"Dog laundering" is the term I gave to the unethical and criminal practice of intentionally covering up a dog's history of viciousness for the purpose of re-homing the dog with an unsuspecting family. This is a practice that many rescue groups and shelters have been engaging in for several years in the USA. Innocent people have been severely injured by it.
Don't be part of the problem. Don't support "dog laundering" by helping these dishonest, irresponsible, vicious people. You support them by looking the other way when it happens, by giving the dog back rather than taking it to the pound and seeing that it is put down. Here's an example of something that came up today:
A man contacted me through dogbitelaw.com. He wanted help suing a shelter. He said he adopted a dog and hours later it turned on him, biting him severely, sending him to the hospital. He took the dog back to the shelter and told them what happened. They accepted the dog back and gave him paperwork transferring ownership to them. In the paperwork was the statement, "the dog has not bitten anyone." He signed it, knowing it was a lie. Then he gave the dog back to them and asked me to tell him his options regarding his bite. Here's what I told him:
I am sorry that this happened to you. It is happening all over the US now. Shelters are dishonest. Unfortunately, a 'rescue dog' is now a dog you have to be rescued from.
But you lost me when you said that you signed something that said 'the dog didn't bite anyone.' It was a lie and you put your name to it. That dog is going right out to another family at this very moment, most likely because you signed this false statement. You became part of the problem right then and there. What was done to you, you did to the next family.
You need to right this wrong. You need to go to the shelter, ask to see the thing you signed, and tear it up. Keep the pieces. Then you need to go to the animal control department (I hope this didn't happen there to begin with) and report not only the dog, but also what the shelter made you sign. If they want proof, give them the pieces.
You need to go to the newspaper and tell them what the shelter gave you and what they made you sign. Show them the pieces.
Remember the Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." It is also expressed this way: "Don't do anything to anyone that you would not want them to do to you." You have to make this right before asking someone to help you with your bite.
