Sunday, April 12, 2009

Asshat Rant - Recent Experience with Breed Rescue

Please note that not all breed rescues do what I am about to tell you (at least ... I sure as hell hope they don't). I know of two breed rescues in Ontario that I would confidently send a dog to, so they at least are exempt from the "asshat" label.

Here's a bit of background:
I was made aware of a dog recently that bit someone. The bite was severe - the guy had to go to hospital and get stitches to his face. He was unable to eat solids for a few days and was on pain meds for a week.

When the guy went to hospital but he didn't tell them what happened so the bite went unrecorded. The dog was unofficially quarantined. While the dog was in quarantine, no one was willing to take on the logistics for this dog, so I did. We began looking at the dog's options.

We couldn't leave the dog where it was because the handler would be that same guy who was bitten. Normal foster homes are not able to deal with this sort of behaviour. I already have one foster at home and try to limit to one at a time (at least until I've finished building my kennels).

What to do? We didn't want to euthanize (I believe the fault lay with the handler not the dog), so we contacted breed rescue.

Luck! They were willing to take the dog even though they knew he bit someone. Too bad they treated me like I was a complete moron. Was it because I was sending the dog through rescue? Get off your high-horse ... aren't we supposed to be in this together? Stop looking down your nose at me and open your eyes to the real world - if you take this one, I can take the one you won't.

After all sorts of craziness (and 5+ weeks of crap), I finally took the dog to meet their foster home (they wouldn't even come get the dog so I had to drive 1.5 hours to deliver ... WTF?!). When speaking with the guy, I found out that the breed rescue had neglected to tell him that the dog bit someone!

For shame. Breed Rescue, you FAIL

This is exactly why people don't foster. If you can't even be honest with your foster homes ... well, that's just wrong. Prep your own people and protect them. Asshat.

It has nothing to do with whether or not the bite was the dog's fault. It has to do with keeping your people safe. If you lie to them, why would they ever trust you and why should they continue to foster dogs for you?

If you thought that was bad ... wait till I tell you the rest!!
The rescue had asked that I arrange neuter and vaccinations, so I did. They didn't set any guidelines. They were supposed to pay the bill. They were upset that the cost was so high and complained loudly - not my fault, we pay a vet clinic ... what the heck am I supposed to do about it? They refused to pay and asked to speak with the clinic directly. Ok, fine.
I was not supposed to let the dog go without taking money to cover the vet bills - which I explained to my contact with the breed rescue - but I let the dog go anyway because I felt guilty that the foster home had rented a car to meet me. Bad idea ... I will never again do this. If I have to pay for that bill I will be so spitting mad ... I don't think I would be able to contain myself.

I found out the rescue advertised him well before they even had him ... I hear they've already adopted him to someone ... Do the adopters know he has bitten and sent someone to hospital?

That was some impressively fast turnaround ... they didn't even train him or work him, in any way, shape, or form. They just took him and turned him around at a profit. Not to mention that I have been on the phone all bloody week trying to get the money out of them - what a waste of my time. I do work a full time job ... this is simply my volunteer gig. Asshat. Now I have to waste my break time and lunch time to deal with your sorryass?
Holy Crap, I could have done the same thing in our own area and we would have required him to take training with a local trainer. Did they bother with any restrictions like that in the adoption contract? I don't know.

If I had known they would have done this, I would NEVER have sent him to said rescue.

Don't expect me to send another dog through this breed rescue. I will deal with the dog myself even if I have to board the dog out of my own pocket while it waits for space in my home. I have spent the last 5 weeks now working with these people and it was supposed to be a simple surrender! Not to mention that if I have to pay for the vet bills (which I could have got at a cheaper price with my own vet on my own account) it will cost more than the difference for boarding would have!!
That is absolutely disgusting and it makes me sick. If that dog bites someone and it is euthanized ... I don't know if I could be more furious than I am right now, but I bet it's possible. Try me.

Asshat

7 comments:

GoLightly said...

Oh, dammit, DDF.

Yes, you've indeed found a true asshat rescue.

I'm so sorry they took advantage of your kindness.

word verf is
crossenr

They better NOT be crossenr
you again.

Cyndi and Stumpy said...

it's so sad that so many rescues are actually into the money, not saving the animal. I think there are lots of them, but just one is one too many.

I hope every thing works out in your favor and the dogs.

Murphy Dogg said...

All I gotta say is karma is a bitch, and those asshats will get payback someday.
If I could, I'd take a big dump on their couch.
C-ya,
Murphy Dogg

Gus, Louie and Callie said...

That is just terrible.. Thanks for sharing...
Hope you have a Happy Easter..

Big Sloppy Kisses
Gus, Louie and Callie

DawgDyke said...

Great blog :)

Eurodog said...

Hello,
What an incredible tale.
What is a "breed rescue"? Is it an organization which adopts a particular breed? I am not sure we have those here.
I must say, I understand your frustration and I do not think I would want to deal with these people ever again.
Thank you for visiting my blog recently.
Have a good day.
Eurodog

DogsDeserveFreedom said...

Thanks for listening to my rant everyone. I am still quite ticked, though now I am pretty well ready to accept that I will have to eat the money. So much for my rainy day fund, eh? There is no cheque yet ...

Murphy Dogg - you made me laugh when I read your comment about their couch. I'm sure those around me are wondering how much work I am actually getting done this morning ...

Eurodog - We have a lot of breed rescues in Canada and the USA. You are right - they are rescues that only will help their particular chosen breed. Usually they are run out of foster homes that know the breed and know what instinctive behaviour to expect. There are at least one rescue for every breed - though sometimes you will find that there are 5 or 6 different rescues for the same breed.

The nice thing is that people looking for a certain breed can go directly to a breed rescue and find what they are looking for without having to travel to half a dozen shelters. Also, when the rescue takes a purebred dog out of the shelter, it makes room for another dog to come in. Often there are dogs that need some real training before they are adoptable. Many shelters will send those dogs through breed rescue ... sometimes this arrangement works well.

Sometimes someone gets burned.