Animal Rescues are great organizations that help reintegrate pets into homes after experiencing abandonment, neglect, or other traumas.
Hector Martinez, a Sociology Professor at Chapman University, has rescued and adopted two dogs of his own: Chip and Koda. He discovered his love for dog training when he was a graduate student, “I would dog sit a lot for my friends when they would go home and see their families, so I started getting experience with a lot of different kinds of dogs."
"As I learned more and more," Martinez continued, "that’s when I realized the sheer number of dogs that are put down every year due to them being in kill shelters.”
Fortunately, due to the pandemic, The Best Friends Animal Society reported a 44.5% decline in canines and felines euthanized in shelters in 2020, making it the largest annual reduction the animal welfare organization has ever recorded.
“At some point I just decided that if I got a dog,” Martinez started, “it was going to be through a rescue.” Martinez rescued and adopted Chip a few years ago after being born to a litter of twelve that lost two pups early on. Martinez found Chip through Safe Rescue Team, a non-profit working to save animals from euthanasia.
About a year later, Martinez adopted Koda, who was found on the streets of Anaheim and was, at the time, being fostered by I.C.A.R.E Dog Rescue, a local rescue dedicated to help animals with health or mental disparities to find their forever homes.
Martinez is just one of many people who have shared their success stories with rescuing and adopting animals in need, and while these new declination statistics from The Best Friends Animal Society seem good on the surface, these rushed adoptions are not always as hopeful as they may seem.
“[When it comes to adoption], people really lack education and often don’t understand what they’re getting into,” Martinez stressed.
In a study conducted in 2020, 10% of the dogs in the study were no longer living in the households they were adopted into after a 6 month check-up was conducted, and almost 40% of these dogs were returned to the shelters they were initially adopted from.
The pandemic led to increased adoptions, but not every adoption was done with the intent of giving these animals a forever home.
“[People are] going to get [dogs] because they’re popular, and then six months later they’re going to end up at the shelter,” Martinez warns. “Just make sure you
educate yourself when you get a dog.”
Martinez went on to explain how if you’re a more active person, getting a dog who wants to lay around all day might not be the best match, just like a hyperactive dog wouldn’t get the proper care with an individual who doesn’t go out a lot.
If you or someone you know is interested in rescuing, fostering, or adopting an animal, make sure to check out Safe Rescue Team on Instagram at @saferescueteam and I.C.A.R.E Dog Rescue’s at @ICAREdogrescue, where they regularly post dogs that are in need of forever homes.
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