We are still more than a bit surprised that we have darling Cosita still at our house. We live not too far for Manhattan, where people pay thousands of dollars for dogs much less cute than Cosita (we are clearly biased though :)). She is a sweetheart, and we have taken her to a few adoption events and there is always a lot of interest but nobody has pulled the trigger. So, what gives?
A few ideas:
-adopting a dog is harder than buying a dog (have to fill out forms, provide references, go through interviews, arrange a time to see a dog, etc.)
-lack of awareness (many people would be surprised to learn how many amazing dogs are out there to be adopted)
-some people understandably want to be a dog’s first owner and start with them at 10 weeks of age
-lack of salesmanship in shelter land (if you go to a pet store in Manhattan, you will see some adorable pets and will be told they really seem to warm up to “you” specifically and will be gone if you don’t buy right then)
AIf Cosita cannot find a new home, we wonder how long people end up fostering some of these older dogs. One issue that we also feel makes a huge difference is that although it is better for the dogs to live in homes with fosters, the no-kill shelters seem to be a better option for more people as you can go in and see 30 dogs and see which one fits your fancy. It is a bit of an issue actually: is it better for dogs to be in rescue kennels at a pet store and be adopted faster or live in foster homes and take longer? We don’t know, but it would be nice to have a combination of both.