Anni Anete Mõisamaa, communications manager for the shelters’ NGO, explains that almost 1,500 animals are sent home every year, and that the situation in which people give up a pet taken from the shelter is rare: “This percentage remains at one or two, or at most twenty animals per year. The situations are still such that a person contacts us and says that something has happened to him, which is why he can no longer keep an animal.”
“The reasons can be different. For example, a move or a child’s allergy. There can also be more tragic cases in which something has happened to the owner. In these cases we always bring our animals back to the shelter so that they don’t end up road, for God’s sake,” confirms Mõisamaa.
And he adds: “The situation in which someone throws an animal taken from a shelter onto the street is really rare. In addition to this last situation, one or two similar situations come to mind.”
According to Mõisamaa, the preliminary work done with the person before handing over the animal works well, but unfortunately there are sad exceptions
Mõisamaa explains that before handing over an animal in the shelter to a new owner, they try to determine whether the person will actually care for the animal, but there are no options for a thorough background check yet. “I can’t say we can do a thorough background check on a person. We can’t even go into the homes of thousands of them and see what conditions the animal will live in.”
Anni Anete Mõisamaa reminds us that the decision to adopt a pet should be carefully considered. — PHOTO: Private collection
Mõisamaa adds: “We still have a lot of preliminary work ahead of us before giving the animal to a new home. It all starts with filling out an application form, which is a more comprehensive form, from which we get a lot of information about the person. Of course, this is followed by a meeting at the shelter. We try to talk to the person and find out in the process who he is.”
According to him, trust must also be relied on in many ways: “We can’t do anything about it, we too have to trust and we cannot doubt all people. Since we see that the percentage of animal returns is extremely small, it seems that the preliminary work is still working to a large extent. Unfortunately there are also some sad exceptions.”
Mõisamaa wants to encourage all people considering adopting a pet from the shelter to think carefully about the decision
Mõisamaa reminds us: “If you have thought about adopting a dog, a cat or any other animal from the shelter, think very carefully about this decision, and if you have thought about it, think about it three more times, because in reality adopting an animal is a responsible action very large. We want animals to be treated as full members of the family and adopting an animal is a responsibility for many years. If this decision is certain, contact us and we will definitely find a suitable animal.”
2024-01-08 14:00:00
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