Re: Adoption standards: In past decades I've adopted two dogs from the local Humane Society chapter, and most recently one from our County Dog Control's adoption program. All three times there was a "social worker" interview, which actually made a lot of sense. Though fortunately it didn't prevent my eligibility for having a dog at home alone while I worked. (I'm long retired, but still use "I have to go to work now" to tell little Lizzy that she isn't going to go in the car with me.)
I agree with having interviews and even home visits, which most of the rescue clubs do to prevent the dogs being returned over and over again. They live in foster homes, not cages in a humane society, so the foster parents know details of the dogs personalities, level of training, if they get along with other dogs, kids and cats, etc.
Austin had an agenda to be a "no-kill" city for its animal shelters and they don't take the time to do the necessary work, in my opinion. The day I adopted Buddy, the place was packed, and they were just going through the motions of filling out the forms and getting the animals placed. Especially people who have never owned a pet need to know how much it will cost them a year in food and vet bills, and what they need to do about training, etc.
Since I didn't meet with a person for very long, we didn't go over Buddy's history, and I didn't find out until months later that he had a history of seizures. Not that it would have changed my mind about adopting him, but I was totally unprepared and panicked when he had his first one.
