Forever Home Rescue New England

We adopted a beautiful hound mix on July 1, 2013. His paperwork was a little confusing showing 3 ages but there was a health certificate and the rescue assured us he was a nice healthy boy. My 10 year old son fell fast in love with him when he was so calm and cuddly. We took him home around 5pm, after a few hours of him sleeping and not having any energy at all I felt him and noticed he was very warm. He woke us that night with very deep wet couching noises. I called my vet 1st thing in the morning and took him in. When we got there he had diarrhea all over the floor, once the vet was able to check him out she said it was a very good thing we got him in right away and she hoped with antibiotic he would be ok. She could hear the sounds in his chest and treated him with cephalexin for pneumonia. Over the next 3 days we gave him his medicine twice a day, held ice cubes for him to keep him hydrated when he wouldn't get up for water and put his food right next to his bed to make sure he would eat. He had a few little bursts of energy but he was mostly really tired and lethargic. He had diarrhea in our house a couple of times and when I picked him up and carried him outside he also had diarrhea. - During this time I was in contact via phone and email with Joanne Wilkinson of Forever home, she is the "director" She refused to pay the initial vet bill, claimed he was vet checked the day we took him which he was not and was shown in his paperwork to be last check on 6/24. She only apologized for the mis-information when I scanned and sent her the document showing the dates. When our pup wasn't getting better on day 3 of meds I contacted her again and said he was going to need to be seen again - because he was still warm, lethargic and having diarrhea. She was extremely rude in all of her correspondence. She even asked my why I took home a sick dog, told me he wasn't sick and tried to talk me into returning the dog, All I wanted was for them to pay for his vet bills, since I had just donated $450 to rescue him. After multiple emails and calls she gave me her "word" if I brought Sparkey to her she would have him seen and cared for by Tufts in Walpole....I brought him to her with his new bed and toys and food and his medicine so she could keep him in the comforts we had him in for the past few days, while he was with her and the vet. She did not take him to Tufts, she took him to the contracted vet the shelter uses in Medfield. That vet gave a report that Sparkey was not sick - but should stay on meds - did not have diarrhea but gave meds to harden his stool....oh and he should stay with her and away from other animals till he is better. I can not for the life of me understand that he left me sick and you could hear the noise in his chest, see the yellow mucus from his nose but miraculously he was cured when she got him to her vet. Through more stressful emails and calls she kept trying to get me to surrender the dog - for no reason, we loved Sparkey and were taking care of him, we just simply wanted them to cover the costs of the vet bills since they gave us a sick dog. - the next day she send me back my donation / adoption fee and a refund of my vet bill and says she is keeping the dog! All I can tell you is if you are looking for a new addition to your family, please look elsewhere! This organization is is run by a very rude and uncaring woman. The record keeping is not in order. The dogs could be sick and they are not organized enough to recognize this before sending you home with a sick baby. And if they do, they want it back - I wonder if it because they know they are wrong and don't want to foot the bill...lose money...get in trouble with the State....or hopefully not to put the dogs down. Very Sad...this was a terrible experience that I hope and pray no one else will have to go through because of this "Non profit" organization!

we are 3-time adopters and are a foster family for this wonderful shelter. the people who assist in the rescue, care, foster, and finally adoptions are so dedicated to the welfare of each and every dog. if we had a huge house, we'd probably adopt more! in the meantime, we love to foster pups of all ages who are waiting for their forever homes. the adoption process is very professional, thorough, and simple. the dogs all come spayed/neutered/microchipped and vaccinated. they usually come house and crate trained and you will receive a free month of pet insurance! they also now have a wonderful "prison dog" program which helps inmates who foster and train dogs. i highly recommend forever home rescue new england.