In the website words of one of the first no-kill shelters, The San Francisco SPCA:

"(We) guarantee to find a home for all San Francisco's adoptable
cats and dogs - animals that are healthy and free of serious
behavior problems. Animals are euthanasia only if they are too
sick to be rehabilitated, or too aggressive to be safely placed
in a home."

2. Tax Supported Shelters Usually Can't Reject Dogs

No-kill shelters have been criticized for skimming the cream of abandoned dogs and letting public, tax-supported shelters deal
with all the sick, aggressive and elderly dogs.

There is truth to this. If you take Fido to a no-kill shelter, you
may be required to have a clean bill of health from a Vet before
the shelter will accept him. People who won't or can't afford
this leave Fido at the county shelter.

3. Owners May Not Have Told the Truth

The most common reasons given for turning in a pet is that
the owner is moving or divorcing and can't take Fido with him.

That may be true but begs the question of why didn't the
owner try to place the dog himself? If you paid $1000 for a
purebred or loved your dog, it's likely you'd try to find
a good home for him (if not resell him).

The dogs that wind up at shelters may be dogs that
aren't socialized or trained. Owners are too embarrassed
to admit their dog is out-of-control.

Some shelters claim they don't take puppy mill dogs, but
how could they possibly know the dog's background!

4. Some Adoptions Don't Take

Be sure to ask the shelter if the dog had been placed previously.
You may be surprised how many dogs are rehomed and then
sent back to the shelter.

People mean well but if they don't have much experience with
dogs, they may be overwhelmed by how much time and effort
it takes to care for a normal dog, let alone one with behavior
problems.

5. Shelters Serve Their Needs, Not Yours

Financial support for a shelter is often tied to its success
in getting dogs adopted.

Some shelters permit adoptions of small dogs with behavior
problems that they would never allow in larger dogs.

If your local newspaper has columns on dog placements,
note how often the shelter claims all the dog needs is a
loving home, but he shouldn't be in homes with small children
or other pets.

6. Your Dog May Bark in Chinese

Thanks to the publicity campaigns to get people to spray
or neuter dogs, some shelters are running low on popular
small dogs and puppies. They ensure a sufficient supply
of adoptable dogs by importing them from foreign countries.

Visit the website of the Taipei Abandoned Animal Rescue
Foundation to see how happy they are to have placed
so many dogs in the United States from the Humane
Society of Snohomish County, WA to Pets Alive, a
no-kill shelter in Middletown, NY.

Shelters are exempt from many of the import laws and have
no federal requirements to quarantine the imports or ensure
they are free of parasites and diseases before they place them.

Does that sound paranoid? Ask the six Massachusetts residents
who had to take rabies shots because a shelter imported a
rabid puppy from Puerto Rico. The puppy was too young to
have his rabies vaccinations completed, but shelters need
puppies to satisfy their clients.

7. Laws Don't Necessarily Apply to Non-Profits

Despite the hysteria you read about buying puppies
from pet shops, you should realize that at least pet stores
have to obey federal and state laws.

Usually these laws do not apply to non-profits or community
shelters. For instance, federal law forbids interstate transport
of puppies younger than 8-weeks for sale. If you read #6 above,
you already know that doesn't apply to non-profit shelters.
State puppy lemon laws usually don't apply either.

The most frequent complaint I get about shelters/rescue
groups from would-be adopters is discrimination. One lady
was told that at 65-years of age she was too old to adopt
a puppy! Good luck finding an agency to investigate
a complaint. Non-profits get away with things that
would land Wal-Mart in the headlines.

8. Shelters Are Not Dens

Not all dogs do well at shelters. Some dogs adjust
to kennel life but others become fearful, frustrated, and
overactive which makes them even less likely to be adopted.

It's also extremely difficult to prevent the spread of diseases
when you have so many pets in one location. There's a reason
canine infectious tracheobronchitis is popularly known as
"kennel cough."

None of these problems are the dog's fault, but they're
still problems.

If you're inexperienced with dogs or a time-starved family with
young children, examine the dog and shelter carefully before
adopting a mature shelter dog.

Not all dogs are Lassie and not all owners are Cesar Millan.