Busting Through Shelter Dog Myths—#2

     Shelter pooch looking lonely...Photo courtesy of DogTime Media

W've been remiss in posting in our series about the myths surrounding shelter dogs, and the best ways to counter these myths in our conversations with friends and family. But our friends at DogTime Media have not—they've just posted their fourth and last shelter dog myth: "Animal Shelters Are Too Depressing", along with wonderful tips to both dispell and avoid the problems that can be associated with some shelters. This one really hits home with Parental Unit because she, too, thought shelters were just too darn depressing to even visit. In her search for my predecessor, the Wire Fox terrier, Carson, she first went to her local shelter. At the time, the Franklin County Shelter was pretty dank: she remembers rolling up her jeans so the bottoms wouldn't get coated with the urine that was running out of the floor units that housed  the larger dogs-and talk about the smell! 

Even when she adopted yours truly, our county shelter was still in the same facility, and not exactly clean, although better supervised. Now, our county shelter is a brand new, multi-million dollar facility, and while it's far from perfect regarding numbers of adoptions, it is indeed a very pleasant place to visit.

DogTime media has put together some tips for navigating a shelter and a few ideas for finding your new pet at other adoption locations, like fairs, foster homes and websites like Petfinder.com. We have something called "Mingle with our Mutts" that takes place every other Sunday on the shelter grounds, where many local rescues and foster parents bring their pooches for adoption-it's a great idea and a fun time, even if you're not looking for a new furry family member.

We hope you find these pet shelter "myth busters" helpful, and pass them along to your friends and family.

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