Lawrence County Humane Society

I adopted a dog whose breed was listed incorrectly. Was informed I could return it if it didn't work out. It didn't. When I went to return it, the staff was extremely unkind and mean - the situation got downright contentious. Then they shamed me on social media. I was only trying to do what was the best situation for the dog, but they made a difficult situation even worse. My encounter with the Lawrence County Humane Society was anything but "humane". Here's the full story...

I lost my dog in early January and have been recently looking for a new companion in my life. I've adopted 3 dogs in my adult life and I've had dogs all of my life prior to growing up. I've been looking in PetFinder for that perfect friend to compliment my life. I found Sid at the Lawrence County Humane Society. From the pictures, he looked like he could be the one to come find his forever home with me.

He was listed as a 10 mos. old Daschund / Bull Terrier Mix. I drove an hour and a half to have a meet and greet with Sid and it went great. He was larger than I expected, but I didn't want that to deter me from giving him a chance. I was informed that he was part of Pit Bull Terrier, Bull Terrier, Jack Russell Terrier, and Daschund. I was a little hesitant upon learning that he had Jack Russell in him, but again, I didn't want that to deter me. I was so excited when I left to take Sid home.

I certain feeling hit me in the car, and once we got to my house, a sinking feeling started to set in. I felt like I had made a mistake. It had zero to do with Sid. It was me. He was a love bug with me. He was very aggressive with my mom's dog, she was staying with me for a few days. We introduced them outside, took them for a walk, but they still couldn't get along. So that made me very uncomfortable.

More to the point, I was not feeling the love in my heart that has immediately taken place when I've brought other dogs home. Through no fault of his own, I knew it was not the right fit. He turned out to be too big for my house - I don't feel he had the right amount of space that was going to be needed for him to have a happy life. He was also going to need to run, walk and lead a very active lifestyle which is also not me.

When I adopted him the shelter said I had 60 days, if anything went wrong or if he and my mom's dog didn't get along, then I could return him. I was sick and crying most of the day and couldn't sleep that night I just knew in my soul that we just weren't the right fit. I agonized all night about it. I called the shelter in the morning and told them that I had made the decision to bring him back.

I knew that they were not going to be happy with me, but I didn't expect them to be mean. In my mind, I knew that 3 days, 3 weeks, 3 months - would not change how I felt about the situation - but it would in fact change the way that the dog felt. He would grow more attached as the days go by and I didn't want that for him.

I felt like it was better to right the wrong that I created as soon as possible. I want nothing but the best for this dog and I hope and pray that he finds the right family for him as soon as possible. All of my friends, family, and co-workers have said that I did the right thing for the dog. The shelter then posted something to Facebook that felt very geared toward me without explaining the entire situation.

They did refund the adoption fee, which was very nice of them and I apologized multiple times, but the woman at the desk was not kind to me in any way. She made me feel like garbage and had me sign a paper saying I was surrendering him. Which made me feel even worse. I really thought that I did what was best for him and did exactly what they told me to do. I returned him to the place that he knew the best. He doesn't even remember me after only 24 hours. He will find that happy place and I won't even be remembered.

I will remember him forever and have guilt for the decision I made forever, but I still know I did the right thing. I just hope in the future that the shelter thinks about the situation from all sides before they make someone else feel as bad as they made me.