They are exceptionally professional and do their due diligence to ensure that all of their dogs receive the highest standards of care in their foster and forever homes. They do have a strict screening process but this is to ensure that their dogs are going to the best homes possible. This rescue has an amazing team of volunteers and you know they really care about the dogs they rescue. I truly can not say enough good things about this rescue!!
Baxter's story: He was a stray picked up on 7/4 in Roselle, NJ and held at AHS-Newark for 7 days. His stray hold was up on 7/12 and my husband and I picked him up that morning and took him home.
We reached out to several English setter rescues and agreed to pick him up and foster for Above & Beyond with their Transport Coordinator.
I never signed a volunteer, transport, or foster agreement with Above & Beyond and was never asked to.
He did not receive a health cert. to transport due to kennel cough and he was kept quarantined at my home under the advice of my vet. He was much older than 3 as the shelter said and had multiple medical issues including a large, hard mass/ tumor on his throat and eye issues, visible in the pictures of Baxter.
After a week, he was allowed off quarantine and really flourished and got along with my other 3 dogs (2 border collies, 1 english setter) and we wanted to adopt him. The transport coordinator agreed and got the ball rolling.
The rescue president started calling and harassing us and our vet about how we were unfit fosters due to the fact we don't give our dogs heartworm preventative, due to underlying medical conditions under the care/advice of vets at Cornell, and we test regularly.
Next, a State Police Detective called to let me know the rescue president was pressing theft charges against us for stealing her property. They never once reached out to pick Baxter up nor did they ask about him not even once. (temperament, health, condition, etc)
After providing all my documentation, State Police refused to file theft charges and tried to get the President to see Baxter was already in a loving home so why put him through more stress if he was happy, loved, and well taken care of?
She responded that Baxter was her property and she was going to have animal control come out and put him in the local pound because she could.
The detective was appalled by this and tried several times to convince her to let us pay his vet bills and the adoption fee but she wanted her "property". He was also not altered, has a throat mass and eye issues that we wanted to have addressed at Cornell on our dime.
A state police escort was arranged and he was picked up with a trooper and a transport volunteer for A&B Friday morning at 10am with no health cert crossing state lines into PA. She was very rough in handling him around his neck mass/ tumor and it was hard to watch.
I am genuinely concerned for his safety and well being at this point and am at a loss for what to do. I don't know where he is or how he is doing.
I have been a part of the rescue community for several years with many rescues and have never had anything like this happen. I am sick to my stomach and shocked by what has happened to me and the carelessness they have exhibited towards Baxter. It was blatantly obvious that no one I had contact with cared about Baxter as a beautiful living being that radiated loyalty, love, and such a wonderful joy. I am truly heartbroken and this all feels like a bad dream.
Having all this happen will not tarnish my spirit and Baxter would want me to help other dogs in need.
Review from Guidestar
I applied to another Setter rescue organization to adopt and I was rejected without a phone call that they had no dogs available to fit in our family. I believe this came from one question about how I would handle a dog for hunting. My first objective was to adopt a Setter for the love of the breed and if the dog should show interest in hunting I wouldn’t deprive it of this experience. We’ve had several Setters all of whom hunt but this adoption for me wasn’t contingent upon that trait. I was devastated of being rejected and gave some thought about whether I would be fit for any Setter rescue because we were a hunting family. I took some time and reached out to A & B. After submitting an application I was called (not emailed) to find out more about me and my family and why we wanted to adopt a Setter. After the 2nd call I felt comfortable enough to share my experience with the other Setter rescue and I wanted to be totally honest about hunting if the dog ONLY showed interest but this was not the reason I wanted to adopt. I was put in touch with a foster mom who we spoke on the phone for over an hour and shared our deepest regard for these Setters in rescue. I felt that I was in touch with a great organization who had the Setters best interests for finding forever homes. I had an onsite visit with a wonderful gentleman who rated our home highly in favor of an adoption. I was then put back in touch with the foster mom who was able to deliver we were going to be able to adopt the dog she was caring for. The Setter was still healing from being spade and she wasn’t quite healthy enough to take the long drive to our home but future arrangements were made for her transport. The foster mother and I decided that we would do both legs of the transport and meet halfway between our states for the exchange. This experience for me was both transparent and went very smoothly. I like the fact that A & B wants to ensure that their rescues go to some of the best homes. But more importantly they took the time to find out about ME and my family dynamic before deciding if they had a dog that would fit into our family. I say KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK and God Bless the volunteers who dedicate rescuing this beloved breed.
I started my quest to adopt an English setter with ANOTHER rescue group. That group processed my application, did a phone interview and home visit, but then told me that each dog I asked about was somehow unavailable. The good news? They DID refer me to THIS group, Above & Beyond, and EVERYTHING GOT BETTER! Above & Beyond quickly reviewed my application, did a phone interview, and networked with the other group, to get the report from our home visit. A&B approved me, assigned me to an experienced "buddy." My assigned buddy talked to me in detail about the available dogs, and also told me about A&B's online message board. There, I found a posting seeking a foster home for Pepper, a setter several states away. When I asked about him, A&B got me all the info they could. They welcomed me to foster this dog, and put together a network of over 20 volunteers, to bring the dog 1200 miles cross-country to me. Fostering led to adoption, and only when I was SURE that Pepper was the right dog, was I asked to finalize an adoption contract and pay the adoption fee. During the time that I have had this dog, multiple members of A&B have answered questions and been very supportive and helpful to me. Pepper is a great dog, and our experience has been very positive. THIS IS AN EXCELLENT RESCUE GROUP. Yes, the application process is detailed. Yes, it is run by volunteers. But there are VERY ENTHUSIASTIC, knowledgeable dog people. And they have MANY dogs to choose from. If you foster a dog, you have first choice of adopting the dog. The results you get are well worth the time and effort you put into finding your dog through Above & Beyond English Setter Rescue.
Was not happy with our experience and ended up finding a dog through another organization. Too many board members interrogating you and none of them seem to talk to each other (paper application, phone screen, in home visit by a complete stranger they don't even have any info on, etc.). Typical of a poorly run nonprofit. They actually made me talk to the foster to convince her that we had a good home situation, because this woman did not want to get rid of the dog! After two months of this back and forth with everyone under the sun, I told them to forget it!