# Turned down by shelter?



## genevie (Jul 12, 2011)

Has anyone here ever had an adoption request turned down by a dog or cat rescue shelter because they had an exotic mammal in the house?


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## Catty (Jan 7, 2007)

Can't say I've ever heard of that one before. I've heard of them being iffy with snake keepers but not mammals. What do you keep? Have you tried only the one shelter? 

If you keep exotic mice/ rats maybe just tell them you have pet mice/rats and leave it at that, you'd not be lying as such but just not going into detail. 

Sorry I couldn't be more help.


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## genevie (Jul 12, 2011)

Catty said:


> Can't say I've ever heard of that one before. I've heard of them being iffy with snake keepers but not mammals. What do you keep? Have you tried only the one shelter?
> 
> If you keep exotic mice/ rats maybe just tell them you have pet mice/rats and leave it at that, you'd not be lying as such but just not going into detail.
> 
> Sorry I couldn't be more help.


I haven't actually been turned down by anywhere, I'm just curious as to whether it ever happens  As I do have adoption plans in my future.

I'm thinking more along the lines of free-roaming exotics though - namely, a skunk.


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## Catty (Jan 7, 2007)

Each shelter has its red tape but I'm sure if you explain to them most caring shelters would rather put an animal in a loving home rather than leave it unloved and homeless. 

Good luck


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## lisadew24 (Jul 31, 2010)

Some Rescues can be weird, a lady I know has had no luck adopting animals from large rescues centers like rspca & cat protection league because she lives near a main road so she has adopted animals from other countries like Greece , the RSPCA doesn't seem to like giving anyone animals unless you don't work and have no other animals but I think smaller independent rescue centres seem to be better so I would try there first and tell them you have a skunk.
good luck with your search


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## muska2510 (Jul 12, 2013)

yes well not me my brother did he has a full grown bosc that has free roam of house and he went to get a yorkshire terrier and they was worried about the bosc eating the dog.
but he challenged it and got the dog in the end


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

lisadew24 said:


> Some Rescues can be weird, a lady I know has had no luck adopting animals from large rescues centers like rspca & cat protection league because she lives near a main road so she has adopted animals from other countries like Greece , the RSPCA doesn't seem to like giving anyone animals unless you don't work and have no other animals but I think smaller independent rescue centres seem to be better so I would try there first and tell them you have a skunk.
> good luck with your search


Agreed! Certainly I've heard of these organisations refusing to let people adopt cats because they live in a flat. Whereas nowadays that's the best option for cats imao - being kept safe in flats or houses.

So it can vary from organisation to organisation.


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## elmthesofties (Aug 24, 2012)

feorag said:


> So it can vary from organisation to organisation.


Going to back this point up again.
My family have been pretty much banned from the RSPCA, but when applying to adopt animals from smaller organisations, I have been described as being "Just the sort of person we look for to adopt our animals" and until quite recently, most of our pets were rescues from places like that.

I think, as Catty said, they're unlikely to exclude you from adoption if you word what you say well. The people working at shelters may not be very familiar with pet skunks so if you decide to introduce your pet to them, then I'd personally make sure that the staff know that captive skunks can become very reliably tame, are very unlikely to spray, etc. At the end of the day they're going to be worrying about the animal's safety, so as long as you can prove them wrong, I would have thought that you'd be fine.


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## samurai (Sep 9, 2009)

feorag said:


> Agreed! Certainly I've heard of these organisations refusing to let people adopt cats because they live in a flat. Whereas nowadays that's the best option for cats imao - being kept safe in flats or houses.
> 
> So it can vary from organisation to organisation.


We got one of our cats from cats protection when we lived in a flat with no issues at all, they liked the idea of her being kept indoors (although she's the only cat of our 3 that actually wasn't well suited to being indoors). 

I think it's less about the organisation as a whole but more about the individual rehomer you speak to. 

Is it a cat or dog you are wanting? If the two didn't get along would there be any option to keep them separate at all eg if the dog wanted to attack the skunk?
or the animal have to go back to the shelter? As that may be the reason a rescue would be concerned as it's unsettling to the dog/cat.
If you can come across to the rescue that you have a plan of how you will introduce the animals that may help and also what you would do if they didn't get along
If you have the time for a puppy or kitten they may be easier as they will grow up with the skunk around and a rescue may feel more comfortable with this scenario (I'd feel happier about this in many cases)
I work for a dog rescue and have homed dogs to live with rabbits (free range house rabbits and outdoor ones), chickens, donkeys, ferrets, g.pigs (some free range) etc because I think you have to take the individual owner and the animal you are rehoming them into account. We take the dog round to the persons house so we can supervise the initial interaction and even if it's not perfect and the owner is happy to work on the animals relationship then that's fine as you would not put your loved pet at risk. Sometimes we will say a particular dog not suitable after this meeting depending on it's reaction as some dogs will kill other animals or cause stress to the other pet by harassing it constantly (which in turn is stressful/frustrating to the dog) but this is usually only the case if the dog cannot be distracted at all when the other pet is around. We then recommend having the dog home for the day so the owner can feel at ease about their choice.
I can't see a problem with a cat personally unless it's been known to hunt larger prey like rabbits as I feel a skunk could stand up for itself and it's not the end of the world if the skunk was to spray the cat (I think that would put the cat off chasing it anymore)

Sorry to rattle on but not all rescues are against this sort of thing at all


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

samurai said:


> We got one of our cats from cats protection when we lived in a flat with no issues at all, they liked the idea of her being kept indoors (although she's the only cat of our 3 that actually wasn't well suited to being indoors).
> 
> 
> I think it's less about the organisation as a whole but more about the individual rehomer you speak to.


I would agree with that. It would seem that each branch of each of these organisations have their own criteria when it comes not only to care, but to who is acceptable as an adopter.


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## Charmingnotion (May 13, 2013)

I run a small animal rescue (mainly guinea pigs) and am in my 14th year. I have someone who adopted 2 pigs from me who kept a snake and I had no problem with that as they were not in the same room and the viv had locks on it and it would have been unlikely that they would ever meet. I think the only time you may be turned down was if you had a huge snake that was capable of eating the animal that you were going to adopt and it was possible that the animal could be gotten at should the snake escape. So if for example you kept your snake upstairs in a spare room and the pigs were in the utility room down stairs in a safe place with what would be a fair few closed doors between them and the owner was aware of keeping doors shut etc and I was happy that the person seemed clued up enough on the possibilities and seemed sensible enough and the owner passed all the other requirements that I ask for then I would pass them.


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## DAZWIDD (Feb 9, 2009)

My cousin was refused a cat by the RSPCA because she had un neutered animals in the house, the animals being a rabbit and 3 tortoises! She also has 2 dogs, but because they were neutered that was fine! She got a cat from an independent shelter instead and she has had no problems with strange cross breeds!


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## OniExpress (Sep 11, 2010)

muska2510 said:


> yes well not me my brother did he has a full grown bosc that has free roam of house and he went to get a yorkshire terrier and they was worried about the bosc eating the dog.
> but he challenged it and got the dog in the end


Well, to be honest a bosc/yorkie incident isn't the least insane worry when they're both free-roaming.


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## cloggers (Mar 13, 2010)

I didn't, but my nanna got knocked back for rehoming a few cats because of my choice in pets.. 
They asked where the cats would go when she was on holiday and apparently staying with me and seventeen snakes wasn't appropriate :lol2:

She then went to another rescue and just didn't tell them!


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## Agate (Oct 9, 2010)

We recently adopted a little dog from the RSPCA. We had to list our existing pets on the adoption form. I put "reptiles" but didn't go into further details about some of my larger snakes. They seemed far more concerned about the hamsters and degus but were easily reassured about our safety protocols. On the home visit they didn't look at any of our existing pet set ups (they would have been welcome but again I didn't particularly draw attention to them) and just headed straight into the garden to advise about adding security. The whole process from viewing the dog to bringing her home only took a week and that was only because we had to wait for her stitches to be removed from being spayed.


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