Dog's Sad Adoption Tale Spotlights Denver Pets Needing Homes

Denver CO

07 April, 2021

1:36 PM

Description

DENVER, CO — Perhaps you've read the story about the hundreds of people who want to adopt Rusty, the 2-year-old mixed breed dog surrendered to the same Texas animal shelter three times. While the story occurred many miles from Colorado, it's an important example of what happens to pets across the country. What the director of the Texas shelter wants you to know is that you'd be better off adopting a dog from a local shelter here in Colorado. The hundreds of people — including Coloradans — who have inquired about adopting Rusty do so out of good intentions, Humane Society of Central Texas Executive Director Paul Rivadeneira told Patch. But often, they're so fixed on rescuing a dog who has spent months and years in a shelter that their expectations about the kind of relationship they and the new pet would have are unrealistic. "Rusty isn't the dog you're envisioning," Rivadeneira has to tell Rusty's would-be adopters. "It's a kind thing to do, but he's going to be a problem." Rusty's Lessons: What You Can Learn From 'Unadoptable' Texas Dog While rescuing that one dog who has been waiting years for adoption may seem like a noble gesture, so is adopting less-famous dogs among the estimated 3.3 million dogs that enter U.S. animal shelters every year. At Denver Patch, we make it easy for people to find local pets who need your love. Every Friday, Patch and our partner Petfinder publish a list of all the recent pets put up for adoption in the Denver area: Denver Pets Up For Adoption This Week "There's a Rusty in every shelter," Rivadeneira said. "We know lots of dogs like him that are amazing and wonderful. "We want everyone to flood their local shelters. We know the homes are out there for Rusty ... and for all those other dogs we know are hard to place."