The ethics of pet adoption programmes

One of the most heartwarming acts of kindness and unconditional love is best exemplified when a human family decides to adopt an animal into their home and lives for a lifetime of happiness. 

I believe the world – and the heavens – stand still for a brief moment each time when such a miracle transpires. 

What more if it involves stray cats and dogs which nobodywants?

Recently however, an adoption programme carried out by a local animal shelter ironically only got me seeing red rather than being happy about it.

Here's why:

It was held in a huge shopping mall. Reputable animal shelters, the world over, frown upon pet adoptions held in any other place other than in the respective animal shelters.

Shopping centres encourage impulse buying. A shopper who goesto get his groceries done, or to have lunch with a friend or watch a movie with the family in the cinema shouldn't be tempted to return home with a kitten or a puppy afterwards.

Most shoppers already have trouble making the right choices  when they shop for inanimate items. A "living thing" should not be placed as an "extra" for a potential pet-owner to put up with.

A decision to own a cat, dog, rabbit and others should be a carefully thought out process, not a sudden and hasty decision that one finds around the corner of an aisle.

Instead of making a decision to have a cat, for instance, in five or ten minutes, a potential pet owner should take several days, weeks and even a month or two, if needed, to adopt a pet into his home.

In fact, he or she should not only make a single visit to an animal shelter, but several trips, if necessary.

In the time that he is deciding on the pet, he should read up as much as possible on the responsibilities involved in keeping a pet.

He should choose a suitable veterinarian and also visit the clinic to have an idea of what the veterinary costs (and feeding costs) would be during its lifetime, or any health problems it might be having or may occur later.

Potential pet owners should also talk to their friends who have pets and ask their views on both – the good, and negative sides – of owning a particular breed of dog or cat.

For instance, small dogs tend to bark a lot ("mindless yapping") and cats can do major damage to the furniture through their scratching. Some owners who didn't know about this, as a result, had to resort to declawing the animal, which is cruel.

There is also the allergic reactions to animal dander if you have asthma that you will need to talk with your doctor about.

(But please make sure that you speak with a "pet-loving doctor" rather than a physician who dislikes animals in the home and has no understanding of the therapeutic benefits of pets to their owners.)            

Pet owner wannabes should also check with their neighbours of the things that might concern them and agree on how to overcome them when the new pet arrives to their homes.

A visit to the local council to check with the bylaws is also a good idea.

Another major issue to look into is the potential owners' travel plans. Who will look after the pet when the owner is away? How often does the owner travel in a year?

These factors are more reasons why a shopping centre is not conducive to conduct adoptions. Potential pet owners are left with limited choices of the animals on display than in the shelter proper.

Younger and more vulnerable pets may be dangerously exposed to nasty diseases carried by members of the public from their own pets.

Animals also tend to react nervously and be highly stressed in a new surrounding rather than the one that they are used to.

A vital part in every animal adoption programme is the screening of would-be adopters. Filling out forms (to find out the suitability of an owner) should never be rushed. The interviews could take 30-minutes to an hour to complete, where the potential owner is quizzed about his attitude towards animals, as well as his history (if any) in keeping a pet before.

A good interviewer will be able to pick up potential "warning signals" to reject the applicant, in the interest of the welfare of shelter animal. These could be anything from his past history of being cruel to the pet or neglecting it, or currently having a lifestyle that gives very little time to interact with his pet.

Some good animal shelters immediately reject applicants who don't have cars of their own – even if they do possess a motorcycle. This is a loud siren to indicate the pet will never be taken to a vet in a health emergency.             

The part that I was most disappointed and shocked with the animal shelter's pet adoption programme is that they decided to give out their cats free of charge, even though they claimed that the animals were all spayed and vaccinated.

Not only that, but they used the "free cats" offer as part of their advertising in Facebook, as if it were some sort of a "stock clearance promotion" to get people to visit their stall at the mall.

By the end of their three day-exercise, they crowed about their "success" in rehoming nearly 30 cats from their shelter.

I wonder how anyone can consider rehoming of animals a success almost immediately?

It would still take days, weeks and possibly even months to see how many of the animals escaped, or were possibly abandoned after all the excitement and impulse had worn off.

And it's not really any of the new pet owners' fault. Why should they care? The cats were given off free, anyway.

If the excuse given was to reduce the numbers of animals in the shelter, why not give away another two more cats free for the one in the process?

Meowrrr!  – July 6, 2015.       

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.