My Nonprofit Reviews

My family and I had a wonderful past experience adopting a dog from Pet Network. We were there recently and saw a puppy who had just arrived at the shelter. We were told that no one had claimed her and that she was going to be available next week, once she was spayed. My kids fell in love and the adoption specialist told me that there were no applications or holds on her. I paid the $10 hold fee and she explained that I wouldn’t need a new application because I was already an approved adopter. She also told me that I would have first priority for adopting the puppy because there were no other holds or applicants. My kids were excited and we all looked forward to bringing the puppy home.

I called early the following week to check if the surgery was still on track and also to get an idea of when we could pick up the puppy. I spoke to the same adoption specialist I worked with on Friday, but she had an entirely different attitude from when we last spoke. She didn’t seem to want to provide any information and was very vague when I asked direct questions. I had a bad feeling following this conversation, so I followed up with an email stating my understanding of the situation. I received a response saying that I would be contacted with the status of the puppy.

Since I had had a great experience with Pet Network previously, I waited for a call, but never received one, so I called the office on Friday afternoon and spoke to the shelter manager, who informed me that the puppy had been placed in her new home. This manager knew of my situation and didn’t seem surprised by my call. The explanation she gave for the puppy going to another family was perfectly reasonable - there had been a miscommunication among the staff at Pet Network and the other family had already begun the adoption process before my family and I met the puppy. I explained to her that the mistake had been discovered by her staff early in the week, based on the conversation I had had with the adoption specialist, however no one had informed me even after I had taken the time to call and send a follow up email to ensure that there was no confusion. Once she realized that the issue was caused by her staff failing to communicate with me, she apologized and told me about a mother dog with very young puppies that had recently come to the shelter. She promised to send me a couple pictures, which she did. The pictures were only of the puppies, so I asked for a picture of the mother. I never heard back.

I’m writing this review not only because I have two very disappointed children, but also because this is not the first time this type of situation has happened at this shelter, based on a recent Yelp review from February. My hope is that the director, or anyone else at that level of management, recognizes the unfortunate issues caused by the lack of basic customer service skills by both the shelter manager and her staff. Training would be a good investment. This place takes great care of its animals and has clear adoption policies, but common sense is lacking. I would have written a positive review if the staff had communicated openly, honestly, and in a timely manner.