My Nonprofit Reviews

Adopters beware!! This organization stopped the adoption process with us because I asked to see their contract!

Our interactions with this organization were strange from the start. We started their lengthy process, first with filling out the application, having a 40 minute intro call about the dog, then we did the virtual home visit over webex. This was a one-way video call, where an unnamed woman, who would not appear on video, viewed our home for suitability for the dog. We thought we would get to see the dog during this virtual home visit, the woman said she did not have the dog. We talked with three different people over the course of this process and none of them gave us their names. They seemed easily confused and disorganized. These oddities concerned us but we proceeded with the next step in the process. We set up the “meet and greet” in a park where our dog could meet the potential dog for adoption. They sent us an email with details about what to expect. The email mentioned signing “our contracts”. I asked to see the contract in advance because, one, that’s a smart thing to do and two, I didn’t want to be pressured at the park meet and greet to sign a contract I hadn’t read, while I’m distracted as my dog interacts with the other dog. They responded to my request by saying that they don’t give people the contracts in advance and expect them to make a decision and sign the contract at the park. They said that was their process, to not let people see their contract in advance, and since I wanted to see the contract in advance, they wished us well in our search and cut off the adoption process.

We read in negative reviews that the contract was suspect and the fact that they would not send it to us and cut off the process, confirms that they are a shady organization. My husband responded about how disappointed we were with their decision to deny a dog a good home because the potential owners wanted to see the contract. Our request was a reasonable one. Later, for some reason, they sent us the contract, but still cancelled our meet and greet for the dog. Adopters beware, the ASTR contract states that ASTR owns the dog, not the adopter. We’ve raised several rescue animals and none of those organizations had this provision. It also says that the organization will require a home visit 3 days after adoption and that they can take the dog off your hands for reasons they deem necessary and at any time. It’s a bizarre arrangement that this org doesn’t want people to know about until the last stages of a long process.

The sad truth is, the dogs are the ones who lose. People looking to adopt rescues are in it for the animals. It’s too bad shady humans are once again interfering with these animals’ care. We’re sad we weren’t allowed to adopt a rescued dog because we wanted to review a contract in advance, it just doesn’t make any sense at all.
It’s emotional manipulation and they have all the control.