Was the shelter irresponsible for giving me a 5 week old puppy?
I always hear about how puppies should be 8 weeks and how horrible BYB's are for selling puppies at before 8 weeks. There was a litter of puppies and they all went right after the late 4th week or early 5th week. This was quite awhile back, but I was just curious was it irresponsible OR was it ok because the mother wasn't there anyway?
answer: Sometimes there is no choice, because the owner surrendered the pups without the mother, or the mother dies, or the shelter wants to be sure to get the pups out of the shelter environment before they have a chance to get sick.
I got my mutt at exactly 6 weeks, and he turned out fine too. I always thought it was because he had a big "brother" at my house (my 7 year old dog).
You were very lucky that the dog turned out so well. Most puppies taken too young from their mothers and siblings develop lifelong behavior problems, chiefly highly destructive chewing. pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com
Some irresponsible pet owner who didn't spay his or her pet probably dumped those puppies at the shelter. The shelter personnel can't force the person to keep the puppies for another few weeks, although you can bet they wished they could. OR , the puppies were found abandoned, with no mother or anything else around. So, the shelter did the best it could by finding homes for the pups.
We have no way of knowing what happened to the mother.
The shelter should have tried to find a foster home for the pups in my opinion but, if that was just out of the question, then they did the right thing by not keeping pups in a shelter with so many illnesses that float around those things. So in their situation, yes it was the best thing to do but that's in no way comparable to a breeder SELLING pups at 6 weeks.
Yes, the shelter was highly irresponsible to let a 5 week old puppy go.
In most places it's against the law to let a pup go before 8 weeks of age. Check the laws where you live. pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com
Shelters are not above the law. They need to abide by laws the same as everyone else.
The shelter was very irresponsible. I'm glad the puppy turned out so well, but the puppies shouldn't have been up for adoption.
