Hey everyone this is Kia. Kia is a wonderful girl, approx. 2 ½ years old, who loves sunshine, long walks and who is a complete snuggle-butt (that’s a technical term :))

Good Intentions Gone Bad

If you’ve spent any time in an animal shelter chances are you’ve heard someone say, “if I had the room, I’d take them all.” Luckily most of these people are just voicing their displeasure at the state of animal affairs and not voicing an actual plan.

Unfortunately, some do go this route and try to take them all. Of course that’s not how it starts out.  Many people try to help a little but quickly get inundated with requests for animals in need, and since these same people often struggle with the desire to be liked, having people call them and thank them for ‘saving’ an animal taps into an area that results in too many animals and not enough resources. That’s what happened with Bruisers Rescue in Farmington where Kia came from.

Bruisers, run by a well-intentioned but otherwise very naïve young girl, was nothing more than a girl going to shelters that are struggling with overpopulation, in different counties throughout the state and telling them that she’d transfer their dogs and rehome home them into her area. But there’s a couple of problems with this plan.

Very few people understand the tremendous amount of time and resources it takes to care for animals – especially special needs animals (like animals between homes). These same people often get overwhelmed quickly and the animals suffer. When animal control showed up to Larissa and her parents’ home, 35 dogs were locked in kennels, many too small for them, without bedding, water or food. All were laying in piles of their own urine and feces – making us question when was the last these animals were able to stand up, let alone go outside.

Farmington is still struggling with overpopulation; thousands of wonderful animals are euthanized every year in the two shelters due to the lack of housing. So why would an organization dedicated to animals transfer animals into an area that often euthanizes them just for space??

Not only that, in November of 2015 Larissa Shaheen the person responsible for this ‘organization’ brought close to 20 dogs to the Farmington Animal Shelter (FAS) – dogs she took from other shelters with the understanding that she would adopt them out. Thus going back on her word, letting down these dogs and the organization they came from and overtaxing FAS – with close to 20 dogs from another community.

So how can you tell a good rescue from a bad?

• Talk to pet professionals. SJAL and Dogster’s had both refused to every work with Larissa or Bruisers again after the animals in her care were found to be suffering and neglected
• Check their paperwork. Larissa never received a 501c3 tax exempt status – this is a big red-flag. One major item in becoming a non-profit is having a board of directors so you’re not just running the show on your own with no accountability.
• Are the animals altered and vetted? If you’re adopting an animal from an organization, it’s that organizations responsibility to make sure that animal is fully vaccinated (including Rabies) altered and microchipped (very inexpensive at wholesale prices). This is non-negotiable. If the organization does not have a working relationship with a veterinarian, there’s probably a reason – stay away!

Kia, luckily got pulled from that place where she was forced to live in the garage – a hot garage in New Mexico in the building heat ARGH! I’m sure she was put out there due to the fact that she was a screamer. You see Kia is deaf, and some deaf dogs tend to scream. It’s a horrible noise and one that can rate on even the most devoted pet lover’s nerves in a manner of minutes. But that wasn’t her only issue, she also had separation anxiety, not letting me go an inch without being between my feet and going crazy anytime she was locked away from me.

If she had been ‘adopted’ like this, chances are she would have ended up living outside since few people understand or know how to deal with a dog screaming. Now after one week with a trainer, Kia no longer screams (thank god!) her separation anxiety has dropped significantly (as I type this she’s laying out in the sun in the yard by herself) and she’ll be able to pass her Canine Good Citizen test in a breeze. Next week she’ll be transferred into LPCHS where she’ll be altered and adopted.

But Kia is one of the lucky ones, so many dogs end up being held by people with good intentions but few resources and many of these dogs suffer as much or more by these so called ‘rescuers’ then they would have otherwise. If you ever experience one of these places, please don’t just adopt a dog (or cat!) just to get them out of there – please call the authorities. Otherwise the person will just replace the animal and cause another to suffer.

Stay tuned for future Kia updates!