Dora LaBorde, head of a long time dog rescue here in Kingwood gives advice on the process of getting lost dogs homed.
A situation I encountered today reminded me why responsible rehoming matters so much.
If you're posting publicly asking for help with a dog and saying you're open to rescue assistance, please understand that people are going to ask questions. Not because they're being difficult, but because they're trying to help responsibly.
Some of the basic questions I asked were:
• Is the dog spayed?
• Is the dog vaccinated?
• Are there veterinary records?
• Is the dog on flea, tick, and heartworm prevention?
• How much does the dog weigh?
The answers were largely unknown.
That matters.
For a rescue, those unknowns can mean hundreds or even thousands of dollars in veterinary expenses before the dog is ready for adoption. For a foster, those unknowns can determine whether it's safe to bring that dog into their home. In my case, I have a senior dog with severe autoimmune issues and no functioning immune system. I can't risk bringing an unvaccinated or medically unknown dog into my house, no matter how much I want to help.
Questions aren't judgment. Questions are due diligence.
The reality is that a young, friendly, healthy dog can often find an amazing home very quickly. But when basic medical care, records, and information are missing, it makes helping that dog much harder than it should be.
My biggest fear in situations like this is not that the dog won't find a home. It's that the dog will find the wrong one. An unspayed young dog can easily end up being bred repeatedly for profit and discarded when she's no longer useful. We see stories like that every day.
This is why so many people in rescue are exhausted.
Too often, someone gets a cute puppy, provides little or no preventive care, loses interest when the responsibility becomes inconvenient, and then expects a rescue, foster, or volunteer to absorb the financial, medical, and emotional burden.
If you're considering rehoming a pet, please do everything you can first:
• Spay or neuter your pet.
• Keep vaccinations current.
• Maintain veterinary records.
• Use heartworm, flea, and tick prevention.
• Be honest and transparent about medical and behavioral history.
These things don't just make rehoming easier. They protect the dog's future.
The dog always pays the price when humans fail to plan ahead.
And that's the part that breaks my heart.
