PawSafe Animal Rescue
Reviews and Complaints

They are adopting dogs that were unlawfully seized that need to be returned. Here are pictures of some of my dogs they got and refuse to return to me. Instead they block my messages Melissa did.

Puppy had become aggressive with us. She gets excited n tries to bite and barks very loud n long for no reason.

We tried putting her in a crate with the door open n closed- hates when it is closed n barks uncontrollable to be out.

She has many toys but loves to bite leashes- harnesses etc n has chewed thru many.

They said she was part Husky? No way she is- she looks more Terrier n maybe pit bull- the Vet agrees.

We are trying to return her due to the aggressive behavior and the costs of care for her. They said they can't take her back yet or at least a few weeks!

We paid $550 n spent a lot more over the few weeks.

Most shelters will not take her back or they said she may need to be put down cuz of her aggressiveness- I don't get it - she was spoiled here.

On May 22, 2021 I had a scheduled appointment to adopt between 10-10:20 for a specific pup that was returned. I arrived at 10:10 and the pup was already adopted...I spoke to the volunteer stating it can't be possible as my scheduled time had not expired. Denise walked over and stated, you was late and we went to the next. I replied, I am not late I have 10 mins. Nevertheless, she stated that the new owner was a "better fit" I took that offensively as I am a woman of color, ouch how dear she! She never addressed the issue of my scheduled time for 20 mins. I could not find nor could she show me in any written policies that my 20 min is forfeited after 10 mins. I feel as though without written rules to govern who is to say one person is or was discriminated against (better fit)? She spoke to me very demeaning with no remorse but a vague "I am sorry". No rules or policies to show the other family was more favorable to get what I was scheduled and had a scheduled time to adopt. I traveled quiet the distance and defiantly departed early I cannot control traffic. This organization can not pick and choose who they see fit to adopt based on color, religion or creed..my point is this... they must show and follow policies that are fair for ALL people. This is my complaint and I would like them to write and show to the public the fairness of time scheduled, and protected classes as it relates to adopting an animal or volunteer or hire... have it in writing

On 2/25/2017, we purchased a puppy advertised as 10 weeks old from Pawsafe Animal Rescue. Dog was immediately sick with diarrhea and respiratory illness.

After 4 week course of treatment, dog was diagnosed with distemper, an extremely contagious and fatal infectious disease for dogs. This dog and others were likely infectious when they were transported into the state and sold to the consumers.

At time of purchase, we signed a contract with a picture of a dog on the contract and a handwritten dog name. We were also told we were receiving a copy of a vaccination record for the dog purchased and the dog contained a microchip.

The dog has since been euthanized but we have confirmed evidence that the dog contained no chip and the dog we adopted was not the dog represented on the contract or the health record. This is a clear breach of contract case.

Repeated emails to Diane Scuderi went unresolved. We have requested reimbursement for the cost of the dog purchased as well as all medical expenses totaling over $3, 000. Diane Scuderi does not provide a phone number for contact. Further action is pending should Diane Scuderi continue to not assist with a resolution.

I am strongly urging anyone who adopted a dog either the date of this adoption event in Carmel, NY or any adoption event by this organization to firstly - review carefully your contract and confirm animal is chipped.

If you adopted a dog that was found to have an acute illness such as distemper or parvo or any other serious infectious disease from this organization, please file a complaint with the attorney general. The more complaints they receive on one organization the more likely they will take action.

https://forms.ag.ny.gov/CIS/consumer-complaints.jsp

In the state of NY, there are no laws protecting the consumer from these transactions. It is most likely for this reason that Pawsafe moved from their MA operation to NY. MA has very strict laws ensuring the protection of the animal as well as public health.

Please review the following where it is reported that PawSafe was prohibited from doing business in MA:

http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/x1930596091

I encourage you also to file a complaint with the NY State Department of Agriculture:

https://www.agriculture.ny.gov/AI/AIHome.html

If you are considering a rescue dog, I highly encourage you to not participate in these large high volume "rescue" events from dogs from the south. And, most importantly, do your research on the organization and the laws in the state within which you purchase to know if you are protected as a consumer after the sale is made.

While understanding this is a non-profit. The staff for this organization could not have been more rude and unprofessional. You start with an application and then magically get approved to go to an event. They say that all adoptive families are properly screened but many of us know that was not to be true. When you arrive at the event you wait on line to get a number...There were over 100 people and only 45 dogs, needless to say people were on line and there for hours and no dog! They tell you that you can come to the next event but guess what...you wait on that line all over again. Horrible system, disorganized and if you deal with Diane watch out.

When you give them feedback they get very defensive and nasty. If you want to adopt a dog go to a different organization. There are plenty out there that do this much better and you will have no issues such as the other complaints. Pets Alive or Blue City Rescue were much better

I adopted two dogs from Paw Safe in 2015. The first adoption was straightforward and had no hiccups so we had no qualms about adopting our second dog from there as well. Pawsafe guarantees that each dog which comes from them is neutered and fully vaccinated. A few months after getting our supposedly altered dog a testicle had dropped. I contacted Pawsafe and they determined that it must have been an oversight that he was not neutered and their recommendation was to bring him to their vet in Danbury which is over an hour away. I drove him down and the veterinary hospital never logged the appointment so we were turned away to drive another hour back home. Pawsafe offered to reschedule and have someone pick my dog up the night before, bring him to their house then take him to the hospital. My dog gets highly anxious and car sick so this wasn't really practical or in the best interests of the animal. We wound up getting him neutered at our local hospital and the vet had to make three incisions searching for the retained testicle as Pawsafe advised us orginally he must never have had the surgery and was probably cryptorchid. The vet tech assisting the surgery called Pawsafe and was told that the dog had actually been neutered but it must have been a botched procedure where only one testicle was extracted. If Pawsafe had furnished this infornation to me when I spoke with them originally the dog would not have had to undergo exploratory abdominal surgery to find a testicle which had already been removed. And if Pawsafe's first vet had not been negligent in the first neutering the dog wouldn't have had to go in for a second surgery at all. We wound up paying approx $400 for this more invasive surgery on top of our dog's adoption fee of $425 which included neutering. I let Pawsafe know this information and asked if we would be able to get a credit towards our dogs operation as the dog did not come to us neutered as represented and was not even responded to. Needless to say this second experience adopting from PawSafe has been an expensive comedy of errors where the shelter's reaction towards our problems has been defensive and unwilling to actually make up for their own negligence in any practical way.