Infinite Woofs Animal Rescue Society

I apologize for you not receiving this last week It was in my drafts box, and not forwarded on Can you please confirm your received it this time?Thank you for bringing this situation to our attentionAs an Animal Rescue we always act with the best interests of the animals at the base of our decision makingWhen an individual decides to rehome their pet, we spend the time to address any questions and to make sure they understand all legal rights are surrendered when they choose to hand an animal over to usThis is also outlined in our website; where this particular person found our informationIn this particular situation, our dog team spent months discussing the process and what it entailsText messages stating "I've made up my mind and would like to rehome the dog, where can I meet you" prove this dog was not taken against the owner’s wishesThank you for the opportunity to address the issue at handWe have retained legal council in attempt to make sure we are doing the absolute best for the dogThe person making the accusations, has also posted on [redacted] says we stole her dog, and providing several defamatory and negative slurs at our organization We also have texts from this person and her sister, threatening many members of the boardEven threatening to stalk them online if we did not concede possession of the animalThank you for the opportunity to address the issue at handWe have retained legal counsel in an attempt to make sure we are doing the absolute best for the dog, and that the safety and mental well being of our volunteers has not been compromised If you have any further questions, please let me know If you require and other information or documentation, please contact meThanks, ***.Lori WhiteTreasurerInfinite Woofs Animal Rescue Society

I apologize for you not receiving this last week It was in my drafts box, and not forwarded on Can you please confirm your received it this time?Thank you for bringing this situation to our attentionAs an Animal Rescue we always act with the best interests of the animals at the base
of our decision makingWhen an individual decides to rehome their pet, we spend the time to address any questions and to make sure they understand all legal rights are surrendered when they choose to hand an animal over to usThis is also outlined in our website; where this particular person found our informationIn this particular situation, our dog team spent months discussing the process and what it entailsText messages stating "I've made up my mind and would like to rehome the dog, where can I meet you" prove this dog was not taken against the owner’s wishesThank you for the opportunity to address the issue at handWe have retained legal council in attempt to make sure we are doing the absolute best for the dog. The person making the accusations, has also posted on *** *** *** says we stole her dog, and providing several defamatory and negative slurs at our organization We also have texts from this person and her sister, threatening many members of the boardEven threatening to stalk them online if we did not concede possession of the animal. Thank you for the opportunity to address the issue at handWe have retained legal counsel in an attempt to make sure we are doing the absolute best for the dog, and that the safety and mental well being of our volunteers has not been compromised If you have any further questions, please let me know If you require and other information or documentation, please contact me. Thanks, ***.Lori WhiteTreasurerInfinite Woofs Animal Rescue Society

Complaint:
I am rejecting this response because:
Sincerely,
Marie M***
Infinite Woofs has made no effort to resolve this complaintRather they have repeatedly lied about this situation, including their response to this complaint
They hired legal council because they realized that the intake of my dog was illegalTo date they have failed to provide proof of legal surrender at different times, then hired legal council to deal with meTheir legal council also refused to provide legal proof of surrender claiming the surrender was voluntaryI have tried everything to settle this matter without going to court and they have made no effort to settle this matterThe attached email discloses this conversation
As for the *** *** post, their comments are again falseI posted on *** *** looking for help on how to get my dog back from themThere were no defamatory remarks nor did I state that my dog was stolenI simply stated that IWARS took my dogI asked for the post to be taken down because of the slanderous remarks towards me by people that are associated with IWARSThe email attached also discloses the conversation with the shout out post
Their team did not work with me for two months at all nor did they offer at any time to work with meTheir interest was in getting the dogPeriodThere was a total of emails and two texts from the month of October to DecemberThis again is a lieAlso, IWARS knew at all times the status of the ownership of this dog and at the time the dog was given to them, I was not the dog's owner on that dayThey were very aware of this from day There are emails and texts to prove this too
This organization does not have the animals best interest at heart at all because if they did, they would have not tried to re-home my dog and rather work with me to bring her back to my home, where she is familiar with her surroundings but chose to have her at different volunteers' homes in the span of two days and then a 3rd home when they rehomed herThey have caused this dog severe separation anxiety as a result of moving her to different homes(This is what they state on their website by the wayTo not rehome the dog since it causes sever separation anxiety)
In January, I posted a negative review on their website based on my experienceMy post states that people should do their research before working with this organizationIWARS blocked my access from further commentsDoes this seem like slander or does this prove that they've tried to deal with this situation? Not at allThey took my dog without protocol and have caused nothing but pain and suffering both to me and my family
Thank you for your attention

Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because: I advised them that the government will not accept their adoption finalization form as a receipt and I needed a proper receipt for themThey instead insisted they get the name of the company I need the receipt gforto contact them which the government refuses to doI was a volunteer at the time that I adopted him, but not the presidentI took that position after the fact and left on my own accord because the rest of the board (including lori w***) were misusing funds and trying to falsify records and using me as a scapegoatAccording to this email that I've just received they are starting *** accounts under names to boost their ratings and now blaming that on me tooI'm not sure what the other stuff mentioned is aboutAll I am asking for is a receiptI did post a negative review about them on *** under my own account which I am allowed to express my opinion about my experience with them as that is what that platform is forThe issue at hand is that I paid them money, I have a disability and am required to submit receipts for my taxes for things regarding said disability but they refusé to issue one* *** *** * *** ** * *** *** *** ** ** *** * *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ** *** *** *** ** *** *** *** *** *** ***
Sincerely,
*** ***

Hi There, Just wanting to respond to the complaint from [redacted] about Infinite Woofs Animal Rescue Society  not giving her a receipt for the adoption of her dog. Our adoption forms serve as a receipt, and she does have a copy of this.  On the adoption form itself, it asks...

for price, who accepts it, and what form of payment was received.  We do not do any other type of receipt.  We did ask her what other kind of receipt she required.  And she said she didn’t care, just send it to her, we know her address.  She was needing the receipt for the government, as she is trying to register her dog as a service animal, I believe.  We just wanted to make sure we were sending her the correct thing she required.  She then went on to lambaste us on [redacted], before we even had a chance to get the receipt in the mail, or confirm she was getting everything she needed. [redacted]  If you would like to have a meeting to discuss this or any other complaints you have gotten in regards to us.  I would be happy to chat with you any time. Thanks, Lori W[redacted] Infinite Woofs Animal Rescue Society.LORI W[redacted] | Pricing Manager4810-92 Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta, T6B 2X4 Phone: 780-485-6402 | Fax: 780-490-2893 | Cell: 780-499-3392Email: lori.w[redacted]@sonepar.ca

Good morning, I am writing on behalf of the Board of Directors of Infinite Woofs Animal Rescue Society (IWARS) in response to Complaint ID [redacted] regarding a second response by the complainant. I am hoping my response will be found to be thorough and that we can finally put this matter to rest. I felt the best method of response would be to go over the entire issue from our perspective. On December 20th, 2016 we received a request from a volunteer (for purpose of this communication we will call them [redacted]) who was, at the time, both a member of our Board of Directors and the Manager of our Dog Administration team, requesting a vote from the Board to get permission to hire a lawyer on retainer to deal with this issue. At that time the information that we were given was that in October, the complainant, who was not yet (to our knowledge) the owner of the dog had filled out an online surrender form and showed veterinary records stating that she had permission to act on behalf of the owner in the dog’s best interest. They were contacted by our team who let them know our process of animal surrender and that it is an irrevocable decision. On December 1st they then contacted our team stating that they were ready to bring the dog in for surrender and that the previous owner had signed ownership over to them so they were within their legal right to do so. The complainant acknowledged at this time that as they had completed the online surrender form this would stand, and brought in the animal as well as the animal’s possessions, leaving them in the care of our team. The complainant was asked for a surrender fee but to that we received no response and the fee was left outstanding. This fee is a charge by the organization to process a surrender and does not negate the legality of the surrender.  On December 3rd she then contacted our team stating that she had changed her mind and wanted to take the dog back. Unfortunately, as our online form clearly stated (we no longer have an online form for dogs as surrender requests were getting too frequent and hindering our ability to rescue those in more dire situations such as strays with severe health and nutrition issues) and as is customary policy among rescues in Alberta, once IWARS intakes a surrendered animal, the owner has surrendered all rights to the animal to IWARS. This allows us to prevent an animal from ending up back in the situation that they were in that lead to their surrender in the first place. IWARS has since held the dog in foster care as unavailable for adoption until this matter is resolved as the Rescue does not wish to rehome her until we can be sure there will be no negative experience for either the dog, or their potential adopter. The complainant then asked if she could go through our standard adoption process and submit an adoption application. They were told that they could, but that ultimately the decision regarding what home the dog ends up in is up to the foster home and administration team, and that if they felt there was a more suitable home available they would be given priority over someone who had already surrendered the animal once. [redacted] then asked the complainant a series of questions that are standard for potential adopters, and asked the complainant how they planned to overcome the challenges that lead to the original surrender. The response to this line of questioning by the complainant was to post a complaint on the website, [redacted] Edmonton, making untrue accusations towards the Rescue. None of the Rescue’s Board or Admin teams responded to this post, although we did receive support in our defence from members of the public. Unfortunately we have no record of this post to share as it was removed by the complainant. To my knowledge at the time of drafting this response, the Rescue has not received an official adoption application form from the complainant. When the Board was asked, on December 20th for a vote to retain a lawyer, the above information was the information we were given by [redacted] to back up the reasoning. The Board took it under consideration and weighed the options of waiting it out to see what the complainant would do next, or hiring a lawyer and ultimately it was decided that retaining a lawyer was the responsible thing to do for two reasons: The complainant was publically and privately slandering the rescue and our volunteers via social media and direct texts to volunteers and we felt we needed to act in a way that would demonstrate that we were doing our best to resolve the situation, and that in order to do our due diligence as an organization we wanted to consult a lawyer for legal advice to clarify the law surrounding the issue. It was also decided that obtaining a lawyer, while an expense to the rescue, could prevent potential for even larger expenses if the matter blew up without legal advice. At this time (December 20th) the complainant was still sending texts to a coordinator on our team, first stating that they would no longer take phone calls from our team – only text or email, and again asking us to return the dog as they were the legal owner. Unfortunately, as stated above, even if the original owner had signed over past ownership to the dog to the complainant, the surrender form still stood and they had revoked all rights to the dog as soon as it was in the hands of the rescue. We had instructed our volunteer to not reply to the texts while we were still coming to a decision, and the complainant continued to send them threatening that it “would not end well for you” and that courts would not favour the Rescue. This essentially sealed the board’s decision to obtain legal counsel and we moved forward to obtain the advice of a lawyer who we will keep on retainer for the duration until this issue was resolved.  On December 21st we received a message from the complainant that we were “trying to keep this quiet” and saying the Rescue would hear from them again, that they had contacted [redacted] and [redacted], and threatening to give out our social media account information and names (we are not sure to who they were meaning to give this information to). The complainant informed us that we had until 5pm on December 21st to return the dog or they would go forward with their threats. On December 23rd we received a letter from the complainant addressed to our President stating that they had enclosed veterinary records as proof of ownership and that if they (the complainant) commenced with legal proceedings the letter would be used as evidence of the rescue’s failure to resolve the matter and that the rescue would be liable for any court costs, fees, damages, etc and suggesting we obtain legal counsel. As described above, at this point legal council had already been obtained by IWARS and this letter was forwarded to our lawyer. Once a lawyer had been obtained by us, all communication was done via the lawyer to ensure that all future proceedings were handled properly. On January 7th the Board was made aware that the complainant had informed our lawyer that they would be filing a civil suit and a human rights complaint although we have not heard anything to date regarding either. On January 17th our lawyer informed us that they had been approached by a mediator on the complainant’s behalf, who asked if we had interest in mediation. Our lawyer advised us that there was nothing to mediate, so we did not proceed. By February 1st we were informed by our lawyer that the only further communication they had had with the complainant were questions that they could not answer on the basis of solicitor-client privilege, however that is the same day we received the Revdex.com complaint from the complainant. As you know this was responded to with a high level description of the case on February 13th. Given the second complaint from the same complainant that we have now received I felt it to be in everyone’s best interest to give much more detail so that the entire history of this complaint can be understood by all parties. Now, directing the most recent complaint only: Infinite Woofs Animal Rescue Society will not be dealing with the complainant directly as we have hired legal counsel to do so, our legal counsel has been instructed to only reply if there is an official reason to do so, so that the rescue is not charged legal fees for unnecessary communicationWe hired legal counsel, not because we realized that the intake of this dog was illegal, but because the complainant was threatening legal action and we chose to be proactive so that we could receive the best advice possible as we moved forward, as well as to keep communication with the complainant away from our volunteers and those members of the Board who were feeling threatened by themWhen the surrender form was completed online, and then the animal was brought in to the rescue along with their possessions and left in the care of our team, that completed the surrender process and the complainant surrendered all rights to the animal at that time by doing soNo further proof of voluntary surrender is considered required by our legal counsel as the online form was filled out and the animal brought in by the complainant and left in the care of our team by the complainantIWARS cannot comment on the [redacted] post at this time as we did not receive the email referenced as attached in the complaint and the post was taken down before most of our Board of Directors had a chance to view it. [redacted] is a public forum and thus, IWARS has no control over what happens among members of the forumWe believe the 2 months the complainant is referring to, stating IWARS did not work with her would be between the online surrender form being filled out and the dog coming in to be surrendered. We don’t “work with” potential surrenders because we do not wish to encourage surrender.As stated above in the previous description of the case: in October, the complainant, who was not yet (to our knowledge) the owner of the dog had filled out an online surrender form and showed veterinary records stating that she had permission to act on behalf of the owner in the dog’s best interest. They were contacted by our team who let them know our process of animal surrender and that it is an irrevocable decision. On December 1st they then contacted our team stating that they were ready to bring the dog in for surrender and that the previous owner had signed ownership over to her so she was within her legal right to do so.We have not rehomed this dog, the dog remains in the same foster home they have been in after spending time with 2 different members over a period of 2 days of the team while an appropriate foster was found. The dog has been in the same home since December 3rd and will not be adopted out until this matter is considered closed.It is unclear to us what the complainant is referencing regarding the website and separation anxiety, nor how the complainant would know what current mental state the dog is in given that the complainant has not had contact with the dog in nearly 3 months. To our knowledge this dog is happy and ready for permanent adoption as soon as this matter is settled.IWARS did not block the complainant specifically from making reviews or comments on our social media pages, but rather made the choice to remove the section from our page entirely while this matter was at hand to prevent any further damage to the rescue and its mission which is ultimately to protect the welfare of the animals and act in their best interest. The public is always free to review organizations as they see fit but when one person makes it their personal mission to destroy the reputation of an organization that exists solely to rescue and rehabilitate animals this puts the animals at risk. However, we do agree that all people looking to adopt an animal should do their research on what rescue will best suit their needs.Infinite Woofs Animal Rescue Society fully recognizes that the last year has been one of transition with a new board and leadership, we are currently in the process of ensuring that all policy and protocols are up to date and adhere with industry standards as we prepare for our upcoming Annual General Meeting, and we are always working with industry consultants and other rescues to exchange best practices and advice on how to best deal with all situations that may arise in a sector where passions run high. As an organization we feel that seeking legal counsel in this matter and acting on their advice has been in our best interest and that of the animal’s to ensure that the matter is handled professionally and that we come to the best resolution for the dog’s welfare. Thank you very much, please let me know if there is anything else you may require regarding this matter. Warm regards, Andi R[redacted]Infinite Woofs Animal Rescue Society - Director   Andi R[redacted] [redacted] [redacted]