10/20/2026
This is well written and a long read, but well worth reading
Written by Kayla Winrow:
"I HATE RESCUES!"
I see people complain allllll the time about how hard rescues make it to adopt an animal so they’d rather just buy a dog than jump through all the hoops that come with adopting from a rescue.
And I want to talk about that for a minute, because I think there’s a big misunderstanding about WHY rescues have the adoption processes they do.
Now, I do want to acknowledge that SOME rescues really DO make things more complicated than they need to be. With unreasonable requirements, poor communication, and weird policies that prevent perfectly good homes from adopting.
I’m not here to defend EVERY rescue or pretend they’re all operating perfectly. THEY'RE NOT.
BUT, I do want people to understand something.
The goal of a ✨reputable✨ rescue isn’t to just find anyone who WANTS a dog.
It’s to find someone who is A GOOD FIT for THAT dog. And there’s the difference.
Just because you see a dog online, fall in love with its face, and decide you want it doesn’t mean that dog is going to be a good fit for your household, your lifestyle, or your expectations.
That doesn’t mean YOU'RE a bad person.
It doesn’t mean you’re not capable of caring for an animal.
It just means that THAT particular animal might not be the right one for you.
MOST rescue animals spend time in foster homes before they’re adopted. During that time, we get to know them. We learn about their personalities, their behaviors, their energy levels, their fears, their needs, and the types of environments where they seem to do best.
Why wouldn’t you WANT that information before committing to an animal for the next 10 to 15 years? Think about how often we see people rehoming dogs they bought from breeders.
6 months later, a year later, sometimes YEARS later, they’re looking for a new home because the dog has too much energy, they don’t have enough time, the dog doesn’t get along with their other animals, or things aren’t working out....
And sometimes those situations are unavoidable. Life happens, circumstances change, and not every rehoming situation is the result of irresponsibility.... But isn’t that exactly what rescues are trying to prevent by asking questions and making sure an animal is a good fit BEFORE placing it in a home?
We don’t want to see these animals bounced from home to home because someone fell in love with the idea of having a particular dog without fully understanding what living with that dog would actually look like... and I mean...
If you had to rehome YOUR OWN personal pet tomorrow, would you give it to the first person who messaged you saying they wanted it?
Would you hand over an animal you’ve loved for years without asking questions?
Or would you want to know where it was going? Whether the person had other animals?
Whether they could meet its needs?
Whether they understood its personality and behavior?
Whether they could provide the kind of life you wanted for it?
Wouldn’t you WANT some reassurance that the person taking your beloved pet was actually able to care for it? And not just wanting it because it's cute?
Because that’s what rescues are trying to do.
These animals may not have been our pets for the last 10 years, but as a foster parent myself, we love them as our own and are heavily invested in what happens to them. We’ve taken responsibility for their wellbeing, and that responsibility doesn’t end just because somebody submits an application and says they want them.
But, if even after having some insight and understanding.... if you're STILL against rescues...
You do NOT have to adopt from a private rescue to give an animal a second chance.
If you don’t WANT to go through an extensive adoption process for whatever reason, there are other options!
📍Your local city municipal animal shelter is a great place to start. Many shelters have much simpler adoption processes, and lots offer same-day adoptions with minimal adoption fees (or sometimes even free)
🐾There are also owner-to-owner rehoming opportunities, including local Facebook rehoming groups, where people are trying to find new homes for animals they can no longer keep. Of course, you should still do your due diligence when adopting privately, and still expect some level of filtering questions.
The point is, there ARE alternatives.
It's never "you HAVE to adopt from a rescue OR buy from a breeder"
That’s something that seems to get lost in all these conversations. People act as though their only two options are jumping through a rescue’s hoops or purchasing a dog from a breeder, and that’s not true.
I also want to make something clear. Adoption requirements should serve a purpose. They should be reasonable, relevant to the animal’s needs, and designed to help create successful placements. They shouldn’t exist simply to make people prove themselves or to create unnecessary obstacles.
Not all rescues are the same either.... what happened with one, shouldn't be the default expectation for all. We're all standalone and not connected!
Not having a fenced yard doesn’t automatically reject you.
Renting doesn’t automatically reject you.
Working full-time doesn’t automatically reject you.
But Every animal is different, like every household is different. That’s WHY individual compatibility matters so much. Sometimes, despite everyone’s best intentions, an adoption doesn’t work out. No screening process can predict everything. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t make an effort to get it right from the beginning. I think people sometimes forget that rescue organizations aren’t businesses trying to make a sale. We’re not obligated to place a particular animal with someone simply because they’re interested in it. We’re responsible for making decisions that we believe are in that animal’s best interest.
And sometimes that DOES mean saying no.
Not because we think someone is undeserving of a dog, but because we believe there may be a better match for both the person AND the animal.
At the end of the day, wouldn’t you rather have someone tell you that a particular dog isn’t a good fit for your lifestyle BEFORE you bring it home, instead of finding that out 6 months later when you’re overwhelmed and considering rehoming it?
Adoption shouldn’t be about who gets approved the fastest, who wants the dog the most, or who submits an application first.
It should be about giving animals the best possible opportunity to find safe, stable, loving homes where they can thrive.
And I don’t think that’s too much to ask.
You don’t have to agree with every rescue’s policies to understand why responsible adoption screening matters.
