I'm sorry in advance if this topic doesn't belong here or has been done to death, buuut...
I visited quite a few private rescues listed on petfinder while I was thinking about adopting a guinea pig. I've also adopted a few rats from private rescues.
Some of the private rescues that I visited seemed...awfully close to warehouses. People with dozens of cats and dogs in cages; stacks of cages filled with small animals. Usually, the cages were clean and the animals well-fed. (Although not always on the proper diet.) But it always seemed like there were too many animals -- especially if you had any intention of actually socializing the animals and making them suitable for an easy adoption.
I've seen private rescues that were really well put together. Even if the animal was never actually adopted, s/he would have led a comfortable life in a big enough cage with proper food/bedding/accessories/playmates...
I guess my biggest complaint would be the out-right lying that can go on in the petfinder ads. They don't bother to couch a timid, shy animal in euphanisms like "needs lots of love and patience!" Oh, no. "Very sociable animal! Loves to cuddle! Gets along great with other animals..." I can't count how many animals I've seen with that description that end up being timid, unsocialized, and sometimes completely feral.
Is there some way to see through this that I'm missing? I'll admit to being completely ignorant as to how a rescue agency is run, but it seems so hit-or-miss on petfinder these days...
I visited quite a few private rescues listed on petfinder while I was thinking about adopting a guinea pig. I've also adopted a few rats from private rescues.
Some of the private rescues that I visited seemed...awfully close to warehouses. People with dozens of cats and dogs in cages; stacks of cages filled with small animals. Usually, the cages were clean and the animals well-fed. (Although not always on the proper diet.) But it always seemed like there were too many animals -- especially if you had any intention of actually socializing the animals and making them suitable for an easy adoption.
I've seen private rescues that were really well put together. Even if the animal was never actually adopted, s/he would have led a comfortable life in a big enough cage with proper food/bedding/accessories/playmates...
I guess my biggest complaint would be the out-right lying that can go on in the petfinder ads. They don't bother to couch a timid, shy animal in euphanisms like "needs lots of love and patience!" Oh, no. "Very sociable animal! Loves to cuddle! Gets along great with other animals..." I can't count how many animals I've seen with that description that end up being timid, unsocialized, and sometimes completely feral.
Is there some way to see through this that I'm missing? I'll admit to being completely ignorant as to how a rescue agency is run, but it seems so hit-or-miss on petfinder these days...