Dog Community

Does this rescue seem a little fishy?

Posted : 7/9/2006 10:48:44 AM

In general I think that Petfinder is great, and really helps rescue organizations and shelters to place dogs.

BUT last night I was checking out dogs on Petfinder, and I happened to see this rescue. They seem to have only young puppies, and most are small breed. It just seemed a little odd to me because puppies are a little harder to find on petfinder. Usually I expect to see a rescue with mostly adult dogs, and maybe one or two puppies. Do you think that it's possible that a BYB or a puppymill is using petfinder to place their dogs, and just saying they are "rescues"? I would really love to email the rescue, and ask a few questions. The only thing stopping me is that if it really IS a rescue, I don't want to waste their valuable time by asking a bunch of questions.

What does everyone think? Real rescue or BYB pretending to be a rescue?

[link

review=1]http://search.petfinder.com/shelterSearch/shelterSearch.cgi?animal=&breed=&age=&size=&specialNeeds=&declawedPets=&children=&status=&id=&internal=&contact=&name=&shelterid=SD16&sort=&

review=1[/link]>http://search.petfinder.com/shelterSearch/shelterSearch.cgi?animal=&breed=&age=&size=&specialNeeds=&declawedPets=&children=&status=&id=&internal=&contact=&name=&shelterid=SD16&sort=&

review=1]http://search.petfinder.com/shelterSearch/shelterSearch.cgi?animal=&breed=&age=&size=&specialNeeds=&declawedPets=&children=&status=&id=&internal=&contact=&name=&shelterid=SD16&sort=&

review=1[/link]

Hope this link works!

karin

Posted : 7/9/2006 10:51:23 AM

Sorry that ended up so big! [&:]

Sandy Gardner

Posted : 7/9/2006 10:52:49 AM

I would contact PetFinders with your concerns. Might also trying contacting the Chamber of Commerce for the area they live in. Ask for references. If they are legitimate, they won't mind (these of course can be falsified easily). I agree with you, puppies are hard to find....sounds like a pm to me

ron2

Posted : 7/9/2006 10:57:38 AM

I agree with you Cubbyrescue. Plus, if they are a legitimate rescue, they should have no problems answering questions and should, frankly, expect questions.

karin

Posted : 7/9/2006 11:09:11 AM

Interesting. Maybe when DH and I get back from vacation next week, I will contact Petfinder or try to find out a bit more about the rescue.

smilee1079

Posted : 7/9/2006 11:49:46 AM

I just looked at their web site. It said all the dogs are in foster homes... if you live nearby, maybe you can visit some of them. Their official web site showed pups but also some older dogs. I suppose this could be a scam, but a convinving one if it is.

Mark

Posted : 7/9/2006 12:21:20 PM

i would also ask any questions you have..

it would be a pretty smart,if not unscrupulous way to run a puppy mill.

brookcove

Posted : 7/9/2006 12:37:53 PM

We are looking into someone who seems to be filtering unsaleable dogs through rescue. It's an old scam, really, though the internet is making it more difficult for these people to scam multiple local rescues at once. We used to have a lady up the mountains who was just what you suspect here - she was a miller, but also pretended to be a rescuer - her "rejects" went out as "rescues" with horrible issues, minimal or substandard health care, and hefty adoption fees. She got shut down a while ago but simply moved to another state, and another, and another. . . .

It's also possible they are a "bleeding heart" rescue - "rescuing" pups from byb, auctions, and pet stores. I have little patience with these, either, as they are simply facilitating, not part of the solution. But at least they are usually not sinister in their motivations.

karin

Posted : 7/9/2006 1:15:12 PM

I saw that about the foster homes too. I live on the other side of the state. I think it would be around a eight hour drive each way to visit dogs. SD is a really big state!

Brookcove : your last possibility about being a "bleeding heart" rescue is probably correct. She is likely getting puppies from the byb newspaper ads. There are a TON of bybs in SD, so that makes sense. It just seemed odd to me that the rescue had so many puppies, its really unusual, but I guess not impossible.

smilee1079

Posted : 7/9/2006 1:37:34 PM

Another sign could be how much are the adoption fees... if they are low, she is a rescue, high... selling.

Xebby

Posted : 7/9/2006 1:38:15 PM

I also find it strange that most are somewhat pure breed pups and maybe one or two are mixed. And on ther link ther first thing they talk about is where to go to board dogs and buy leashes.

Then it says at the bottem "They are inside dogs only. Application needs to be approved before home numbers are given out." then a few clicks later they say "We are not a shelter and do not have shelter hours"

hum... not a shelter? Ok so foster homes don't have normal hours either but are a whole lot easer to contact.

Just some things I've notced but I may just be looking into it to hard.

Xebby

Posted : 7/9/2006 1:40:44 PM

ORIGINAL: smilee1079

Another sign could be how much are the adoption fees... if they are low, she is a rescue, high... selling.

I could not find any adoption fees on their site, you have to contact them first and fill out an application for that kind of info.

agilebasenji

Posted : 7/9/2006 1:52:55 PM

Another sign could be how much are the adoption fees... if they are low, she is a rescue, high... selling.

I was thinking the same thing. Also, do they require all dogs to be spayed/neutered? My2saints, why don't inquire about getting one of those puppies?

RupsMom

Posted : 7/9/2006 3:43:08 PM

If you go to their main website [linkhttp://geocities.com/paws_2_love/index.html]http://geocities.com/paws_2_love/index.html[/link] Almost all their adoptable pets are mutts. And yes it says all their animals are or will be spayed and neutered. It also says all their animals are abandoned, abused or just unwanted.

spiritdogs

Posted : 7/9/2006 5:06:48 PM

If this is a legitimate rescue, they are probably a 501 (c)(3) non-profit. In that case, they have to file a Form 990 with the IRS each year, and that is a publicly available document. I am very skeptical about a rescue that only has babies and young dogs. At the worst, it may be a scam, but at best, why would they not save the dams of those pups, too?????