10/06/2025
⭐️We need to clarify a few things:
1. This family is not asking us to take their dog back.
2. This family does not want to euthanize their dog.
3. This family posted their dog in hopes of finding him a perfect home with no kids and no pets.
4. This family has said they will continue to keep their dog away from their children if he’s not rehomed.
5. We absolutely believe in behavioral euthanasia if every other option has been explored. They do not want us to euthanize their dog, and we cannot force them to surrender their dog for euthanasia.
We’ve been made aware of a post circulating on social media regarding a dog that was adopted from us six years ago whose owner is attempting to rehome him.
She publicly named us as the rescue he came
from - which is true. But she also stated that we were unwilling to help - which is not true. We provided suggestions and support years ago. She did not follow through with any of our suggestions. What we are NOT willing to do is share her rehoming post.
I’d like to talk about the reasons why, since it would seem so many people incorrectly assume that a rescue is responsible for a dog for the duration of it’s life, and we should be taking this dog back into our rescue, or at the very least sharing his post.
Normally, we would gladly courtesy post a dog that is being rehomed for not being a good fit for its current home. We do courtesy posts ALL the time. We also take dogs back into our rescue if they aren’t a good fit for the home. We always leave a 2-3 week window open and keep the foster spot open just in case.
But this dog was adopted from us six years ago, and more importantly, he is exhibiting violent behavior towards children which has gone unchecked. He has gone so far as to lunge at and attempt to bite them. He is, in our opinion, not a dog that is safe to adopt out.
The goal of our rescue is to advocate for our beloved breed, and that includes not promoting the adoption of dogs that could potentially harm a person, especially a child. This is how kids get hurt, and pit bulls end up on the news.
This particular dog was first fostered as a very young puppy, then adopted by his foster family at six months old. After a few years, he started exhibiting aggression towards dogs and other animals. He was also showing signs of aggression towards children in public which included lip licking, growling, and snapping.
The adopter reached out to us for advice, and we suggested that they hire a trainer that works with a lot of our dogs with behavioral issues and we’ve had wonderful results . She also has great success with dogs whose owners reach out to us for referrals. Unfortunately, they never set up any sessions with her for their dog, and the behaviors continued to escalate.
They emailed us again last August and let us know that the behaviors had escalated, and their dog was now unable to be around their children, or any children at all. He would lunge and try to bite, and they no longer felt safe having him in their home. She asked for our help rehoming their dog.
I let them know that we would be unable to assist with rehoming due to the extremity of his behavioral issues. Dogs shouldn’t actively seek out to harm a child or person. It’s our belief that dogs like this are not safe to be adopted out. And it’s our responsibility as a rescue to not advocate for putting dogs like this into the general public.
Additionally, adopting a dog from a rescue does not mean that the rescue is responsible for that dog’s behavior and health for the rest of its life. At some point, the owner of the dog needs to take responsibility for their pet and provide care-both medical and emotional. If our dogs are displaying unwanted behaviors, it is our responsibility as the owner to fix those behaviors. This means hiring professionals and following through with the training. Unfortunately, this was not done in this case.
Have there been instances where we have taken our dogs back into rescue due to unforeseen circumstances that have taken place in the adopters home?
Absolutely. But we also can’t be expected to take back every dog that was adopted from us throughout the last thirteen years. ESPECIALLY if that dog is now dangerous due to unresolved behavioral issues. All of our foster homes have multiple pets in them. Many of them have children. I’m not willing to endanger any of my foster homes-or my home- by bringing in a dangerous dog.
But for some reason, after reading the comments on her post and on the posts that have been shared, and the messages that we’ve received regarding the post, there’s this strange consensus that a rescue is responsible for a dog for the rest of its life, regardless of whether or not it’s a safe dog to adopt out.
That’s simply unrealistic. We don’t have the ability to hold space in foster homes for dogs that may get returned years down the road. If it’s a situation where we can help network the dog OF COURSE we will. We’ve even placed dogs in boarding until foster homes open up. Unfortunately, this particular situation is not one that we can assist with.
I feel incredibly bad for this dog and hope that he lands somewhere safe. The potential adopter would need to understand that no mistakes can be made. EVER. That he can never come in contact with a child or animal. And if the new adopters ever rehome him, they would need to be completely transparent about his behaviors.
