Alcona Humane Society Searches For Dog Re-Homed Right After Adoption
To adopt from the Humane Society, shelter staff do their best to ensure the pet is going to a good home. They evaluate factors such as who will be in the home, how active their lifestyle is, if they have a yard, talk to their vets, and do meet and greets to ensure both the pet and adopter are set up for success. Yet recently, a dog named Red, who was featured on Pets of the Week, was re-homed by an adopter just hours after leaving the shelter. Jenna Richardson, Alcona Humane Society manager, said, “It worries us when we don’t know who they’re going to. When they get re–homed, we don’t know their new homes name, address, and phone number, to help match their microchip which is important if they get lost, it needs to be updated.” This leaves the dog in a home that may not be a good fit, and unable to be located. In addition, many shelters have contracts requiring pets be returned to the shelter if the owner is no longer able to take care of them.
If a pet is unable to be taken care of or a stray is found, calling the authorities or your local shelter is necessary. “Always reach out to your local humane society,” said Richardson. “Each county can only intake animals from their specific county. So, just reach out, a lot of counties have a waiting list, we have a waiting list. We promise we will call you when we have the room to get in the stray cat, that’s mostly what it is, we generally only have a waiting list for cats because of the high population.”
When adopting, it is critical to remember that animals take time to warm up to their new environment. “They need time to adjust in a home; it can take three weeks to feel comfortable in a new home, and three months to really feel at home, so it’s really a time commitment that’s important,” said Richardson.
Alcona Humane Society is actively seeking leads, so if you have any information on Red, please reach out to the Alcona Humane Society at 989–736–7387. For contacting the authorities about stray animals or owner surrenders, be sure to contact the appropriate resources for the county which you reside in.
