After a long day at work, this is just what you want to read.
I had an inquiry on 7-29-08. I replied today and got a nasty reponse. I tried to explain how busy we can get with regular jobs, and returnng calls and e-mails. This was not exactly the understanding reply I expected.
<span style="color: #CC0000">Wow maybe you should write to opera or somebody that might give a f**k.... Your site said for a fast response e mail us. maybe you shouldnt write
like that if its gonna take you 4 days to get back to somebody. And I guess your too busy to be able to read properly because I first e mailed you on the 28th. With you being so busy I now wonder how you have time to properly take care of one puppy much less more then 1. Maybe they would be better off just biting the bullet a?</span>
People just amazed me. I guess they dont realize that most people volunteer their time to rescues and therefore have to work a real job so they can eat.
Like Ruth said at least you didnt adopt to this person.
I wish they had applied first, then I would know who this "sweet heart" is. I like to foward these people on to other shelters and rescues, so they know what they are getting into.
I would be sick if this jerk got one of our dogs, or any dog.
so much hostility out there...glad you at least know who it is, kind of unsettling when you get something like that and don't know where it comes from. and actually, the writer of that message is the one who is
I had started a thread on possibly using the lower half of our home as an adoption center. I was asking if people had tried it, and what the thoughts on it might be. The possibility of having this creepy person in my home would have freaked me out. Maybe timing is everything.
Wow, Paula, how can people be so rude? This guy has no bussiness in my opinion owning any sort of pet, be it a dog, cat, fish, bird, snake, etc...
Glad you found out who it is. You do a GREAT job @ what you do, and certainly don't need this kind of harassment.
Well, it struck me that it could be a person just having a bad day. Sure it causes you to back away but they're probably a busy person too. I know a lot of people that have occassional rotten, hasty, snarky responses -- and they are really fine people, just a bit too much happening and something hits them absolutely all wrong. Certainly, act with a certain amount of caution & explore the person further if you need to place a dog but I wouldn't black list them on the basis of that response.
As far as using your home as an adoption center.... I wouldn't do that. Because as this illustrates, you are opening yourself up to a whole lot of folks that you don't know much about. Just leaves you way too exposed, never mind zoning issues, the neighbors & so on.
The part that sticks with me is the comment about the dogs being better off "biting the bullet". I can be really mad a someone, but never wish the pet ill will.
If a person is so mad that they blow up over a two day delay. I would not want them to have any puppy that might push them over the top.
I strongly disagree about this being a nice person having a bad day and I would never place a dog with someone with whom I cannot have good communication on the long run.
I have a huge emotional and financial investment in every one of my fosters and I would only place them with someone I feel comfortable with. I also expect that the work, time, effort and money I invest into the homeless animals be treated with respect. I simply won't deal with selfish people and arrogant people who act as if they were the center of the universe, I prefer to keep the dog then. It is not that rescuers get paid the big bucks to suck up ("be professional") to people who treat them like crap because they think that only total losers would take on to care about homeless animals. Several of our volunteers are highly accomplished professionals, and it is sometimes funny to watch how badly some applicants (not accomplished at all) treat them just because they assume that they are not capable of anything better than caring for dumped animals. It is in some way good when applicants underestimate the "enemy" as we get a better impression as to who they really are. The talking down at us done by of them do is downright entertaining.
In my experience, after hundreds of adoptions, people just get worse, not better. The sooner they show their true colors the better. This person is not a good adopter and I suggest that you warn area rescues about him.
imho, e-mailer was way over the line from "having a bad day". and yes, the sooner they show their true colors the better. i just turned down an adoptor who looked fabulous on paper, something just didn't feel right to me...wow, when i declined to adopt to her (and it's not like i told her about my feeling...i just told her the dog needed a physical fence, which she didn't have), she became nasty and abusive and i was ever so glad i had that little "gut feeling".
Yeah.... I'd have to say I wouldn't adopt or start the process with this person either. Bad day or not, there is clearly something going on in their life that would make it a bad time to adopt a pet. I wouldn't DNA-list them though. You never know what's going on or where people are coming from. A warning to other rescues to be cautious wouldn't be out of line though.
When I looked this person up through the County, they have a list of animal issues. Mainly with Pits and Mastiffs. Many complaints, and a failure to appear.
This brings up a great point that I have been wanting to ask: how do other rescues screen adopters. More specifically, how can you research someone on the internet?
I always ask for vet references, but what happens if they say they have not had any pets for a while or they moved from out of state or this is their first pet. When I got my first GSD, I had never had a pet on my own before (only family pets), but I had a GSD as a child and had done a lot of research.
I have asked young couples (getting their first pet) if their parents would be willing to be a part of their vet reference check. It's not 100% but I think if the parents are good pet owners, it's an encouraging sign about the offspring. Bad parents don't necessarily mean bad pet owning kids though.
Sometimes it comes down to talking to them even more than I would normally and the sense I get about them. I'm alway favorably disposed if I can tell they've done a lot of research and that they've thought a lot about it.
If I can't get the info I need and I'm not getting a real sense of them as adopters, then I will turn them down. Some people might think it's unfair and I could be missing out on people who are fine but if I have to chose between an adopter with a demonstrated history of good pet care and an unknown, I'm going to go with the person with the history.
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