This is not about anyone here--I don't know who is and who isn't qualified for pet adoption, and haven't read all the messages to note anything to sway me one way or the other on a person.

But there should be restrictions on adoption. I'm not saying the ones that have been mentioned are reasonable, but a person should not be able to drop by the shelter and pick up a dog or cat. Their homes should be evaluated. They should be checked out. Anyone with a history of abusing animals should not be allowed to adopt. Anyone who can't afford to care for a pet--including vet care--should not have one. Anyone who isn't a responsible person should have a pet. Pets should be matched to owners; a sedentary person should not have an active pet. Pets need to be exercised, so an owner needs to be able to handle that.

There should not be ads for "Free to good home" unless you're going to thoroughly check potential owners out. I hate that Freecycle allows free pet offers, although they do recommend checking out potential new owners. That doesn't mean it's done.

There are people who pretend to be good people wanting to adopt pets who get them and sell them to people who give them to science research and those who perform animal research. There are legal methods for obtaining these animals, and this is NOT a legal way of obtaining animals.

Animals are living creatures and shouldn't be handed to just anybody.

I haven't followed all these threads, but if you haven't already, how about trying Petfinder.com? They match pets with owners.