I am very thankful for homeward bound here in Boone county. I bred my Labrador allowing me to save their bloodline. Ty. I had given away one of my puppies,but it turned out she couldn't keep him. I was worried sick he would end up in a bad home being mistreated. Then homeward stepped in ,they found a great home for him except they was in another state. They helped new owners connect . Now shorty (what I called him), has a forever home. I'm very thankful he is now safe and with good people.I only wish I could see him. Ty homeward and new owners. And I will always miss you shorty.
We adopted through Ozark three years ago and things couldn't have gone better. We corresponded with the president of this organization who clearly explained procedures for adoption, we filled out the paperwork and in a short while Sienna was on her way to us.
She arrived in style, brought by some very nice transport people in a very clean Mercedes van. She was clean, healthy and looked very well cared for. This was a win-win for everybody involved and we are now in the process of adopting another dog from Ozark.
Ive been working with Ozark Homeward bound for over a year and they are awesome.. The dogs and cats in their possession are being well cared for. They each have their own kennel and clean water and food and daily walks. The other dogs for adoption are being fostered and are in safe homes. They adopt out of state by a delivery driver in a large mercedes sprinter and have to pay for a delivery fee out of the adoption fee.. All dogs are fixed by vets in and out of the area due to apt availability. And are solely dependent on donations and money out of their own pocket to keep these dogs healthy and safe.. They've even helped people in the area aquire materials and services needed. They are a great charity and deserve the recognition for it. If you are looking to adopt a dog or cat visit ozarkhomewardbound.com or visit your local shelter. And remember spaying or neutering your pet now can save you tons of money and headaches later...
pLEASNT ELDERLY
Pleasant elderly women run this but are out-to-lunch about vet care etc. Contradictory about vet care for dog (no preventative for heartworm because she was heartworm NEGATIVE???) I was approved to adopt. Vet could only confirm that he had seen dog once three years ago. That doesn't mean much when her shots were just being updated. Very mixed reviews from adopters-- no hostility about dogs but running into unexpected problems like serious epilepsy. No intelligent response from "president"/ director when called. I withdrew and did get money back. But I would strongly recommend going with shelter/rescue more responsible about dogs that they want to place in good adoptive homes. Ozark Homeward Bound is not one of them.
I fostered two little dogs from Ozark Homeward Bound and I ended up adopting both. I also adopted a three legged Mama (little terrier) and her two little babies, they are now adults, they are so happy and we are so happy to have our pack! Lynda Daniel is such a kind and caring woman, she lives her life for these poor babies that have no one. She and her staff are truly amazing. I ask anyone considering adoption please consider this wonderful organization, these dogs from Arkansas need help. Thank you dear Lynda and staff for all the good you do!
I can tell you all - the local humane society - Ozark humane society - is NOT a good organization, the former board director (who is still on the board) is suspected of embezzling money. The animals were treated horribly and they ARE A KILL SHELTER. But they solicit donations as a no kill shelter. THAT my friends is fraud. I worked there for a short time in 2012. They were planning on euthanizing ALL of their cats. I found rescue for 30 of them, then I quit. They euthanized the remaining 20 out of spite for me leaving.
As for Ozark Homeward Bound, I have talked to the ladies a couple of times (I am 'in' rescue) but I don't know them personally. I ran across this page by accident trying to find an email addresss for a spcecific lady in this org.
However, I felt the need to respond as I was a little put off by all of this.
I have talked to their 'cat lady' many times and I can tell you there is no better person out there. She spends countless hours rescuing and rehoming cats. She personally fosters more cats at a time than most people have rescued in their whole life. She also is in charge of Harrison TNR program. Cats are THE HARDEST animal to rescue as so many people let their cats breed, they dump the cats, cats become feral, they interbred, it is an ugly, ugly situation. I do dog rescue but have a soft spot for cats too. I have TWELVE cats at my house, SEVEN of which are fosters and are adults that will be with me forever as people get 'free kittens' then dump them and one kitten becomes 1000 in less than 5 years.
I also have spoken to OHB- one of their fosters - she went to a home across the street who had a chained up dog and talked them into surrendering the dog to her. She is a wonderful person. She goes above and beyond as well.
I have never personally worked with OHB but I have never heard a bad word until this.
Here is the deal: No rescue is perfect, however the 'complaints' I have read on here seem sketchy at best.
#1 - I run a rescue and I NEVER and I do mean NEVER give my phone # out unless someone is approved to adopt or foster and even with adopters it is only if I feel they *need* to have it (If I am helping transfer the dog exc)
#2- Animals get older. We try to keep our rescue's page (I run a breed specific rescue that is state wide but I reside in Harrison) updated but the truth is we - as with Homeward Bound - are VOLUNTEERS. We get $0 for doing this. We all have 'real' full time jobs. I am the only one who updates pictures. I try to make cute pics too to get our dogs seen better but again, I have to do all while I am AT MY REAL JOB, which of course I don't get paid to do rescue during.
We do this because people are irresponsible.
As for them working in Baxter County, that is where their vet is, I do know they help Baxter Co Animal Control when they are able to. I know they help Boone Co A LOT still.
I can tell you from my point of view, I love animals, I really do but I *wish* I didn't have to do rescue. Again I run a breed specific rescue and it happens to be the most overpopulated breed. I have dedicated the last 10 years - 22 - 32 to rescue and I am sure I will dedicate the next 10 years to it as well since no one is willing to take over cause rescue is so depressing..
Rescue isnt easy, it takes a lot out of you. My friends all make fun of me as i cant 'hang out' like a normal 32 year old and when I was 22 I was volunteering at a shelter while everyone else was going out and partying.
Rescue is time consuming and the only 'thanks' we ever get are from the adopters who have happy endings. We get a lot of 'why cant you take this dog' or 'I don't want my dogs cause it is old and has cancer' (true story!), or 'can I get one of them dogs unfixed?'.
So I hope people will cut this group a little slack and take this into consideration.
The Ozark Homeward bound was started BECAUSE the Ozark HS is so corrupt. They worked there and left when it stopped being 'about the animals'.
Again I don't know them super, super well, but I do know how it is to be kicked cause you are unable to save the whole world.
Sorry the potential adopter had a bad experience. I do all the screening for the group I run, sometimes even with approved adopters, you sometimes have to adjust which dog you think might fit with them. Doing it long distance makes it 200x harder.
Our family adopted a beautiful lab mix from this organization and had a very good experience. He is absolutely gorgeous, smart, & very entertaining! As mentioned on another review, the puppy was older than the information indicated on the internet. However, I was promptly informed that he grown older and they sent updated pictures of him when I contacted them. I don't know the lady in charge personally, but she had just learned that she was ill when we adopted our puppy. I don't know if that had anything to do with your negative experience. I do know that this organization has found homes for over 500 homeless dogs. When we returned back to our hometown (3 hrs away), our vet examined our dog and gave him a great bill of health. I'm thankful that this organization gave our dog the opportunity to live. He brings me joy & love every day.
We have a small farm here in Harrison arkanss. We continually get dogs and puppies dumped on us since it seems no one around here spays or neuters their animals. Every dog that has been dumped here has been taken in by Ozark Homeward Bound. They take all the dogs to a veterinarian in mountain home who provides services at a discount price for them. Seems no vets in Harrison are willing to help dumped animals. All these dogs go into foster homes. OHB has provided all the worming meds, shots, veterinary care and found wonderful homes for every dog that has been dumped on us. I have no clue what we would do without them! They are an amazing, caring, devoted organization. They CAREFULLY choose potential adopters and will not let a dog go to just anyone. Some people take advantage of their program by letting them foot the bill for spaying or neutering and then sell the dog out from under them. The volunteers work tirelessly to provide the best care for every dog that comes into the program. When you adopt a dog, you pay only for the care invested in the dog.....no one makes any money.....you pay for the spaying, vet care, meds. They provide food on their own dime. Without this valuable resource, I can't even begin to imagine how many dogs would get hit by cars or left to starve. Kudos to OZARK HOMEWARD BOUND!
A little update since kathy7165 wrote about how wonderful Ozark Homeward Bound is. They have changed their tune since I reported them to the BBB for charity fraud and to the Arkansas Attorney General for investigation in 2014. They even have a tacky webpage now after being forced to make one. The sad part is that they still will not give you their phone number nor tell how much the adoption fees are until you contact them via computer only. Sure they have a Facebook page but in 2014, which charity doesn't? Please do not be duped by these people. Their "success stories" are from animals always going to the Northeastern USA from north central Arkansas. Also not on their Facebook page that their "drives" to get animals their shots and what not are for only three counties in north central Arkansas, Boone, Marion, and Baxter counties. My county, Newton County, used to be part of the people they would "help" until enough people woke up around here after being scammed and made them rather unwelcome to this county so now they're limited to scamming only 3 counties. The city they choose for these drives, Diamond City, is a rich folks town along with where their vet comes from, Mountain Home, Arkansas in Baxter County which is where they are operating more and more since more and more people in Boone County to my north are waking up to what they really are. Please use a more legitimate charity such as the Humane Society or other animal related charity that will actually post their phone number on the net. Thank you for your time.
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PLEASE BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL BEFORE EVEN THINKING OF USING THIS ORGANIZATION! This organization supposedly does all these good deeds by taking your animals in but they are a total fraud. We had hound puppies in February and couldn’t afford to keep them so we contacted these people and they were so happy to help. First thing though is that we must hurry and get them fixed. O.K., they did that in Mountain Home, Arkansas, far away from qualified vets in Harrison, Arkansas where they are based which raised some alarm bells. When we brought the pups home one was run over but managed to survive so they brought out an old guinea pen with one very dilapidated dog house for 5 dogs. That really threw up some red flags. We were told to keep the dogs in there until they adopted out. Three and ½ months went by with nothing and my mom’s health had gone down to where she had a stroke and had no health insurance so we had to do something so I got a hold of Fayetteville, Arkansas’s Humane Society and they came and got the dogs. Shortly thereafter we got a bill from Homeward Bound for $430.00 for the services they provided. The only thing they did was get them fixed and gave us the shots to give to them however they didn’t pay a dime for feed, water, or any other dog houses so we struggled by until mom’s health gave out. We spent over $500.00 on dog food alone yet they claimed we were wasting the feed, what kind of animal rescue is that claiming you feed your dogs too much? Reading another person’s review in October also confirms that they are not well liked. They operate as an LLC yet claim they’re non-profit and in some states you can not be an LLC and be a non-profit at the same time so I asked for the states they operated in and they would only say 12 states but not the state’s names. They are extremely rude people who care more about the money and how many dogs they’ve adopted out similar to bragging about how many friends one has on network sites (in their e-mail to me they had 2 completely different numbers for how many animals they had adopted out). They also got very confrontational when I found out that the pets they ship out of Arkansas they get an adoption fee between $350-$500. They would not disclose IRS records or anything else when pressed so there is something very wrong with this organization. In my opinion, they should not even be in operation when a person is desperate to find animals a good home then when they fail to live up to their promise and you go to another organization they have a fit and demand a huge amount of money. That is how they get their money, by fixing the animals first then lag around about adopting the animals out until you have to turn elsewhere then they stab you with a huge bill. Their motto should be changed from “Til they get a home” to “Til we get our money”.
Review from Guidestar
my neighbors moved and abadoned another dog. upon calling ozark homeward bound they met us and took the poor starving thing in. we couldn't take care of the dog because we already have 4 dogs of our own and a slew of cats in the shed that these neighbors had abandoned previously. another dog went to one of our neighbors, and i know they shot a third dog they had. this organization asked for no money. i truly appreciate their help in saving a poor baby.
Do NOT adopt from this organization. My fiancé and I recently decided we wanted to adopt a puppy. I searched on adopt a pet.com in my state and found a puppy named Haus. We fell in love with this puppy and sent in our application. Right away we were approved and put in contact with the foster mom. When speaking to he foster mom I was informed the dog was in fact an adult and much bigger than we were led to believe on the website AND he was located in Arkansas vs Ohio where the organization said the local chapter was. I also noticed although the organization claimed to be a non profit but it had an LLC in their email signature. Even though we really wanted a younger puppy and I thought it was bizarre they were an LLC organization AND he was located in a totally different state, I did still love the dog. We decided to go forward with the adoption as long as the foster mom could send us an updated picture so we knew what we would be getting. When I requested the picture I got about ten different excuses why she wouldn't be able to get us one so I clearly became suspicious. I stated a simple phone picture would suffice, however although she confirmed she had a camera phone she wouldn't be home all day. The next evening at 930 pm I received a voicemail from the foster mom saying the "board" was asking more questions about where the local dog park was and who would care for my dog during the day. Mind you I had already been approved, answered all of their original questions and was requested to send my adoption fee via credit card over the phone. I spoke with some colleagues who are very involved in shelters and have adopted in the past and they confirmed my thoughts of suspicious activity. Still being the forever optimist I wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt. However when I called the organization to express my concerns of fraud the contact person completely changed her story and said the dog was an adult, got extremely rude and defensive when I questioned their validity and hung up on me. Obviously I was being lied to and all the organization was concerned with was getting my payment. I only hope that if he dog does exist he is being cared for in a humane manner because the professionalism of this organization is sub par at best. I'm writing this review to let all hopeful adopters to be forewarned about this organization. This experience In no way changed my opinion of the wonderful legitimate organizations out here that actually do help animals become united with forever homes. I only hope I become connected with one so I to can give an animal a good home.
Review from Guidestar