Sharon Gold “Committed Unlawful Harassment”
Yesterday a Thurston County Judge approved a permanent restraining order against Furever Homes Rescue founder Sharon Gold to prevent her from harassing Kimberly Rew, a woman who fostered a litter of puppies for her rescue in January.
This is the litter of 9 puppies that Kimberly Rew fostered for Furever Homes Rescue. Photo from Furever Homes rescue.
The order notes that Ms. Gold “committed unlawful harassment” and dictates that Ms. Gold is restrained from:
- Making any attempts to contact Kimberly or her young son
- Making any attempts to keep Kimberly or her son under surveillance
- Entering or being within 500 ft. of Kimberly’s residence and place of employment
Kimberly confronted Ms. Gold last month when she refused to allow her to take some of the puppies to a veterinarian after they began vomiting and pooping blood.
Instead, Ms. Gold insisted that Kimberly return the puppies to her. Sources have said 8 of the 9 puppies in the litter died.
Dead Puppy Had Giardia, Coccidia, and Kennel Cough
Kimberly began fostering the puppies and their mother in December. The puppies were healthy until Kimberly sent them back to Ms. Gold’s house in January when she was scheduled to have a medical procedure.
A few days after Kimberly got some of the puppies back, they began to get sick, and she started to tell Ms. Gold that they needed to see a veterinarian. A necropsy on one of the puppies that died showed it had giardia, coccidia, and kennel cough.
This wasn’t too surprising since an article in the Olympian last summer showing that Ms. Gold had approximately 85 dogs in her home where “the stench of feces and urine (could) trigger your gag reflex.”
The foster puppies also infected a puppy named Ryder Kimberly got in late January to replace her dog Cooper which helped her cope with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder but died last fall. Ryder died from parvovirus in early February not long after she stopped fostering for Furever Homes.
Kimberly’s puppy Ryder died of parvo on February 10. He contracted it from the puppies Kimberly fostered for Furever Homes rescue. Photo from Kimberly Rew.
After she returned the puppies on January 25, Kimberly reported Furever Homes to Joint Animal Services for Thurston County which led to the rescue being cited by the Thurston County Permitting and Land Use Office for having more than 3 dogs in a residence.
She also reported the rescue to the US Food and Drug Administration because she illegally brought the puppies into the US from Mexico when they were only a week old. Puppies must be at least 4 months old and vaccinated for rabies before they can come to the US from Mexico.
Sharon Gold’s Harassment Begins
Ms. Gold began harassing Kimberly after she gave the puppies back and reported Furever Homes to authorities.
She began by posting lies about her on the Furever Homes Yelp page like “This is a lady who has been fired from every job (she) ever worked after a short time.” and “This woman is under investigation for stealing.”
This is the white Suburban that parked outside Kimberly’s house on February 7. Photo from Kimberly Rew.
Then, on February 7, Kimberly noticed a woman in a white Chevy Suburban parked on her street who appeared to be taking pictures of her house.
On February 22nd, someone broke into Kimberly’s house and completely ransacked it. The person/people who did it didn’t steal anything – they just threw around whatever they could get their hands on and spray painted an obscenity on a wall.
While no one knows who broke into Kimberly’s house, it certainly was a coincidence that the break-in happened not long after she went public about her dispute with Ms. Gold and reported Furever Homes rescue to animal control.
Judge Approves Restraining Order Against Sharon Gold
The next day Kimberly filed for a temporary restraining order against Ms. Gold. A Thurston County judge quickly approved it.
It provided Kimberly and her family protection until yesterday when another judge made the order permanent. That means it remains in effect for a year.
Kimberly can petition the court to renew the protective order when the current one expires on March 8, 2016.
After a judge approved the temporary protective order a red SUV parked on Kimberly’s street for a few days. When several people asked the man in the car why he was there he claimed he worked for a security company, but gave conflicting answers about the name of the company.
This red SUV was on Kimberly Rew’s street for a few days at the end of February. The man inside claimed to be with an alarm company but couldn’t prove it. Photo from Kimberly Rew.
Given the break-in and the white Suburban that parked in front of Kimberly’s house a couple of weeks earlier, the possibility that the man in the red SUV has some connection to Ms. Gold or Furever Homes cannot be ignored.
Foster Stands Up to Harassment
This whole episode disgusts me. All Kimberly wanted to do was foster dogs for a rescue to help her get over the death of her service dog. Instead, she and her family endured harassment when she dared to question Ms. Gold’s refusal to allow a vet to examine the extremely sick puppies and reported the “rescue” to animal control.
People often ask me how shady dog rescue groups continue to operate while openly committing questionable, and sometimes illegal actions. Based on my experience, they escape prosecution by harassing and intimidating people who try to expose them.
Kimberly deserves a ton of credit for publicizing her experience with Furever Homes, reporting the “rescue” to animal control, and refusing to allow Ms. Gold to intimidate her.
Her courage exposed an unscrupulous organization more concerned about making money and squelching criticism than rescuing dogs and finding them permanent homes.
Here is the restraining order issued to Sharon Gold yesterday.
Thank Goodness this lady kept vigilant and persistant in exposing this supposed rescue. When she first posted her story on FB she was called names, called a liar, and publicly harassed by many for exposing this rescue to the public. Shame on you all. Now because of this lady hopefully this Gold woman will be shut down once and for all and held criminally responsible for the neglect and illigal transport of disease infected dogs into the state, as well as neglecting the ones people have ignorantly given to her for re-homing locally. I hope she does Jail time for her misdeads. And the 80+ animals in her care are finally taken care of and find homes. And to those of you that financially supported this supposed rescue, well do your research before you waste your money on these rescues. You should go and visit these shelters before doing donations to them, for the sake of the animals that are fostered there. Just because they have a facebook page with pretty pictures of beautiful dogs doesn’t mean that this is the way they actually operate. Stop being ignorant and lazy and physically go and check them out for yourselves. And to think she has been in business for how many years? And your $’s have been supporting her neglect of these poor animals all along.
Sharon Gold ran away from Calif a few years ago and left a trail of similar history down here..MANY people in Calif will remember her in the rescue community. she has a terrible reputation down in southern Calif.
If you have any documentation please send it to rpregulman@hotmail.com.
Is being shut down as well. I hope the authorities remove all the dogs too.
She said she will find homes for them which I believe. She makes 350-450 per dog.
Grrr.
hopefully Kimberly will get some peace soon. Terrible situation that she helped expose.
Shame on Furever Homes for the treatment of the helpless animals.
People often ask me how shady dog rescue groups continue to operate while openly committing questionable, and sometimes illegal actions. Based on my experience, they escape prosecution by harassing and intimidating people who try to expose them.
Truly what happens is that the community of rescuers chooses to turn a blind eye to the shady rescuer because “at least they are doing SOMETHING”. There is such a need and only so much rescuers can do that any method of care is better than being in a shelter. I don’t believe that to be true. The care that the dog requires and desires a time getting out of the shelter has to be first and foremost and if the rescuer cannot provide that and they have no business being in the business. There’s no glamour, no recognition, no financial gain…rescue is done purely for the love of the animals. If you were letting an animal die a lingering painful death without seeing a vet to either be cared for or to be put down humanely,you are not a rescuer. I’m sure Ms. Rew has taken her fair share of abuse not only from the director of this particular rescue but from other rescuers as well and I applaud her for standing up and being brave in order to do what is right for the dogs.
I couldn’t agree more. I’ve seen it happen over and over. But it just takes one person to refuse to be intimidated to speak out. Then the other reluctant to come forward will speak up.
I feel for you and I am happy you got her off the adopt list or taking any more dogs in. Some people don’t seem to care about the animals . They only care about to money. Thanks for looking out for the animals.
Jackie Hibbard
Has anyone here ever been to Furever Homes Rescue? Has the writer of the story or website moderator been there? I feel this article is really one sided. There is always 2 sides to every story. Is the shelter perfect? No. But this lady has worked with lots of good local families and businesses to do more for those dogs than anyone else in the area. None of the people trashing her has given 2 shits about a stray dog they seen on th road or a dog being held by animal control and needing a home. She works hard at what she does. I adopted a dog from this shelter and she willingly watches my dog when I need to go out of town and I have no one else. The money she makes per dog barely covers the cost of transport, care and vet services of each dog. She takes dogs in really poor condition and does her best. Seems people expect a dog rescue to be a Hilton Dog Hotel and it’s not the case. Take your blinders off people before you believe to everything you read online. A dog shelter has scared dogs in a new environment with skiddish behavior. That’s gonna cause lots of peeing and pooing indoors until they can all be taken out. In the case of this lady vs the shelter if you saw her text from before that were posted then the war of words seems it’s went both ways.
Mike, I have 2 rescue dogs. Know what I do when or if they pee or poop on the floor or carpet? I clean it up as it occurs. That’s part of the deal: cleaning messes. I have a handheld wet dry vac and a carpet cleaner. And clubs Ida and towels. There is no excuse for allowing animals or humans to live in filth.
I don’t expect a doggie Hilton, but I DO expect that shelters and rescues adhere to the exact same standards and laws as any other boarding or breeding kennel. That includes providing necessary veterinary care. If that was done, then all the rescue would need to do to put this to rest is provide veterinary receipts proving the pups in question were treated by a veterinarian. So tell your friend to do so, if this is such an unfair accusation as you proclaim.
I think the main thing is the fact that she refused to take the dogs to the vet. If anyone had that happening they need to see a doctor asap. Regardless of what the full picture is, the texts showed enough negligence to me!
Good point Mike.
I don’t expect it to be a doggie Hilton, but I DO expect a shelter or rescue to adhere to the EXACT same laws as any breeding or boarding kennel!
What a totally psycho horrific nightmare this poor foster has endured. To EVER deny a dog vetrinary care makes the Rescue Completely Negligent. Parvo is a horrific death and dogs who die from it suffer terribly. If this rescue cannot afford HUMANE treatment which includes MEDICAL care then they have zero business rescuing animals. They’re not immune from following the basic standards of care and they don’t get a Hall pass if they neglect their dogs because “they Rescue”. After all the years this “Rescue” has been doing this it’s clear they don’t know how to run a rescue if this is their best. Responsible rescsuers don’t have countless dogs all crammed together in crappy fencing w tarps. Every Experienced rescue knows one never has a ton of dogs all crammed together in a smal space because that PRODUCES fights. So many things wrong w this operation it’s too hard to count. Clearly very unsafe medically and behaviorally to have so many dogs all together. Only an idiot who has no idea what they’re doing or someone in denial who doesn’t care about the risks they are creating for the healty and safety of these dogs would say this is ok. This poor foster should never be enduring harassment from this “rescue” trash pond scum. Her poor dog should have never died and those innocent puppies should have been at the VET getting medical treatment on IV fluids ehen they became sick. Wonder why so much harassment for someone speaking up on behalf of these dogs? MONEY is always the reason. This is inexcusable at all levels and so tragic. I can only imagine what goes on that people haven’t heard about with this madia style treats and harassment of anyone who dares speak up on behalf of these innocent animals. What a despicable nightmare.
Talk about posting lies. She doesnt get 350-450 per dog. I’ve been to her kennel and what is MOST upsetting is that there are SO many dogs out there without homes. Her weakness is that she can’t stand that fact and VERY clearly she has given her LIFE to service of dogs in need. Maybe if people were concerned primarily about the dogs they would step up to HELP her . I’m sure she’d love more space, more helping hands, more of everything to take great care of them. I adopted a dog there and was happy to do so. Yes, the dogs mess in the kennels. And they get cleaned out. Where are the volunteers to help clean up sh*t? Oh, at home bitching online. These dogs have been through a lot, often not potty trained. My dog *still prefers to potty on concrete…I assume she was raised on it before she got to the rescue, poor baby. Did you expect Gold to single handedly teach 50 dogs to potty outside? Have you EVER HAD a small dog? Good luck with one, much less 50. Shame on you for saying she rescues dogs for the money. She’s getting rich from it? She’s off on vacation with all her extra cash? No….she’s at the rescue every single day .
Multiple people have reported she’s charging $450 and more for dogs. The “lies” you’re talking about came directly from screen shots of her conversations. If you have proof showing otherwise please share it.
She is NOT helping dogs. She’s bringing them in illegally from Mexico. Many of them caught diseases in her filthy house and died. She has dumped dozens of dogs at the Thurston County shelter, many of which were euthanized. If you think that’s ok you have a distorted view of what rescue really is.
I agree. We’ve had nothing but a positive experience, getting our little rescue dog from Sharon. She works hard to give adequate care to her many dogs. How about someone helping her?
Not every person that adopts from Furever Homes has a bad experience, but it is by accident and not by design. She’s running a retail rescue that is all about generating money by bringing dogs in and adopting them out ASAP with no vet care or behavior testing. People shouldn’t enable her by helping – it just allows her to put more money in her pocket.
I think there’s a warning for all of us in this story. Sharon Gold is clearly a horrible person. But the foster parent made her own heartache worse by not vaccinating her puppy. Make sure you dogs are all vaccinated before you bring more dogs into your home.
I have heard shes here from Isreal and she just got more dogs from Mecico. Last week she got 11 dogs and threatened the trandporter and had police called. Then this week she went and got dogs from Californis Victorville area…someone needs to stop her..no one knows where any of these dogs go.
Just the sheer fact that she is relocating so frequently, is a red enough flag. Would you trust someone you had no idea where they will be next? If so, I am sorry for you. This is not rescue, this is making money off pets. She holds no job, so how does she live? Off the money from these dogs and cats and yes, they do cost upwards of $350. Not always altered. Sharon, please stop now. It has now caused several deaths.
We got are dog from Furever Homes in Winter 2015. The dog we saw a picture of actually two dog’s that I was told were still available were not there when we drove out to adopt. Sharon said she had been gone all week her husband mus of sold them. So we went out to the garage where there were 50 dogs or more some very sick & coughing. Trying to find a dog to adopt & take home. The digs people took out of the kennel pee’d & did business in her living room. She kept saying you can sit down but there was no way I would piece of furniture and the carpet had been “marked”. The house wreaked of urine. I could not believe she allowed her kids to live in such bad conditions. Behind a door off the entry that was closed & nobody acknowledged or opened were some more barking dogs and they were scratching at the door. We picked a small black dog that looked to be a Schnauzer mix. Sharon was very unorganized and although knew we were coming was still in her pajamas, hair & teeth unbridled her words not mine. She asked all of us there to wait whole she got dressed & brushed her teeth. Once she was back I asked again fof the paperwork for the dog we wanted. I don’t believe what we got really belongs to thd dog we got. She never provided proof that thd dog had received heartworm testing or other vaccines. She said she would email it to me actually said she did while I was right there with her but it never was received. I contacted her several more times for it. She told us if the dog became sick to call her she would supply medicine. The sweet young dog we took was so stinky we had to wrap her in a blanket for the trip home because the stench made us gag. We bathed her immediately once home. By the evening of our third day she was coughing so hard she was vomiting. I took her to our vet, she had kennel cough. He also went ahead and did the heartworm testing we never got proof of and other vaccines. We love our sweet girl and she is now healthy, happy and playful. Thankful for our dog but I feel Sharon had more dogs than she could properly care for.
I’m sorry you were another victim of Sharon Gold’s dog flipping business. I’m glad she’s doing well now.
I came across this 2 year old article looking for something else. I read through all the comments. The last one, from someone that adopted there speaks volumes about the deplorable conditions this woman keeps the dogs in. So I think to myself after all this, she county had to see the conditions at this rescue and shut it down. It cannot possibly be in business. This was 2 years ago! How could the people that are supposed to make sure these types of facilities maintain a standard of care allow such a place to remain in business…
Yet she’s still up and running. With currently something like 32 dogs showing available for adoption from her “rescue”! This is so sad! ?
Thank you. Yes, she lied (again) when she said she was going to shut down. Unfortunately WA has zero laws regarding any standard of care that these rescues must have, so it’s difficult to shut them down. And they know it.