I got "fired" from Helping Hounds Dog Rescue for expressing a concern about a dog who was euthanized. I was in no way disrespectful. I simple expressed that the back story didn't add up. The dog was returned after biting the owners... however... it was stated that the husband never bonded with the dog, refused to go with his wife to return the dog, and she stated she was afraid to bring the dog back home. The dog did fail the trainer's test and did bite several volunteers. I get that is not a great scenario. Of course not. But, I was shamed for expressing my concern and my opinion that maybe it should have been considered that something happened to this dog at his home, which led him to be an anxious biter... that maybe other options could have been considered before just euthanizing him. But, as I have found with pretty much every rescue organization in this area, opinions are not solicited. So, I was unceremoniously "fired" over an email. Wow.
I have never had such a terrible experience as I did with every person I came in contact with at helping hounds. My fiance and I had been waiting to get a puppy until we got a house so the puppy could have a fenced in backyard and lots of room inside to play. Once we got a house we had an application submitted and approved to adopt a puppy. They "matched" us with a puppy (or pretended to at least) and we took the puppy home for two weeks. During those two weeks I was contacted and told the puppy may be sick, and they needed to bring him in for testing. For an entire week I was anxious that something could be wrong with our puppy that we had fallen in love with. After a week of waiting we were finally ready to bring the dog in for testing. However, it was nothing like that. I brought the dog in on a leash and was yelled at for not holding my dog when I walked in and then told to wait outside in my car in the middle of winter. After waiting for an hour the director came out and asked me to come in without my puppy. I figured it was just to fill out paperwork, but that was not the case. I was then interrogated about how I was unfit to take care of a puppy by the director, the programs manager and operations manager. I was not mentally prepared for what was about to happen. I was in tears as they told me that they were going to take my puppy away from me and eventually they came out to my car and took the puppy from me, never to be able to see him again. I was treated terribly and with no regards to my feelings. The employees are power hungry at helping hounds and do not care about where dogs go. I was told "one of our puppies will never be used as an emotional support animal". They take pride in being able to place dogs in "matched" homes, yet another dog in our litter was returned in one day because the puppy was "too much," while I was ready to love the dog for the rest of my life. I would NEVER recommend this rescue to anyone. I have had dogs my entire life from many other, more reputable shelters, and will never attempt to save a dog from there, even though all the dogs there need extra saving from the people that work there.
Terrible organization, the employees simply are immature and aim to demean all potential adopters. All employees at this non-profit operate as if they have a score to settle with any potential adopter. Serious changes need to be made otherwise word of mouth will seriously diminish the already poor reputation of this establishment.
Review from Guidestar
Visited for about two weeks, to look for a dog, and one day I just got an email saying that they didn't want to give me a dog at all.
This is a fantastic organization that brings happiness to both pups and families. I have adopted a beautiful dog from them and highly recommend this organization. I know they are always in need of donations, money, food, cleaning supplies.
This place is incredibly unorganized. I was approved for a pup after a few phone calls to my current dog's vet. The woman who approved my application, Theresa called and told me that I could go pick up the dog I wanted, and to bring a leash and collar. I asked Theresa if I could pick up the dog on Friday (it was only Wednesday) and she said no, that she would not hold the dog for that long. So, I prepared to head out anyway. This particular Wednesday happened to be one of the worst snow storms Syracuse has ever seen, but I wanted my pup. After two hours of driving what is typically a half hour drive, I made it back to Helping Hounds. When I went in, a different woman told me that I needed to bring my current dog. I told her that Theresa did not mention that I needed to bring my dog, just a leash and collar. But, again, I got in the car, got my dog, and went back to Helping Hounds. When I got there I felt strongly that the woman who was at the rescue had developed some sort of vendetta against me. This was suggested after she pretentiously asked me if "I always get what I want," only after my 3 trips to Helping Hounds in the sludge. She brought the dog I wanted out, and unfortunately I noticed that as cute as he was - he was not being very nice to my dog. In fact, he was trying to dominate her by jumping on her and biting her. I changed my mind about the dog after I saw this change. The woman told me that she "did not like" my attitude, that I was immature, and that I would be a bad mother, all because I simply told her that I didn't like that the dog was attacking my other puppy. I immediately left. Beware of this establishment, the same could happen to you.