Very disappointed. When I first saw Northeast Animal shelter’s various pages (website, Facebook, Instagram) I was excited because I thought ‘well here is a place doing everything to maximize outreach and get the best adopters for their animals’... well unfortunately, reaching a larger audience is only effective if you have adequate means of dealing with the response you get as a result.
My husband and I were looking to adopt a dog, and were particularly interested in the ‘unforgettable friends’ list, because we have experience with dogs and are happy to train. I followed the instructions exactly: filled out the pre-adopt form, sent emails to the unforgettable friends email, and waited to hear back. I sent over half a dozen emails to that email address - I got exactly 1 email back that wasn’t automated, and that was only after I left a comment on a photo of that particular dog on Instagram to draw attention to the fact that I had emailed. I followed up on that email immediately, and again, never heard back.
Just to articulate how serious we were, we have since adopted a three-legged shepherd mix. We knew we were excellent candidates, the humane society we ultimately went through agreed, but northeast animal shelter either couldn’t be bothered to give us the time of day, or does not have the proper systems setup to adequately assess and/or respond to prospective adopters.
This is a failure to their mission and their animals.
The staff is always friendly and helpful - even for those of us who are just wishing. The facility is very clean as well; in a good location. Their mission is very important - no kill shelter!
I appreciate the no kill mission of the shelter, and they do take wonderful care of the animals within the shelter environment. This is a clean shelter! However, they seem to be somewhat lacking in staff and volunteer development - I think they could be doing a LOT more to evaluate dogs' suitability as pets *before* they import them from the south and, especially from Puerto Rico. Dogs from the islands are often terrier mixes, many of which can be more challenging for first time pet owners or families with children, yet they are adopted out to them anyway. When adopters do need help, referrals need to be made according to AVSAB guidelines, NOT to practitioners who use the dominance model for training. This has been disproven as a valid construct for use in training and behavior modification, yet this shelter is still sending clientele to some trainers who use it as a basis. The public should not be expected to know that they have to ASK if a trainer uses dominance, or what harsh equipment may be used on their dog.