[Dailydrool] BHRSC and adoptions

[dpmcquade at verizon.net]

Kudos to Basset Hound Rescue of Southern California in their response to Buddy's abuse.

I hope that no one there feels an overwhelming sense of guilt concerning this adoption. People are complex. When you interview them, you try to find out as much as possible, but unless you moved in with them, you will never know the whole truth.

When I interview people, I usually just try to get them talking. I can't tell you how many times I've had people who looked like really good adopters talk themselves into a corner. Some folks just want to tell all and decide you're their best friend; they start saying things they never would tell you if they thought about who you were. But not everyone opens up that way.

I too have had embarrassing failures. Afterwards you ask yourself, "How could I have missed that?" In most cases you can get the hound back and start over. It is particularly awful that Buddy's situation isn't like that.

You miss a few adoptions you should nix because not everyone is honest. Not every one opens up. It's not your fault. That does not mean you stop adopting out dogs to the many wonderful folks who want to do a good thing as they get a new hound. After all, adoption is the purpose of rescue. I hope this failure will be just a blip on the screen of BHRSC's adopting screen. I don't know what else they could have done. After all, they probably can't ask, "Do you have a child who is a druggie and an arsonist?"

Like everyone else, I am heartbroken at poor Buddy's abuse. The mean side of me wants a horrible retribution to fall upon him. I'm not sure what justice will be in this situation (I'm sure I couldn't enact it), but it will surely be more than a year in jail, since we know that people who abuse animals also often abuse people. I trust that BHRSC will be able to influence the court to give this guy more than a slap on the wrist for such cruelty. Since I'm on the Right Coast, I will probably never be directly affected by this guy, but I'd like to see the folks out there on the Left Coast be safe--to say nothing of all the innocent animals who are forced to share their world with him.
 
I cannot judge the family, since none of us know much about them. I'd like to hope they are the ones who led the police to the culprit, but that would be a very hard thing to do, seeing as he's family. But as I think about it, if I had a kid, maybe my finding out would be worse than anything the police could do. I won't go further than that, since my imagination is all too vivid in this area.
Pam, food slaves to the Dashing Basset