One Step Closer Animal Rescue — Local services in Hopatcong

I wish I could give them negative 5 stars!! All I can say is power trip... I am a board member on a horse rescue and I DO the adoption reference calls and basically make the decision to place our horses. Key word here is CALL!!! These people "prefer" emails. You can not truly get a feel for a person thru emails. I put in an application for a dog, they called my vet, my vet said they had no records of my newer rescue. They have me under 2 names (I found out), my dogs are up to date on rabies but my other needs distemper. I scheduled that thinking that would make a difference. Well, it didn't. After I explained in an email what happened I never heard back. I called 5 days later left a message to please call me so we can work this out. Not 7mins later I got another EMAIL, basically telling me they require all dogs to be up to date on vaccines and that was it! After that i would definitely not adopt from them! Which makes me sad, because I really wanted this dog... i have a beautiful big home, with a huge fenced in back yard, a doggy door, 2 kids, a wonderful animal loving husband and did I mention we both WORK FROM HOME!? Honestly, it's doggy heaven. My clients wanted the number to this place to tell them they were making a HUGE mistake because they know how we are with our animals. Unfortunately this is type of rescue that is forcing people to do exactly what they are trying to prevent. So...

This seems like an awesome place - we attended an in-person meet and greet with the dogs and the staff, volunteers and pups alike were cheerful and friendly. We tried to adopt through them but have had no success in getting anyone to respond after filling out all the necessary paperwork. We filled out a paper application at the event and notified all our references and former vet that they’d be calling. We were told the approval process would take 3-5 days. It’s been over a month and we haven’t heard anything. I’ve followed up several times via email and phone in the most polite and friendly of ways to no avail and our references have informed us they’ve never even been contacted. Totally understand if the process takes long this time of year, if they’re backlogged with applications or even if they lost our application - but would have hoped for a quick email response or call back just acknowledging our several attempts to check the status. All the dogs we had our heart set on have already been adopted - to great homes I’m sure. We know that’s part of the process and it takes time, but we ultimately had to start looking at other shelters because we simply never heard back. Such a bummer experience for a place that otherwise...

I was so excited at the idea of adopting a dog from OSCAR. I've heard nothing but great things about them, but my personal experience was very disappointing. I have a disabled family member who has little to no mobility, meaning they would not be present during the meet and greet. I mentioned this several times when filling out my application, but when I spoke to Debbie at the shelter, she seemed very surprised to learn that information. That should have been my first red flag. It lead me to believe that they never even read my application. After much back and forth with Debbie, I was basically told that handicapped people don't have the same rights to own a dog as able bodied people do. For an organization that caters to the love and care of animals, I was hoping they would be a little more compassionate. I offered several different options to try to make it work, but could not overcome their abelist mindset. I'm very disappointed. Myself and my family are crushed. Imagine having to explain to your loved one that their disability is the reason why you were denied an opportunity for happiness. It was a heartbreaking experience and I hope that OSCAR can open their hearts to inclusivity...