Animal Rescue Recon

I agree with the other reviewers that I don’t understand this rescue and have no desire to do business with them in the future. I fell in love with a Boarder Collie/​Aussie mix puppy that I found online, that they had rescued. I adopted the dog in the beginning of November. The adoption was fast and easy. The dog had mange and was not yet spayed. They told me that once the mange was cleared I should have her spayed. I set a date with my vet for her to be spayed in mid January. I dropped her off and received a call from my vet saying that her vulva was enlarged and we should postpone the procedure. I informed Animal Rescue Recon of the delay. It ended up that she was not in heat but had a skin infection due to the mange. The spay was rescheduled and right before that date she went into full heat. Once again we postponed. This time my Animal Rescue Recon contact called me in a rage and said that I had to schedule her to be spayed within 48 hours or they would come and take her back and keep her until all of her medical needs had been met. She would not listen to a word I said. At this time my dog had been living with me for almost 5 months and we had bonded. They, also, harassed my vet and were telling her how she should be taking care of my dog. The contract that I signed with Animal Rescue Recon did not state anything about spaying or give a time frame for when it had to be completed.
I wrote an e-​mail to Animal Rescue Recon explaining that I wanted to get her spayed but due to her medical issues and going into heat we had to postpone. The response to this was an e-​mail which attacked and threatened me. I was told that waiting to have my dog spayed was totally unacceptable and that they have no choice but to come and take her back and keep her until all of her medical needs have been completed and then will decide whether she can come back into my care. They said if I do not comply they will have no choice but to call animal control and the authorities. A day later I received a friendly phone message and e-​mail stating that their vet was happy to spay my dog while she was in heat and could do it on Saturday. They asked if I wanted to bring her myself or should they come and pick her up. I did not respond to this e-​mail. My vet told me that there can be excessive bleeding and complications if you spay a dog when they are in heat and that we should wait 9 weeks after her heat before spaying her so that she would not have a false pregnancy. Next they decided that my dog was pregnant and that was why my vet and I decided to wait until June for her to be spay because the puppies would be weened by then. I finally wrote them a letter telling them that my dog was not pregnant but was in full heat and that this was my final direct communication with their rescue. I told them that I was in the process of acquiring a lawyer. They finally backed down and told me to have my vet send a letter to put in my dog’s folder.
Now my dog has been spayed and I am done with Animal Rescue Recon. It is clear that this rescue does not have the animals best interest at heart. I should have been thanked for adopting a sick dog and instead was threatened and attacked. I have given my dog excellent medical care and a warm and loving home.

Like the other reviewers, I don’t understand this rescue, and have no interest in ever working with them again. They seem to do most things backwards. While we did end up getting dog through this rescue, it was only due to the Maddies Fund days and desired requirements for a second dog. We wanted a small second dog for our apartment and we really wanted a Min Pin breed. This rescue made my boyfriend and I feel as if we are bad owners and pet owners, yet in fact we love our dogs and treat them as our children. We are very dedicated to training them and raising well behaved animals. When we told the rescue we were not interested in their weird requirements for adoption, the rescue seemed to ease up as long as we made one adjustment on our patio. In the end, we decided to make the change, and we did adopt, but only due to the Maddies Fund. We were not in the position to put forth hundreds of dollars for a couple more months, yet wanted a second dog for our family. While this rescue serves a purpose, we don’t like them and don’t feel them worth the hassle, and don’t appreciate being shamed.

I am not sure how this organization calls themselves a rescue. Like the previous reviewer, we were a family looking for a new pet and only believe in rescuing animals. We went and visited a sweet puppy at a foster home and thought the interaction with the puppy and our family went quite well. When we left, we discussed our home visit and evaluation and followed up a few days later with an e-​mail to schedule it. We received a return e-​mail stating that the foster family did not see a connection between the dog and our family. Mind you, the foster had the puppy was confined to a «bonus» room with cement floor and spent a great deal of time in an albeit adequate crate. The foster had to sleep in the room with the dog because she (the dog) had developed separation anxiety and couldn’t be brought into main living quarters with three other adult dogs. When I followed up a month later because the puppy was still available, I was told to take this as a «final decision» that our family was not a fit for the puppy. Four months later the dog (no longer a puppy) is still in a foster home waiting for a forever family. We have now worked with real rescue organization and found the perfect dog for our family. The rescue we used was so great we added $ 100 to our adoption fee as a donation. I feel bad for the animals that end up with Animal Rescue Recon as they will likely have to wait months to get into a loving home. This is NOT in the best interest of the animals.

I am a well-​established, mature adult. I own a home, and have had animals all of my life. Today I tried to give a rescued animal a perfect home. I spent hours preparing for my «home evaluation», rushed home to meet the woman in charge to introduce the new dog to my very well-​behaved adult dogs. I was crushed to be told that according to their «gut» feeling, my home was not a «good fit». I was treated like a child, given the 3^rd degree about my home, and told that they usually require a 6-​ft fence. With all the lonely and homeless animals in the world I am amazed at how this group can make an arbitrary judgement about my worthiness as an animal owner. I would NOT recommend this group to anyone, unless you want your heart broken and your confidence shattered. They also charge an outrageous fee of $ 300 to adopt! Again, are we REALLY acting in the best interest of the animal?!