Disaster Tears as Dog Adopted After 900 Days in Shelter Is Returned Within Hours

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Tears as Dog Adopted After 900 Days in Shelter Is Returned Within Hours​

A dog who was adopted after spending over 900 days in an animal shelter has suffered the heartbreak of being returned just 24 hours later.
Sora first arrived at the Valley Animal Center in Fresno, California, just over two and a half years ago, having been surrendered by her owner. The Valley Animal Center is the largest no-kill animal center in the Central Valley.

For over 900 days, Sora struggled to attract much in the way of attention. That's not entirely surprising given the circumstances, with a 2014 study published in Applied Animal Behaviour Science highlighting how the average shelter visitor interacts with just one dog per visit and that these interactions last just eight minutes.
But staff at the shelter knew Sora had all the attributes necessary to make a great pet.

"Sora is a high-energy dog who loves to play and gets super excited anytime she gets to go on walks," Sim Kaur from the Valley Animal Center told Newsweek.

"She is great on walks and hikes, making her a good traveling companion. She also loves playing with tennis balls. She is lovable with humans and has tested well with children over the age of five."
Despite being overlooked for so long, Sora's luck looked to have changed recently after she caught the eye of a prospective pet owner visiting the shelter. Eventually, they decided to adopt the pup, and it seemed like Sora's story would get the happy ending it so richly deserved.

Then, every shelter pet's worst nightmare happened. Just a day later, her new owner called to say they would be returning the rescue pup. Sora was understandably heartbroken upon her arrival at the shelter, with a video posted to TikTok by @jjack.iie capturing the shelter dog looking especially sad to be back in familiar surroundings.

This development was a source of some frustration to Kaur who felt Sora's adopters should have given her more time to settle before making their decision.

"Being in a shelter for many years affects the mental health of our adoptables and it is no different for Sora," she said. "Sora did not get enough time to decompress in her new home and was introduced to new family members too quickly."

She hasn't given up hope of finding Sora the perfect home, though, and has already got a pretty clear idea of the sort of home that would suit her best.



Kaur said: "Although Sora does well with other dogs at the shelter, she is dog-selective, so we recommend she go to a home where she is the only pet. With her high energy, her future home will need to spend dedicated time with her for training."

Despite this setback, she remains as sure as ever that Sora will find her true forever home in due course.

"With patience and guidance, we know Sora can be a great addition to anyone's family."

Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend, and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.

 

[ZazietheBeast]

Dog fighting is legal in China.

Even better. The loser becomes lunch. Which is already practice in countries that enable cock fights.

 

[Dracula's Spirit Animal]

There is a simple solution to these shitbulls. Ship them to China. The Chinks will know exactly what to do with these unwanted animals. In fact, you could probably turn a profit in doing so and solve the issue of stray shitbulls as well.

Ship them over in BALLOONS!!!!!

 

[eDove]

"Sora is a high-energy dog who loves to play and gets super excited anytime she gets to go on walks."

High-energy is code for wild, uncontrollable, and shitty. Pay attention to how these psychotic beast-peddlers describe their merchandise. It's just like how someone selling a tiny, cramped house will refer to it as "cozy" rather than "unacceptably small."

 

[Justa Grata Honoria]

The shelter staff is comprised mainly of women with their nurturing instinct attuned to the animals kept there. There are some volunteers who show up on weekends to prove their progressive credibility.

Euthanizing a dog who obviously needs to be euthanized is still very emotionally difficult for the staff and the volunteers are constantly pressuring them on top

oh for fucks sake its an animal a dog, a shitbul on top of it. It makes me roll my eyes so hard that i see the pituitary gland whenever you go But its hard on the staff poor doggo. I swear to god you people are so fucked up that if a kid dies is less of a tragedy than someone's pet. Here is the deal you already pay immigrants to do your dirty work hire a goddamn spic part-time to come over for few hours and shoot the dogs that needs to be shot for 100 dollars . He will do it gladly. There are plenty of hicks regardless of the colour or etnicity who sees animals as objects and put a bullet in them without crying or thinking .
Fucking hell its A SHITBULL A FUCKING DANGER TO PEOPLE PUT IT DOWN ALREADY

 

[Mourning_Cloak]

These cases are unfortunately a dime a dozen. Dog is a "staff favorite" and "such a sweet lil' wigglebutt baby" yet somehow nobody wants it and it lives for years in a tiny shelter kennel. Gets adopted and returned 10 times due to "no fault of its own!"

"No kill" is inhumane but don't tell the "we must save them all" pitmommy crowd that.

 

[Absurdity]

They should obviously give these poor sweet innocent fur babies to every single illegal Chinese immigrant coming up through Mexico. A true test of loyalty to the USA!

 

[PhoBingas]

Them backyard breeders tend to be POCs. Pitbulls are pretty big with the spics and the nig-nogs.

To be fair I've seen more White people breeding yappy little abominations riddled with health issues in their back yards than niggers and spicks breeding shitbulls. Maybe it's different in Canada or I'm just not aware of the shitbull breeders. I know at least like 10 years ago Ontario banned them. I'm having a hard time finding any info though if the ban is still on the books though.

 

[OrionBalls]

High-energy is code for wild, uncontrollable, and shitty. Pay attention to how these psychotic beast-peddlers describe their merchandise. It's just like how someone selling a tiny, cramped house will refer to it as "cozy" rather than "unacceptably small."

"High-energy" is code for just that. Those dogs need room and time to run. Anyone who isn't a first time adopter knows what "high-energy" means. No dog is born "shitty." Shitty owners have shitty dogs.

 

[CHARizard]

No dog is born "shitty.” Shitty owners have shitty dogs.

If this dog wasn’t such a problem it would have been adopted after almost 3 years. It has no owner, not even the staff want it.

 

[Twinkie]

"High-energy" is code for just that. Those dogs need room and time to run. Anyone who isn't a first time adopter knows what "high-energy" means. No dog is born "shitty." Shitty owners have shitty dogs.

Good thing they kept it locked in a small cage for three years then, huh? A fate worse than death. This isn't a shitty owner it's a shitty shelter that should've done the humane thing and put the dog down.

There absolutely are dogs that are born with defective temperaments. To suggest otherwise is a thought-terminating, feel-good platitude, and it is dangerous misinformation. There are dogs selectively bred to have unsuitable temperaments as a breed characteristic. They absolutely can be born bad, and it's far more commonly seen in certain breeds.

And just to emphasize, even if this particular dog wasn't born with a bad temperament, spending three years in a cage fucked it up irreparably anyway. There's simply no excuse for adopting out a dog like that. They should've put it down.

 

[CHARizard]

Good thing they kept it locked in a small cage for three years then, huh? A fate worse than death. This isn't a shitty owner it's a shitty shelter that should've done the humane thing and put the dog down.

There absolutely are dogs that are born with defective temperaments. To suggest otherwise is a thought-terminating, feel-good platitude, and it is dangerous misinformation. There are dogs selectively bred to have unsuitable temperaments as a breed characteristic. They absolutely can be born bad, and it's far more commonly seen in certain breeds.

Ackshually it’s purely economic factors.

 

[SpergioLeonne]

oh for fucks sake its an animal a dog, a shitbul on top of it. It makes me roll my eyes so hard that i see the pituitary gland whenever you go But its hard on the staff poor doggo. I swear to god you people are so fucked up that if a kid dies is less of a tragedy than someone's pet. Here is the deal you already pay immigrants to do your dirty work hire a goddamn spic part-time to come over for few hours and shoot the dogs that needs to be shot for 100 dollars . He will do it gladly. There are plenty of hicks regardless of the colour or etnicity who sees animals as objects and put a bullet in them without crying or thinking .
Fucking hell its A SHITBULL A FUCKING DANGER TO PEOPLE PUT IT DOWN ALREADY

You don’t need to hyperventilate at me. I said multiple times in these comments it should be euthanized. I was explaining what people who work at shelters are like.

 

[Twinkie]

Anyone that works with animals professionally (dog trainer, certified animal behaviorist, etc.) that tells you "there are no bad dogs" is either a fraud and should switch careers, or is lying to you out of convenience because it's not worth their time to engage with your pitmommy bullshit.

 

[cybertoaster]

Ah of course its "one of those"

If I was a millionaire I would adopt all the pibbles in the country then ship them to china so they can be cooked alive in gutter oil

That doesn't mean they are bad dogs.

Yeah they are.

Pitbulls actually used to be considered an ideal child's pet

Link or it didn't happen, and it better not be some bullshit blog or wikipedia. Then again you can't trust anything written about shitbulls these days because shitlibs decided that hating these mongrels=racism, they literally ban users on reddit for not liking these fucking pests.

 

[Unnecessary Surgery Land]

Western societies obsession with dogs is wild to me, especially the idea that all dogs are inherently Disney characters that just need the power of love.
It's delusional.

 

[OrionBalls]

Good thing they kept it locked in a small cage for three years then, huh? A fate worse than death. This isn't a shitty owner it's a shitty shelter that should've done the humane thing and put the dog down.

There absolutely are dogs that are born with defective temperaments. To suggest otherwise is a thought-terminating, feel-good platitude, and it is dangerous misinformation. There are dogs selectively bred to have unsuitable temperaments as a breed characteristic. They absolutely can be born bad, and it's far more commonly seen in certain breeds.

And just to emphasize, even if this particular dog wasn't born with a bad temperament, spending three years in a cage fucked it up irreparably anyway. There's simply no excuse for adopting out a dog like that. They should've put it down.

They send dogs to other locations all the time, out here. If someone spends a month or two in WV, they get sent to PA or OH. We spent two months looking a local shelters for a new dog, and they all swapped places, frequently. If a dog won't go in one place, they might have better prospect elsewhere.

I agree that the shelter is very much to blame for the long term behavior issues. I've never known a dog that was born bad. I've known plenty of dogs that have been fucked up by previous owners, but never met a born bad dog.

 

[IAmNotAlpharius]

Them backyard breeders tend to be POCs. Pitbulls are pretty big with the spics and the nig-nogs.

I find it amazing how they’re also liked by hooligans in the UK and trailer trash. It’s like a nigger/wigger magnet.

 

[Twinkie]

I've known plenty of dogs that have been fucked up by previous owners, but never met a born bad dog.

Explain the thousands of stories, literally thousands, of "He never hurt a fly we raised him up from six weeks old! He's family we love him so much! I have no idea why he suddenly tore my toddler's throat out! It just happened!"

There are dogs that are born bad, and not made bad. It's completely nuts that some people would deny this.

They're born with a congenital propensity for severe behavioral problems including human-aggression. These problems surface at sexual maturity and sometimes earlier than that. I'm not saying they literally pop out of the womb vicious, obviously that doesn't make sense. (Though a lot of pitbulls start showing aggression very young.)

 

[LaxerBRO]

I've known plenty of dogs that have been fucked up by previous owners, but never met a born bad dog.

Ask yourself if the Golden Retriever as a breed would make a good guard or attack dog?

Dogs have been breed for specific traits, more muscle, agility, speed, and/or aggression. When one looks at the pitbull, it has both increased aggression and musculature.

While this does not necessarily mean these dogs will be aggressive and attack, it dramatically increases the likelihood of attacks causing serious injuries.

 

[Fareal]

They send dogs to other locations all the time, out here. If someone spends a month or two in WV, they get sent to PA or OH. We spent two months looking a local shelters for a new dog, and they all swapped places, frequently. If a dog won't go in one place, they might have better prospect elsewhere.

I agree that the shelter is very much to blame for the long term behavior issues. I've never known a dog that was born bad. I've known plenty of dogs that have been fucked up by previous owners, but never met a born bad dog.

I met a whole litter like that once, years and years ago. Dobermans, of all things. I was still handling dogs in the show ring then, I was still a kid. My parents had let a breeder they knew train me in ringcraft because they had the notion I'd get paid and they could take the money. I'd come over a lot after they were just born to do their early socialisation and bonding shit, so they formed this idea I was one of the litter, or something. So I saw them grow up from birth.

I handled the one that was allegedly our domestic pet (lol) in the ring, one of the girls in the ring, and another one of them at classes. There was a fourth show prospect that was friendly enough to me until she saw her show lead, at which point she was polite but firm that I would never be putting her on a show lead like she was some sort of weak bitch. She would walk for me companionably enough, but she was not doing any of that stay-stand shit like a chump. Weirdest fucking thing: never known a litter like it before or since. The litter's father was a leading European champion, and when the puppies were a few months old he turned on his handler in the show ring out of nowhere.

The entire litter were fucking mental. That horrible, totally-calm-and-completely-in-control mental. Smart, very smart. Huge, strong, very fit. But completely unhandleable by anyone. Vets, dog trainers, dog psychologists; the litter's owners tried everything with these dogs. Before they were two, all bar three of the litter had been returned to the breeder. The other three had been euthanised because they were legitimately... not domesticated. That was the way a couple of the psychs put it. One of them said that occasionally a mating will throw a litter than are basically just not domestic animals, and that there's fuck all you can do about it. You can't live with them, because they aren't afraid of you. They don't care about your approval or love or making you happy, so you can't influence them positively either. And they don't accept that you are in authority over them.

They genuinely just did what they fucking wanted. If they liked you, they would go along with your instructions if they felt mostly biddable. If they didn't like you, you were actively in danger. The worst thing was they kept coming back to the breeder, so there came a time when there was often two or three or four of them living together at the one time. The other dogs wouldn't go near them; they could clearly tell they were mad. The alpha dog of the litter was a beautiful bitch who was far too fucking smart and had figured out how to open the kennel doors and the house doors, so she basically just ruled the fucking roost. She was the best dog I've ever handled in the ring, because it was just completely beneath her to be in any way intimidated or nervous about other dogs or handlers or judges. She was absolutely bombproof right until the day she decided she wasn't going to show any more.

Three of them isolated their own mother from the rest of the dogs in the yard, and killed her. Just killed her. Even other breeders said they'd never heard of such a thing.

Ours was nicknamed Satan locally. I would have had more chance obedience training a demon. It was like living with the fucking Night Haunter. I was the only person he didn't straight up hate. People used to cross the street to avoid us.