Can a 19-year-old adopt a dog?

April 14, 2007 11:18 PM

Would rescue organizations or shelters allow a 19-year-old college student to adopt a dog?

I'm a student looking to adopt a (small, older) dog in the near future. For a variety of reasons, I'd prefer to adopt one myself rather than going through my parents. I've looked at various adoption applications online and see no real reason why I shouldn't be able to adopt: I've had rescue dogs all my life and live in a relatively spacious apartment alone with lots of free time. I'll be (more or less) financially independent and working part-time by when I plan to adopt.

However, I've heard from others that it can be difficult for college students to adopt dogs because they are often abandoned after graduation. I realize many other variables determine eligibility for adoption, but what are the chances I'd be able to as a (working) college student? Anecdotal advice is welcome. If it's unlikely that I'd be able to adopt a dog from a shelter or rescue organization, where else should I look? (I don't, under any circumstances, want to buy from a breeder.)

posted by qz to pets & animals (13 comments total)

Do the city/county animal shelters (aka "the pound") in Florida require applications? Here in San Joaquin County, CA, the county shelter (where I volunteer) has no requirements beyond the adoption fees, though I recall if that's a county or state thing. Seems like every other private adoption/rescue group has some sort of application process.

In any event, your two paragraphs alone make you sound like more of a responsible pet owner than many of the potential adopters I've had to deal with.
posted by DakotaPaul at 11:34 PM on April 14, 2007

Well you are a legal adult, so it would seem like discrimination based strictly age if they denied you on that alone. However, some adoption agencies would like proof of residence for the following reason: Adopters who rent their place of living will need to show that their landlord specifically allows dogs.
posted by dendrite at 11:41 PM on April 14, 2007

You might have some trouble, yes -- your age, your student/employment status, and an apartment residence are all things that some rescues might be concerned about:

-- You're young and in school -- if you end up moving back home, will your parents make you give up the dog? If you move when you graduate, will you give up the dog?

-- You're in an apartment, presumably no fenced-yard access: will you get tired of taking the dog for multiple daily walks and want to give it up?

-- You're a student working part-time; can you afford to care for the animal? (This can be a particularly pressing issue with older animals -- routine vet care and food/grooming toys may be within your budget, but what will you do if the dog gets sick and you are facing massive vet bills?)

That's the basic reasoning behind these sorts of concerns, but these policies are by no means universal. So while I'd say you shouldn't be surprised that some rescues and shelters might be unwilling to adopt to you, others may not have equally strict policies. Research the groups in your area, look up their policies online, and contact the ones who don't flat out say they will not adopt to folks in your circumstances. Talk to them honestly about your situation and your plans, before you fall in love with a particular dog and are trying to convince them to let you have him.

Things that can help make your case: can your regular veterinarian provide references for you as a responsible pet owner? Will your parents vouch for you, and perhaps state that you and/or the dog can move in with them if you should have to move out of your apartment? Can you provide documentation that pets are OK on your lease? If you have catastrophic vet expenses, do you have a plan to deal with them -- savings, parental support, etc.? What would you do if you need to move and you find an otherwise "perfect" place that doesn't allow pets? What will you do when the weather is bad and the dog still needs to go out? Can you explain to them why you want an older dog? If you find a shelter, rescue, etc. that doesn't write you off out of hand for being a student, etc., having thoughtful answers to these sorts of questions will help to put you in the best possible light.

(FWIW, I have never been in quite the situation you describe -- but I did manage to adopt a very large dog from a breed rescue while living in a rowhouse in downtown DC, no fenced yard which in and of itself is a no-go for some groups. I was in contact with the rescue months in advance of when I actually took a dog in, so there was a lot of correspondence, a lot of time for them to gauge my serious interest, and to discuss the sort of placements that would work best in my particular circumstances.)
posted by Smilla's Sense of Snark at 11:46 PM on April 14, 2007

Well you are a legal adult, so it would seem like discrimination based strictly age if they denied you on that alone.

Age, as a protected class, only applies to those over 40.
posted by delmoi at 11:58 PM on April 14, 2007

The 3 different shelters/pounds/rescue groups that I've adopted pets from have required to see my lease before letting me adopt. One even called my landlord. This occured and I am in my late 20s now and was in my early 20s during one of the earlier adoptions.
posted by k8t at 12:36 AM on April 15, 2007

I think you're just going to have to call the shelters and ask what kind of requirements they have for adopters. I tried to adopt a shelter cat when I was 21, and the shelters absolutely would not budge on needing to see a lease explicitly stating that pets were allowed. (Which they weren't, so that didn't so much work out.) I swore up and down that I take pet ownership extremely seriously and would, if necessary, move rather than give up a pet, but that wasn't good enough.

I was anti-breeder as well, but I managed to find a reasonable solution. There was a small locally-owned pet store around here where the owner would take in litters of kittens from people who didn't want them and would otherwise be putting them in the shelter, then give them medical care and sell them. It wasn't ideal, but it felt a bit more ethical than buying from a pet store that gets their cats from breeders. You might see if there's anything like that near you.

Alternatively, you could just keep an eye out around campus for posters advertisting pets being given away. I worked at a college campus for several years and in the spring there were always a bunch of people who suddenly realized they had gotten pets without thinking as far ahead as how they'd take care of them over the summer, and decided to give them away.
posted by Stacey at 3:32 AM on April 15, 2007

Seconding Stacey- there are many many opportunities to rescue an animal besides going to the pound. Contact your local vet offices- they often see abandoned animals. Sometimes people can't afford to pay and just never come back to pick up their animals, and surprisingly often people leave boxes of kittens or puppies on the veterinarian's doorstep. Stop by one or two offices and leave your name and number (and maybe even a description of the type of dog you're looking for) and in short order you'll have a dog.
posted by JamesToast at 4:26 AM on April 15, 2007

Follow up from another user who prefers to be anonymous.

I work at an animal shelter in Florida myself -- the local Humane Society.
I don't know if it's one close to where you live, but I can tell you that we
do take our animal adoptions very seriously and there's a lot of paperwork
to fill out: An adoption profile, where you answer questions about your
living situation, whether you rent or own, whether there are any kids or
other pets in the picture, etc. And if you rent, we WILL call your
landlord. However, since you are a legal adult, we won't call your parents
(unless you're living with them or renting from them), or your school, or
anything like that. You have to spend time with the animal you want to
adopt, and you have to talk to an Adoption Counselor -- the person who will
decide if you're approved. They'll grill you about what you'll do if the
animal gets sick, if your living situation changes, whether you're
financially secure enough to care for a pet, all the sort of things that
Smilla's Sense of Snark mentioned. If you seem skeezy or irresponsible or
just plain broke, the Adoption Counselor will say no, and if you make a
scene you'll be flagged in our computer system as "DO NOT ADOPT." If you
seem responsible, you'll be approved, but you'll still have to sign an
adoption contract at the time you pay, and the contract includes all sort of
clauses like "I will not abandon my pet," "I am not obtaining this pet
impulsively," "I understand that it can cost lots and lots of money to care
for a pet for the rest of its life and I accept that responsibility," that
sort of thing.

Basically, no, your age alone wouldn't prevent you from adopting, at least
not from us. The "call your landlord" thing is something we do with all
renters, no matter how old they are, but each individual shelter has
different policies, so your best bet is to call around and ask.

One other thing -- the local shelters in my area do share information with
one another about people who make trouble. If you go to one shelter and lie
on your application and they catch you, they're very likely to call me up
and say, "Heads up, this person tried to adopt from us but it turns out he's
living with his parents, made a big scene when we said no, etc., here's the
name in case he tries to come to your shelter next." Be honest and up front
about your living situation. Don't try to get your parents to come in and
adopt it for you -- we want to get to know the actual person the pet will be
living with, and we don't allow people to adopt pets as gifts, because THOSE
are the ones that almost always end up coming back to us when the giftee
realizes how much work owning a pet can be. Unlike a pet store where you
can walk in and walk out with a pet no questions asked, we take these extra
steps to make sure our animals are placed in good, caring, responsible
homes. But no, your age alone wouldn't kill the deal. It's more about how
you present yourself to us when you come in.
posted by jessamyn at 6:36 AM on April 15, 2007

This brings up a fascinating paradox I see at least in the fancy-schmacy breed rescues' craigslist posts here in NYC. They assert they absolutely will NOT even consider to adopt to anyone under about age 25 (on grounds of responsibility and stability) nor anyone with young children (on grounds that young children and dogs NEVER get along and always result in injury or abandonment of the dog). Since many people (or course, not all) between ages 25 and say 40 are likely to have young children, they seem to only allow adoptions by (ballparking this) 40+ year olds. But, I've also seen one refuse to adopt to the elderly living on fixed income, because the fixed income would not be enough to "support" the dog and the surviving family may refuse to care for the dog if the adopter died.

I bring this up to point out that while age alone isn't going to be a dealbreaker, there will be a lot of suspicion and doubt and the combination of age alone, plus in school, plus renter, will make it very difficult to pass the "standards". I, as a college graduate working full time in finance while in law school with a fiance at home daily because his work schedule alternated with mine resulting in a dog that would be "home along" for about 5 hours a WEEK, was denied a dog on the specter of instability.

I support you wholeheartedly and wish you the best. If 1 our of 100 of the people who impulsively buy animals in pet stores thought ahead the way you do, recgnized the inhumanities that exist in the commercial breeding and sale of pets (so much more so than in the world of competitive dressage horse shows!!!!!) and acted accordingly there wouldn't be so many poor pups and kitties needing rescuing!
posted by bunnycup at 7:13 AM on April 15, 2007

I adopted a dog when I was 19 and in college. I met with their foster home though, not the shelter. They did call my landlord to double check if I was allowed to have pets.

My girlfriend also adopted a dog when she was 19 from a shelter. She had to fill out all the paper work and clear it with her landlord, but I don't think they would have done anything differently if we had been older.

They will ask you what you'll do if it needs an expensive surgery, what if you move to some place that won't allow pets, etc.
posted by bradbane at 7:42 AM on April 15, 2007

It will probably mean you will have to answer additional questions because of your age and situation. Don't lie, because as the above user said the group will advise other groups about you.

Breed rescues are very careful because there are a lot of irresponsible people out there who take whims to adopt and then abandon the dog. That is far more traumatic for an animal than staying in a kennel until a permanent home can be found.

Please don't take offense at the questions and suspicion- these are people who have devoted an enormous amount of time and money to help animals. They see the worst of human nature quite frequently.
posted by winna at 1:46 PM on April 15, 2007

Try smaller, more rural shelters that are less likely to have a formal approval process. I adopted my cat 11 years ago in Kirksville, MO while I was a student there. That particular animal shelter was so underfunded that they didn't even worm the animals in their care until someone picked them for adoption. It was quite amusing to see them try to shove a pill down the throat of my wild, feral
kitten. They asked me no questions whatsoever. My cat is still a yowly part of our household and a good friend to my 2-year-old daughter, amazingly enough.
posted by Ostara at 6:14 PM on April 15, 2007

I adopted my cat when I was 19 from the Humane Society in Gainesville (2031 NW 6th St). I can't imagine that they would treat dog adoptions differently from cats. They made me fill out a bunch of paperwork, spoke to me at length, and made sure I was allowed to have a pet at my complex. I had to wait to come back to pick him up until after they verified I could have one at my complex - however, the ladies were extremely sweet and happy about the adoption, so I was able to bring my baby home after just a few hours.

I STRONGLY recommend that facility - the people rock and the animals are really well cared for! I didn't see the dog section, but the cats live in a giant room filled with cat condos and scratching posts, and are only put in cages at nighttime. I will always have a very warm spot in my heart for that place. /sappy
posted by gatorae at 8:40 PM on April 15, 2007