Temperament Tests: An Unfair Way to Decide Who Lives and Dies

You have to click the link at the end of this post to a video by Eldad Hagar. I came across  Hagar  a couple of  weeks ago on the internet.  Put simply, he and his wife rescue dogs in L.A., calling their rescue Hope for Paws.

Hagar creates powerful videos of  rescues as they happen. I wish they were shown on TV -- on the mainstream news, on 60 Minutes, on the morning talk shows watched by women.  I can't imagine anyone who's seen one of his videos not saving a dog in a kill shelter instead of buying a pet.

Hagar rescues dogs who are so down and out that if picked up by animal control they would no doubt have been killed rather than being put up for adoption, and he also saves shelter dogs slated for death at the shelter.

One such dog, Chase, was to be killed the day Hagar rescued her. A small dog with dirty, matted hair,  abused by her owner then dumped at a shelter, Chase curls back her lips in a snarl and jumps at Hagar's hand when he reaches into her cage.  Who would adopt this dog?  And if the shelter used temperament testing to determine if she were adoptable, certainly she would fail. 

The video made me think about temperament testing, which can be used in one of two basic ways: 1) to determine what type of home the dog would best be placed in and what type of training it might require, and 2) to determine whether the dog should be put up for adoption or killed. 

Chase probably would have failed the test before it even started.  What's the point of testing a dog who tries to bite when you reach into her cage?

How many dogs are never given a chance because they are terrified at the shelter, victims of abuse, have never known any kindness, and only know to try to protect and defend themselves as best they can?

This video is worth a thousand words.  Watch it and you'll know what I mean.
Chase: Rescued the Day She Was Scheduled to be Euthanized

This Week's Heros and Villains

Thumbs UP For:

9 year old Jamarea Mills who stood up to a 12 year old bully who was beating up a tiny kitten.  Unfortunately, the kitten died, but Jamarea is being celebrated as a hero.
Jamarea Finds His Calling

Elizabeth Oliver, a 70 year old British woman who went into the Fukishima radiation zone to save animals left behind.
Braving Radiation to Save Animals


Edward Gardner who was killed Memorial Day weekend when he stopped on an Illinois interstate highway  to help ducklings on the freeway.  He was described as someone who loved animals. To lose someone this compassionate is a sad loss for the world.
Memorial for Man Who Died for Ducks

Thumbs Down For:

Those in the Maine legislature who rejected instituting an animal abuse registry (similar to registries for sex offenders).  This is a measure all states need; it would help raise awareness of abuse and let those with pets know if an abuser lives near them.
Maine House Rejects Animal Abuse Registry Proposal

Tammy and Larry Gowin in Iowa who abused two Boxers, starving them almost to death. They put the dogs in cages and dumped them in a ditch.  Someone spotted the dogs, who are now recovering.
2 Charged after Dumping Abused Dogs in Ditch

Pet  Shops that sell puppy mill pups  (and kittens): Highlighted this week:  Pets Plus (VA, PA, NJ and elsewhere? They're on FB, also).  Like them, leave a few comments, and then unlike.

Adoptable Pets at Gallatin KY Shelter

Saving a Shelter Dog Two Thousand Miles Away

Once I helped save the life of a dog a couple of thousand miles away.

At that time, I was only beginning to learn about dog rescues via the internet. This was all a while back. I'm not even sure Pet Finder was around at that time.
But animal welfare advocates and rescues had begun to network, set up sites, and post dogs that needed help.

The hardest part then, as it is now, was seeing the photos of so many shelter dogs. Though I knew shelters killed dogs and cats, I still wanted to believe that all the dogs I saw posted would find homes, but the facts sank in: so many of the dogs and cats on those web pages would be killed.

Among the many photos, I found this little guy in Los Angeles's South Central Shelter:

He reminded me of my own Perry, the love of my life -- the same size, shape, color, the same type of face and eyes. I kept thinking of him, alone, afraid, and without hope in an overcrowded shelter which few who entered left alive.

One wants to help them all, which is impossible. But I knew that I had to do something for this dog, even if it meant flying to California myself, as irrational as that may seem.

And it was irrational. A few miles away dogs languished at my own city's shelter. Why didn't I simply do something for one of them? It came back to this dog reminding me of Perry.

Since the L.A. dog was listed as part Pug, I emailed the two Pug rescues I could find at that time. One in Georgia got back to me, saying she had contacted a rescue in L.A. after receiving my email and had passed along my phone number and email.

A day later the L.A. rescuer phoned. She'd been to the shelter earlier that week to pull dogs, had seen the Pug mix and passed him by because his temperament seemed "iffy." But after learning of my concern for him from the Georgia rescue, she went back, spent time with him and, finding him calmer, pulled him. She was sure her rescue would be able to find him a home.

I sent her a donation, and later talked to her for the last time. The little Pug mix had been adopted by two screen writers who thought him absolutely wonderful.

A few months later, even though I already had a houseful of my own dogs, I started fostering.

Helping one small dog a couple of thousand miles away -- that will always be one of my best moments, leaving me forever grateful to two women I'll never meet, one in Georgia and one in California. It proved to me what can be done, even long distance, if those who care work together.