I initially communicated with one of their shelter employees whom I found through a relative. At first, she was extremely polite and appeared genuinely interested in finding my parent's dog a forever home. I first rescued him on my own years ago from an abusive owner, and he's been staying with my parents ever since. Sadly, my parents can no longer keep him for unfortunate circumstances. When I got in touch with the shelter employee on her direct line, she requested a photo of him and a few details. I texted her basic information (expecting we'll have to meet in person eventually), and she told me she'd have to discuss with her boss first and get back to me before moving forward on helping us find him a forever home.
One day later, she calls me to let me know there is someone interested in our dog. However, I scoped out their website and didn't see my dog on their listing of available dogs up for adoption. I questioned how did they manage to find someone without knowing much about our dog or even putting up the photographs of him on the website. She quickly said that her boss has a neighbor who is interested in fostering him for some time first. According to her, they want to get a feel of him for potentially a couple of months before deciding on adopting him. As standard practice, I'd generally agree to that because I have an understanding of needing first to meet and spend time with a dog before adopting it. She then asked me to make sure that we neutered our dog first, fully vaccinated, and microchip and that I should cover all of these expenses.
These were immediate red flags -
1.) Shouldn't there be a proper protocol? Doesn't your foundation first want to meet my dog?
2.) How is it possible that after 1 day, you confirm with affirmation someone is interested in our dog based on two photographs I provided only.
2.) Her statements were contradicting - she first mentioned he's an adopter then went on to say he would be a foster for the dog
After implementing doubt in my head, I requested a direct call from her boss (owner) for further clarification and additional details. She did - her boss TONI called me a few minutes after. Our conversation lasted 3 minutes.
She didn't ask me any additional questions about our dog - she wasn't interested in knowing more until I popped questions about what the proper protocol was. When I shared with her a bit of his backstory, she said that she showed her neighbor the photograph of our dog, and he was interested because he has a child. Toni went on to say, " I showed the photo to my neighbor since I heard your dog is good with kids" I NEVER said that. In fact, there are absolutely no children in the household. Another immediate red flag - why were there misleading facts about my dog that were never said?
Trying to understand and find out more information, I told her that I was a bit uneasy since I was first told that he was an adopter, and then I was told he was a foster. I also told her I was slightly uncomfortable considering it's only been one day since I spoke to her employee about my dog - As I'm talking, she rudely interrupts me. She tells me, "HOLD ON, HOLD ON, HOLD ON," sarcastically starts to explain to me what their foundation represents. She even said, "Well, you put dogs online, you show photos to people and well hmm, isn't that how people get to see a dog - it's your decision if you want our help or not."
I let her know that both her foundation and her personally, have horrible reviews/feedback online, and I'll pass on their "assistance," I proceeded to hang up. The other employee I initially spoke with returned my call only to tell me, "You're making a huge mistake."
EVERYONE: PLEASE THOROUGHLY DO YOUR RESEARCH ON THIS FOUNDATION. I have big reason to believe they're money hungry and they don't have their best interest at heart. If you genuinely want to find a right home for your furry one, I encourage you to please do your research, ask a million questions, and don't get fooled by money-grubbing foundations. It appears that they use animals as a way of taking advantage of people for their personal gain. read more