Shelter Policy...what do you think?

hmm m you can't even spend time with the dog or give them attention? Wow that's pretty hardcore. I can see about adopting sorta but not really since the dog you adopt is s/n already. But the no interaction thing is kinda shortchanging the dogs, I think.

Most shelters are simply a conglomeration of people with experiences they pour into their "rules".  Sometimes that results in good rules, sometimes bad. 

If your reasons were that you were showing Cadie, I'd wonder if it would be different.  But just to have an 8 year old intact female because you're scared to get her spayed? 

I have to say I'm not surprised they didn't cut you a break.  Because honestly people will say anything to do whatever they WANT to do.  They don't know you ... so they followed their plan. 

It is really easy to just move on to another shelter that would be more toward your liking.   My residence dog was natural for 9 years and I fostered dogs and sometimes the fosters were not s/n right away because of other health reasons...e.g. heartworm positive.

Surprised this shelter cut you off in the knees so early in the 'getting to know you' process.  Mostly like they saw you as not a potential adopter or someone that might contribute financially to them.   

I do not find it strange that you cannot adopt with intact dogs, nor do I find it strange that you cannot take out dogs without paperwork, but I would find it strange if you cannot volunteer b/c you have an intact dog.  I volunteer for a local shelter, and they never even *asked* if my animals are intact or not.  For volunteering, we had to take a set of orientation classes and "job shadow" a volunteer before we were allowed to take out dogs.  There are some very specific policies about how a dog can be collared/leashed, how you take it out without accidentally running into another dog walker with a dog-aggressive dog, which direction to walk to avoid conflicts, etc.  We have the same rule that lookers cannot take out dogs until they've applied and been approved through an interview, and even then a staff member or volunteer takes the dog out and supervises the meeting.

 I don't remember being asked about the status of my animals when I volunteered.  I can understand the adoption prohibition, but not letting you volunteer seems unreasonable.  Then again, it seems from your post that you weren't actually volunteering, you were just visiting to accomplish a school assignment, that might have had something to do with it.  There's alot of work to be done in a shelter that size and someone who just wants to visit and play with dogs on a one-time basis is sort of in the way, honestly.

If you did want to volunteer, I think providing veterinary documentation about your dog's reactions to meds and an explanation about why you haven't spayed her might help.  But just saying you're scared to would eliminate you with most shelters/rescues I think. 

hmm, what a really strange policy. We adopt out to families with intact pets - never really an issue, since all our animals are fixed before even coming up to the adoption floor. We do give them the number of the county spay/neuter clinic and encourage them to alter their pets. The only rules we require for other animals in the home is that they be current with their rabies vaccine - in compliance with the laws set by the county.

We however, don't allow people to come in and just play with the dogs, unless they are an active volunteer. We don't want to get the dogs hopes up of going home - nor do we really have the time to waste to pull out 3 different dogs that they just want to play with. If you want to play - become a volunteer. That's our policy. If you are interested in adopting - we'll take out as many as you want.

Did you tell them it was for a school project? We bend the rules for that kind of thing,  and bring out some dogs for pictures and things.

It seems like a strange policy, I've certainly never run into that before. I can understand if they're busy not wanting to take several dogs out....I visited the shelter near my mom in a rural area of Georgia to look at a Collie recently and they just handed me a leash and said I could take her into "the bonding room" or out back. No one got her out for me, I didn't fill anything out, no one was even watching me. I could have easily put her in my car and left. Same with the cat enclosure, entirely outdoors, right by the parking lot, no one watching...talk about strange....

A friend of mine ran into this problem in my area when trying to adopt a dog. She had an intact female who she was showing in conformation. My friend wanted to adopt a dog from the shelter as her second dog, but was refused because she had an intact dog. After she was refused by the humane society I tried to help her find a rescue with no luck. It doesn't make much sense because any dog she would have taken would have already been speutered. She ended up taking in a breeder rehome dog. There isn't anything wrong with that, but what she really wanted was to help a shelter dog and she was unable. Her female is now spayed. They decided that she wasn't the best example of the breed to breed from.

The rescue I volunteer for has never asked me if my dogs are intact. It wasn't a question on any of the paperwork. They won't adopt to someone who has an intact dog though.

IrishSetterGrl

They will not adopt out to people who have intact dogs (the dogs up for adoption are all fixed before being placed). 

I think I can shed some light on this. For many people who are extremely pro-speuter, they equate intact pets with irresponsible owners.  In other words: having intact pets=being irresponsible=you don't take good care of your animals.

Note, I am not saying I embrace this line of thought but I have had someone talk to me about this before and when referring to the average pet owner, she pretty much said that speuter for the average pet is a basic minimum level of care and "if they don't do that, what else do they skip?" In her mind, the folks with intact pets are also the same folks who don't get heartworm preventative, regular checkups, dental care, etc.

Of course you and Callie aren't the problem, but unfortunately it sounds like their "rules" have no flexibility.

All I can say is I'm glad Malinois rescue doesn't have this requirement.