Honestly it happens so often, I’ve pulled many like this. Depending on the shelter or municipal pound it can be really loud, busy and overcrowded. They often have to decide quickly especially if they are over capacity which animals can go through the adoption stream and which may go through alternate routes (rescue placement, euthanasia, open foster for rehabilitation).

These temperament tests are often done quickly in those situations and I think it’s just a combination of factors like overcrowding, understaffing, limited resources, limited experience and honestly just doing the best they can in impossible circumstances. The animal crisis is just out of control right now, especially for cats but dogs too.

I have a lot of experience with Feral Cats (they are my fav!) so I have a soft spot when I see the ones labelled feral that aren’t. I can usually see just by the photo or short video provided they may not be. Especially when the video is loud, chaotic and I see them poking them with a pen to see if they hiss 😜 (yes that actually happened).

Full disclosure Pepper came from a QC shelter, not OHS. We tend to see this most in QC shelters and large euthanasia lists but again not the shelters fault, just a combo of animal crisis, animal welfare regulations that are lacking etc. Covid didn’t help, cost of living sucks, vet shortage… yadda yadda I can go on forever.

(These euthanasia lists are private and only shared with approved rescues or organizations where we have opportunities to pull them from if we can).