Yesterday the Olympian posted an article about a Washington rescue group called Furever Homes Dog Rescue that has been heavily criticized by Joint Animal Services of Thurston County and some of its adopters about the conditions in which the dogs live.
The article noted that the Furever Home’s founder, Sharon Gold, keeps all the group’s 85 dogs in a warehouse next to her home in Tumwater. The only opportunity the dogs have to go outside is when they are “are herded into a small fenced area in the parking lot” about the size of a bedroom.
According to the reporter who visited the warehouse, the “stench of feces and urine” inside the warehouse “can trigger your gag reflex.”
And a women who adopted a dog from the group said in the article that “I’ve been to a lot of different shelters. I’ve never seen anything so filthy in my life” and “Anybody that takes care of animals like that shouldn’t be taking care of any animal.”
The dog she adopted had kennel cough, a common ailment dogs can get when they inhale bacteria or virus particles into their respiratory tract and can be caused by “exposure to crowded and/or poorly ventilated conditions, such as are found in many kennels and shelters.”
But despite the fact that, as the article noted, Forever Homes “has been the subject of calls about crowding, dirty kennels, barking and the occasional loose dog,” Forever Homes and Sharon Gold have managed to escape prosecution.
Joint Animal Services director Susanne Beauregard told the Olympian that the reason her office hasn’t filed charges against Gold is because, “We have never found anything that I would deem prosecutable in any of the complaints we have ever received.”
Ridiculous, right?
How can a small rescue keep 85 dogs crammed in cages in a filthy, smelly, hot warehouse with only a handful of people to care for them?
Because it’s legal.
According to Ms. Beauregard,“We don’t have any kennel standards in Thurston County, so I don’t have any standards to hold her to in terms of long-term care.”
But what about state law? Surely one of the most progressive states in the country has laws that would give Joint Animal Services the authority to shut down an operation that has almost 3 times more dogs than it currently has available for adoption, right?
<Nope.
RCW 16.52.310, Section 2 does have specific requirements (such as crate size, minimum exercise standards, protection from the elements, etc.) that breeders with more than 10 dogs over six months old with intact sexual organs must meet. However, since most rescues don’t have more than 10 intact dogs, they don’t have to comply with this law.
And even if they did, the law specifically exempts private, charitable not-for-profit humane societies or animal adoption organizations.
Washington’s animal cruelty laws (RCW 16.52.205 and 16.52.207) aren’t much help either because they apply to people that intentionally inflict pain and suffering on animals which can be difficult to prove in court unless the abuser is caught in the act or the animals show obvious signs of neglect.
Because of the vagaries and loopholes in Washington law, almost anyone can start a rescue and run it with virtually no oversight from regulatory agencies.
This is shameful, and it must change. The Washington Legislature needs to pass regulations that give authorities to crack down on shady rescues by holding them to specific standards they must meet regardless of how many dogs they have.
I plan to start a dialogue with legislators and animal protection groups to ensure this happens as quickly as possible. We can no longer give these renegade rescues a pass and allow them to operate with practically no oversight.
You are exactly right Robert!! This is a conversation that needs to start–and if the conversation has started as a whisper, it needs to have the volume turned up. No one–individual or rescue should be allowed to treat dogs this way. This is not rescue. It is further incarceration in hell.
Thanks. It’s ridiculous that we have no standard of care that rescues must meet.
We are currently looking to take legal action, we adopted a puppy who began having seizures less than 24 hours after adopting him. When he had to be put down less than 5 days later the owner agreed to refund our money, then changed her mind. Once we followed up (after our money had been “mailed”) she began personally attacking our family, threatening us and unwilling to handle the issue.
The poor dogs are kept in filthy conditions, there has been countless complaints about this reduce.
Any advise on who to contact would be great. Local animal services visit the location regularly due to repeat complaints.
Get off your butt and sue them in small claims court. You pet is dead. Don’t you believe you owe her some effort?
Bring pictures. Non profits call it a donation. But that would only hold up if what you received was as expected and advertized. Did they post dog has seizures? Sue them. Easy to do.
i TOTALLY AGREE with the above reply. BUT no need to be so rude and judgemental. It sounds like you are just looking for a bit of support and advice.
Some might just bite the bullet bury the dog & go on with their lives.
All I have to say is kudos to you for beginning the process by talking about it and asking questions
. SUE SUE Sue them…I have won 4 lawsuits in my life of 66 years. And though you may need to find help you can…if you can afford to then by all means dont waste anymore time.
get a notebook and document everything day by day that you can remember with dates and details. THEN find a lawyer.
If you are strapped for money just start looking for a lawyer that will work with you….THESE people should be shut down. The longer you wait the less impact. AND the less passion. So get a move on and GOOD LUCK
Every lawsuit I ever opened for any reason had to be done with NO money & i did it and never lost. Right is right.
If and when someone goes to this place and adopts a dog they need to complain to the right people. Enough complaints should cause a red flag and an investigation will start.
Filthy dirty kennels.smelling and urine infested causing disease. That right here should be a warning to shut down or improve.
warning to this rescue group
been to furever home never seen anything out of ordinary . idk what this about last time i came from oregon it was pretty clean sharon and her family were on top of cleaning just as most of rescues we went to find our dog
I know Sharon cares and loves these pets! She keeps the pets in their best interest when adopting out!
In this nonprofit pet rescue you deal with alot of questionable people! As for Sharon I know a lot of people that have adopted from her and they are very happy!
If you are so unhappy volunteer or go to another rescuer to adopt or offer to help if you seem to think you can do better!
No room for Drama and whining! I have seen a lot of this dealing with pet rescue.
Make things better and remember all are on the side of the sad lonely homeless animals.
Milli
Give the woman a break and become part of the solution and help her.
Donate, volunteer, instead of criticizing..
I already donate to and volunteer with reputable rescues. I’m not going to support rescues that cram 85 dogs in a warehouse.
I heard that!
Kool-aid drinkers for bad rescues perpetuate the problems.
Is this supposed to be a 501c3?
Not on Guidestar under that name in WA.
They are registered as a nonprofit with the state. They aren’t a 501c3.
A big part of the solution could be spay and neuter programs. Advocate for those. How about more education aimed at responsible ownership? Pets are not disposable. You probably have at least verbal agreements, if not written ones, about who gets guardianship of your children. Who gets custody of your pets? At vacation time, will you remember to factor in costs for either good boarding facilities, or, ideally, an almost full time house sitter? As your pets age, are they going to be “too much of a nuisance”, when they no longer can contain their wastes for 8-12 hour work days? Or will you manage to re-arrage schedules so that some member of the family is home at any given time? If we reduce the number of pets born, and educate people to actually provide a forever home for their pets and and the offspring, how many surplus animals will there actually be?
We adopted a dog about 3 months ago and by the 4th day she was so sick. We were up all night with her coughing, sometimes so hard she would vomit. Went to the vet the next morning she had Kennel Cough. Sharon had told us to call her if the dog came down with a cough & she would send us antibiotics. However she is not a vet & I did not trust her. She had promised to send me the proof of negative Heartworm test I asked several times never received even though told it was sent twice. I don’t believe the paperwork we received is really for our dog either.
The place smells of urine and feces. The dogs in the kennel in the garage were coughing & coughing my husband even asked her about that. I don’t believe it’s a sanitary environment for her own children to be in. While there several dogs urinated on the living room carpet, chair and couch. The same furniture the guests and family were supposed sit on!
Our sweet female puppy wreaked of urine so bad, head to tow when we left we wrapped her in a blanket because I was gagging from the smell. We called home & had the kids get the bathtub ready, she needed to be bathed twice to remove the smell. I was worried she had allergies because she was itching and sneezing so much. As you read above it was because she was sick.
We ended up with a wonderful dog and her personality really came out once she got healthy. She is not the dog we went to get. I think pictures are posted to draw you in. I was told the dog was available “Cooper” but there was no such dog. His picture is still on the rescue me website today.
There needs to be some strict rules for these people operating rescues.
What rescue are you talking about?
Is denying vet care, allowing puppies to continually die horrible deaths, is that legal? Having her on a text conversation admitting she’s treating the sick puppies on her own and with her rescue partner with meds that aren’t specifically ordered for those dogs is legal? Not allowing the foster to seek veterinary care for the sick and dying pups is legal? Allowing crowded dogs kill each other is legal? A veterinary manager ordering controlled meds and saline solution and antibiotics is legal? I have dozens of photos, videos, days of text conversation denying me the right to take the dying babies to the vet, denying taking them themselves, this is legal? Are all the witnesses who were told by a rescue owner that she continually loses puppies on a daily basis and those people write statements, so it must all be legal here. Apparently animal control, Thurston county sheriff, the governor, KOMO news etc all don’t want involved so it must be legal.
Is this Sharon Gold the same one that was associated with the Hope for Paws in LA? Hope for Paws have been accused of dumping rescued dogs and unethical conduct. We resently wanted to adopt two puppies but the foster person said that Sharon threatened him with the police and took the puppies back when he raised concerns of animal welfare with her. She originally told the foster person that anyone could have the puppies for $450. When we spoke to other shelters, they warned us that there had been many complaints.
It is.
All of the accusations against Hope for Paws in LA come from one source, which has provided no proof of these accusations, and I can find no connection between Sharon Gold and Hope for Paws other than that.
If you have any additional information that does not reference the unconfirmed allegations from thegoodthebadtheunforgivable.blogspot, I would be happy to review them. It is important to note that many of the allegations lack a logical basis in reality.
First: Sharon Gold is not Eldad’s wife, so the information is suspect to begin with. Eldad Hagar is married to Audrey Hagar and they are still together, living in Los Angeles.
Second: Do the math. If (and that’s a big if) Hope for Paws did leave ‘some’ dogs at a boarding facility for 18 months, the price tag would have been far higher than the $2517 noted on the court document (It reduces down to a total of $4.66 per day total – for how many dogs?). Think about that. Also, have you tried looking up the court case? Others have and they can’t seem to locate it, so there is no telling what the cause or the outcome really was.
Third: Hope for Paws is not a shelter. They partner with multiple other rescues and foster families to shelter the dogs they rescue. They are affiliated with several other reputable groups and an emergency veterinary hospital. I find it hard to believe that multiple rescue groups and a dedicated vet would support fraud. Also, he follows up nearly all of his rescue videos with follow up stories – either at the foster home, the adoptive home, or both. There have been numerous dogs in dire circumstances returned to health and eventually adopted.
If there were any truth to the Hope For Paws allegations, I’m fairly certain there would be a larger public outcry and some boni fide reports from legitimate news sources to corroborate – similar to that of The Olympian article you’ve copied here. Seriously, the guy is an internet powerhouse and the story would be huge news.
Be responsible, accurate and fair or risk a reputation as a gullible flake.
I found this discussion for an article that no longer exists:
“Mario, Sharon Gold was someone who volunteered to help HFP with this emergency evacuation. She was NOT with HFP, she had her own thing, and was in an embezzelment case that had nothing to do with this situation, or HFP.”
I got my dog from furever homes several years ago. The owner knew all of the dogs’ personalities and helped us find the perfect fit. The facilities were appropriately described in the article but honestly they weren’t THAT much worse than other shelters or “hotels” people PAY to house their pets at. I’m happy with my dog. I think she needs help with upkeep but I don’t think they answer is to shut them down.
Sharon Gold (Not her real name) is a CONVICTED FELON. Eldad has figured out a way to make $$$$$$$$ off of dogs backs. Between the donations he rakes in from his sad music videos on You Tube and from ramdom donors who believe he is God, plus the grants he receives- if he doesn’t give some of his vet credit to other rescues, he will OWE $$$$ to the IRS.
He catches a dog (I know a few ppl in L.A. who do this & they sure as hell don’t film it & post it on You Tube! LOL At the end of EVERY video: Donate $5 or any amount, etc.
What an con. The true meaning of a Narsacist. The ONLY good thing about this whole scam is some dogs do get saved.
I just saw he is holding an “adoption event” at 1 of the shelters. Well what about verifying references BEFORE letting the dog leave w someone? And what about HOMECHECKS???
Doesn’t he want to see the condition of the place the dog will be living? You know- make sure the adopter is not a hoarder. Make sure they have a decent yard with a SECURE fence?
Hell no. It’s all about $$$$ with that scumbag. I PERSONALLY spoke to Milan at Top Dog Resort Boarding Facility.
Douche Bag ‘El daddy” DID owe him a lot of money. Milan’s a cool guy. He gives rescue rates CHEAP. He only charged us $10 a day. With all the dogs El Daddy had, thinking he was “trustworthy”, he probably did give him half off or something. I didn’t ask that.
What I did ask is WHAT HAPPENED IN COURT? (Milan sued El Daddy for not paying his boarding bill. Milan said Audrey (his wife) told the Judge El Daddy doesn’t speak or understand very good English (Bwhahahahaha LIAR!!!) and that he was “confused” & did not know.
Keep drinking the Kool Aid and keep giving he & his wife your money;-) You have plenty, hell- why not. Everyone has a big ol money tree growin in their yard;-) pfffhhhttt WAKE UP!!!!!!!!! Earth to Polyanna, are we reaching?
Reminds me of the Olympic Sanctuary. Just awful.
I came across this article while doing research (I am in the early stages of investigating how to raise the penalty for animal cruelty in the state) and I am once again upset. I have a home with an empty dog bed, unused treats and toys, a leash hanging on a hook by the door, and I have been scared off by overly zealous rescuers, and it breaks my heart to hear some of them would rather dogs be crammed in hellish conditions than be adopted out to a home with no yard (why does it matter? The dog wouldn’t be outside alone or off a leash, so why should I install a fence? My neighbor’s chicken friends come over every morning and beg me for worms as I garden, and get pets from my hand, which they couldn’t do with a fence). If apartment dwellers can get a dog, why does my house need a yard? I hear other people rejected for equally stupid reasons. Any dog would be better off out of crowding and filth. So sad, too; many rescues take the dogs out of the shelters before they can be adopted just so they can control who gets the dogs, beyond what the county requires. This should be considered in the new legislation we are seeking, perhaps, although it isn’t the impetus for my action.
In my experience the number of good rescues that don’t keep dogs in hellish conditions far outnumber the bad ones. I don’t know the rescues that contacted you so I can’t comment on them. Although I understand your frustration I understand why some rescues don’t adopt dog to people without fences. Regardless of how careful an owner is, something unexpected (fireworks, car backfiring, etc) can cause a dog to bolt. This is particularly true for rescue dogs since rescues often don’t know their history.
That said, I know there are places that allow people without a fenced yard to adopt a dog. Have you contacted your local municipal shelter?