Shelters Keep Tight Leash on Adoptions

The Montgomery Humane Society has instituted a similar 100-percent adoption standard for dogs in the past two years, according to Crist, and is nearly there for cats.

Still, there is a wide gulf of viewpoints between families eager for pets and shelter workers who come in daily contact with gruesome examples of animal neglect and abuse. Adelaide Soares, the Montgomery Humane Society home inspector who visited the Lings, said she hates to turn applicants down (the agency said it rejects only about three percent of applicants). But there are times she would rather see a quick end for an animal than a life of suffering.

"Sometimes a fast death is better than living eight or nine hours in a crate every day," she said.

LaFontaine knows that shelter staff and volunteers, given their strong feelings, often find it hard to let their charges go. "Sometimes you get caught up in the quest for a perfect home instead of a good home," she said. "You have to remind yourself that your job is find a good home."

In Rockville, the Ling daughters beamed when Soares finally offered a contract giving the family ownership of Buddy and Sam. After agreeing to a series of requirements (including taking the dogs to a veterinarian within five days, not letting them into the fenced back yard without supervision, not using retractable leashes), the family left to retrieve the new pets.

Soares, who has been having these meetings for 18 years, said the Lings would be fine with the dogs.

"By now, I can usually tell within five minutes," she said.