Friday, September 23, 2011

Fuck You FOWA

So yeah, As many of you know I've been looking for another dog.
I want one smaller than skutch but I don't want a dog that bounces when it barks....thats a rat, not a dog.
My mom & I had somewhat decided on a Norwich Terrier, that is until my mom saw a dog up for adoption by FOWA (friends of wayne animals) in the paper. her name was Venus. She was a Spaniel/Pekingese mix. estimated about 5-6yrs old. I contacted FOWA imidately. After quite a few phone calls & emails to them I finally got a reply via email, which simply said "Venus will be at PetCo in parsippinay tomorrow from 12-2" by the time I read the email it was 11am on the day she'd be at PetCo. I jumped out of bed and told my mom who was excited to go and see Venus. I showered and we headed out the door. We got there about 12:23. walked up to the FOWA table and waited. and waited. and waited. and waited. The people running it clearly cared more about their conversation then talking to prospective families for their animals.
after about 10mins a woman comes over to us and says "can I help you?" to which my mom politely replies "we were wondering if Venus was here?" the woman says "dog or cat?" I jumped in, "she's a dog, I was told she'd be here" the woman, already moving on to something else says "I only do cats."

Frustrated we walked away, we didn't leave though as we were very anxious to meet Venus. A few mins later I saw a teenage looking girl in a FOWA shirt, I walked up to her and asked her about Venus, she, was very helpful and very friendly. I was glad to finally have someone helping us. She called the foster mother of Venus (who happens to be the VP of FOWA) I'm informed that they're on their way.

About 1:40ish my mom decided she was gonna go walk Skutchy around outside, as she is walking out the door guess who she walks into. Venus & handler. Right away we started talking. She instantly handed me Venus. I fell inlove. We all chatted for over an hour, during which time I filled out the adoption application. Everything had gone great. They needed to talk to Skutchy's vet to make sure we were good dog owners then they would set up a home visit.

The next day she called me asking if they could come by that night with Venus for the home visit, and since my mom was out of state I had to ask them to hold off until wednesday. What I'm assuming happened is that between that Monday morning and Wednesday evening when they were set to come for the visit, is that they had done the home visit with the other family and pretty much decided on them.

Anyway, wednesday came, Venus came for her visit. I loved every minuet of it. She had stolen my heart.
I was aware that they had other applications. but the last thing they had said before leaving was "we'll talk to you on saturday" (which is the annual FOWA dog walk)

Less than 24hrs later they called me, and said "we have decided to let Venus go to another home, we really want your dad to be on board with this. You and your mother seem great and you're obviously good dog owners, so once your father is on board give me a call and we'll set you up with a dog"
In my head I'm thinking "I don't want a DOG, I want VENUS!" but all I could do was say "ok" and cry.
The second I hung up I called my dad, who was VERY angry. He told me to call them back and see what I could do to change their minds. I called, but I started crying halfway through the voicemail I was leaving and hung up. I then gave the phone number to my dad who called himself, saying "How did you know I wasn't on board? you NEVER asked me if I was on board! all you asked is if I was surprised, which I was. But what does me being on board with it matter? Its my daughter's dog, not mine!" They returned his phone call. And guess what, They ALREADY gave Venus away!!! How absurd is that?! I'm almost positive they had already given her away before they called me. My dad was obviously furious. He demanded to know why they even bothered to come the night before, and if it was just to look for an excuse to give me as to why we werent getting her. The woman then changed her story and blamed Skutchy! She said that Skutch growled at venus. (did I mention that she has another dog also and said herself that it growled at Venus occationally over a bone) well when Skutch growled, ONCE, it was past 7pm, Skutch had not been fed, and Venus was drinking out of his bowl. so Yeah! he was a little confused. but did he attack her? NO! did he even get up from his spot on the couch? NO!

I'm beyond upset. I cant believe this all happened. None of it is fair.
I've also been informed of an even more absurd story involving FOWA that happened to a friend.
I'm now looking to North Shore Animal League. and I really hope no one else gets hurt by these people at FOWA.






Venus <3




Penelope, the dog we're now looking at.

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