Animal Rescue League of El Paso — Local services in Canutillo

UPDATE the rescue finally called me back a few days after my initial contact/review they came clean saying they didn’t do any behavioral assessment on the dog and they had seen resource guarding issues with him. We kept him for over a month including a week of training at the trainers house and a week of training sessions at our home. D so wanted to be a good dog but his needs were not able to be met by us and his aggression towards us and our dogs worsened. I contacted a local rescue in our area specific to his breed and within a week they had him in foster, he stayed in Foster getting the care and training he needed before being placed with his forever home. He is still there and doing well. This story has a happy ending but overall our experience with Animal Rescue Leauge of El Paso was very traumatic for our family, our existing dogs, and the dog we tried to adopt. Please do not give them your business or donations.

ORIGINAL REVIEW

This rescue painted a very pretty picture when I adopted one of their dogs, I was having significant behavior issues when I got the dog home that had to do with mild aggressiveness over toys and food etc. When I called the rescue for guidelines on how to handle the situation. Mind you before I adopted the dog I had an hour phone conversation asking a million questions about him his background and his behavior becasue I was driving from two states away and wanted to do my best to make sure he would fit in well with my home and other dogs. they told me several times how amazing he was with all the other dogs at the shelter and he didn't fight with anyone.

their response to the agression was just muzzle him and keep him on a leash it will work itself out. When I asked for the manager to please call me back I would like to speak with her, I received a text saying she was busy painting and would call me tomorrow, I responded saying that the issue couldn't wait I would like a call the same day, due to them not being forthcoming about a dogs certain agression issues and placing it in a home without disclosing those behaviors that they were being negligent and I needed a call that day...

the response I got was that the phone lines are "down" and they will have to call tomorrow, this was 5 minutes after I had spoken on the phone with a general employee. I have yet to receive a call almost 24 hours later. also on the phone they had completley changed the story and told me that the dog had nipped someone at the shelter and that these things can't be guaranteed etc. they informed me they didn't do a behavior assesment on this dog, and they had only had him for 7 days pripr to me adopting him so how were they supposed to know. By the way I adopted him from two states away so returning him isn't really a possibility, Animal Rescue Leauge of El Paso's response was oh well it's not like we are going to come get him.

I am meeting with a trainer tonight to come up with a plan to do our best to make this all work, and make it so I can keep my new rescue and not have to put him through the stress of finding another good home. I would NEVER have adopted him had they been honest about his behavior becasue I know it would have not been the best fit for him... I wish the rescue was more honest, and worried more about finding the dogs the RIGHT HOME that can meet their needs, all they really care about is getting the dogs placed quickly.. they are the used car salesmen of rescues do not give them...

You guys are by far evil and the worst place to rescue any pets from. We were very interested in Lilo we went all the way to pet smart to see her and introduce her to our current furbaby who is in perfect health and condition living her life. We were told “no” we couldn’t adopt her because you all claimed she was too aggressive with other dogs. My son and I still hung around for a bit to see if the owner Loretta would make an exception even the store manager offered the training space to allow both dogs to interact. We left because we were told no and talk to someone at the rescue during the week. I had called all week asking about Lilo and same response “no” not even allowing us for a chance. Then a man named Steve finally told me that I don’t need to be calling because it was a HARD NO!!! Owner said I could not adopt her. He also mentioned she was not allowed to be adopted because she was in quarantine due to upper respiratory infection and was being treated. Then Ivonne called me back same day on Saturday and we spoke and agreed to wait till Monday which is today so we can drive out there to once again have my fur baby and Lilo meet since she was in quarantine due to her illness. I went out of my way to get my dog microchipped and ready with everything in line to adopt lilo. Ivonne said I would have to sign a disclosure if in case she was agressive and to not return we were willing to take the chance and give her a loving home. Then comes Monday I call the rescue and found out you allowed another lady to rescue her with 2 dogs when you all were giving me a hard time from the beginning for having 1 dog. Your team knew very well we were very interested and submitted my application since day 1 with pictures as you requested and you let her go to some lady with 2 dogs when you told me she was quarantined. Shame on you and Loretta the owner it was obvious you had someone in mind and had a preference where lilo was going. I will never support you guys and poor animals having to go through this. You all lied straight to my face and gave me hard NOs. Stop using the excuse that you all thought that lady was me because my name is Erica with only 1 frenchie. No wonder people stopped rescuing animals from you. Shame on you!!!! We had everything ready I would love to see if you made this lady sign a disclosure too and gave her a hard time I’m sure that was not the case with her. You all definitely have a preference in who adopts from your facility. Now I know why I was given a hard no!!! Stop lying to people!! My understanding is whoever puts in the application first and gets approved will take the furbaby. We were told she had no other applications pending but because you claim you thought that lady was me. Don’t you ask for IDs information and have those applications clearly this ladies name and mine were not the same. Did you give her a hard time too? None of...

I'm sure the people at the ARL are fine people who loves dogs and I appreciate all they do to re-home the animals entrusted to them.

It is unfortunate my experience was very poor. Initially, I was very pleased with how quickly my application was processed and that I was given an appointment to pick up a precious little dog I was hoping to adopt upon giving the necessary information. I got my hopes up and I was very excited to pick him up a few days later.

Today, I was told that the dog we already own would have to be put on deworming medication before we could pick up the dog we were hoping to adopt. My husband literally took our dog to the vet within less than two hours of being told this information (very short notice and took time out of his busy day). I got a wishy washy phone call a bit later insinuating that I might not get the dog because of something I wrote on the application: that the dog would sleep outside in the summer. (Side note: I think that's perfectly fine because the weather is really nice summer nights and we have a nice backyard but I understand not everyone will agree). Once she told me the dog would need to sleep inside, I explained to her that we could adapt and nothing was set in stone. I even said I'd pay for a trainer to help us with the dog's separation anxiety. There's a lot more to explain but I don't want to make this too long of a review.

Bottom line: the people at the shelter are acting like I said that the dog was going to be outside all the time and that he was going to sleep outside--no questions asked. Maybe I'm not 'bougie' enough to own one of their dogs, and I can't blame them for having a criteria they go by in the adoption process, but my main complaint is that they were extremely rude about how they told me that my application was being denied.

A lady called me and said, "Sherman needs to be inside and we're going to go ahead and deny your application," to which I replied, "Okay..." because I was not expecting her to say that. Then she hung up on me.

I get that you love animals but that should not come at the expense of treating others with basic respect. I'm pretty sure that you guys won't care about this feedback because of the way you treated me but I thought I'd let people know.

It is a shame because I think we'd be an awesome home for a dog. We have a large backyard with lots of shade plus a nice home for the dogs to share a space with us inside with refrigerated air. We go on walks daily as a family. Try not to be so narrow-minded so that more of your dogs can find...