GADASC Rescue-Pre-Adoption

I will be working on this blog throughout the next little while, so please keep checking for updates. I am starting this right away so that people looking to adopt a pet can increase their awareness. This blog is my personal experience and opinion. It is up for you to decide if you would still like to adopt from this location.


Day before the adoption: Sunday December 28th

My husband and I decided that we would look around to adopt a dog in need for companionship, and to provide a loving home. I had made a trip to the Newmarket SPCA prior to this, but none of the dogs at the time were suitable for our household. We also own a rabbit that we allow to roam the house at times, so the adopted dog would have to get along with this pet. We decided that a puppy would be best so that it would be raised along with the rabbit and not know the difference.

I began my search on www.petfinder .com. The self description is as follows: "Petfinder is an on-line, searchable database of animals that need homes. It is also a directory of over 10,000 animal shelters and adoption organizations across the USA, Canada and Mexico." Great, I think to myself. This is the perfect directory to find a good rescue in the area!

It appeared that there were many well known, legitimate adoption centres on the site. However, after looking into the site more, there are no regulations in regards to who can open an account. Therefore, anyone claiming to be a rescue/adoption place could post their ads.

I located a "rescue" organization called "Give A Dog A Second Chance" on petfinder on this Sunday in particular. They had a very cute black lab puppy posted, so I emailed the email address as requested to ask for more information. Within no time an application was sent to me to fill out via email. Numerous questions were asked, as well as a spot for references from a friend and our regular vet office. I later found out the woman that runs this organization never checked either of them. I filled this out, then promptly received a return email asking when I would like to view the pup. On top of this, Melita(the owner) sent me an email with a picture of two puppies that she said she rescued that evening. I told her that I would be interested in meeting all three of the puppies to see if I bonded with any. Only then did she send me her address, and I was required to book an appointment with her the next day.

I wrote to Durham Region SPCA:

Just wondering if you are able to tell me is "Give A Dog A Second Chance" located in Oshawa is a legitimate rescue organization?? I wasn't sure where else I could find that information!

Lame response I get(since I found out she is well known to them):

They do dog rescue out of a home in Oshawa. They don't usually rescue local dogs. Most of their animals come from the states.

Tips to find a good rescue....As you will see, Melita does not meet even a third of these standards! Let's analyze in each point how her practices do not add up ....

Rescues fall under the same animal cruelty laws as the general public, but there are currently no laws mandating that the dogs must be altered, vet checked or that an adoption contract has to be signed. Many people have been duped by what seems to be a great rescue only to find out the rescue wasn’t honest at all. Anyone can say they are a rescue; but what makes a rescue reputable? Here are some things to look for in a good rescue:

1. All rescues should spay or neuter the dog you are adopting prior to releasing the animal. In some cases, a rescue will release a young puppy prior to altering, with a contract stating you will have it done and rescue will collect an extra deposit. Paying a $250 fee for each dog, there was no inclusion of any neutering in the future for that price. This is a HUGE no no in the rescue world as it could further contribute to the overpopulation problem!! The odd time you will find some dogs through GADASC are fixed, but this is almost always due to her buying an already fixed dog from someone else/another shelter.

2. All rescues should vet check and vaccinate the dog you are adopting. The rescue should provide you with the proof of a rabies shot as well as a copy of any vet records the dog may have. If the rescue tells you they lost the paperwork or they cannot find it, request the name of the vet and call the vet to verify the information. I don't know the percentage, but it seems that on some occasion this rescue is not vet checking animals. Many people have written back to me saying that she said they were vet checked, only to find out that no vet would have passed them for adoption due to health issues. She also seems to come up with various excuses such as "My driver's arm was broken, or my vet was away." She is also giving some vaccinations herself which is risky since she cannot get an animal to the vet if there is a reaction as she does not drive.

3. A rescue should not charge exorbitant fees for the dog you are adopting. The goal is to try to cover most expenses, sometimes rescues put more money into a dog than they recover from the adoption fee, but other times the adoption fee is more than enough to cover any expenses the rescue may have incurred. GADASC charges $250 to $350 per dog. She often fails to do any vetting, no microchipping, neutering and told us that food is donated to her. As I said earlier, the odd time dogs are, but these are the ones that have had this done by previous owner or shelters.

4. Not all rescues are registered charities, some are small non-profit, or not for profit. This doesn't make them more or less credible but do check that they are legitimate. She a non profit organization, but is not registered. On her website she is accepting donations through Paypal under a "Foundation", but this no longer exists as a registered entity.

5. All rescues should get the dog in the best health possible before adopting it out. A good rescue will keep the dog in rescue until it is a good weight and is as healthy as can be. If a rescue adopts out a dog with health issues they should be honest about the issue. They should also be honest about the dogs temperament, remember though dogs go through an adjustment period and can react differently to a new owner. Melita is not vetting the animals, so she often doesn't know if they have health issues at the time of sale. Other adopters have also bought sick dogs from her at the time ie eye infections, skin infections etc. If my dogs had been vet assessed it is quite possible a vet could have seen they were not 100%. Here, some dogs are not kept long enough to assess them properly. The faster someone gets the dogs out=the greater the profit.

6. A good rescue will do a home visit and require that you fill out an application prior to adopting a dog. Rescues are doing this for their love of the dogs. Most want to see that the dog is going to a good home and is going to an environment suitable for that particular dog. An application was filled out, but it was not even mentioned again when we went to her home.

7. All rescues should have you sign a contract upon adopting a dog. They should state that they will always take the dog back, for any reason at any time. They should also express interest in staying touch and make follow up phone calls to check on the dogs welfare. A contract was signed, but she then does not follow up on the neutering aspect later on. Two other organizations have told me that their clients have complained that GADASC would not take their adopted dog back when they had difficulty. I had my dogs for ten days and nobody from this rescue did any follow up with me once.

8. You should expect that the location the dog is at should be fairly clean and that there are no noticeable fleas or ticks. If it looks like they haven’t done poop duty in a while--they probably haven’t! There is also no excuse for dogs that are covered in ticks and fleas. A trustworthy rescue will treat the dog for these things prior to adoption. The home we visited was filthy. Cat's are walking everyone, increasing the risk of disease spreading.

9. Good Rescues will provide resources for training and or vet care. Rescues want to see the new home work out for the dog and will offer support through suggestions for trainers as well as good vet recommendations. There were no resources provided. The only thing I received was a business card to the vet she associates with, but she used this to her advantage. This was to help me believe that they had already been vet checked 10. Rescues should let you come and view their location BUT some times the location is a private home and not all want to share their private home with you. Remember these are just guidelines and with many fraudulent “rescues” that are only trying to make a fast dime it is important to know what to look for before adding a new rescue dog to your house.