MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A woman determined to adopt a dog from Miami-Dade Animal Services found herself in an unusual situation when the dog she wanted was deemed unavailable and scheduled for transfer to another state.
Joy Walther had visited the shelter intending to adopt a 5-month-old stray puppy named Lupita, but was told she couldn’t due to the dog being in quarantine.
Walther said she connected with Lupita in her cage, assuming the puppy was available for adoption.
“I told her then I’m going to take you home! And then I would have the fight of my life for the next two weeks,” Walther said.
However, shelter staff informed her that Lupita was set to be transferred to a shelter in Georgia as part of a contractual obligation, despite Walther’s request to adopt the dog locally.
“These agreements are critical to our ability to get dogs out of the shelter,” said Flora Beal, a spokesperson for Miami-Dade Animal Services.
The shelter offered Walther several other dogs for adoption, but she refused.
Frustrated by the situation, Walther reached out to Local 10 Animal Advocate Jacey Birch, hoping for assistance, but M-DAS stood firm on their decision.
“They told me I couldn’t do a meet and greet with her because she was in quarantine,” Walther said. “And they said she’s going to be transferred to another shelter in another state. I said, ‘Well, I’d like to take her,’ and they said I couldn’t.”
Determined not to give up on Lupita, Walther drove six hours north to Georgia, arriving at the Camden County Humane Society before they opened to ensure she could adopt the dog.
“We came all the way from Miami for her! Yeah, we are committed to this one!” Walther said after successfully adopting Lupita.
M-DAS, which works with 200 transport partners across the country, defended its decision, saying that transferring dogs out of state is sometimes necessary to make space for more animals, particularly larger breeds that are harder to place locally.
The shelter said that it is their policy to move dogs to other shelters as part of these agreements.
“Why did she have to travel to Georgia to adopt the dog that was here?” Birch asked Beal.
“We commend her for her dedication to getting this dog. Unfortunately, she selected a dog that already had a commitment,” Beal said.
Despite understanding the shelter’s policies, Walther remains perplexed as to why a local adopter was turned away while a dog she wanted was sent out of state.
“We’re overrun, we have too many, we don’t know what to do, we’re putting them down because we don’t have a place to put them,” Walther added. “I’m there, I want to take [the dog], and you made it impossible.”
M-DAS continues to prioritize finding homes for homeless pets through partnerships and transfers, helping many animals find new homes even when local adoptions are not immediately available.
