http://chewonthis.maddiesfund.org/2018/06/shelter-dog-behavior-assessments-not-reliable-reports-aspca

We’ve come a long way in the last five years. As many of you know, ARK was founded in 2012 on the very principal that you simply cannot judge a dog by how he or she does in a shelter environment or in an evaluation or during a vet visit. We do value evaluations for information gathering for appropriate transfer however.

We were often criticized for wanting to give these dogs a second chance when there are so many ‘good’ dogs out there. We are still sometimes criticized for speaking out and advocating for these dogs to be transferred to foster homes instead of killing them as the first option. With very hard work, we’ve changed the hearts and minds of many Animal Control Officers (ACOs), holding facilities, vets, shelters and rescues who have witnessed the incredible transformation of ARK’s dogs, and our partnerships and shared vision are allowing more dogs to be re-homed.

It’s wonderful to see veterinarians understanding the need to learn shelter dog behavior and evolving from recommending euthanasia based on vet visits, which use to be a common occurrence.

Though the public is more aware of the unfair mislabeling of certain breeds, more work is still needed to help these so-called ‘unadoptable’ dogs.

Let’s persist in educating skeptics about the overwhelming data from across the country that parallels ARK’s success rate. Let’s convince the naysayers to follow the lead of organizations like the ASPCA, Maddie’s Fund and Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, who had the forethought to trademark their tagline “Save Them All.”

One day very soon, the skeptics will evolve or simply be pushed aside. The old motto “We Can’t Save Them All” will be replaced by we can “Save Them All.”

Please educate and please advocate for these ‘unadoptable’ dogs.