05/28/2026
Why has someone getting rid of a pet become so romanticized on social media? Why is it just so acceptable to rehome for any frivolous reason these days? I truly cannot wrap my head around why it is becoming so overwhelmingly common for people to believe their dogs are disposable, as if they aren’t sentient beings that they should commit to for their life.
Dogs are increasingly framed as extensions of someone’s lifestyle, mental health routine, aesthetic, or identity rather than lifelong dependents. So when the lifestyle changes, such as moving, breakup, new baby, work schedule, inconvenience, behavioral challenges, people now feel socially validated in saying “this no longer fits my life,” instead of feeling a moral obligation to adapt and work through it.
Today should have been a good day. We had two beautiful bully breeds, Dottie and Bentley, head home on transport. And as I was driving away from the transport drop off, I see an email come in from one of our partnered animal control facilities and my stomach dropped.
21 dogs on the urgent list because they just took in 24 dogs today before it was even lunch time... 🤯
Then I check our other emails and have:
• 15+ owner surrender requests
• 10+ emails asking for us to intake a found dogs
• 7 emails from our partnered shelters asking us to intake specific dogs that have medical needs that they can’t treat at their shelter
• 4 emails from other animal control facilities that we aren’t even partnered with begging us to take dogs
Then I scroll through Facebook for not even 5 minutes and my feed is full of posts from people who are trying to rehome their dog(s) on social media, found dogs that the finder needs gone ASAP after they’ve had it for months with no attempts to do any vetting or even network them, and stray dogs roaming the streets and people being told to leave them on the streets by animal control.
Rescues, shelters, and fosters are overwhelmed because we are bending over backwards, burning ourselves out, and feel like we are drowning every single day as we try to make even a dent in the problem the state of Texas has right now. The current state of animal welfare is worse than I’ve ever experienced before. I dread opening social media and reading through our emails these days.
No amount of compassion can compensate for systemic overbreeding and irresponsible ownership at the scale Texas is experiencing right now. Rescuers, like myself, are staying in rescue despite carrying an enormous emotional load every single day. I’m exhausted. Those of us in rescue are all exhausted. And one of the hardest parts is constantly having to say no because there is simply nowhere left to put these dogs.
And it feels like it’s not going to ever improve given the rate people in Texas are getting rid of their pets right now. Not to mention the backyard breeding and roaming unaltered dogs in the streets also contributing to the overpopulation problem. I’m truly at a loss for words to articulate everything I really want to say right now because I have to try to remain professional on our rescue page.
So right now, we desperately need fosters.
Instead of posting dozens and dozens of individual dogs, I’m asking anyone who is serious about fostering to submit an application. If approved, I can try to match you with dogs that fit your home, experience level, and size preferences. I do recommend taking the time to go meet a few dogs at the shelter so you can decide which one you’ll feel most comfortable taking home to foster.
Please understand that dogs coming directly from shelters or off the streets will likely need patience, structure, and decompression time.
They:
• likely needs all the basics when it comes to training (leash, kennel, potty training)
• probably won’t have house manners (will probably have an accident or two inside, possibly will chew up stuff if left unattended, most likely will jump on you when they’re excited, or cry when they are left alone)
• may not be immediate best friends with your other dog(s) and will need to do slow intros / crate and rotate initially
• likely won’t be a dog you can take out on public outings yet (no farmer’s markets, dog-friendly stores, etc)
• may have some minor behavior issues that you will have to put in a little effort to work through with some training at home (overstimulated on walks, pulls on leash, barks at other dogs on walks, nervous around crowds of people or visitors in the home, etc)
There probably won’t be any small dogs under 20 lbs that do not have either behavior or medical issues, and will require more time and attention, so be prepared to work through some stuff with them if you’re dead set on fostering a small breed adult dog.
The fosters that we need most right now:
• puppy fosters
• medium and large breed adult dog fosters
• people willing to give their foster dogs time, patience, and stability
🐶 Foster app below ⬇️
www.loveandpuppypawsdogrescue.com/foster
📸Picture of Colson and Coraline for attention.
