Best DAWG Rescue Inc.
Joanne-
Don’t you think it says something that my husband and I want to walk up and down 2 flights of stairs 4 or 8 times a day to take our dog out instead of just letting a dog out the back door once in a while to run around or do it’s business? We find it beyond unfair that we should be passed over because we don’t have a yard. We have lots of room for dogs to play and plenty of time and energy to exercise them properly outside the home. We want to RESCUE a dog instead of purchasing one from a breeder, but yours and other rescue groups have been nothing but difficult. Not one rescue has an issue with our application, but they’ve all got a problem with our lack of a fenced in yard. I’m sorry that you’re the one to receive an ear-full from me, but we want Miley. I’m also sorry to tell you that Miley won’t find a better home than ours.
-Christine & Adam Kinder
This goes out to all rescue organizations. YOU ARE WRONG. I don’t know how these groups manage to place these poor dogs in homes AT ALL. What a crock.
Miley, I’m sorry that you can’t be a part of our family due to small mindedness. I do hope the very best for you.
I agree with you 100% !!!!!!!!!
Christine and Adam,
I sympathize with you on your negative experience with Best Dawg. I have volunteered for them and used to donate money to them, and I stopped doing both. Their adoption criteria can be totally unreasonable, and you are quite right: they do shortchange these dogs and cause heartache to humans. Unfortunately, this is not uncommon in rescue; they think they know it all, and their opinion is the only one that counts. And they can be rude about it too. They deny a lot of adoptions to good people, and most of the time they are wrong about the reasons for denying adoptions. As a result fewer dogs are rescued and more are put down in the shelter. I was almost denied my dog (by a group related to DAWG) because he is aggressive to small kids, and they thought that I “might” have a grandchild soon. This is so absurd! There is almost no possibility that I have a grandchild living in my house: my son is 21 and still in college and doesn’t live at home anymore (their argument was that he “has a girlfriend”–go figure). I think you are doing the right thing by spreading the word that some of these rescue groups are not doing the right thing by the dogs.
Nat,
Thanks for your comment. It’s nice to know I’m not the only one who feels this way. Something really does need to be done to actually help more dogs get placed properly.
The near denial of your dog’s placement due to entirely private issues of your family is ridiculous. That is so rude I’m at a loss for words.
Well… Here’s to spreading the word!
Christy, you are welcome! And Happy New Year to you and the furry family. This is a serious problem in rescue, and I am workiing to raise awareness of it. I am very lucky indeed that I was able to adopt my pooch, Clooney, but the stand-off with the rescue group aged me probably fiver years:) I made Clooney as spokesdog for all the dogs in the shelter who were not rescued as a result of these unfair and non-sensical policies. Some other examples are no no less perplexing then Clooney’s. They have denied adoptions because the applicant “doesn’t know how to play with dogs” or because the applicant “doesn’t have other dogs” or because the applicant lives in the part of the county where leash loss are not “always respected” (no indication that the applicant would disrespect the leash laws, but he was guilty by associaton). I have Clooney on Dogster, advocating against such policies. You are welcome to visit at http://www.dogster.com/dogs/931308. Enjoy your holiday, and I hope you put your bad experience behind in the New Year. I know it took me awhile to put it in perspective. Clooney’s mom
Nat,
Happy New Year to you and Clooney as well! I’ll be sure to look into the link you sent me and hopefully make my voice heard along with yours.
I think that there is much to be said for rescue agencies and their policies, but there’s more to be said for the people who reach out to rescue. I think we all need an education and that’s what’s lacking on both sides.
Damn the Man! =D
Christy, there are many different philosophies in rescue groups. I adopted one of my dogs (RIP) from WARL (www.warl.org), and a close friend of mine has been volunteering with them for sometime now. Their philosophy is entirely different: they actually approach the applicants and potential adopters with a goal of making each person’s (or family’s) application work out. They do their best to offer help in overcoming whatever problems may arise. They will even pay for an initial consultation with a behaviorist, which my friend, who adopted a dog from them, said was extremely helpful in making the adoption work, despite the problems with the dog’s behavior. WALR’s goal seems to be to maximize the number of adoptions and help as many animals as possible. Their philosophy is that many different types of homes are suitable for their dogs and cats, so long as the owners are responsible and well-meaning people. They adopt to people in apartments, condos, townhouses, co-ops, single faimily homes, industrial lofts, you name it; they do not require a fenced yard, but rather a level-headed “can do” approach and realistic assessment of one’s abilities. On the cat side, I recently adopted my orange bud, Teddy, from http://www.wendysfelinefriends.org in Colonial Beach, VA. Wendy, the lady who operates this cat rescue in her house, has an approach similar to WARL’s. I think these are the rescues worthy of our donated money and volunteer time. Take care. Natalie
My husband and I were recently turned down by Best DAWG Rescue in our efforts to adopt a 7-year-old shepherd mix who had been in foster care for over a year. We asked them to PLEASE tell us why but they would not. In fact, they first told us that they had chosen another applicant for him over ours, but that turned out to be untrue; they later told us he was still available for adoption (but not to us).
We are highly responsible, middle-aged, employed, physically active, homeowners. Our house has a large yard and we were prepared to fence a large portion of it—we had even agreed to the larger size of the fenced portion that the foster mom wanted. We don’t have children and we consider our pets (2 cats currently) our family and love them very much. We are both at stages in our careers where we have flexible hours and work-from-home options. We were willing to devote lots of time and energy into training ourselves and our dog and in general in making this work. We’ve had the same veterinarian for many years. We could have provided excellent references. Yet we were abruptly and without any explanation ruled out as a possible family for this wonderful dog.
From the communications we had with the foster mom, it seemed that there might have been 2 issues: 1.) one of us (me) had never had a dog before and she seemed to feel that this meant I would be incapable —- e.g., put the dog in danger by losing control of the leash or taking him to a dog park where they could be agressive dogs; 2. she didn’t like that we allow our cats to go outside via a kitty door. On the latter issue, I understand that many people feel you should not do this… and we thougt long and hard about it before we decided to do it 9 years ago. We took into consideration our cats’ personalities, the fact that we are on a dead-end street, etc. And, frankly, we would never go back — I do feel it was and is the right decision for us in our situation.
In any case, in terms of the dog, I know we would have loved him and done our absolute best to provide a good home for him. I am emotionally worn down by this experience and just wanted to share it with you.
Kat, I wrote you a 4 paragraph comment, then accidentally backed out of it and it’s gone. This is SO frustrating!
I want to thank you for sharing your story with me. I hope that more people will read this and share their stories as well and that some day soon we’ll be able to make a difference in the pet adoption process.
I’d like to say that when people, such as yourself and your husband, are willing to change their lives around and accept such a large responsibility, that should be acknowledged and taken into great consideration.
There are too many dogs and cats left homeless due to overbearing adoption agencies. Unfortunately, it’s true that many people who adopt are careless of the responsibility involved, and that makes the agencies and foster owners wary.
Your cats are very lucky and I’m sure they’re healthy and happy. Cats can take care of themselves very well, whether it’s indoors or outdoors.
Never having owned a dog should never be an issue when adopting a dog. Training classes should be offered for new pet owners, regardless if the pet is submissive or aggressive.
I have so much to say on this topic, though it will have to come through eventually as in a conversation. I am so sorry that you were rejected so rudely by Best DAWG Rescue. Don’t give up.
Also, I’d like to make a suggestion. If you are still looking forward and interested in adoption I’ve come across a great way of getting in.
Meetup.com is a website where people can create groups based on common interests. My husband and I belong to the D.C. Area Cavalier Meetup Group, along with many of our friends (which we met through attendance of the monthly events). You may look into signing up on Meetup.com, finding a group of pet owners in your area specific to the breed you’re interested in, join their group, and network.
From personal experience this has been a wonderful way to not only meet new people, but to learn about the breed (in our case Cavalier King Charles Spaniels). Our organizer, who is a friend of mine, helped us to find Giles a sister, Lily. She is a 5 year old “re-home” from a breeder. Lily was attempted to breed twice, but did not take. Since the breeder shows her dogs every weekend, had 1 litter on the way for sure, and 3 other bitches in heat, she wanted to make sure that Lily had the love and attention that she deserved even though that meant she needed to go to a new home. Lucky for her breeder and for us that’s right here!
If you need help finding a good group in your area, or even making sure that you’re choosing the right breed for you, let me know. I’d be more than happy to help you in any way that I can.
Thanks again for sharing, Kat. Best of luck. I’m positive that when you find “your dog” it will be lucky for all of you.
-Christy
Thanks for your support, Christy. I appreciate hearing your thoughts and I will look into meetup.com. We didn’t have a particular breed in mind. We tend to like larger dogs and we didn’t want a puppy (we thought puppy energy would be too hard on the cats) or a cat agressive dog. But other than that we were open to whichever dog caught our hearts and seemed like a good fit. We sure liked the dog we applied for and it is hard to let it go… But I’m sure I will feel ready to jump into looking for another dog in a while. Thanks again for the encouragement.
btw, I saw the comment from Natalie K. on Yelp and added my own yesterday. I also sent a letter to the Board of Directors of Best DAWG, using the P.O. box on their site. Let me know if there is anything else I can do… I know these rescue groups are volunteer organizations and all, but it does seem like a good idea to at least suggest that they re-examine their ideas given the number of dogs in need of a home.
Dear Kat and Christy,
I just saw your posts on yelp.com and would like to respond. Kat, I am sorry about your difficult experience. I hope you find a nice dog to adopt, who would be good to your cats. And I hope your experience in adopting your new pet is better this time. There are many-many good rescue groups and adoption agencies that actually try to make as many potential adoptions work out as possible. As I wrote to Christy before, http://www.warl.org is one of them, and they have lots of good dogs for adoption. A friend of mine adopted her dog there recently, and she also voluteers with them. Her impression is that they go out of their way to help you succeed with your new pet; they will even offer a free behavior consultation after you adopt. I think we should help and support such agencies. Even though I have witnessed DAWG’s unreasonable adoption policies, they never affected me personally. However, DAWG has a “sister” rescue group, PAW (or Partnership for Animal Welfare, http://www.paw-rescue.org), which has almost the same problems. I was a PAW volunteer for many years, and at some point agreed to foster a dog for them. That dog had a severe fear-based aggression towards small children, and rumor had it that he might be euthanized. I took him home to keep him safe and away from children. When I fell hopelessly in love with Clooney, I wanted to adopt him, and was almost denied for reasons that made no sense whatsoever. Part of it was a personal grudge! Believe it or not, this goes on! Settling personal scores with dogs’ lives hanging in the balance. Formally though, PAW insisted that I couldn’t have Clooney because I “might have a grandchild” soon (plus for some other peculiar reasons). At the time, my only son was 20, single, in college, and with no plans to live at home even if he did have a child. PAW, however, insisted that my son “had a girlfriend.” Clooney has become a spokesdog for all the dogs in shelters that were not rescued because of “choosey” rescuers. You can check out his web site at http://www.dogster.com/dogs/931308.
I am often told that rescue groups are volunteer organizations and should be allowed to do things any way they see fit. There is a problem with that view, however. These volunteer organizations are charities, operating with tax-deductible contributions. Their use of tax-deductible funds should be appropriate for the type of cause they are engaged in. I am not suggesting that either PAW or DAWG misappropriate the contributions they are entrusted with by using them for purposes other than providing veterinary care or boarding for their animals. I am suggesting, however, that by having such unreasonable adoption policies, they 1) rescue far fewer dogs and cats (PAW does both) than they could; 2) spend far more money on boarding than is necessary. It is not widely known that both these groups have more dogs in boarding than in foster care. The conditions in boarding are not the best, although the basics of food, water, shelter, and medical care are ensured, in fairness to PAW and DAWG. They also try to provide some walking opportunities to these dogs. However, boarding in cages for months on end (and in some cases over a year) is stressful for these dogs, and some develop behavior problems as a result. Considering that many of these dogs may have had an applicaiton, which was denied for the arbitrary reasons we are familiar with, it is disconcerting to know that these dogs’ welbeing is entrusted to people who are so misguided as to think that it is better for a dog to spend 10 months in a cage at a high cost (money that could be used to rescue other needy dogs) than to be with a family, who allows their cats out via a kitty door.
Best of luck to you. Sincerely, Natalie Kramer
Kat and Christy, your reviews on Yelp have been removed. Did you remove them, or was this done by DAWG? Some of these rescue groups will go the length. When I and two other people posted on volunteermatch.org on PAW, DAWG’s sister rescue, one of PAW’s board members actually contacted volunteermatch to have our comments removed. They were reviewed and left in place. This is how much these people “love” freedom of speach. If you still want your reviews on Yelp, you have to put them back.
By the way, I hope you and your felines and canines enjoy spring:)
I’m so glad to have found your website this morning. I’m so angry with these elitist rescue groups who seemingly play “God” with the animals they have. These people are just too radical with their ideas of what constitutes a “good pet owner” and I seriously doubt their own pets live in the conditions they require from potential adopters.
I’ve been denied twice within the past 2 days from two different rescue groups in California. The reasons were laughable and appalling. The first one said “this puppy will grow to be about 30 lbs., which would just not be compatible with your shih-tzu.” I could NOT believe that one. First of all, this dog I wanted to adopt was a shih-tzu/cockapoo/maltese mix. NONE of those breeds in the mix ever grows to be 30 lbs.!!! I had a cockapoo for 16 years, and she was NEVER over 16 lbs. Shih-tzus and maltese weigh no more than 12 lbs. So this was the biggest BS excuse I’ve ever heard (until I read some of the reasons left on your blog here).
This morning I was denied adopting a shih-tzu/poodle mix because I didn’t have a small fenced yard for the dog to run around w/o a leash. Nevermind the fact that my own shih-tzu, Chloe, has lived in this manner, very happily I might add, for her entire 4 years of life. And that my cockapoo (God rest her soul) lived in this manner her entire 16 years of life. Every one of my neighbors who owns a dog in my condo complex seems to be able to live with the fact that we don’t all have “small, fenced yards.” More people live in apartments and condos than houses that have yards. Does that mean condo/apartment owners should never be allowed to own a dog? This is INSANITY!!!
These rescue people are just unnecessarily discriminating when it comes to allowing perfectly capable people to give a dog, in need of a good home, a wonderful life! I understand they are just advocating for the dog, and looking out for their best interests, but they are overly discriminating about their vetting process. I feel sorry for these poor animals who COULD have had an awesome home, stuck in some foster care home because the sun, the moon, and the stars were not all aligned properly enough in the rescue volunteer’s opinion. Again, would these “gatekeepers” even be approved to adopt from an organization if THEY were to apply to adopt a dog themselves?
I really feel that there needs be something done about this. There has to be some kind of agency or bureau to report these rescue groups, and their unfair practices to. This can’t keep going on. At this rate, there will be more dogs in possession of rescue groups than there will be at the good old fashion local animal shelter, where you can adopt from w/o any problem. OR, people will be forced to go buy them from pet stores or breeders. Pet stores NEVER being a good option, and breeders being more expensive. Besides, it’s a noble thing to do to adopt an animal who just wants and needs a good home. Shame on these “rescue” groups and organizations. They should rename themselves to reflect what they really are: Animal Hoarding Groups Who Don’t Think ANYONE Is Good Enough To Own A Pet (including THEM!!!).
Thanks for “listening” to my feelings and opinions.
Allison
Allison, thank you for sharing with us! The more input the better. We’ve got to find the good and the bad. I just KNOW that there are good adoption agencies out there. Only I haven’t heard of them.
I hope you find the right companion for your present dog. Keep your chin up. And keep us posted!
Thanks again. =)
Allison, I empathize with your anger and frustration. I was almost denied my dog by DAWG’s sister rescue, and the reasons were even more bizarre than what you are describing. There is actually a lot you can do to raise awareness of the issue. These rescues are non-profit charities, operating with tax-exempt funds, so, as disappointing as it is to some of their ruling (controlling) members, they do answer to some authorities, such as the tax and non-profit authorities. I am in the process of filing my complaints with some of these authorities. You can get in touch with me through my web site at dogster, which is http://www.dogster.com/dogs/931308. I hope comments of other people are helpful to you in realizing that you are not alone in your outrage at these people, who are doing disservice to animals they are entrusted by their donors and the taxpayers to protect.
Thanks for the info Natalie. I’m a teacher, so I have the summer off (only 19 more days to go!). I’m planning on persuing the idea of finding a way to expose the incredulous practices of some rescue groups. I know not all groups are like this, but I’ve heard more negative stories about rescue groups than positive ones, in the past few days. Perhaps Oprah needs to hear about this. She’s all about pet adoption right now, having done stories on puppy mills, she said she’d never get another dog again unless it was a rescue dog. Well, she’s OPRAH! She’s not going to be denied, apparently. But, I think she DOES need to know that most other people are denied.
Honestly, I just want to see some kind of governing agency that oversees these groups, and realizes their practices are not always in the best interest of the dog. If you know of any more stories, so that I can compile them and forward them on to the appropriate place, that would be appreciated. Also, the name of an agency that might be able to change this craziness.
Allison, I am filing a complaint with the IRS. You can download the complaint form at http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f13909.pdf and follow the instructions on the form. Also, there is the non-profit division in the Attorney Generals office in Maryland. There is also the CFC office, which takes complaints about inappropriate use of tax-exempt funds. If you would like any further information, please contact me through my dogster site at http://www.dogster.com/dogs/931308. Good luck. You are doing the right thing. This is craziness, pure and simple.
In some ways this phenomenon is akin to hoarding (which is a mental illness), but in my experience, it’s more of a control thing: for people who don’t get to play boss elsewhere, at least they exercise control over who gets and doesn’t get the dog. It’s really sick. They don’t admit it, of course, but then it’s common to camouflage power trips behind noble causes. They argue that it’s for the benefit of the dog, but we know how that is: the dog stays caged in boarding for eight months. Also, it feels good to them to pretend that they have skills superior to those of an average person to establish what the best fit between the dog and the owner is. After all, something akin to scientific knowledge is required. Application of some criteria, some “experience,” some illusive ability that an average Joe Schmoe doesn’t have. It is just so swell to be indowed with these abilities and powers! It is such a cool mole hill. The fact that the dog’s well-being hangs in the balance seems to be of no consequence, not to mention the dogs who were euthanized at the shelter as a result of the denied applications. Very sad.
I want to emphasize that because of the many bad experiences with DAWG — please do not let that discourage you from adopting a dog. There are MANY groups who will work with people, educate them if they feel something may not be safe. With DAWG — if you smoke, you are not getting a dog – and that is just one of many examples. There are only TWO people making all of the decisions for all these dogs. You should not base your opinion of rescue on this mismanaged group. This group is so bad that most people are not even approved to foster. They’d rather have the dogs all live in a kennel so they do not loose control. One has to wonder if they are in this for the powertrip or to benefit the dogs.
Deb,
Thank you for your comment and opinion.
I want to let you know that in NO WAY are we trying to discourage dog adoption and rescue. It’s just the opposite. We want to IMPROVE dog adoption and rescue for everyone, especially the animals.
Please tell us about an encouraging experience you’ve had with another rescue group! We want to hear the good and the bad. All of it is important if we want to make an impact.
Thanks again!
Christy, there are GREAT rescue groups out there. The one I am familiar with is Last Resort in Jew Jersey (www.thelastresortrescue.com/). They do a wonderful job and rescue lots of dogs with limited funds. I have been introduced to them by the way of rescue transport, and I like to spread the word to other dog lovers about this volunteer opportunity because it truly helps to rescue many-many dos (and some cats) and place them in good homes. Unfortunately, rescue transports are not well known around our area, yet it is such a satisfying activity. Rescue transports work to pull dogs from high-kill shelters in the southern states and get them to rescues, such as Last Resort, but there are many others, in the north-east, where there are homes available for them. You can check out Freedom Train Transports in South Carolina at http://www.freedomtraintransports.com, which is just awsome in terms of how many dogs they have rescued and helped transort to safety. I am one of their regular drivers in our area, so if you have any questions about rescue transports, please let me know.
Update on DAWG: One veterinarian at DAWG’s primary veterinary provider received a formal letter of censure from the Maryland State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners “concerning his failure to recognize cardiomegaly and increased pulmonary interstitial pattern on the radiographs” of my cat, Smokey. Prior to accepting the censure, this vet “participated in classes offered at a regional conference as a means of improving his ability to read radiographs and ultrasounds.” A letter of censure is a matter of public record.
I have just been notified of these developments. However, when I raised with DAWG the issue of my pet’s suffering as a result of this “failure to recognize” as well as what I perceived as the hospital’s untruthful and hostile handling of this situation (the head vet ridiculously claimed that this condition cannot be seen on an X-ray), DAWG’s Vice President, Moira Gingery, became very nasty, going as far as to BLAME ME for for not referring Smokey to a specialist! This is by far the cruelest thing anyone can say to a grieving owner of a pet who suffered from obvious medical errors.
DAWG’s fanatical devotion to this vet is difficult to understand, but this problem is apparently wide-spread: many rescue groups have very unhealthy relationships with their veterinarians, whom they are unable to see with any kind of reasonable objectivity. Very sad.
I have created a blog in Smokey’s memory at http://cpahclientsbeware.blogspot.com/2009/11/college-park-animal-hospital-vet.html#comments. Good luck to all of you if you deal with rescues and please never blindly trus your vet, any vet.