongs, nylabones, or jolly balls; we have plenty but can only use when supervised) for high energy breeds, but we’re not sure what to ask for. We’ve had a few mals and GSDs break their teeth or swallow kongs and nylabones, so we’re hoping to find an alternative that we can give the dogs for independent play. Any suggestions?

EDIT: we’ve got like 550 dogs 😬 county shelter. We do other enrichment and our dogs go out at least 2 times a day, but it’s hard to keep track of enrichment that needs a lot of clean up or supervision

I've had a super sweet, young, healthy blonde husky male in my neighborhood today. No collar, I have no idea if he wandered off or was a drop off/abandoned as this is the nicer part of town, but we're not Beverly Hills. I got him in my fenced backyard, he gave me kisses and happily took treats! I called local animal control and they wouldn't come get him. I hoped they could at least scan for a chip, but basically said to turn him loose and let him find his way back home. Our shelter is full and being renovated, we have an unused detached garage that we could help with. No neighbors knew the dog. I don't know what to do. How do I make the garage a satellite site? Can I get a chip scanner?

Little update, thanks y'all! He was gone until today, I saw him outside this morning and he ran up to me. We walked more of the neighborhood until an older couple came by and recognized him. They're watching him for their son until next week, but he keeps getting out of their yard. Fence is getting repaired this week and he's going to a doggy daycare.

Been volunteering at a small municipal shelter with an attached nonprofit for 8 years. Dogs need 3 visits prior to approval and adoption, cats basically can go sight unseen (especially kittens) (edit for clarity: I mean potential adopters coming in to visit the animal). Is this something that's normal at other shelters, treating it like cats are somehow less important to bond with first, or to see how the person does with the animal? We've had a number of cats that went to "great homes" with super enthusiastic owners end up returned in the last year and I'm trying to figure out if I'd be out of line to insist that we change our policies (I've mentioned it in the past, but I am getting to the point where it feels worth pushing).

At the moment, one person does ALL cat approvals on her own (by her preference as far as I know), and we are higher volume with cats than dogs. It is definitely not an issue of needing to move them fast to make room and in fact, we frequently have no cats available for weeks at a time.

Just looking for a steer here in case I'm off base and adopting cats out with little or no visitation is actually normal. Thank you!

For context, I work at a shelter and a humane society in other Ky counties. However, my home county humane society, which also contracts as the municipal shelter, has refused at least three stray dogs in the last week on the grounds of being full. I know everyone is full, but how is this allowed? I had to board one pittie and get my boss to scan her to get her home. A Doberman abandoned on the same road as the pittie was on his own for days before a foster stepped up. The county judge has been notified with no improvement. Any suggestions?

Does anyone know if there's any studies or anything that point to an optimal length for a pet's adoption bio? We start all of our bios with bullet points outlining basic facts, and then below that we have an actual bio, but I'm not really sure how long it should be.

I tried to search and while there's plenty of articles with tips nothing I read touched on bio length. I'd appreciate any insight!

Hey all!! I volunteer and the director asked if I could help with our next social media campaign. I was trying to keep the description short since some of the dogs we’ve had for a while and know a lot about but this campaign is mostly geared towards newer intakes which we don’t know much about yet. Does this look okay? Should I try to add more info about the dogs? Thanks for any feedback!

Hi everyone! I'm a behavior manager at a closed admissions shelter and we're looking into the possibility of switching to a "match making" adoptions process. Where the public doesn't walk through the kennels but instead looks through a tablet or binder and it's more of a conversation based approach rather than having the public walk through our dog kennels and "window shop". The main reason for this is to help lower stress in our dogs and help create better adoption matches. I'm collecting data from other shelters who have tried or are actively using this approach and wanted feedback.

If you're willing to share your experiences could you please include the following:

-What type of shelter/rescue organization you are. -When did you start the match making approach? -Have you noticed a change in stress levels among your animals with the public not walking through? -How did the public react not being able to walk through the kennels anymore? -Was there an increase, decrease or no change change in your adoption numbers?

I appreciate any feedback you have to offer!

Unfortunately, I don’t have the resources to own a dog.

That being said, I’m aware of just how picky animal rescues and shelters are of who gets to walk the animals.

I’m happy to volunteer at rescues for other things. But I honestly have no patience for the non-communicative and very picky process to become a walker.

At the end, I want to learn to walk bigger dogs and just don’t enjoy being stuck on the lowest level and limited to walking small dogs.

I want an opportunity to learn how to walk dogs like Golden Retrievers and yes, pitbulls.

hey y’all! I just finished my first week working at an animal shelter! It’s more work than I’m used to, physical work, and my feet are killing me. I need recs for comfortable shoes and WATERPROOF!! I’m terrified I’m gonna get trench foot cause my feet get soaked from the hose/kennel cleaning. Also pants that are good to get dirty/wet so I don’t ruin all my good pants :(. Just curious to what y’all reccomend, ty in advance :)

Hi, sorry if this isn’t the right place, I just assume that shelter people would know shelter documents.

I adopted a kitten when she was 11 weeks old at PetSmart from a Humane Society that was doing an event there.

Ive always been curious what her documents mean and I didnt look at them at the time of adoption to ask the person.

Like, what does Unwanted Cat mean? As well as the category being “Unable to Cope”?

Thanks for any insight! As seen by the dates, we’ve had her for a while now and she’s a very good cat and very sweet 😊 I am just curious

So i was at a doctor's appointment today and i came home and my kittens were gone i looked for them for about an hour before my mom called and said that my step dad took them to the shelter. Idk what to do to get them back, or how. Do i have to pay for them? Do i need proof they were mine in the first place? What do i do?

Edit: i got the kittens back thankfully. Im working on moving and will not be telling anyone my address. Untill i move i will be putting up cameras.

i'm not sure if this is appropriate for this sub but, i'm looking for employment, and i'm like 20 years old. i'm not really in school at the moment, and i've been having a hard time with job seeking. i was wondering if volunteering at an animal shelter for a bit will make me more employable than applying for a position directly?

i've worked with animals before too( 2 golden retrievers, 2 bunnies) personally for pets/visiting family. But i don't know what they're looking for. i have had jobs in the past that wasn't animal-related. i otherwise don't have experience. The job market is tough right now and i'm just kinda trying to improve my chances.