Shelters Keep Tight Leash on Adoptions

The two-month process required three personal references for Beard and her husband, assigned reading of two books, phone and home interviews, and a test session with a greyhound in her condominium.

"I'm glad there was someone who would tell me if they didn't think I would be an appropriate dog owner," said Beard, who adopted her greyhound, Snickers, in November. "I don't think people realize what a commitment having a dog is."

But many residents complain that by-the-book standards can punish qualified pet owners, some of whom are surprised to be denied outright.

"We were stunned," said Lizou Fenyvesi, who was recently turned down by a Labrador retriever rescue group. Fenyvesi lives with her husband on seven rural acres near Clarksburg. The family has had dogs for decades, the last two dying of age-related diseases at 12 and 14 years old. But the rescue group declared them ineligible because their land is fenced on only three sides and the couple wouldn't pledge never to let the dog run loose. Montgomery law requires dogs in unfenced areas to be on a leash at all times.

"It's a farm -- it's dog heaven," Fenyvesi said. "That dog probably went to a townhouse where nobody is home all day."

Fenyvesi said she will do what other Washington area pet seekers do when some regulations prove too tough: go shelter shopping.

"We do have people come here who have found it difficult in Montgomery County," said Linda Shea, kennel supervisor at the Frederick County Animal Shelter. Her agency doesn't require a home visit and will give applicants a chance to vaccinate their other pets if they've fallen behind. "We don't just hand out animals, but we try to get it done within two days."

For some people wanting to adopt, the hardest part of being denied is the implication that an animal is better off living in the shelter, or worse, than living with them.

After Del Tinker of Greenbelt was turned down for a dog by the Washington Humane Society, she caught sight of some of the recently euthanized strays behind the New York Avenue facility as she left.

"That really upset me," Tinker said. "I thought about plopping one of those on their desk and saying 'What about this one? Can I have this one?' "

But the idea that unwanted dogs are necessarily doomed is an outdated one, according to LaFontaine. Her agency now euthanizes only the dogs that are deemed a threat to public safety or are too sick to be released. The rest are kept in the shelters, their overflow facilities or in foster care until they are placed in a permanent home.

Stray cats, however, are so numerous that healthy, adoptable animals are still routinely euthanized, LaFontaine said.