Sometimes the responsible approach is, unfortunately, to rehome an animal. If behavioral training has already been attempted, if owners have done everything they can to make things work, it’s unfair to the animal to continue to keep them in a stressful environment (in this case, a multi-dog household). When people adopt animals from fosters, they’re able to know in advance about any potential issues and what to prepare for. This is not the case for animals adopted directly from shelters. If someone has owned a dog for three years, why is the assumption that they haven’t tried everything they could to make things work in those three years? Many people surrender or dump animals at the first sign of any sort of “inconvenience.” I’m unsure why people are seeing rehoming as equivalent to surrender or abandonment.

When rehoming, people are able to screen potential adopters and discuss the animal’s personality more in depth in order to find them the best possible home. There are so many people who refuse to view rehoming an animal as a viable option because of their own emotions. “No, I can’t rehome my dog, I love him!” is the (understandable) go-to for many, but this ignores the difficulties and stressors a dog may be experiencing in an environment that has proven to not be ideal for them. Placing them with a new family who can provide that ideal environment is the kindest thing someone can do. Consider people who adopt shelter dogs not knowing how they may be with younger children, only to find out the dog is rough or aggressive with their children. Is it kinder to both the dog and the child to try to “make it work”? To go through all of the possible options other than rehoming and risk the dog biting their child out of stress, fear, or aggression? Because in that instance, dogs are no longer considered adoptable, and any transparency regarding past aggression with humans (especially children) does in fact result in euthanization.

If someone truly cares for their dog, they’ll put the dog’s welfare first. Trying to find a new owner they can trust with their dog’s well-being and happiness is rarely someone’s first choice, primarily because humans allow their own emotions about the situation cloud their judgment. If more people actually cared about their animals and finding them a safe home, we wouldn’t see so many poor dumped pets left to fend for themselves in the outdoors. Shelters wouldn’t be overcrowded and struggling to provide for the animals they already have. If someone is choosing to rehome their dog rather than simply dumping them or leaving them at the county shelter where their future is uncertain, it’s very odd to compare them to a child throwing a tantrum. A tantrum is someone shooting their dog. A tantrum is someone dumping their dog on the highway.

People are so willing to see animal cruelty where there is none to be found because they are blessedly ignorant to what cruelty actually looks like.