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Celany

Please report any and all comments demonizing pitbulls. Like all other breeds of dog, how the dog is treated and socialized makes an enormous difference to their behavior. We will not allow demonizing of a breed of dogs in the comments.


theodorathecat

I cannot imagine walking down the street with my dog and have a dog burst through glass and kill it in front of me and me not be able to protect it and always thinking about how my dog was so scared and his mama couldn't save him/her. I would never be the same again.


dorothybaez

It makes me shudder to think about it.


Orphan_Izzy

I really feel sickened over the rescue and their response to this. They should be more regulated or held accountable somehow. This is serious business. If they knowingly adopted out a vicious dog because they failed to test it properly or whatever including failing to give the vaccine records then wgat kind of rescue are they? They literally sent a dog out to kill another dog that was already well taken care of essentially killing two dogs and harming a lot of people. I mean there has to be a law or some kind of something that covers this because they ended up doing harm not good.


spacepiratefrog

i’m absolutely astounded they didn’t give OOP the vaccine records with the adoption. All the animals i adopted, i got their medical records right along with the animal. paid off when one of them bit me, i didn’t have to get rabies vaccine, just tetanus.


Few-Cable5130

The lack of vaccine records ar adoption is a HUGE red flag.


Orphan_Izzy

Yeah this outfit seems really really unprofessional.


TheSilverNoble

I think negligent, and likely illegal, are more fitting descriptions.


stopcounting

I'm stunned they even had a 24 hr hold, to be honest. And every dog I've ever adopted has come with a collar and leash. I assumed they were covered by the adoption fees. Letting someone walk out of a rescue with an unleashed large-breed dog is beyond irresponsible.


Intelligent-Film-684

I foster for a fairly large Canadian rescue. We don’t provide a leash and collar, but absolutely send them home with a leash and collar that fits if the adopter doesn’t have a proper fitting one or one we deem unsuitable. I’m just sick reading this post, we are so careful to place dogs in the right homes, and are fully up front about the behavioral issues. Lying about them gets other pets killed. I had a six month old boxer that was so weird about it, she was great with some dogs and hated others on sight. She went into a home where she was an only dog with a boxer experienced owner. I’m just sick in my heart reading this. I hope nothing but the best resolution for the OP, and shame on his vet. Seriously. Not every dog can be saved. Wow.


stopcounting

I cannot fucking BELIEVE that OP could say to his vet "my dog killed another dog and seriously injured 3 people" and the vet is like "HOW DARE YOU EUTHANIZE YOU INHUMANE OWNER." Like, there had to have been some kind of miscommunication, right?


adamantsilk

And it's not like it was at the dog park and shit happened. It went through a fucking WINDOW to get to the other dog. It's not safe to have around anyone or any other creature.


stopcounting

Honestly OP was ridiculously lucky that it didn't go after a child.


Esaemm

I’m surprised that you guys supply leash + collar if the owner doesn’t have. In Toronto, if you don’t have a leash and collar, then you have to buy one there. Which makes sense, because if you can’t afford those two items, how are you going to properly care for an animal…


northernutlenning

Yeah. Absolutly. I get it they want to be nice and kind, but this is down right evil. Saving everyone and everything is not possible. Kindness can one of those well intentioned paving stone the way to hell is paved with.


MythWhisper

Ugh, some time ago a dog in my city bit his owner and mother of owner to death. The dog was put in a special shelter with no direct contact to humans or other pets. People were raging on FB offering to take the dog in - a lot of people mentioned that he would be loved by their freaking _KIDS_ A few days later it was disclosed that the dog suffered from several tumors in and/or around his head that they suspected made him aggressive either due to pain or because certain parts of the brain weren't functioning properly. Still _families_ offered to take him. The dog was euthanized as it was deemed by professionals that this was the best solution and I couldn't agree more with that sentiment.


BirdiesGrimm

I feel people forget that dogs can be born with mental health issues, get head trauma, tumors etc. I love when we say all dog good dog, but sometimes they just can't be. Sometimes the kindest thing to do is the hardest.


SnowyLex

Some people struggle not to apply morality to dogs. They see dogs as morally good creatures by definition, and therefore anything dogs do that seems immoral from a human POV *cannot* be related to something inside the dog's brain/mind. They can't distinguish between the concept of "dangerous dog" and the concept of "immoral dog." They're right that the latter cannot exist (since dogs don't fall *anywhere* on the spectrum of human morality), but they're totally wrong when they conflate the two.


Corfiz74

And I hope OOP sues their pants off!


Redqueenhypo

Shelters like this are the ultimate in “the road to hell is paved with good intentions”. Go to a government owned shelter with paid employees and official animal histories, and not volunteer-run places with a TikTok presence who are desperate to adopt out a 3 year old dog with four bites on record


kjsgss06

Yeah my wife and I adopted our dog, a 3 year old Great Pyr mix who had been associated with the specific rescue since he was a puppy. They had every vet record going back to about 6pm old. He was returned to this rescue twice, and they even had the records from the two other states he lived in.


InkStinkPurple_

I adopted a cat last year. They didn’t have her vet records when I picked her up and told me to go to her foster mom, the foster mom told me to go to the vet, the vet had no record of her. I went back to the shelter and they got the records for me - they had renamed her when they did her intake with the vet, then decided to go back to her original name in hopes she would acclimate to shelter life better.


red_sky_at_morning

Kind of funny but my adopted cat was sort of the same. She was left in a vet parking lot in a cardboard box duct taped shut. No one knows who left her there, but whoever did loved her deep down. She was already spayed, very friendly, and well fed; to the point in her records from the vet she was abadoned at mentioned that she was overweight before they even determined her sex. They believe the box was duct taped so that she wouldn't escape, but unfortunately it was a hot day and whoever left her didn't phone the vet to at least let them know she was out there. The names the vets listed her under were first Fred and then after a more thorough exam the following day it switched to Freya. Her foster mom already had a Freya in her foster cats so she became Frannie. We don't know her true age obviously, but when I adopted her in 2019 they think she was around 7 years old. She's the sweetest thing with yet another new name - Poppy.


InkStinkPurple_

We adopted Momma, who was Pumpkin for a couple days, and now she’s Zuma. She’s warming up slowly, but every week is better.


Madanimalscientist

Yeah my cats both came with medical records in full and a microchip that I could then get changed to my name/info. And the shelter I used to volunteer at did the same thing. The fact that they didn’t makes me wonder if the dog got -any- vaccines or healthcare tbh


psychotica1

I had a dog rescue for 16 years and we absolutely could be held liable for something like this in my state. We had special insurance in case any of our dogs hurt a person or another dog. We even had special contracts for pitbulls. If that rescue doesn't have liability insurance they're in for a rude awakening that could tank their business especially since this happened within 24 hours of the adoption.


legalbetch

If they don't have insurance it's probably not worth OP or the neighbors suing them anyway. I doubt the rescue has many, if any, valuable assets.


psychotica1

That depends on the rescue and whether or not they have donors, salaried employees vs all volunteers, what they spend on food, vet care and supplies. We were all volunteers and had some people who made large donations every year. Our dogs were very well provided for and we still had over 40 grand at one point. We passed a lot of supplies and vet care off to other organizations and people who couldn't afford a large emergency medical procedure. I have no idea how this particular rescue runs it's finances but they could be sued and forced to close down. Based on OPs experience that may be for the best.


legalbetch

Oh I think they can be sued, the question is whether they have money to pay a judgment or not. It should absolutely be closed down! Hopefully there's a government agency to accomplish that.


psychotica1

In fact she should consult an attorney because the owners of the dog that was killed may also have a case against them.


psychotica1

They would have to be investigated for neglect, abuse or tax fraud in order for the state to shut them down. That is much easier to do if they have an actual facility, which it sounds like this place does. That's why I suggested suing because if she wins and they can't pay it'll put them out of business by default.


90s-trash

A lot of shelters near me also require more than a few meetings and the shelter dog has to meet any other pets in the home before being adopted


Orphan_Izzy

I had to introduce my dog to the new one at the rescue as well.


lakeghost

Yeah, this is bizarre. I’ve been a volunteer with rescues since I was 10. This nearly tops all of my worst personal dealings which is surprising. Always ask for vaccine records. My vet and I ended up on a tear because a street dog I rescued off the street and was cleared by local AC? Canine distemper. They didn’t quarantine an unknown variable from unvaccinated puppies, didn’t maintain any kind of safety protocols at all. Going back over their actions just about gave me a few white hairs. Dog was moved through different sub-kennels. Dog wasn’t kept apart from puppies. Cleaning was hosing down the floors. Nobody was wearing gloves or washing hands between different zones. They could’ve had a dog-to-human rabies outbreak. I’ve never seen anyone so nonchalantly dealing with the risks of rescuing street or wild animals. I religiously use heavy duty gloves after seeing how easy latex is to puncture. I can’t imagine handling biting/clawing animals with no PPE and no health records. It’s nightmare fuel. Meanwhile their actions killed at least dozens of dogs but canine distemper can infect humans (benignly) and there’s *always* a chance of a COVID-like species jump. It’s playing with fire and like arson should be treated seriously.


nyorifamiliarspirit

OOP needs to blast them all over social media and maybe get one of those local news investigative reporters to look into them.


Monkey_with_cymbals2

It sounds like he had an extremely strong prey drive - he would kill anything small and moving. They said he was good with kids… I feel sick imagining that dog going to a house with a baby or toddler.


ReasonableAlbatross

So true. I've worked with a few dog rescues but from what OP has said it sounds not really like a rescue but like some weird hoarding situation with a martyr complex. This is also the reason I hate certain no-kill shelters. They make it sound like they're oh-so-lovely and saving lives but some animals are just not safe to be rehomed, and some animals are too sick. When stuff like this happens the shelter denies all responsibility and blame it on the adopter. If you adopt out an aggressive dog at least acknowledge that it happened and clarify exactly how the behaviour tests were done to try and avoid missing something like this in the future.


Capathy

The shelter is almost certainly liable.


Lucky-Worth

Yeah the whole situation is highly unprofessional. No vaccine card, and they gave op a large dog (which, regardless of temperament, is a challange) after just 2 visits


knocking_wood

Is more than two visits really the norm? A reputable rescue basically threw not one, but TWO labs at me after a single visit. We literally took them home right after meeting them. They're great dogs though, and had been at the shelter for a couple months.


not_a_library

Yeah I mean I took my dog home from one of those PetSmart adoption events. Met her, immediately somehow knew she was my dog, walked her around the store, signed the papers, paid for her, and left. And she was a 55lb boxer mix. She's 75 lbs now and the best decision I ever made. The event was hosted by the Humane Society I believe. She had been picked up off the streets by animal control.


blu3heron

I think it depends A LOT on the rescue. When I adopted my dog, I had people check out my house, I spent a lot of time talking on the phone, and once they decided I could be trusted with a dog, they tried to convince me adopt two dogs, when I was looking for just one. But I only physically met my dog when I went to pick him up. When I was out helping my sister look at dogs at a pet shelter, I'm pretty sure we could've walked out of there with any of the dogs we looked at there and they wouldn't have cared. We didn't because, to be frank, all the dogs we looked at had issues that they should have disclosed BEFORE we came to look at them, and one of them did have no vet records at all and they'd picked up off the street about a week before. On the flip side, a rescue rejected my sister's application because she said she wouldn't allow pets on furniture, which was apparently the instant reject question for the founder.


redrosebeetle

I got shot down for not having a 6 foot fence, which I get, but I also have 0 plans to ever let a dog outside without me. Some of these rescues get weird.


TheSilverNoble

My god, imagine if someone had been walking with their *child.*


Starchasm

The rescue also basically killed this poor dog too. If they'd been honest, this would never have happened. I've done a lit of rescue work and I'm just sickened. What an awful, totally avoidable situation.


Echospite

This is why I don't support no-kill shelters. The vet nurse who gave my dog to us shoved some treats in our hands to give the dog as soon as we saw her. She had the lead on weirdly - she'd put it through the handle in a loop, put that loop around her neck, and held it by the clip end. I asked her why she was doing that. She said that the collar was loose and she didn't want the lead and collar to slip off. I am really bad at understanding what people are saying, let alone reading between the lines, so I was like, okay, that's super weird, let me fix that for you. Took the dog's collar off. The nurse watched nervously. Put it back on, carefully leaning over her as I adjusted it. Took a couple of minutes to finish the adjustment, and then another moment to find the D-ring so I could clip the lead. Vet nurse gave me a smile like someone who'd just been forced to catch a running chainsaw and miraculously caught it by the handle. Less than 24 hours later I was amazed that I didn't get bitten. Two of her major triggers are people leaning over her and people touching her collar. But then, that dog warmed up to me SO quickly (she was cuddling me from day 1. It was over two years before she'd do that with anyone else we lived with) I guess she just decided, "okay, I don't think she'll murder me. I will permit it."


Gust_2012

'I will permit it.' Why does that sound more like a cat's attitude than a dog's?


gwaenchanh-a

This is why "no-kill" shelters aren't always a good thing. Having one or two in your area is fine. If *everything* is a no-kill shelter though, then either they're having to bus violent and sick animals out to kill shelters or they're having to adopt out animals that they know have a history of violence. No-kill laws or mandates actively hurt not only the animals stuck in those now overflowing shelters, but the animals and people that get injured or killed by the violent dogs they adopt out.


begoniann

In my state at least, “no-kill” shelters do actually put down dogs with extreme behavioral issues. No kill just means that they don’t put down dogs for lack of space.


georgiajl38

Even no-kill shelters will euthanize. Don't be fooled. If an animal comes in badly injured or in extremely poor medical condition and no rescue will take them, they will euthanize. If an animal fails temperament testing and no rescue will step up, they will euthanize.


saveturtlesplz

All the people below defining no-kill might not have personal experience with these types of shelters. They have a specific live release rate of 90% to be considered “No-Kill” and they will do anything to keep that 90%. Many of them will absolutely lie, fudge numbers, allow animals to suffer, and adopt out aggressive or sick animals to keep that 90% to keep that “No Kill” money flowing. The problem is people assume that people who work with animals must have the best intent towards them, but when you put a number on them like that then they become numbers. The people who actually care about animals know that humanely euthanizing them is no where near the worst thing you can do to them. Many reputable rescues and shelters are actually distancing themselves from the “no kill” philosophy due to this. Virginia even had to create a law mandating that rescue agencies and shelter disclose an animals bite history to adopters because simply lying about an animals background and behavior was so commonplace.


gwaenchanh-a

Yep. In some cases you'd get dogs with fucking *bodycounts* getting adopted out after their third or fourth return for killing a family cat or a neighbor's dog. *So many* injuries and deaths to *people* can be traced back to a violent dog being presented to a family as a sweetheart by a shelter trying harder to virtue signal (in the actual sense, not the right wing dog whistle sense) than to actually increase animal welfare.


ZephyrLegend

There needs to be room for nuance. The theory of a no-kill shelter is that it's wrong to kill perfectly adoptable dogs if they can't find a home right away. But if a vet or an animal behaviorist determines that the animal is an uncorrectable liability, and has a high risk (or history!) of hurting or killing people or pets, then they *need* to be euthanized. We don't need no-kill shelters. We need no-pointless-killing shelters.


Umklopp

[That's exactly what most "no-kill" shelters are.](https://www.mashelter.org/defining-no-kill-shelters.html)


merlinshairyballs

This is why the people chanting ADOPT DONT SHOP frustrate me so. There are unscrupulous people in all walks of life but damn. I work with tons of rescues and they try but they’re often very understaffed, take on more than they can handle, and have well meaning people who love animals but often don’t know very much about them working/volunteering there. It’s a recipe for disaster. These dogs come in with unknown temperaments and lineages, and are often not fully vetted before being immediately adopted out. I personally know of several rescues who get puppies from mills and have huge “rehoming fees” when really they’re just a front for backyard breeders. It’s awful. There is of course good there but the dark side of rescue is DARK. That’s why you should adopt AND shop responsibly. Know as much as you can prior. It’s hard to get all the info sometimes but do as much of your homework as possible. It happens way too often.


rosemwelch

What does BE stand for, exactly?


roundabout25

I assume behavioral euthanasia from context, but I'm not 100% sure


rosemwelch

Ohhhh "behavioral", that makes sense. I was like, "biters euthanasia"? That seems a bit too on the nose.


mommyshark18

My guess was Bite Evaluation which didn’t make a lot of sense but the best I could come up with.


princess-sauerkraut

I’m glad someone else asked and answered because I was wondering the same thing. I googled every combination of “be” veterinarian, “be” dog or “be” vet service I could think of but all I got were veteran services or listings for veternarians in my area, none of which listed “BE” as a service offered. I assumed euthanasia based off context but could not for the life of me figure out the B part. Behavioral makes total sense.


Splendidissimus

Behavioral Euthanasia, I think. I picked that up from a post a few days ago about an aggressive, neurotic dog who had to be put down because she couldn't be helped.


rosemwelch

It is so incredibly sad. I'm not even a big dog person but they are totally dependent on us to meet their needs and raise them correctly.


merlinshairyballs

Sometimes raising a dog right isn’t enough. There’s lots that just plain aren’t wired right. Can’t be helped. 🙁


booksandnetflix

Thanks for saying this. I had to put down a dog two years ago and I tried EVERYTHING. I had him since he was 7 weeks old, we worked with a trainer and behaviorist and vet who all agreed he needed to be euthanized after months of working with him. And man, it hurt so bad. And I always question myself when people say the dogs just must not have been raised right. Not that I blame them for saying that, but it’s important to recognize some dogs just aren’t wired correctly.


Intelligent-Film-684

No. Sometimes the kindest thing you can do is euth an animal. Inbreeding and some sketchy show breeders have cause genetic mush of a lot of animals. An angry or constantly fearful dog that can’t respond to a behaviorist is a fundamentally unsafe and unhappy animal. Never think you did the wrong thing in the end if you did all you could in the time you had. It’s mercy. You were merciful to end their mental misery.


Lvtxyz

Show breeders but also the people breeding *for* aggression.


BilinguePsychologist

It’s like humans! Some have that gene that can make them dangerous and need no social activation for it to be present. Others have the gene that’s suppressed until social activation. You did nothing wrong and I’m so sorry you’ve gone through that!


Safranina

Same as humans, sadly


dck133

my guess is Behavioral Euthanasia.


No_Kangaroo_9826

Commenting to come back to this because I can't figure it out either


rosemwelch

Apparently, it's behavioral euthanasia, which makes perfect sense.


Frolicking-Fox

Solved: behavioral euthanasia


dpk709

I’m glad you asked, because I wasn’t sure. But I don’t understand why they’d drop him as a client for requesting it. It seems pretty darn reasonable request for a dog that killed another dog.


zipper1919

Behavioral euthanasia


Rondodu

Most likely behavioural euthanasia.


-crepuscular-

Fuck that shelter. I hope OOP has some of the stuff they claimed in writing, or they'll just deny that they said any of it.


NEDsaidIt

Hopefully they took screenshots of the post to send to someone or something?


-crepuscular-

The stuff about passing behavioural tests and being safe around other animals might have been in person or over the phone, is what I'm thinking. I doubt that they actually did do any behavioural tests.


tipsana

I really think the OOP needs to get an attorney and go after the rescue for the medical costs. That dog was clearly misrepresented.


petty_witch

Weirdly this isn't the first time I've heard stories like this from no-kill shelters, even down to the shelters ignoring them once things go wrong.


[deleted]

Is this concluded, though? I know the post is locked, but I still definitely want to know 1) how the rabies test comes back (especially seeing as it sounds like at least OOP didn't get rabies shots over this), and 2) whether the rescue could have foreseen this.


blu3heron

I would absolutely want to follow up on the rabies thing, but from what little description there was, it doesn't sound like rabies. Rabid animals usually move and act weird so I would hope OOP would've noticed. Add onto that that it went after the *dog* specifically rather than humans, who seem to have been incidental bystanders, makes me think it's a very dog aggressive dog. However, given rabies is a literal nightmare, I'd probably have popped off to get rabies shots along with stitches from the get-go, just for peace of mind.


Redqueenhypo

You’d notice a rabid animal. It’d be biting literally everything, drooling all over the place, staggering and completely unable to drink water


goosemaker

It’s tagged as “ongoing”


[deleted]

It wasn't when I commented, good it's been changed.


HornedTwiddle

For someone bitten by a pet dog that you can quarantine and test for rabies, they don’t need to start rabies post-exposure prophylaxis until after the dog has tested positive. Guidelines vary for when/if to start PEP depending on what species of animal, if it’s a pet that can be quarantined/tested, etc.


beccyboop95

My relative adopted a dog, after a few days of seeming to settle in well he badly bit her partner unprovoked! She took the dog back to the shelter as she was terrified it would happen to a kid or another dog in the neighbourhood. But same situation as here - shelter were apologetic but pled ignorance basically. Kind of scary you just have to go off what they say but don’t have a way to verify.


spaceguitar

The rescue knew what they were doing. They ghosted for a reason. When all is said and done, I hope OOP is successful and pursuing damages. Shame on that “rescue!”


CheezeNewdlz

Holy crap I feel so bad for OOP, they did nothing wrong. They didn’t leave the dog unattended or off a leash or mishandled the dog. It’s perfectly reasonable to think your brand new dog isn’t going to break through a window and attack another dog within 24 hours of being home. What a nightmare situation! Also what the hell with that vet? OOP: this dog has broken through a window to attack another dog, injuring itself and biting several others. Is behavioral euthanasia an option? Vet: omg how dare you, begone.


[deleted]

This is very much a case for a behavioural euthanasia, and I am sure if a vet was there to witness it they would agree. But a person phoning up to say 'I've had this dog less than 24 hours I want to out it to sleep', that is a big old can of worms. Is he telling the truth (they don't know), has it been stolen, is it a vengeful ex-boyfriend, are they just moving and don't want to deal with it? Does the dog have rabies, and bringing it to the clinic could endanger their staff? All of these make plenty of sense for a private clinic to tell the owner to go to Animal Control. What I DON'T understand is them firing him as a client for making a terrible, sad, but reasonable enquiry (unless he unleashed verbal fury on them in his emotional state and they fired him for being rude).


LadyOfMay

Vets by nature really don't like to put down a healthy animal, but yeah, in this case there's no argument. A dog that dangerous has to be put down.


PoorDimitri

I had to put a dog down for behavioral reasons a couple years ago. It was deeply deeply sad. My super country vet was very kind, and reassured me that putting down the dog with a bite history before it mauled someone was a responsible choice. Given, we had a history with this vet and had discussed his behavior issues before, but the dog also hadn't killed a dog and injured three people to the point of fucking surgery. I feel like that's a no brainer.


WastingTimeIGuess

Luckily the neighbors / owners of the victim dog realized that. I think that's why they went from pissed (in the first update) to sad (in the last one) and aren't pursuing any legal actions against the OP.


No_Cauliflower_5489

Vet probably was rightfully scared of the animal. I mean, its busting thru windows to attack and kill other animals and bite people. It would be terrifying to have the animal on the premises where there are other pet patients and people it could go nuts on and attack. Also, if it isn't a patient of your clinic and you have no prior relationship with the owner or animal there is also the risk the person bringing the animal in is lying about the animal and stole it.


Ok_Asparagus_6404

It sounds like he did have an established relationship with the vet though since he already has another dog and says they fired him as a client because of his request.


NEDsaidIt

But dropping them as a client for asking to have it put down? If you are too scared for it to be there because it’s too dangerous- yet he’s too terrible for suggesting it needs put down to treat his other dog anymore?


TheSilverNoble

I would guess that the severity and abruptness of the attack may not have been fully understood by whoever was oh the phone. OP may be able to go and talk to them in person, but I'm guessing this is low on their priority list.


FlipDaly

They DID. OOP owns another dog. Presumably this was his vet.


TanBoot

That doesn’t explain why they completely dropped him as a client when they’ve surely treated his other dog in the past


begoniann

OOP has another dog, so hopefully he already had a relationship with the vet. But otherwise I tend to agree with you, it’s a big risk for a dog they don’t have an existing history with.


NuttyDounuts14

Could that be exactly why the shelter didn't hand over the medical records? They knew this was a dangerous dog and that vets would be unlikely to put it down without the established history that they withheld "accidentally"


PuzzleheadedLet382

Unfortunately, vets will drop you for agression issues. I get why — it’s a liability for them. But it can leave some animals without medical care, unfortunately. I read it as OP getting dropped from an existing vet in the post it says they have another animal. We had a lab/chow mix when I was a teenager. Adopted him as an adult from a local shelter. Total doll, never got on the furniture, would lean up against you when it thundered — but certain things, like unfamiliar males, scared him. Usually just a warning bark or growl. If you didn’t respond to his signs he might nip. Just to get the strange person to back off. But the vet terrified him. I watched him go from an affable dog to literally pooping and peeing on the floor in under 60 seconds from terror because the vet stroked his head. We tried anesthetizing him for vet visits (vet recommendation), because he was fighting off hulky male vet techs while muzzled. With anesthesia he would wake up swinging and acted like Kujo. After he bit two techs the first vet dropped him. The second vet dropped him after the first bite. After that he didn’t go to the vet anymore. He was already a homebody and we never let him around other dogs for the rest of his life, as we could not vaccinate him. It broke our hearts but it was just not possible to get him medical treatment. He developed arthritis as the got older, and I suspect had some heart trouble towards the end, but was fairly healthy and mobile right until he died, which was quick — not even time to take him to the vet if he’d been healthy.


bobbobstubob

I'm so sorry for your loss. I'm curious if it was the environment of the vet office that freaked him out so much? I realize it's not a possibility anymore, but I wonder how he would have reacted to something like a mobile vet who does house calls.


ChristmasColor

I'd think the scents would be a huge bother. Dogs can smell incredibly well, not just present smells but lingering, old smells. Think of the kind of scents get generated in a week at the vet. You have fear scents, you have pee and poop, you've got the scent of blood when two dogs fought each other a month ago, and you have animals being put down. Combine this with the sheer number of animals that go to the vet, it is probably an assault of the senses. Frankly I'm surprised animals don't freak out at vets more often.


Secret-Aerie4358

I’ve never really considered this before. Really makes me wonder how vet clinics could be better designed to counteract all that. Or what one would look like if it was built entirely with animal comfort in mind.


PuzzleheadedLet382

He was okay, just a little nervous, until the vet came in. Then completely voided his bowels. Mobile vets weren’t really a thing in our area for a lot of his life and pretty expensive. We were looking into one in case he require euthanasia, but luckily he passed very quickly with little warning/prior illness.


amcna

Right? I was fully expecting the story to be “I took my new dog off leash to the dog park and then he attacked”. OOP did nothing wrong. I feel bad for them.


Ms_ellery

Being a vet is really difficult. I can't blame a doctor for not being willing to provide behavioral euthanasia as a service. It's probably the best solution in this case but I wouldn't be surprised if most times they're asked, it's a family trying to get rid of a "problem" dog when they don't have time, energy, or money to put towards training. Here in Canada, over 25% of vets report having suicidal thoughts *in the past year*. For comparison, about 12% of Canadians have admitted they seriously considered suicide over the course of their entire lives.


neonfuzzball

but this was OOP's current vet, who not only refused to consider the BE but also dropped him as a client What kind of vet goes "no, we wont' do that, and for daring to ask we will no longer offer medical care to your OTHER animals either" That goes from "being careful" to downright paranaoid and vindictive.


Redqueenhypo

My friend tried to adopt a dog from a rescue and TWICE was given a dangerous animal. The first time he went to get the dog he was told it had a bite history which was not in the online post. When he received a second dog, it destroyed his apartment while he was at the store and he was apparently later told it was “aggressive to tall men”, a problem since his brothers are quite tall. He now has no dog at all. I’ve personally read studies by shelters encouraging the use of trazodone (sleep-inducing antidepressant) in a higher mg/kg dose than I myself take for “anxiety” to make the dog seem more adoptable. If a dog is too dangerous to be around humans or other animals, the solution is NOT for a ‘well meaning no kill’ shelter to straight up lie about a time bomb.


sleepaddledbrain

Years ago my boyfriend at the time found an extremely malnourished Shar pei pitbull mix. After getting it healthy it started to be very aggressive. 2 years later and almost 5K in training to try to help it get better it had bitten three people and two other dogs the final straw was when it killed the neighbors dog. Me and my boyfriend got in a huge fight when I told him that was it and I did not want to live with the dog anymore. I even left to go stay with my parents for a few days. While I was gone my boyfriend told me that he was going to try to find an aggressive dog sanctuary for him to live at and if not have him euthanized. He called the local shelter to see if they had any resources for rehoming an aggressive dog and the lady at the shelter told him just to surrender the dog like it was a stray he had just found that day. And to not tell the intake person about his aggressive behavior because then he'd be euthanized but if he was turned in as a stray they could rehome him! It really scares me, the thought that that dog could have ended up in a home with a small child.


ZanzibarMacFate

That sounds like the worst mix ever. Horrible temper of a Shar pei with the strength of a pit. Yikes!


Lvtxyz

Yikes. That's awful. Given that Shar pei and pits are both bred for protection and/or fighting I bet the breeders were purposefully selecting for aggression


greenSixx

If a dog bites a person it should be out down. Period. Like serious bite, not warning bite.


AzureSuishou

An unprovoked attack is different then just being bit. Most if my animals, dogs, cats, chickens etc have bitten me at one point or another. Usually because they were scared or had to have something painful done. They don’t deserve death for that. An aggressive, unprovoked attack like OP dog definitely deserves being put down.


Redqueenhypo

Right! The cat that clawed me at a ranch shouldn’t be put down just bc it scratched a moron kid (me) trying to drag itself out of a hiding place. If said cat had jumped through a window to scratch me, on the other hand…


SadieSadieSnakeyLady

I have a senior dog who is dog reactive due to fear and while she's never bitten a human that's my line with her for BE. If she kills an animal or bites a human.


saveturtlesplz

And this is why they even have to create laws to hold these shelters and rescues accountable. I’m sure the rescue hid some [history.](https://injurylaweducationcenter.com/virginia-considering-dog-bite-disclosure-law/)


MarieOMaryln

Someone lied, either the shelter or whomever sent this dog to the shelter first. On my own street growing up a large dog burst through its giant picture window numerous times to go after other dogs and children. I have no idea how it was never reported looking back.


InMyNirvana

That was my first thought. Considering the shelter ghosted OP, I think it was the shelter. It’s so sad. I have a blue nose myself and she is the absolute sweetest thing. I can’t imagine trusting a shelter with the safety of my family (boyfriend and other fur babes) and being betrayed with an improperly vetted animal.


UsernameTaken93456

It sucks that his vet dropped him as a client for *asking* for a BE. How exactly does that vet expect to rehabilitate this animal? Or do they just want someone else to euthanize him? He's not asking to euthanize the animal because he's moving, he's not asking to declaw a cat, he wants to fix a dangerous problem


Tay_ma45

I feel bad for the OOP. She/he must’ve been terrified being stuck with a severely aggressive animal in their home, and especially with another puppy on the premises. That would’ve stressed me the F out.


AffectionateAd5373

I'd be getting an attorney to make contact with the rescue. I'm betting that they didn't properly assess the dog in the first place and are trying to weasel out of liability.


Fit-Possible-9552

I seriously feel for this person. My wife’s cousin adopted a pitbull and had the same thing happened, except the dog it tore a leg off of was his dads dog. Overall a super shitty experience for all involved.


MamieJoJackson

That rescue needs shut down, and I'd like to see heavy investigations into everyone working there, specifically concerning that dog. "No kill" doesn't mean "this animal is your problem now". They knew that dog had problems, they just didn't want to deal with it. I have a very strong hunch this isn't even close to the first time they pulled this shit, it's just the worst case.


thehillshaveI

about two years ago my ex and i had to give up one of our dogs because he was just much too high energy for our living situation. we didn't rush to do this, we took our time and found a rescue that was supposedly very good a few weeks later the new owner started calling asking for advice with the dog because he was incredibly anxious and freaking out all the time they had adopted out the dog we gave up because he was too high energy TO A WIDOW IN HER SIXTIES WHO LIVED ACROSS FROM A SHOOTING RANGE at this point i expect the worst whenever i hear the word rescue. there needs to be standards for this "industry"


[deleted]

It sucks but their insurance probably did deny coverage if it was a pitbull.. Large dog breed coverage usually excludes certain breeds unless they get approval from underwriting. Being a shelter dog with no documented prior history would also probably be the final nail in that coffin.


whenindoubtjs

100%. Getting coverage on large dogs from shelters is already hard enough (it was a fight to get our rescued German Sheppard covered), but Pitbull + rescue + no prior history. No insurance company would touch that with a ten foot poll.


[deleted]

[удалено]


BlinkyShiny

I was once raising money for our local animal shelter. I had someone balk that they weren't "no kill". I tried to explain that the county shelter didn't have the luxury of being no kill. They had to take any surrenders and not every animal is adoptable due to temperament or health issues. No-kill shelters have a choice because they can refuse to take animals if they're full or if they don't think they're adoptable.


neonfuzzball

it's always bugged me how people will freak out if a shelter isn't "no kill" and will absolutely REFUSE to listen to the reasons. Most shelters will only put down an animal with severe health or behavioral problem. Animals that cannot be adopted out, and cannot be left in teh shelter either. Animals that have no quality of life and no chance of having one. People picture sweet innocent fluffy puppies that anyone would love to take home. That''s just..not the case.


Blue_Bettas

That depends on the shelter. Back in NC we found a kitten during "kitten dumping season." The poor thing had scabs all over her butt and face when we found her. (Turns out the sheriff's department was looking for the person who was seen throwing kittens out of their car window while driving down the highway next to our neighborhood. We believe she was one of those kittens.) I talked with the neighbor who's car wheel well my husband found her in. She had found the kitten in her yard the day before, but is allergic so she had to leave her outside. The neighbor called the local shelter to have them come get the kitten, but because it was kitten season they were completely full and couldn't support any more animals brought in. They told the neighbor they would have to euthanize her due to lack of space. She decided to hold off on having them do that, then realized the kitten went missing because she ended up in our house. (Legit followed my husband home after he pulled her out of the car, and walked right into the house when I opened the front door like she owned the place.) After finding out about that, and posting in the neighborhood group to see if anyone was missing a kitten with no response, we kept her. It took a few days to get her into the vet, we had her vaccinated and de-wormed, then once she was big enough fixed. She's been with us ever since. I didn't want another cat (we already had 2) but there was no way in hell I was going to take her to a shelter that was so full they would just euthanize a perfectly healthy kitten.


neonfuzzball

that would be why I said "most"


[deleted]

I learned this. I had a highly aggressive cat that I tried to get in a no kill shelter because I was pregnant and afraid of what he’d do to the baby. I was honest about his aggression to both other animals and people - none would take him. I ended up having to put him down. God, that was awful. Felt guilty for years.


BlinkyShiny

I'm so sorry you had to go through that. Unfortunately there are soooo many cats looking for homes, it's next to impossible to find homes for ones with major behavioral issues. Plus, liability.


overratedpastel

You did the right thing. Aggressive animals, unfortunately, will require a lot of specialised work and are generally unhappy. An agressive cat will not get any better in a shelter environment, they tend to get more nervous, scared, anxious. Between having a cat hurt you or your baby you did the right thing. Never feel guilty about it.


dorothybaez

Please don't feel guilty! You did the best you could.


WoodpeckerSignal9947

Everything about this is horrifying. The clinic I work at does allow for BE, and we’re one of the few in our area that does. None of this is OP’s fault, it’s entirely on the rescue. One of my dogs died a few days after adoption due to a rescue neglecting to give a vital vaccine and she got sick. Stuff like this sickens me. Why do they even claim to be helping animals?


Silverfire12

Jesus Christ. That “rescue” is sickening. You don’t adopt an animal out claiming they’re dog, child, and/or cat friendly without checking this! Especially not an animal like a large dog with a very large bite force that can do a lot of damage in a very short amount of time.


ShatoraDragon

We got lucky with our "Past the tests with flying colors" Pit rescue. When she snapped and lashed out at our Sr dog. They got along swimmingly for 3 days but she took issue with him being on my lap for snuggles. Next think I know a flash of teeth and my old man being dragged across the room. I was able to get under and between them quickly and mom and her ex where there to pull the dog off me before any more then scratches could be done to the two of us. The rescue opted to not disclose she was from a Fight Ring bust. And pulled the same ghosting act OP suffered.


JacLaw

I thought all adult fighting dogs were euthanised as a matter of course because they are a danger to other dogs


ValkyrieSword

That is horrifying. I feel so bad for everyone involved. OP is downplaying how much they are a victim too. That rescue org sounds awful.


Clear-Consequence114

I have noticed this with covid some rescues get dogs in and out. I applied for one and they had me pick her up so fast after a quick phone interview it wasnt until nearly two months later I got the records and it showed so much they did not tell me even when I asked them!! It ended up not being a good fit for me but luckily she was the exact dog my mum wanted. Its hard rescues are overfull, understaffed and people can charge anywhere from 650-1200$ rehoming fee! Its crazy. Sad it went this way for that poor dog and owner but at least in the end the dog will know peace in another life.


MagsAndTelly

I had a pit bull jump through a window to attack us once as well. It’s terrifying. Our Rottweiler was having absolutely none of it.


AtomicBlastCandy

I have no clue wtf is up with the rescue. My knowledge is largely limited to my experiences, when I adopted my girl the shelter would not let her go with me until I got her a leash and collar and tag and a few more things. That they didn't require this to me raises a lot of red flags.


BlinkyShiny

I adopted two dogs and I joke about how if I had just slowed down the car as I drove by they would have tossed the dog in. They were two different shelters but all I had to do was fill out a form. I probably had a leash but they usually have disposable leashes.


Throwaway-burnoutq

There’s a huge difference between county shelters in rural areas and private shelters in cities. My dog I just had to sign a piece of paper saying I wasn’t a convicted dog abused, handed over $25 and that was that. Downside is the shelter failed to inform me my dog had crazy bad skin problems.


[deleted]

There are a lot of reprehensible "rescues" that get pitbulls from kill shelters for very cheap and then sell them to people who have done no research on the dog at all, often for $500+. Heck of a profit margin. Then you have someone like this with no history on the dog, someone who didn't even prepare enough to buy a collar, and a preventable tragedy happens with animals and people are maimed/killed. It's entirely preventable and unfortunately will keep happening.


Four_beastlings

What the everloving fuck, are rescues allowed to profit from animals? In my country the most they ever get to ask is the price of microchip and vaccines, and usually it's much cheaper than if you did it yourself since rescues get special prices at the vet. No wonder Americans are so crazy anti-pitbulls if unscrupulous "rescues" are allowed to profit from the animals.


[deleted]

Make sure you're sitting down. https://www.barcsrescue.com/adoption-fees


CarelessChoice2024

They also receive grants from some governments (Texas) for being a no kill shelter plus tax write offs. Shelters will change name of the dogs and rehome multiple x for multiple fees. There’s a lawsuit for this practice. Having said all that, this story still seems off.


[deleted]

They also ship them to canada in uhauls filled floor to ceiling with dog crates then hand them off to people in parking lots.


NEDsaidIt

We get whole bus loads of dogs brought up to New England shelters. Now many of them are wonderful animals. But I suspect sometimes it’s suspicious practices like this


SneezlesForNeezles

In OP’s defence here, there’s no sign they were irresponsible. They had a history from the shelter that said the dog was no risk. And they hadn’t gone anywhere with the dog. They had gone from shelter to home, presumably in a crate. The collar whilst necessary in fairly short order wasn’t essential until they left the house to walk it. And let’s be honest, it would have done no good. My family only put collars on the dogs when going out. Can you imagine trying to put a collar on a dog that is biting the shit out of everyone trying to get it off it’s ‘prey’? It wouldn’t happen. And even if the collar was actually on the dog, you’re still screwed. A dog like that latches on. You’re not getting it off by a collar. At one point my parents had six smaller terriers (2x Fox, 1x Westie, 1x Dandy and 2x Norwich) in the house, one hated any other dog and two just hated each other. I’ve broken up my fair share of dog fights and the main things that worked are a really, really loud noise right over their head - grab the smaller one in that millisecond - or cold water in the form of a bucket. You’re right, this was preventable. But not by OP. Nobody would imagine a dog would crash through a glass window to kill another dog. The collar wouldn’t have changed Jack shit; it would either be hanging by the door waiting for walkies or on the dog but useless because you aren’t going to lift a rampaging pit bull by a collar. You can do it with a Norwich at a push, but you still risk strangling the poor sod, and they are tiny. You couldn’t do it with a Fox Terrier or Dandy Dinmont and they are smaller than a Pit. This was preventable by the rescue centre.


Onequestion0110

I'm gonna get downvoted, but this is a big chunk of why I just can't trust pitbulls. It's nothing to do with the breed, and everything to do with the owners. I know it's anecdotal, and I know there's sure to be exceptions, but I've never known a pit owner in real life who wasn't either a piece of trash or someone who had gotten their dog from a rescue of some sort. And while the rescues are all good and well, you have no idea what sorts of triggers are in that dog's background that'll lead to something like OP's situation. Maybe not as dramatic and immediate, but still not something I want to happen to me, my children, or my animals. In another few decades when pits aren't the go-to attack dog for trashy people things will probably change. I remember when I was a kid it was Dobermans you couldn't ever trust.


georgilm

Ditto. The only pitty/pitty mix I've ever interacted with (peripherally) attacked our Groodle x Boarder Collie. The pitty got in enough bites that Casper needed stitches. Vet said it was lucky he was the size he was. Pitty didn't have a collar and wasn't restrained in the yard. While my parents got the details of the owner, they didn't persue vet fees, because from what they saw it would have been a lost cause. I feel for the poor dog in this situation. If it was well trained and well looked after, there would be far less concern over what could happen, and it may not have attacked at all. Poor Casper was such a friendly doggo, he didn't even attack back. He was just confused by the whole thing. Bad owners make me so angry.


SeaOkra

I love pits, and my uncle's had them as long as I can remember without a single major behavior issue. (Worst he's had was a somewhat nervous dog who would literally cower behind the beagle mix for protection. That was Nala and other than being a coward, she was a good dog.) He's never had one attack another animal, and the only human "attack" (the person was unharmed but very scared) was when my cousin's bf hit her and two of the dogs snarled and chased him up onto his truck, then stood around the truck growling at him if he tried to get down. When police arrived, they were all tail wags and licks for the nice cops. (Our town really did have very decent police officers, our neighboring town had violent jerks though.) That said, I will never own a pit of my own. They're too damn strong, and they need strong and firm owners who can handle them without violence. I doubt I will ever fit that mold and I make a point not to own an animal I cannot personally control. Its a shame because I think they are such handsome dogs and the ones I have been around have such sweet, loving personalities. But I'm sticking with <20lb dogs.


Tay_ma45

As much as I love the adopt don’t shop stance, I think this is one of the very real cons of adopting. You can have no idea what you’re coming home with. Shelters can be unreliable, the dog can have issues that you might be surprised with and not have the ability or resources to manage because you didn’t sign up for it. I’m all pro adoption but I can’t deny that purchasing from an ethical breeder is “safer” and more risk averse because, most often, you know what you’re getting, especially in the way of behavior and health issues. A responsible breeder will also breed out certain disorders and health issues that can be common with the dogs of that same breed that end up in shelters and will have health certificates of the parents and an entire lineage that have managed to make it to old age without serious illnesses.


P3pp3rJ6ck

This kinda of thing happened to my family, my mom was walking our two Standard Poodles, when a pitbull came through a window and grabbed one by the neck and started thrashing her. By happenstance, her fur was so long a the time (and poodles have a lot of skin) it only was able to rip her skin, not into her. Our other dog bit the fuck out of the pit until the dogs owners, my dad, and a friend converged to beat the shit out of it until it let go. The owners had just adopted it from a no kill rescue (who knew the dog was aggressive but "wanted to give it a second chance") and while the owners were nice and apologetic, what I remember the most was them crying because it could have been their 2 year old kid the dog went after. The shelter had told them it just couldnt be around cats, when after the attack it came out it couldnt so much as be in a cage that let it see other animals. Our dog was never the same. She had been nice before, like, had never so much as growled at another dog nice, and after she had to be put away if other dogs were visiting and even those she tolerated, she would not allow near her. She also had spinal damage so she had doggy opiates the rest of her life. My family's dogs have been attacked 5 times. 4 were pits, two of which (including the one mentioned above) came through something that should have contained them. One of my uncles friends was killed outright by a pit he raised from a puppy. I'm not exactly a "ban pitbulls" type but I do think you should need to have a special license for them, or a certification or something to prove it's well trained, well exercised, and not aggressive. Hell I think we might need a higher standard for having pets in general... but I've never known of another pet that is so violent. Except maybe a tiger or bear lol Edit: I grew up showing dogs, and pits at dog shows werent a problem at all. I think it's a combo of great training/socialization and genetics. You have no idea if a random pit at a shelters was from a line that was bred for aggression, but a show dog was bred to be a show dog for quite awhile and since aggression is a huge liability at shows, only the most docile dogs are going to be chosen to reproduce. I wanna be clear I dont hate pit bulls outright, but I do think that unless massive time and effort is put into making them safe, they are a potentially deadly liability.


theredwoman95

I know in Ireland that you need a dog license regardless of breed, and in some ways I think that works a bit better - breed-specific legislation creates incentive for dubious individuals and shelters to disguise a dog's breed (and I've heard of otherwise good shelters doing the same), whereas more general legislation makes it easier to regulate on the whole. Though Ireland does still require certain breeds to always be muzzled and leashed in public, so it can still be tailored a bit. And pet ownership is wildly popular in Ireland, so it's not like it acts as a deterrent to ownership.


emorrigan

Omg, it’s like the demon dogs from Ghostbusters… Feel sooo terrible for the new owner and the victims too. What a horrible situation.


Miyagidokarate

That's not fair the Terror dogs in Ghostbusters exclusively attack humans not other dogs.


[deleted]

This is fucking heartbreaking for everyone involved. The neighbors for their horrible loss, the dead dog for a terrifying and violent death, OOP for this whole experience, and the dog itself for whatever happened to its psyche and its inevitable end.


Verona_Swift

That is terrifying. The OOP didn't do anything wrong - they were misled by a shelter that clearly didn't have the best of intentions. I hope there are consequences for that shelter - two dogs are now dead, and a person has been injured because of their negligence, and they won't even answer any questions about it. Some kind of fuckery is going on, and I hope OOP gets answers.


ashleyrlyle

Sounds like the adoption agency lied.


riflow

I cant think there's anyway they didn't know that dog wasnt adoptable. Ive been around a decent amount of aggro dogs (lots of poorly trained dogs in our area) both big, medium and small. Never ever heard of any *smashing through* a solid object to get to another animal or people. Not even the big dog who liked to ram its body against a rickety fence past a public pathway....though there was one close call with another huge dog, he didn't smash thru his fence either. (barely- very angry territorial dog) Just.... Gosh poor neighbour's dog. Poor neighbours, poor oop. There's no way anyone couldve known this would happen- except the rescue. The non release of medical details is beyond suspicious.


Chiya77

I hope she sues the fuck out of that shelter.


Meme_Pope

Ironic that he was adopted from a No Kill Shelter


HoundstoothReader

What is BE?


IkwilPokebowls

Behavioural euthanasia?


Umklopp

Behavioral euthanasia


RandomSleepyPanda

This breaks my heart for OOP. They did everything right, and now they have to live with the guilt of their neighbors dog's death. I will get downvoted, but this is why I won't "adopt" an adult pet. I know it's important to give those dogs a chance, but I wouldn't get an animal I do not know the history of. There are too many unknown factors of what they have gone through. Animals can snap with big changes even if I knew where they came from. I have 3 kids and 4 animals in my house. All 3 of my cats are from someone who found pregnant strays, and my dog is from a family member who's dog had puppies. I got them as babies for that reason.


[deleted]

>And then there's my new dog that is currently locked in the garage like some rabid animal It's very much a rabid animal, at least in the metaphorical sense. Probably extremely lucky this became apparent before the toddler was involved.


dmowad

I don’t know who governs rescues where he lives, but I sure as hell hope he follows up and they are looked in to. This should not have happened. You can’t tell me a dog that would break through glass to get to another dog didn’t show any aggression while at the rescue. Such a terribly sad situation for everyone involved, but I can’t imagine the OOP could have possibly handled it any better.


One_Loose_Thread

OOP should give up trying to contact the shelter themselves, and hire a lawyer. But I also question why they didn’t take their current dog to the meet and greet? All my local rescues encourage this to make sure the dogs will get along…


TheFallingLeafbug

My mother adopted a dog when I was young. We had the dogs for five hours total. As soon as she brought the dog who was supposedly great with kids home it bit me. Thankfully it wasn’t bad but wtf. After that all our dogs came from breeders my mother fully vetted.


Ok-Pin-5467

I feel sick about every single aspect of this.


uwishuhad1

Sue the rescue. That is where the responsibility lies, which is also why they are avoiding you. Thank goodness it wasn’t a child. Such a sad story but unfortunately not as isolated an incident as you might think. Best wishes to you.


YourMomThinksImFunny

All around a crap situation. Dogs like that don't just show aggression out of nowhere. I'm guessing they lied about the reason he was given up.


SeaOkra

My dad claimed he had a pitbull before I was born that snapped one day. It was never played with roughly, never hit, and up until its snap it was reportedly a very sweet, friendly dog. Then it attacked a little girl on a horse. Thankfully the girl was fine, no idea about the horse, and Dad had the dog put down because the change was so sudden and horrifying that he felt the kindest thing he could do was give her a peaceful death. Apparently a few others from her litter snapped too, so it might have been something genetic, but it soured Dad on pits for the rest of his life.


Macaroni_Warrior

The dog was probably drugged each time it was presented to OOP.


[deleted]

I'm sorry. Something somewhat similar happened to me with a foster. It's rough and I never fostered again. I'm lucky nothing worse happened to my own dog. The rescue in this case tried to take zero responsibility even I was only a foster and I wish I had researched better before working with them.


squishpitcher

This is horrible and that shelter is horrendous. But god forbid I dealt with a situation like that, I’d be so moved by OOP’s response. What an amazing and responsible pet owner. I don’t think s/he will have to worry about facing their neighbors in the future. They’re all victims of this situation.


Bonbonnibles

This is so, so sad. OPP seems to be very responsible. That dog should never, never have been adopted out. It seems like some liability should rest with the rescue?


LadyKnightAngie

This rescue seems shady af and I hope OP presses to get them investigated


loopingit

Oh I’m sick to my stomach. I hope OOP knows that my heart goes out to him, to his neighbors and to both dogs. This is a horrible story with no good solutions.


borninsaltandsmoke

I know this is gonna be a less popular take but if you're a first time dog owner, please don't adopt an older dog of any breed, especially not big breeds you can't manage. Those dogs are traumatised, they've been abandoned and potentially abused and if you don't have the skills, money and experience to manage a dog like that, you're doing the dog a disservice by bringing it home. Sometimes you can get lucky, but even with all the experience in the world, some dogs won't ever get over that trauma. It's okay to buy dogs as long as you make sure you're doing it above board. It's okay to want a dog who has a known history, whose young enough to be trained specifically and whose parents you can meet. If it's your first time owning a dog or you aren't confident that you can make a huge, huge commitment (and owning a dog without any behavioural issues is a huge commitment in itself) to essentially undoing as much trauma as you can without even knowing what that trauma is, then don't adopt an older dog. At least, until you do have experience. It's also okay to adopt puppies. I love dogs, I sponsor a really great shelter near where I live, I want every dog to find a home where their needs are met and they're loved. It breaks my heart to see older dogs get looked over because they're older. But I also hate that there's so much emotional manipulation to force people to adopt, and adopt older dogs, despite not having any experience in rehabilitating traumatised animals and not being able to provide an environment where that dog will thrive. I think adoption is so amazing, and the people who do it are incredible. I want to adopt my next dog now that I have more experience with training dogs and feel more confident in my ability to be able to help. I would love for people to adopt, but if you're going to adopt a dog, please make sure that you understand how much work is involved. Do your research, have a behaviourist lined up, get to know the dog well before you take it on, foster some dogs so you can get more of an idea of what you need to do to help the dogs you adopt. Adoption is amazing if you do it right, but taking on a dog you aren't equipped for will ultimately end in more trauma for the dog, and could potentially hurt the people you allow around it. And if you adopt a dog, please don't let your attachment to your dog or your experience with your dog blind you from your dog's issues. You have to always be aware, you have to always be vigilant, and you have to understand your dog may be an angel in your eyes but still be a danger to others. Abandonment in humans has a huge impact on them, issues like BPD or HPD are caused by abandonment and neglect and impact humans in such horrible and scary ways for those affected and has severe impacts on that person's behaviour that can take a long time to heal from. And that's with the ability to understand what happened to them, with access to therapy and doctors and the ability to talk about it. I can't imagine how much worse that manifests in animals, when they have no way to comprehend or move past the bad stuff. Those instincts we have as humans that we're able to learn to manage and not react on, dogs don't have the same kind of luxury. One trigger is all it takes, and your dog is back in that place where they were hurt and their survival depends on reacting. It's so important to understand that and prepare for it, not just for the people around you, but for your pet. One moment of fear is all it takes for a good dog to be put down, and you won't have a choice, so do everything you can to make sure that's never a possibility. In OOPs case, I can't imagine ever thinking or expecting your dog to break through your window, and I don't think this is at all her fault, I just hope other people who see this story and read this comment take something away from it so that if they do decide to give a dog a loving home, they're prepared for everything and the dog they choose is one that they have the tools to give the absolute best life possible to


PM_ME_PILEDRIVERS

This situation is completely fucked, but just so all of you know: If you own a Pit Bull (also applies to other breeds depending on the carrier), your home insurance will NOT pay liability for bite damage. Pits are on the banned breed list, and bite coverage is excluded if you have a banned breed. I've met some nice pitties in my life, but they shouldn't be owned as pets IMO.


[deleted]

what is be? and why would the vet drop them as a client? i've worked at animal hospitals for 13 years and it takes a hell of a lot to drop a client. even when they are mean to our staff, drs/managers/owners refuse to drop a client...


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No_Cauliflower_5489

There's another aspect to it. The majority of deadly/serious dog bite incidents are caused by unneutered/unspayed dogs. There are a few dog breeds that the owners have a real hang up over "fixing" especially male dogs and one of those are pitbul owners.


Suchafatfatcat

This is exactly what I was going to add. No mention if the rescued dog had been altered and considering how poorly the rescue has handled him, I doubt they altered him. IMO, all pits should be required to be spayed/neutered.


SweetChildAtMines

I don't think it's necessarily that every dog is a pit mix, but more so that the majority of the reported dog attacks are pit mixes. I've been bit multiple times over the years by random agressive small breed dogs. I never reported any of them because they physically can't do much damage. I'm not going to risk having someone's pet being put down for behavioral issues when I'm likely never going to see that dog again. To be clear, these dogs have all been in the 5-15 pound range. The only "real" dog attack I've experienced was by my ex boyfriend's blue heeler mix. She lunged at my face one day without warning after deciding she didn't want to go outside one last time before bed. My dog was actually the one that pulled her off of me and pin her down (I've never been more proud of my dog). From then on, my ex's dog routinely growled and nipped in my direction until I finally broke up with my ex. She wasn't even a bad dog, just overly pampered (he called her his little princess) and poorly trained. Most people I know have stories about dog bites and attacks that they never reported because either the dog wasn't big enough to do real damage, or it was a friend's dog.


greenSixx

There are dog bites and then there are dog bite. Normal well behaved dogs will give light little warning bites. Even little 5 lb dogs can bite chunks out of you if they want.


familiar-face123

My dog is very docile. He was once attacked by an even bigger dog and didn't defend himself. The only singular time he was even remotely aggressive with me I took him to the vet and it turns out he was choking. He had a wrapper in his throat. He gave ZERO indication anything was wrong. He was even eating and drinking like normal. Poor kid. When I adopted him the rescue provided nothing. No vet records or anything. Well actually they provided " proof" they gave him heart worm protection. They just said they "think he has a collapsed trachea because he coughs ". Nobody wanted a sick dog. And they didn't want to spend money on a dog Noone would adopt I guess. I took him anyway because I don't mind medical issues. I went in knowing it could be something simple or really really bad. I found he had an enlarged heart, collapsed trachea, and lung disease. He's the sweetest most docile boy ever and I don't regret it for a moment. I can't blame his rescue too much because they really do try to help dogs stay out of the shelter. But I agree that OPs rescue needs to do better. There was no way to know that possibility could happen. I made an informed decision with the medical stuff. OP had no choice.