Adirondack Save-a-Stray Adopted a pup for $300, 48hours after arriving to NY from GA. Puppy was over 90 days old and had not been administered rabies vaccine until after crossing state lines. Health certificate states "first shots" were given in GA a week prior to his adoption in NY. Paper trail does not note any quarantine time. The pup was diagnosed parvo+ 3 days after adoption. Adoption fee and emergency vet bill was not reimbursed to the family. Corinth New York

 It is true we have adopters that travel from all over to adopt from us. I do not see how that can be viewed negatively. You were asked to bring the puppy back for free treatment by our vet. You are correct Meredith is not a vet but we do employ one who would have treated your puppy for free. As far as you stating that we told you your puppy did not have Parvo I believe might be a misunderstanding. There are lot of things that can mimic Parvo and false positives are possible from a recent vaccine. We have see this were a pup is down one day and has positive test then the next is up and bouncing. I understand how you may have been insulted that your vets diagnosis was challenged but that is needed to get the full picture. We have to ask the questions. Any and all possible cases of Parvo are taken seriously. The shelter is striped and sanitized and if we still have any of the pups left they go into Isolation. If they have been adopted out we call all adopters to let them know there was an exposer. I was not present for your conversation with Meredith but I'm sure accusing us of "selling sick puppies" did not go over well. We are there to help all our adopters and have never refused to take back and treat a pup, you even acknowledge that yourself. You decided to not bring the puppy back. We cannot resolve an issue when the adopter refuses our help. Your puppy recovered under your vets care and that's great. You have the unconditional love of your pup for many years to come. In that month you adopted so did appx 200 other people we are sorry your experience was not favorable but many others were.

 All animals have appropriate shots before arriving. When we get the rescue plea and committ to a litter or a dog, even cats. They go to the foster for a 10-14 day QT. During that time an appointment is made to see a vet. Sometimes they can be seen right away sometimes it takes a few. Just like with people. Shots are to be given no less then a week prior to transport. That is the timeline and proper protocol. They are also seen and cleared by that states vet and issued an health certificate before being transported up here. Shots can only be done 3 to 5 weeks apart so if there have been no prior vaccines or if the vaccine was just resent it's not possible to have more then before transport. Now let me say that, that is how things were done in prior years. Currently we require two sets vaccines before transport. Which also extends the time they are in foster care as well. We do realize there is allways room for improvement and continue to change our protocols to reduce the chance of exposure. Parvo and distemper are all over the south. It's nearly impossible to never have a case of it. All shelters are subject to it. We are not the only shelter that has had recent cases. We rescue nearly 2500 unwanted pets a year and we have a less 2% problem ratio. When you look at it case by case it seems like a lot however this site is only showing the negative not the thousands of happy,healthy animals we adopt out every year. Our visitor posts on our Facebook page speak for themselves real adopters with real experiences. Our doors are open for anyone to come and see what we do. Judge for yourself before judging through others.

There was one whole week between the time "1st shots" were given in GA and the day he was in our NY home, following adoption. The health certificate clearly shows that. One week. Please explain how that happens if there is a qt time? Do animals wait in a purgatory type limbo world, being neglected the proper vaccinations/treatments?

Familes sometimes travel great distances to adopt from save a stray and when illness strikes time wasted on travel for what could be spent on a simple diagnosis/treatment close to home, is foolish. Parvo was not even on our radar!! Once the grim diagnosis was made by our vet (we had met just 2 days prior for a new pup visit) ASAS was contacted by the vet and later by us. Our call originally stemmed out of concern that your establishment and the dozens of other pups imported were at risk. Not only did it affect us and ASAS, it also put the community you serve at risk. During that conversation it escalated quickly and we were met with defensiveness. Meredith insulted our vet and became very reactive, accusing our vet of a misdiagnosis and insisting she does not sell sick puppies and our pup didnt have parvo. She also insisted we travel with our very ill puppy an hour away, back to your business. For what Im unsure of. She is not a vet. That makes no sense. Our vet recommended a 24hr animal hospital. We also declined to come back there because just a couple days prior there was a case of parvo, at least one being ours. There wouldnt have been enough time from our vet's diagnosis, the very unprofessional phone conversations and us getting to you, for you to sanitize the site.

So sorry you were not happy with your experience with Adirondack Save A Stray. Our adoption fees range depending on the rescue situation. We ask an adoption fee to help cover the cost of transport, vetting and the overhead cost of operation It's all very expensive. When we receive rescues at our facility we review the paperwork. Rabie shots can be given at the age of 12 to 16 weeks. If one was not given prior to transport it is allowed as long as the animal has not bitten anyone in the last 10 days and it receives its vaccine shortly after arrival. When we chose to pull an animal from a high kill shelter they are placed in foster care. The foster then vets the animal at our expense. They are in quarantine with the foster prior to arrival and receive their first shots during that time if not done by the initial shelter. You are provided the Health Certificate, Rabies Cert if of age and Medical History form. We do our best to ensure that all have been fully vetted before arrival and they are again vetted after arriving. We run a fecal test, Giardia test and a Parvo test on all pups and dogs that we take in. 

We have never refused to help an adopter. We have a vet on call 24/7. Had you brought the puppy back to us this vet expense could have been avoided We instruct all adopters call us if there are any concerns and provide them with an emergency contact number in case of emergency.Parvo can be anywhere and sometimes the stress of transport and going into a new home can lower their immunity These pups are rescues and not all will be perfect. We have been saving unwanted animals for 30 years. We deal with an avg. 200 animals a month and have less than 2% problem ratio. We are dealing with lives and rescue animals can be quite expensive. 

Rescue is not an easy industry to be in and there needs to be a better understanding of what's involved. We are sorry for what your family went through but in the end, your family has a wonderful loving companion for many years to come. Maybe better communication could have avoided this whole scenario. We have thousands of happy adopters and wish you could be one of them. Best of luck in the future

ASAS Team