Shady Rescues Abound in Washington
A dog a woman adopted from Furever Homes rescue in Tumwater had to be put down because it had distemper. It also had a staph infection and herpes.
A puppy adopted from Rising Phoenix Mastiff Rescue was diagnosed with “multiple hernias” that required surgery.
Rising Phoenix Mastiff Rescue didn’t treat this dog’s wound properly before a BC woman adopted her. She had to pay a vet several hundred dollars to treat it.
A puppy adopted from K9 Northwest had to be euthanized because it had distemper. The rescue could not produce its vaccination records.
To these “rescues,” dogs are simply products to sell to make money as possible. They ship them in to Washington and adopt them out as quickly as possible. These aren’t dog rescues, they’re for profit businesses.
The money these underhanded rescues make is not trivial. Sharon Gold, the founder of Furever Homes, has claimed the rescue adopts out 20-40 dogs a month. Their adoption fees are $350-$450 per dog. Using $400 as the average adoption fee, this rescue pulls in $96,000 -$192,000 a year.
Not too shabby.
Adoption Like Russian Roulette
Adopting from these groups is like playing Russian roulette. Some of their adoptions work out fine for the dog and its adopter, but many times they don’t.
The most common complaints I hear from people who adopt from an unscrupulous rescue are:
- They adopted a sick/injured dog or a dog with serious health problems.
- The rescue didn’t vaccinate and/or spay/neuter the dog.
- The dog has behavior problems.
This puppy from Rising Phoenix Mastiff Rescue was severely underweight and sick when someone adopted her.
The people who adopt these dogs will often file complaints with their local animal control agency. However, Washington’s weak animal cruelty laws make it extremely difficult to hold these rescues accountable.
Washington’s animal cruelty statutes (RCW 16.52.205 and 16.52.207) apply to a person that intentionally “inflicts substantial pain on,” “causes physical injury to,”or kills an animal by “causing undue suffering.” These laws also prohibit starving, dehydrating, or suffocating an animal.
The laws may appear straightforward, but they aren’t. That’s because it’s difficult to prove someone “intentionally” hurts/injures an animal. If you adopt an dog that looks starved or has an injury, the rescue can claim that’s how it looked when it arrived and blame the previous owner.
What about rescues adopting out sick dogs, unvaccinated dogs, unspayed/unneutered dogs, or dogs with behavior problems?
According to current law in Washington, it’s perfectly legal.
Private rescues and shelters are virtually unregulated. That’s why no one can hold them accountable for adopting out sick, injured, unvaccinated, or vicious dogs.
However, there is another way to stop these dishonest dog rescue groups. Earlier I said these sham rescues operate like businesses, so that’s exactly how we should treat them.
Washington law, like most states, designates dogs as property. Car, smart phone, lamp, watch, dog – they’re all considered property in our state.
File a Complaint!
So what can you do if you buy a defective product and the vendor ignores your complaints? You file a complaint with the Washington State Office of the Attorney General.
For instance, the website for Rising Phoenix Mastiff Rescue clearly states that its adoption fee “includes spay/neuter ( if over 6 mo), age-appropriate vaccinations, worming, flea-treatment, and medical issues in some cases this means cherry eye, entropia, tumor removal, and other issues resolved.”
Less than a week after someone adopted Captain from K9 Northwest, a vet diagnosed him with giardia, coccidia, and an ear infection. His adopters had to put him down 3 weeks after they got him.
You should file a complaint with the Washington Attorney General’s Office if the dog you adopted from Rising Phoenix isn’t spay/neutered or has any of these health problems.
Just last week I wrote about a woman in British Columbia who adopted a dog from Rising Phoenix that had an injury that wasn’t properly treated and behavior problems that weren’t disclosed. So far she has spent approximately $800 due to Rising Phoenix’s deception.
This woman can file a complaint with the Washington AG’s Office because she bought the dog from a Washington rescue that delivered a “defective product.”
Hold Shady Rescues Accountable
I do believe dogs are sentient beings that should considered to be more than a piece of property, but until Washington law is changed, adopters should take advantage of Washington’s laws that protect consumers (dog adopters) from vendors (dog rescues) that don’t deliver a product (a dog) as promised.
People are pretty good about writing reviews about their experiences with bad rescues on sites like Yelp and the Better Business Bureau, but that doesn’t hold them accountable for abusing dogs and ripping off adopters.
The AG’s office could force them to reimburse money you had to spend because the rescue didn’t deliver what it promised.
More importantly, if enough people file complaints about a rescue, the AG could ultimately ban it from doing business in Washington.
Please get the word out to people that adopt dogs from dishonest Washington rescue groups to file complaints with the Attorney General’s office.
It’s one of the few tools we have to hold these rescues groups accountable for their deceptive practices.
A puppy was put down because of giardia, coccidia and an ear infection???? I don’t understand that…those are all treatable. A pain in the neck to deal with (I had a rescue puppy who came to me with those conditions as well and is now a very healthy four year old), but easily treated.
It depends on how healthy the puppy was and how long it had been sick before it was treated. They treated her for several days but she couldn’t recover.
I completely agree, very treatable. We have dogs and puppies come in with these ALL of the time, in fact it’s almost more common than not. Very sad for Captain. These “rescues” should be shut down!
Unless you actually saw this puppy, you can’t say whether those usually treatable conditions were actually treatable in this puppy. Anyway, the rescue didn’t put the puppy down according to the article. The “rescue” adopted out a very sick puppy. The adopter is the one who spent a lot of money at the vet and spent a lot of time trying to save the puppy.
I spoke with a GSD rescue from Washington just yesterday that said many California dogs are ending up in Washington shelters.
GSDs or dogs in general.
Was a health certificate issued for these animals as required by Washington State law ? If so who is listed as the sender of these animals and who was the signing veterinarian . In my opinion all of these people need to be held to account for sending sick animals .
I’m not sure if they came from out of state or not so I don’t know if they were required to have health certificates. No reputable vet would sign off on a sick dogs. Most of the disreputable rescues either get fake ones or don’t get them at all since the state rarely checks on them unless there’s a complaint.
I don’t like that you’re implying bringing in dogs from out of state, or charging a $300 adoption fee means that they are disreputable. I understand there may be some that are, but there are a lot that aren’t. I know a few that rescue from high kill shelters out of state, and bring them here. The adoption fee is $300 – $400 sometimes. There are fees and costs to doing this, and they are not turning a profit, I can assure you.
I agree. I didn’t imply all rescues bringing in dogs to WA are disreputable. Furever Homes, the rescue I wrote about, is disreputable for a number of reasons, but not because she brings in dogs from out of state.
Oh… But she does…
Actually there are no fees for these dog importers as they get pledge money from the kind hearted public to pull the dogs from the high kill shelters which covers all costs and then some and its pure profit after that. And as quick as they can get those dogs sold off its on to the next. That is not “dog rescue” its dog importing
Yes, people should avoid giving money to any rescue to pull a dog from a shelter. Responsible rescues don’t pull dogs unless they can pay for it.
Not every dog gets pledges for rescue. Are you crazy? It’s usually the very sick or injured ones that do and they need major vet treatment. Some states require a14 day stay out of the shelter resulting in fees for boarding from 10-15 daily. Transport then needs to be paid for. Once the dog arrives it goes into foster until an adopter can be found. Food, leashes, collars, vetting if not spayed or neutered, kennel cough or worms also all need treating before transport. Beds need to be purchased. Pregnant dogs need getting. It is freaking hours of work in fact 24/7. The dogs are not dying, they are going into loving homes with families who want them. It’s a thankless job and one where rescues get stupid people like this making comments. I highly encourage these people to try it or volunteer for a rescue and then re evaluate their opinion. If there are bad rescues out there yes they should be shut down. Most have good hearts and no brains. Who would want a job that your always criticized for?
I’m not criticizing dog rescues. I’m talking about the ones that game the rescue system for profit.
I agree not every dog gets pledges for rescue. But many shady rescue groups use collect pledges for a dog, pull it from a shelter, dump it another shelter, and keep the pledge money. Groups that pull dogs should have the resources to do it without pledges.
I’m from California and I had three dogs but was not able to take care of them one that I had for 6/7 yrs. That had gave birth to 5 pups but only 4 made it and a dog named chico and a female 8 month old from my dogs first liter well I was at to find this amazing women that worked for a rescue group here in california.and they took chico o Seattle where from what I was told.got adopted to an older couple that loved him and they even sent me pictures of him and shenzi got adopted to a very wealthy women in Canada and they even found homes for the new liter so. Think for the most part rescue groups are amazing
B the way if the new owner of chico mcdreamy happen to read this I miss him terribly there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t miss him if you ever come to California can you please give me an opportunity to see him again please and in Canada the wonderful lady that adopted shenzi a cairn terrier mix I ask you for the same if it’s possible