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I find the rules about adoption of both children and pets insane. Anyone is free to fuck themselves a child or buy a puppy with no screening at all, but adoption? No, that's different, you'll have to jump through more hoops than a circus poodle just to get a chance to adopt. The only barrier to clear should be "is your house than a state orphanage/a cage in a shelter?", which isn't exactly high.
How big are the barriers to pet adoption? I know I had one of a couple childhood dogs that was adopted and it didn't seem like my parents had to comply with any notably more arduous process?
Where I live, the Humane Society requires a screening questionnaire and $200 for adult dog (extra $50 for a puppy). Other pet adoptions are similar. I know a bunch of people who got their dogs with reduced or waived fee because someone was doing a charity promotion to subsidize adoption.
Most of the animals in the rescue system are fostered out. Only the most un-fosterable get kept in the shelter. When we went to pick a dog, they offered us binders full of dogs to peruse. We asked to see the dogs they have on premises, and got a tour of the solitary-confinement cages with giant snarling beasts throwing themselves at the plexiglass.
The Humane Society used to put down un-adoptable animals. They stopped doing that around the turn of this century. Some people who had to get rid of their dog would release it rather that give it to a rescue shelter, figuring that at least this way the dog had a chance at life. The Humane Society's goal is to reduce strays, especially the dangerous kind. Housing some unruly monsters is worth the price of having a reputation of never killing the animal except in medical need.
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