Everyone I've come in contact with while volunteering has been wonderful! Whenever I have a question about food, training, etc someone always has a helpful answer for me.
Pitty Love Rescue is, simply put, amazing! I began fostering for them in 2010. I have never owned a dog, but the knowledge and experience Jenn, Lindsay, and several other members had gave me the confidence and education to foster many dogs. My first foster was an 8 week old puppy. With much help from PLR members, Nadia was quickly potty trained, and is a sweet, smart, wonderful part of my family. I adopted her shortly after taking her on as a foster, and continue to foster to 'pay it forward' for other dogs. Nothing delights me more than watching a dog make the progression from a foster to an adopted dog. PLR is most concerned about making the best match for the dog and adopter, and it shows. An amazing board, wonderful fosters and volunteers, and incredible local resources for veterinary care and training are quite obvious. The respect this rescue has throughout the community is proof that they are doing everything right.
My first experience with PLR was when I adopted my dog 2 years ago. I dealt almost exclusively with Jenn Fedele during that process and she was incredibly responsive, helpful and dedicated. I was impressed with her, with the organization and with the process, so about one year later I expressed an interest in volunteering and fostering. Since then, I have fostered six dogs and am still going strong. I have found that this organization has incredibly high standards and that is why it's reputation is excellent. The board members devote a great deal of time and attention to the cause, to the animals, to the volunteers and to the potential adopters. On countless occassions, Jenn or other Board members have responded to my questions via text messages, emails or telephone at any hour and not just in regards to the foster dogs in my care, but in regards to general questions for friends or my personal pet. I am proud to be affiliated with this rescue and its founder and board members. I am proud to have adopted my amazing companion from them. Jenn Fedele may be a no nonsense type of woman, but that is one of the things that I respect most about her - and I feel confident in saying that I'm sure that anyone who takes issue with her does so because they confronted her with some sort of nonsense and couldn't set their ego aside for the betterment of the cause.
I have been a foster for Pitty Love Rescue, Inc. for nearly 3 years. Never once has Jenn not been available when I have a serious problem. If your resident dog(s) has a problem with a foster(s), the responsible thing to do is to not let them out together!!!! All puppies have accidents. The puppy in question was 3 months old and to expect her to be completely potty trained is not feasable. ALL dogs have accidents, especially puppies. I myself have always had 3 of my own dogs since I have been fostering for Pitty Love. My oldest male did not like larger sized males. So, what did I do? He stayed in my bedroom while the foster was out. In an ideal world, all the dogs would get along and they could be out together under my supervision. However, like humans (cough-cough), they have personalities that sometimes clash. Your job as a foster and responsible pet parent is to make every situation safe, so you separate them. I don't like the crap that is being said about Jenn personally. She never forces a dog on anyone and will move a foster out of a home as quickly as possible when needed. However, remember, this is a RESCUE. We do not have a shelter dogs can go to. They live in our homes and these foster homes are usually FULL all the time due to the incredibly overwhelming nature of this business. It does take a few days to move dogs typically. When you take on a foster, you take on a responsibility to take care of that dog until he/she is adopted. I would NEVER want to return a foster unless there was severe aggression towards myself so I couldn't let them out to go to the bathroom, feed them or love them. Otherwise, I will make it work in my house. AND I am not a person that only takes one foster at a time. I have had up to 8 foster dogs in my house at once (through a former rescue group), along with my 3 dogs. YOU make 11 different personalities get along! I know I made it work. No one got hurt and there was never a threat of it either! To finish, the most important part, her name was NOT Lil' Pee either!!!!!!! You gave her that name because she had an accident!!!! That is cruel and completely immature.
My fiance and I adopted a Rottweiler mix puppy from PLR in March. My friend Joanna has been a longtime member of the organization, and through her Facebook posts alone I was inspired to pay closer attention to the work that PLR did. I'd never been a huge fan of pittbulls before reading about them on the PLR website--but after seeing and experiencing the animals that PLR fostered, rehabilitated, and adopted out, I must say that my whole opinion has been changed. PLR people aren't just good dog people--they're just great people. Their process for adoption is thorough, careful, and insightful. Everybody I spoke to was kind, knowledgeable, and interested in helping us succeed with our new pup. They knew of the best resources for positive dog training in our area, gave me endless advice at all hours about our dog, were never terse, unpleasant, or irritable despite our inexperience. Every single board member I meet (at puppy school, in the pet store, or elsewhere) knows my puppy's name and history, knows my name, and is an enormously wonderful person. Many of them, I had never even met before in person. When we are ready for a second dog someday, it WILL come from PLR. I was (and continue to be) grateful and impressed with the integrity and quality of this rescue.
So all of Patricia's fake personalities are coming out of the woodwork. For anyone reading, this woman, and one of her multiple personalities "Isaac", is under investigation for harassment. Want to talk about avoiding at all costs? Rescues take heed, if Patricia applies to foster for your group, run far away. Do not make the same mistake a couple other rescues have previously. She comes across as a bit quirky but sweet when in reality she is unstable, unreasonable, unreliable, and downright delusional. She hates puppies, children, and anyone of color. The fact that she had the nerve to type here that she has any kind of grasp on civil interaction is amazing and scary all at the same time. Pitty Love is a fantastic organization run by wonderful people with committed volunteers and supporters. You don't even realize or care that in your attempt to smear the FOUNDER of PLR, you are not at ALL thinking about the animals you are possibly hurting. Yet you claim to care about them? You don't like Jenn? That's great, I am confident she can handle that. I'm sure she doesn't like everyone she comes across either. The difference here is she doesn't attempt to stalk and harass them into submission over some perceived slight that never occurred. Try thinking about the innocent creatures you could be affecting with your campaign of hatred, lies, and delusions. Try thinking about all the hardworking volunteers you are insulting with your vitriol. Start thinking about yourself living in your little world of crazy and how you can change that you sorry, angry, bitter, sad, lonely woman.
I have greatly valued my experience with Pitty Love Rescue and the knowledge I've gained from the experience. This is due in large part to Jenn Fedele, who operates the organization, and the fact that she has been able to surround herself and effectively build her group with passionate people who are as dedicated as their founder. Maintaining a quality rescue organization is no small task, as is evident by the number of groups that collapse under the demands and pressures that characterize the very nature of such a heavy undertaking. To create a rescue that operates at a high level with genuine integrity is alone an accomplishment anyone should be proud of; but Jenn doesn't only lead by example. She reaches out to both the rescue community and the general public, offering advice and support, which makes our entire area a safer place for people and a kinder place for the animals that depend on us. She does that not with arrogance, but with a deep concern for and love of the animals she is dedicated to, and a desire to help other groups continue to do great work. It takes patience and strength to operate a rescue group at this level; but it also takes a serious committment to continually educate onself and a willingness to share that knowledge with others. For a person to build an organization from nothing to a place where she has gained a huge and loyal network of supporters (not to mention the respect of law enforcement and others in the rescue community) is simply remarkable. People support Pitty Love because of the quality organization it is and all the great work accomplished every day. At the heart of that is Jenn Fedele's sincere humanity. I'm grateful for the opportunity to assist this terrific organization and only wish I could help more.
I adopted my dog from Pitty Love Rescue about six months ago. After I went through the entire adoption experience, and attended several Pitty Love events in the process, I realized how hard working these people are. All of my interactions with the members were always on nights or weekends, because they all have full time jobs, and still dedicate the time to the organization in their free time. I was impressed that all the board members had fosters of their own as well. These people are super dedicated to the work they do and make a difference in the lives of the dogs they rescue, and those of us who adopt these dogs we would not have met otherwise.
I personally know Jennifer from Pitty Love Rescue. She has always been kind, courteous and very willing to help not only her fosters, volunteers, other rescues but most importantly the animals. I would highly recommend this organization and Jennifer is an awesome rescuer and an all around kind and gracious Founder/President.
Pitty Love Rescue Inc. of Rochester is a terrific organization that rescues and finds homes for this most misunderstood of breeds. This is NOT a negative review of the organization. It is, however, a very negative review of Jennifer, the founder. DON’T CROSS THE BOSS!
I volunteered (“volunteered” being the operative word) to take in a puppy who needed a foster home. I had Lil Pee for about 10 days. She was my 10th foster dog. Being a puppy, her manners were not the best and my female dog took a particular disliking to her. This had never happened before so I felt confident that the foster arrangement would work out just as every other one has. Not so. My female became aggressive toward Lil Pee and I was very concerned for the puppy’s safety.
I emailed Boss Jennifer with my concerns, and that’s when things went downhill. Boss Lady seemed quite put out when I requested that Lil Pee be given to another volunteer foster. Her attitude was contrary to what one would expect from a rescue group’s founder since THE NUMBER ONE PRIORITY OF ANY RESCUE GROUP IS THE SAFETY AND SECURITY OF THE ANIMAL.
When I emailed Jennifer that she seemed a little cold, at first she did not respond. I sent a subsequent email to which she replied, “I run a rescue, I have a million other things going on. I don't have time to coddle you and your feelings and respond to your emails with the right "tone" for you.”
As we continued to email she became more and more rude. I had heard that she was an unpleasant person and I certainly found that out for myself. It is admirable to take a mission seriously, but people-skills are a must, especially if you are going to rely on people to provide voluntary assistance. Boss Lady absolutely does not have people-skills. Cross her at your peril! I asked her several times for an apology and she completely ignored me. I told her I’d be writing a review if I did not receive that apology and it has become apparent that she does not care. Jennifer has chosen to cut off her nose to spite her face - a true sign of immaturity and stubbornness.
Here is one volunteer who will continue to put her love of animals and her grasp of civil interaction to use with another rescue group. Since Pitty Love is a great cause and everyone else associated with the organization is terrific, I suggest you deal with one of them and avoid Jennifer at all costs. She can be an extremely nasty woman if things don’t go the way she expects them to.