City Of Pearland Animal Control Animal Shelter Pearland Texas

On February 11, 2009 , I placed a call to the animal control department. I left a voice message stating that I would like to inquire about what I must do to be able to adopt a puppy, named Flash (ID A003393). The call was not returned.

On the morning of February 12, 2009 , I again called to inquire about this same puppy. I was told by the associate, Linda, that he had a pending hold placed on him. I told her that I wanted to adopt him. She stated that she was going to go ahead and take the hold off since the other people had not called. I told her that I would come on to Pearland this same afternoon to pick him up. She told me of the application that I needed to fax.

I informed her that I would have it filled out, and faxed, within the hour. At no point in time did she ever mention that this was a first come, first serve basis relying on a fax! Had she done so, I would have been continually calling until I knew that the application was in her hand, and I would have done so immediately rather than completing a task at work! She then stated that there were fees involved. I told her that I would give her a credit card over the phone to pay for the fees if she would take it.

I then informed her that I would do whatever I needed to do because I wanted this puppy. I went on to tell her that I owned my own home with a privacy fence in the back. She asked if I had another dog. I told her that I did indeed have another dog. I stated that she's a cocker spaniel. She told me that I would need to drive to the organization on this afternoon so that the two could meet because she wanted to test the compatibility. I told her that I would indeed be there before 4:30 , which was going to cause me to have to take off from work early, but I really wanted this puppy. Linda went on to tell me of the process that I would need to follow in picking-up the puppy from the Houston Humane Society on Almeda before 4:30 on Friday. I told her that I would be there (again, taking off from work early!) We had a verbal agreement that I would be getting this puppy should my background check clear!

During this conversation, I began to ask questions to try to make sure that I had all of my bases covered to ensure that no loophole would be overlooked on my part. At that point, Linda told me that if I would let her finish that she would get to all of that. I apologized because I was certainly not trying to hinder my chances of getting this puppy!

Later in the day, I called back to see if I should still bring my cocker spaniel in on that day because I had not heard anything from anyone at this business. I was then told by Linda that she did indeed have my application sitting right in front of her; however, another fax came in right before mine, so she was processing that application. I asked if it was the same family from the previous pending. She said, No. This was just someone that had sent a fax, and it just happened to come in right before mine. I reminded her of our verbal agreement as well as every single thing that I tried to do to ensure that this puppy would be mine. She went on to say that she would just wait and see if there was anything that she could do, but she was going to continue processing this random application. I then was placed on the phone with her supervisor, Sheri. I informed her of these same details, and she stated this was her business' policy. I questioned where this policy is written. She went on to finally admit that it was human error, and it was not printed anywhere. I informed her that I was well aware of this because I have printed all pertinent information on adoptions from this business for future reference.

Hhoward
Houston, Texas
U.S.A.