ComplaintsforCoco's Heart Dog Rescue

• Initial Complaint

  02/26/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  This dog was advertised as dog friendly and this is anything but the truth! My dog was viciously attacked within minutes. I slowly exposed them to each other in different parts of my house. Within minutes of a brief meeting, the dog attempted three times to kill my dog. The ** vet said my dog was very lucky to have survived this and because there were three separate attacks on my dog, blood everywhere, the dog was trying to kill mine. Now the rescue is saying its not their problem and they will likely not take the dog back. Im going to have to euthanize this dog, all of these expenses and the cost of ************** hours of picking her up.

  Business response

  02/27/2023

  Good afternoon, 

   

  Thank you for reaching out. We were so sad to learn about this situation. We have a low tolerance for aggression as we fully understand how scary something like that can be. She had been living in a ****** home successfully with other dogs. Our Behavioral Support coordinator confirmed she had met dogs of all sizes and had done well. Our surrender coordinator did respond promptly and sent you the surrender link and we were able to welcome her back early the next morning. Despite doing well in her ****** home with other dogs we are pursuing a behavioral evaluation prior to making decisions about her future to be thorough in exploring the incident and the professional's recommendations about her future. We would like to mention that we do make a life-long commitment to each of our dogs...even if it comes down to pursuing euthanasia. We believe in being responsible and will make that decision for our animals if it is determined to the be right decision by our team. We also will work to implement recommendations that are more clearly communicated- including not feeding dogs together right away. 

   

  We are sending your dog positive thoughts on his recovery. 

   

  Sincerely, Coco's Heart Dog Rescue

  Customer response

  03/01/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  [Please type your response here.]
  
  Regards,
  
  *************************

  Customer response

  03/02/2023

  The rescue had the dog on anti anxiety meds and abruptly took her off. This is why she responded viciously to me and my dog. This dog was surrendered because of the owners cats. I suspect she was trying to kill the cats like she was try with my small 18lb senior happy go lucky pug. The blood stained clothing tells the story of what happened.

  Business response

  03/03/2023

  Thank you for your response. We are very sorry that there was a serious incident. We know how scary those can be. Her bio and photos were submitted by her ****** homes and accurate to their experiences. We have a very low tolerance for aggression as an organization and do choose to euthanize dogs in safety circumstances. G is back in her ****** home with multiple other dogs and doing very well. We are sending both you and your pug positive thoughts. 

   

  Sincerely, 

  Coco's Heart Dog Rescue

• Initial Complaint

  03/18/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  One 12/21/2021 I drove 3 and a half hours from Virginia, ** to ******, ** to do a meet and greet with a dog I expressed interest in. From the time that I reached out expressing interest, the point of contact for the dog changed 3 times. The original ****** family went on a trip to Mexico. The ****** family that had her when I met her, only had her a couple days. They knew very little information about her. I decided to take her because I was excited and the ****** family said that she had moved 3 times in a week, so, whats one more move. I paid $1,093.75. I bought a collar and leash for ****, as I was informed I would just get the dog. The ****** family encouraged me use their lead they had for her, after I was going to just use a regular leash and collar. I had the dog 12 hours and she bolted out of my house. Through the process of her being on the run, I found out from the original ****** family (who had been on a vacation to Mexico) and another ****** family that **** had bolted from them. That information did not get passed along to me. There was a discussion with a staff member named ***** about getting a full refund. Later when I started the surrender process I was provided an option to do a new trial run and then could get 50% refund if after that I decided not to keep the dog. **** was on run from 12/22/2021 until 1/4/2022. I am now told there is no refund. Reason why I didnt take the offer to even get the 50% refund is because the dogs needs would not work for me. Several Cocos Heart staff agreed with me that things were not done well. I will also add the day I went down to meet ****/take her home by the time I got to **************** there was 20 mins before store close. I felt misguided and was offered a way to make it right and then that was taken away from me.

  Business response

  03/27/2022

  Hi *****, 

   

  Thank you for reaching out with your complaint. We are sorry to hear that you are upset. We strive to be a very transparent organization. First, our staff is sorry that you felt you were to receive a refund. Our Coordinator, *****, wanted you to know she could reach out to the appropriate staff but she feels badly if you understood that to mean a refund would be granted. We followed our standard process. The adoption was pending for weeks prior to her adoption...while she was on hold for you. The temporary ****** that finalized her adoption has a history of being extremely through and she felt she and her husband were very thorough with the home visit and meet'n'greet...including safety as she was a flight risk. She also sent you home with a slip lead to ensure she could not slip out of her collar and helped to load her up into your car so that she could show you the ways to ensure she stayed safe in and out of a vehicle. She stated she gave you an option to finalize her adoption, but there was no requirement that evening if you were not comfortable but that you chose too. Regarding her adoption fee we invest in each of our dogs medical care and she was no exception and we rely on our adoption fees to fund our rescue efforts. Additionally when she was adopted and missing we appointed a staff member as a point-person to try to help with her rescue efforts as much as she could. Lastly, since she was returned she has more care that needs to be addressed because of her time missing. We are tending to all of her needs, but again, those are expenses. 

  Thank you, 

  Coco's Heart

  Customer response

  03/28/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  There was no mention of **** being a flight risk, before adopting. The people I met to get her from did not even know if she liked baths. They offered to help her in my vehicle, but not because of any mention of flight risk concern.  Cocos Heart should not feel compelled to use the money I paid for adoption to cover vet expenses from issues she developed from being on run. Everyone I talked to felt like I was set up for failure with ****. I also find it hard to misinterpret a refund, when I am college educated and employed. Her original ****** family shared **** bolted out of a screen door. I dont understand how that was not relayed to me. **** could have died and some how this is falling on my shoulders for responsibility. I sure hope this never happens to another dog and/or customer. 
  
  Regards,
  
  *******************

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