I need to vent

K i need to vent right now out of pure frustration, and i know some of you may not agree with what i am writing but well im bloody pissed off!

Weve been searching for a dog now for the best part of 3 months, and to be quite honest im getting tired of it.

Its against every bone in my body to go and purchase a puppy from a store because of the horrific way in which most of them are born.

So i dedided that i wanted to rescue a dog. Now il give the fact that i am fairly picky in what i want well not really, i want a small dog, that doesnt bite, doesnt have too many special needs, and that isnt too old, ( i mean like under 7)

Ive been to every website there is in my area for rescue, and havent hd much luck, then low and behold we apply to adopt a dog from a local rescue organisation get approved then find out there a bogus set up, just a puppy mill in disguise. im heartbroken

then today i look on the toronto humane society website as i do every day, i find the perfect little mite, i skip off work early rush down and i cant see him, i see another little cutie, but he looks like hes gonna be big hes a pup and theres no info so i go to the adoption office for help.

Knock knock on the door
"enter"
" hi yeah wonder if i can have some help with a dog there no information on his door?"
Sighs heavily like im this huge burden "what dog"
"the little puppy etc etc"
"no hes on hold" turns away
"oh well ok thank you, by the way i applied to volunteer a while back any news"
"lady how would i know go to the front desk" another huge sigh and the door is slammed in my face!

So a little diheartened i go back into the dog room and there at the back cordened off i see her, the little tike and i lock eyes she looks at me like "for the love of christ please bail me outa here" shes the one, shes perfect, and we both know instantly we want eachother!

I rush to the front desk (the only place i can find someone to help me!)
"Hi please help theres a dog at the back cordened off can you tell me what her circumstances are, is she on the lost list, is she special needs. do you just not have room outside for her"
"There cordened off for a reason there not for adoption"
"well why not, is she on the lost list, how long do you keep her on that list for before she goes up for adoption"
"cant tell you that"
"why"
"BECAUSE I CANT, NOW IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE"

I was talked to like dirt by everyone there, now i know there understaffed, under a huge amount of stress and all the rest of it but heres my argument

1. i only want to give a dog a good home, now talking to me like S*** isnt gonna make me wanna me feel good about this experience

2. why is it a huge secret when these dogs are comming up for adoption, like hello give me a heads up and il be here the minute shes bought out and take her, surely thats less time for you to keep, feed, house, and care for her (all money to a charity)

3. i know your understaffed, but i applied to volunteer and do ANYTHING over a month ago, along with my two freinds who also filled in and handed over applications, if you that understaffed call me il be there in 10 minutes!!!!

Im sorry to vent the work that, that organisation does is fantastic, but for gods sake any company has to have a little bit of customer care charity or not!

i dont understand why they cant tell me about this dog, and when shes gonna be ready.

I cried all the way home at my frustration, so many dogs are being PTS and abused all i want to do is love one of them, why is that so hard for me to do????? :mad:

i tell you now if someone slammed a door in my face i would have kicked it in and had a right go at that mean person, yeah i too understand the frustration of rescue, yes it is an incredibly hard job and often workers go unrewarded ect.etc. but there is no excuse for such behaviour and i would have told them that.

what i would do is this-
find out who is the actually manager of the place, the top person and go to them, tell them what happended and that you are horrified by this treatment and would appreciate it if those staff could be brought into line, and remind him that one bad customer will tell at least 6ppl who will in turn tell more ppl.

and if they dont do something about it or tell you that they will do something about it tell them you will report their practices simply because if they are not willing to divulge info on these animals they are sounding dodgy, just hassle them a bit, it will get them moving.

the secret to any successful hassleing is to be consistant, dont go away, until you have achieved your objective, works every time for me :D :D

I totally agree with Melanie. Thats complete BS!!! These people should be nice to you so that you'll adopt a dog, tell people about the wonderful job they did so that they'll rescue a dog, and they'll tell people, and so on! Write an e-mail or place a call immediately. Don't wait until a week or so, you're angry now, write a letter now so that it's still fresh in your mind. The HS here is kinda like that too. I've noticed more volunteer run organizations are way better to deal with. the HS here actually hires and pays people to clean the kennels and such. What a bunch of asses they were to you! Complain like you've never complained before as these animals lives are at risk. Jerks!! You poor thing!!! :mad: :(

Awww guys thanks for the support, i am still really angry, ever since i got home ive sat here with the dog bowls and other parafinalia ive been collecting for the new arrrival and im getting more and more cross!

So i am gonna write, right now! im not by nature a stand down kinda person, but the attitude in there was overwhelming and felt like i didnt have a leg to stand on, but now im home im feeling my confidence come back.

Thanks again for the support its the people on here that keep me searching for our baby

I just went onto there website, and i cant find any managers name so im gonna call tommorow find a name, and my husband who just came in is comming with me for moral support, suffice to say hes mad, hes seen the search that ive done and they way that i feel about animals and thinks its wrong wrong wrong! il let you know what happens!

This is nothing new for the THS. I can tell you lots of stories. The main reason why no one would help is because they are unionized "Its not my job" kind of mentality and I hear it goes on everyday there. I wish you the best of luck. I would speak to someone in charge there and ask what you exactly have to do to adopt a dog from there. Terrible, just despicable!!!!

Heather and her 3 Golden Girls

I have to say that I have been to two local Humane Society's here and saw both ends of the spectrum. The one here in Niagara Falls has rude staff and always seem to be too busy yaking to each other to talk to you. When you call they pretty much tell you that in almost all situations they cannot help you due to monetary constraints or the its not my job complaint. And all that I understand, but when you deal with the Lincoln County HS it is a totally different story, the staff is polite and helpful, and even though I was not in their 'area' they were more than happy to offer advice and point me in the right direction. I think it may be in part due to differing management practices...poor management makes for an unhappy work environment and lowered customer service. I know most of us have seen that first hand, its just so sad that it's the animals who are getting jipped when it is the HS staff who lower their service levels.

Just to let anyone interested know i sent a complaint email the length of my arm last night and what a suprise no reply!! like the even care right.

However there is one person there that has saved my faith in the place, the girl who deals with the lost and found dogs has been amazing! so kudos to her for being the only human in that place with a heart.

Our HS here in Oakville have always been very helpful and kind,at least in my dealings with them and their adoption-rooms are staffed by friendly knowledgable, volonteers..
I have called them on several occasions,be it about abusive situations or lost cats,dogs or wounded wildlife and they always respond quickly.
However,in this case I would certainly have told them how I feel,right off the bat,I am not very good at hiding my feelings,nobody should treat anybody with such contempt,makes me wonder how they treat needy animals :confused:
I am hoping you will take this puppy out of there soon and all this uglyness will be forgotten after all it's the puppy that matters.
Please let us know what happens..

Sounds like you are very frustrated there British. Have you thought of getting your local MP involved in this matter? Exactly (besides adoption fees, etc.) where does the Toronto Humane Society get the rest of its monies? Do they get any from taxes...? Out here in Brampton, we have a very small Humane Society, very clean, and I must say, the ladies there are very nice and helpful. Good luck with your problem, and someday you will find that perfect pet. :p

I do not beleive that they get any funding from the goverment, however they are a large organisation.

I really vented in the email, i basically cut and paste what i had posted here when i got home and was really feeling it.

As for the pup (or pups) there are several i am interested in, the ONE that i really want no one will tell me about so i just have to keep wasting my fare and going (although not really as i do try and spend a little bit of time showing the other dogs some affection) there are 3 others, a pair of lhaso apso that are soooo cute, and a little terrier cross, that i accidently found on the lost list, and thanks to the wonderful women there i do have info on them, the lhaso's if not claimed go on saturday, the terrier is on hold as she bit someone. Now i know from experience that not every dog that bites is bad, my dog back home for instance ended up in the rescue because she bit her owners little boy, after he fell on her and wouldnt get out of her bed!!!! (call me all the names under the sun, but that was the stupid kids fault for getting in her face and space, and the moms fault for not controlling her kids Dont even get me started!!) and she has never ever even hinted at being aggresive again!

So il persevere, i was heading there tonight (again) after work, when the allergy headache from hell hit and i cabbed it home and took to bed for a few hours, however they are open till 8 so i might head down there.

As for getting people involved if i dont get a response in a month il be using the gob (english slang for mouth) that i was given adn il be shouting about it dont you worry LOL.

Hey there, I don't post a lot but I lurk often.


About 6 months back my boyfriend and I had been searching for a perfect dog for about 5 months. We fell in love with a dog featured on the Toronto Humaine Society website so we headed down to adopt her.
We took a number and waited. And waited. And waited. 6 hours later they finally called us.
Then the woman proceeded to tell us how we would not be allowd to adopt an animal since we did not have a copy of our lease or my sister who was living with us at the time (you need to bring all the people living in the house). When I pointed out this information was not listed on the website or in the building anywhere the woman told me mabye I should run for city councelour and change the rules. Then she told us how she wouldn't adopt a dog to anyway since were students and OBVIOUSLY had no job and changed places of residence every 6 months and were to unstable for a dog. When my boyfriend asked for an apology for wasting 6 hours of our time she told us to leave.


Of course a month ago I read about how they were over run by cats, I went to adopt one and they released a cat to me without even requesting a proof of address!

I ended up getting a dog from a rescue group and I love her so much. I am really disappointed with the general attitude and screening process of the THS.

This is absolutly disgusting the way that people who in essence are doing them a favour are treated. im thinking more and more of doing something more about this that venting on here!

If anyone wants to help me email me at jadejenkins@rogers.com

this treatment of people cannot be ignored, it makes me wonder if they are treating humans like this, how do they treat the animals!!!!

British, I just sent you an email with my story regarding THS.

Guess what over 3 weeks later and no reply, sorry i have not replied as yet bana rama, ive just been sick the last two weeks, and now i have my inlaws staying :( (we live in a batchelor its not good, im glad we havent got a dog yet!!!) and then im jetting to London for a week to see the folks, however when i get back il email you and well kick some HS butt!