this is outrageous to me...UPDATE....

my FIL's were thinking of adopting an older cat, since FH & I got another set of cats.

My FFIL went to the Smithtown shelter and picked out an adorable 3 year old cat.

Well, he goes yesterday to get, and they denied him because he said he might 'let it out a few times'.

The woman told him the cat wasn't 'smart enough' and might get hurt. (yea, ok, because you can give a cat an IQ test, right?)

FFIL says that he wouldn't let him out then, if that's the case, and they basically called him a liar to his face.

THE MAN JUST GOT OVER ESOPHAGEAL CANCER!!! I cannot get over the fact that they denied him the adoption because they think he's unreliable.

I am so upset for him. I have the right mind to call them up and b!tch them out.

*breathes*

does anyone know what I can do that's legal? they cannot be serious with this!!!




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FFIL called and said another shelter gave him an 8 year old cat named Bubba, and told FFIL Smithtown shouldn't have done that to him.

HA. We're on our way to go meet him!!!

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Posted by allornil

yes they can deny him. tell him to wait and go back or...go to another shelter. there are lots of them.

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my FH think's his father will go on a list for a 'do not adopt'.

I would totally agree with that, because you really don't know the person, but I know him, I know he would comply to whatever a vet/shelter would tell him to do.

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Posted by GR2010

A girl I work with adopted a dog and they just asked a ton of questions. They don't come to your house. Just say it's your cat and don't tell them you have cats just that you have owned cats and want to give another one a home. They asked her questions about the vets name, previously pet ownership, living conditions etc. etc... I think if you go in and say you're adopting it for you I can't see how they'll find out. It's not the FBI. LOL!

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lol well i ask all this because i never officially adopted. growing up, the dogs we had at my parents house were puppies given to them by friends whose dogs had them on accident, and one of our dogs followed my dad home, and no one claimed him from adds.

my first 2 cats, juno and mazy, were found under a porch, and i took them, and then last week with the new ones i just had...so my knowledge of pet adoption isn't very good, but i appreciate the feed back!!! thank you!!

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Posted by GR2010

Go adopt it for him!!!!!!!!!

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thats what i was gonna suggest

I volunteered at north shore animal league for 4 years and adopted a dog from there too and I know they turn people away for alot of reasons. They did do a random home check after we adopted our dog! So be careful if you are going to adopt the cat for him...not sure if this shelter does the same thing but it does happen.

I know shelter's should protect their animals but I agree that sometimes they make it really difficult to adopt...for example, many places will automatically not allow you to adopt a puppy if no one is home during the day.

For that reason alone, FH and I had to purchase our two pups...we both work but doesn't mean our dogs are being neglected!

eta: hugs for your ffil! He's doing a great thing and I hope he doesn't get discouraged from trying again if not at a different shelter. He can also try craigslist, there are always people adopting out their cats or kittens

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Posted by jhines4684

I said that too, but don't they do checks? I don't see how I can get around it.

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go to the town of w babylon shelter. its off pinelawn rd. trust me, they wont deny you. I used to volunteer there years ago.

They can absolutely deny someone...they're just working with the best interests of the animals in mind.

With all due respect to your FFIL, they probably get a LOT of people every day who say 'well okay then, I won't do that', only to find out afterward that the person did whatever THAT was and now the animal is lost or dead, and they want a new one.

And yeah, some cats are just too dumb to be outside. I know of my three cats, only one would ever survive. The other two are pretty daft.

Head over there yourself and adopt the kitty for him. They'll make you answer a bunch of questions, and since you've had animals you'll probably be fine...just don't say you might let him out! Good luck! Adopting animals is a wonderful thing to do.

Well FFIL is going to another shelter tomorrow. And did tell me if he can't get it there, FH & I will go adopt for him.

I just feel like it's almost an insult especially after the year he's had. I mean, if they really were a reliable shelter, check with his previous vet for the cats he had years ago, go get a neighbors opinion or something. Just don't assume by the look and ONE sentence of someone that they aren't a reliable owner.

Sorry this is long, I'm passionate with animals, it's terrible.

We had an incident a few years ago at my parents house. We had a german shepard who was nearing his time. He wasn't eating much, and yes, he started to look thin; but he was being fed and my dad would even try to give him table food at that point. hey, if your dog was going to die soon, wouldn't you feed it what it really wanted?

Anyways, on a SUNDAY, we got a knock on the door from SCPD's Animal division, saying that they got a complaint that there was a rail thin german shepard here, barks all day and is tied to the dog house.

WOAH...

1.) We don't even have a dog house

2.) Dj (his name) was not rail thin, we always raised him small.

3.) He had a nice bed BY THE FIREPLACE and plenty of food and water in the dish when the cop showed up.

We didn't lose our cool because the offficer knew right off the bat this was a bogus report. We were able to file a complaint to give up who turned it in (took weeks), but yes, it was in fact our a-hole neighbor that illegally traps cats and dumps them in other towns. Oh man did he get in trouble for that when they came to investigate our counter-complaint. (long story short, we had a crazy cat owner down the block, and he'd let them out and they weren't neutered and it pissed off our neighbor next door enough to set cat traps all over his property. we never cared because my family isn't caddy like that, he should have had them neutered, but you really can't tell people you barely know what to do).

<---that's my example of cruelty. That's why I;'m mad at this shelter. I understand precautions and I am never against it. But I think they could have done a better job researching my FFIL, and had been a lot nicer explaining there policy, not actually call him a liar. That's so unprofessional.