Today's Distributor LLC

I did acknowledge that you would get a full refund of your adoption fee as stated in the contract we both signed.  That was put in the mail on December the 14th.  I am sorry again for your loss.  We take all of our rescues to the vet before they are adopted to make sure they are...

healthy.  Parvo is something that they do not test positive for until it has broken and they start to show signs.  We have no way of knowing they have been exposed until it breaks.  No rescue on transport that day showed any signs at all.  If they had, we would have cancelled ALL adoptions.  We do understand how serious parvo is and how contagious it is.   All of our crates are cleaned before and after each one is loaded for the vet or transport.  They have 2 solid cleanings between any type of transport.  They are also changed at every stop during transport and if we need to stop in between our scheduled stops we do. The other complaint you read had nothing to do with the litter you adopted from, nor were they adopted the same day.  That was an adopter from about 5 months ago who was waiting on another rescue to come available instead of getting a refund.  We haven't gotten one in that she was wanting.  We do not breed, we rescue.  We do not pick what comes in.  That complaint was resolved between her and I.

I do apologize for not responding in a timely manner to this complaint. My daughter went into labor and a week later finally delivered.  She needed extra care during this time and the first week after the baby was born.   ALL of our rescues do go to the vet and get checked prior to...

being adopted.  We do guarantee a healthy puppy.  Puppies get worms, it is a very common thing that happens. It does not mean the puppy is unhealthy unless it goes untreated.  We also state in our contract, if your puppy does get worms, let us know asap and we will send you dewormer.  All of our rescues get at least one round of dewormer before being adopted.  This particular puppy and his littermates had all gotten a good bill of health and received their health certificates before being placed in their forever homes.  The adopter in this case did try to call me twice.  Both times I was at the hospital with my daughter and unable to take calls.  I left for very short periods late at night while she was there.  I feel that if he goes back and reads his contract, he will see that we have done nothing wrong in this process.

I did contact my bank yesterday to see if the check had cleared.  As of yesterday, it had not.  I did put a stop payment on it and will resend the check out.  You will get a refund.

Complainant's Answer:Ms. [redacted] indicated in her answer to the Revdex.com that they sent a refund on December 14, 2015 and as of December 23, 2015 nothing has been received. After talking to Hands on Rescue (HOR) (Ms. [redacted])  on the day our puppy died on November 24, 2015, they indicated they would refund our money but when nothing came, I called again on December 7, 2015, and Ms. [redacted] said they "did not know we wanted them to post date a check for December 14, 2015."  Previously, nothing was ever said about post-dating a check and when Denise [redacted] said this I said to just post date the check and send it.  She also asked us not to file a complaint which sent a red flag with me.  Again, she has changed her answers many times and at this writing no check has been received and I do not trust that any check has ever been mailed.On November 15, 2015 when we were to pick up our puppy, the crates the puppies were in (4-5 puppies each in about 3 crates) in the van were NOT clean (contained feces) and our puppy smelled of a very rank feces (we later learned this is an indication of parvo) and had over 80 fleas which is dangerous for such a small and young puppy. This can cause anemia.   She also had diarrhea which [redacted] of HOR pointed out when we got her that "one of the puppies had diarrhea but he wasn't sure which one. "  From the minute we had our puppy in our hands she showed signs of lethargy and she was very underweight.  At the time we attributed this to the stress of the trip and leaving the mother but as dog lovers we wanted her and felt we could try and work with her.  Also, we were told by HOR she was 9 weeks of age but I, along with 2 licensed veterinarians, questioned this due to her size, development stage and actions and we all felt she was about 6 weeks old and that she was taken from the mother at about 4-5 weeks of age. During the pick-up, we were provided vet records dated November 5, 2015,  indicating that our puppy received a DHLPP (5-in-1) shot but if a dog is too young this does no good because the mother's antibodies are still in their systems; AND if they are exposed before the shot takes effect (at least a two week window) the vaccine is useless against this virus.    It must be noted that a dog that contracts parvo from the mother dog at birth has parvo that affects the heart; but a dog that contracts parvo as a puppy or adult dog  the disease affects the intestines and bone marrow because these are the fastest growing cells in a puppy.  Parvo symptoms show up about 5 days after the animal is exposed (she tested positive on November 18).  According to the history provided by [redacted] during our conversations with him prior to adoption and the vet records, our puppy was in the possession of Hands of Rescue in Iva, South Carolina during the exposure.  Our puppy also had round worms that they treated her for but we learned she still had two days later at our vet visit and again, the amount of fleas she was infested with did not come from sanitary conditions.  All of this (age of the puppy, underweight, infested with fleas,vaccines too soon) is an indication of poor business practices not to mention the "smooth talk" provided by Mr. [redacted] and Ms. [redacted].Lastly, if I read the Revdex.com complaint correctly, the second complaint from another client was dated November 18, 2015 and there was an additional one from 2013 so I believe that makes 3 total when this complaint is added.  As filed in my original complaint, I would like to 1) receive my refund; and 2) I would stress that the business practice and the condition of this facility be investigated.  In my opinion, this rescue organization is in business for the money but not for the welfare of the animals. Thank you for your attention to this matter.  [redacted]

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. 
[As we had to treat the dog for the same illness over an extended period of time (including medicinal refills and medicated food), it actual comes out to around $247 now. I've attached the itemized receipts, which can separate those charges related to the illness and those not.]
Regards,
[redacted]

I did speak with this adopter prior to everything coming to a stand still on the rescue end.  At that time I did agree to send him $150.  I will gladly send that to him after my first trip up which will be no later than Oct. 7th.  I am sorry if he feels we have been dishonest, but by no means have we lied or tried to lead our adopters wrong.  Our vet is a very competent vet that has been doing his job and well beyond for over 35 years.  I'm not saying he doesn't make mistakes, we are all human.

I am sorry you are not happy with the rescue puppy you adopted.  95% of the dogs I rescue have fleas.  It is a very common for dogs to get fleas.  We do everything possible here at the rescue to rid them of the fleas as soon as we take them in.  We are not going to let them sit...

on them for days just so the vet can see they have had them.  I take immediate measures as soon as they get here to make them comfortable and happy.  That includes them receiving a capstar the day they are rescued, getting a good long bath and then [redacted] treatment.  The rescues that come in without fleas will get a good long bath and [redacted].  [redacted] is used as a preventive.  It does not matter where you decide to adopt a rescue or buy a full bred from a breeder,  both of them are going to use some type of flea treatment.  I do care deeply about what I do to place the rescues into loving and caring homes.  It is not about the money at all.  It is about making sure they get the life they deserve and to never end up in or back in a kill shelter.  In the first conversation with [redacted] you mentioned one flea, when you spoke with me, you were saying 2 fleas.  I did tell you how to take care of that.  At that point, you begin saying a flea infestation.  I took care of this litter myself and I know for a fact they were not infested with fleas.  They had all the treatments and the preventive to keep that from happening.  I am sorry you are not happy but I can not justify a refund when I have adopters who have had to deal with a deadly disease like parvo and their new family member did not survive it.  In the contract, it states a refund will be given in this instance only.

[redacted] - Thank you for talking with me today.  The response shown below is what I attempted to send on Dec 23, 2015.  Again, I do NOT accept Hands on Rescue's response to the complaint as nothing has been resolved.  As of today (December 28, 2015) no refund has been received.   Thank you for your attention to this matter.  [redacted] - This message is in response to the comments made by Hands On Rescue.  I also have no problem with any content of my complaint being posted on the Revdex.com's website in hopes that no one who is seeking to adopt a pet would have to go through the problems and sadness we encountered during this incident.  We have since talked to many rescue organizations and veterinary practices who are appalled at what we experienced.  We are not trusting of the organization as they have not lived up to their part of the contract by providing our refund, but we are also shocked that they do not do better by these animals that they "rescue" and appear to be in it for the money gained on pet lovers' emotions.  Ironically, during the adoption, my husband asked [redacted] of HOR if it was hard to give up the puppies and he said they have been doing it so long that no it wasn't, it was a business.  In Ms. [redacted] response, I would have to ask her to produce a copy of the check or stop payment on the check (we never received) and issue another.