If I could leave zero stars, I would. We adopted a dog from Hearts & Bones in December and it has been a horrible expiernece, from start to present. Their fosters are wildly irresposibile and not held accountable for misrepresenting the dogs' behaviors. We were told repeatedly that the dog we adopted was a "sweet little snuggle bug", and that he ended up in the shelter because of a one-time bite, under stress, in a medical facility with his dying owner. They even went so far as to tell us the dog was an emotional support animal, which led us to believe he was well-mannered and adaptable in a variety of environments. The dog showed aggressive behaviors, directly in front of the foster, in our home on day 1, and she acted like it was a fluke. We reluctantly agreed to keep the dog only after the foster repeatedly promised to take the dog back if it doesn't work out. Fast forward the 3 months the rescue recommended to fully acclimate the dog to our home, and his aggressive behaviors still persist. This entire ordeal has been nothing short of traumatizing for our entire family, especially our 4-year old son. We reached out to Hearts & Bones for help, stating the issues and asking for them to take the dog back, as they initially promised. Their response was in direct contradiction of their mission statement, because their only soluation was for us, the adopters, to euthanize the dog...or bring the dog 300 miles to them so they can put him down. Hearts & Bones only cares about emptying their kennels and making a profit - I wish we had never gotten involved with these terrible people disguised as a rescue!
We adopted a chihuahua through Hearts and Bones Animal Rescue, and from top to bottom, it has been a traumatizing experience that we would wish upon no one, 2 or 4 legged. A quick visit to charity navigator (I wish I'd gone here first), shows them to be a 2 star charity organization whose mission is "THE RESCUE AND REHABILITATION OF SHELTER DOGS, WITH THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF ENDING NEEDLESS EUTHANASIA OF SHELTER DOGS." Yet at the first sign of trouble with our dog, their answer from 300 miles away was simply that it was now our responsibility to euthanize the dog they "saved" for the low, low price of several hundred dollars.
Tiny Tim was first brought to us through his foster, an agent of Hearts and Bones. We were told that Tiny Tim was an emotional support animal for a disabled veteran, which spoke to me, because I am also a disabled veteran desperately searching for an emotional support dog myself. Then, as the adoption proceedings began, I was sent an email that told us of his "bite history." We were given a story about the circumstances, and that this was his only bite, or sign of aggressive behavior, and that the incident was the cause of stress-induced fear. We moved forward with the adoption process, assuming the things they told us to be true.
What we got was not a dog that had an isolated aggressive incident. What we got was a broken animal unfit for our home with other animals and small children. At the first sign of aggression, we immediately notified our foster. This came within the first week of owning the dog. All literature that came with the adoption process said to give the animals the rule of 3. 3 days, 3 weeks and 3 months of acclimation to our home and routine. He began nipping in the first week. We notified the foster, and were offered face-time training sessions. We declined, and got professional training at our own substantial cost, purchased within the first week of ownership. We were determined to work with this tiny, sweet dog. We crated, we trained, we socialized. We did everything we could and while Tiny Tim improved a great deal, he still was not a suitable fit for our home with small children. After the 3 months we came to the difficult decision that Tiny needed to be homed somewhere far more suitable to his nervous nature. We reached out to Hearts and Bones, explained the situation, and they responded wanting more information. We gave it, and they responded next that it was we needed to euthanize the animal. They did add an addendum and that was "if this is something that you do
not feel like you can handle, please let us know and we will request that a staff member takes Tiny Tim for you." Literally their words, taken right from the email I received. Since I was not about to euthanize a perfectly healthy and sweet dog that did not need to be, I took them up on that offer and requested they send someone to take this poor guy. At this point, they responded saying what they reeeeeallly meant by that was that we could drive him 6 hours to their facility. This has been my last communication with them.
Hearts and Bones cares about 2 things. Emptying their kennels, and filling their wallets. The welfare of the animals they purport to "rescue" is secondary to the money they enjoy taking from families who just want a dog. Rescues like this are the reason breeders and puppy mills continue to thrive. Spend your time, and your money elsewhere