I believe Wasatch Animal Rescue is a phony/disreputable scam. I found a mini-aussie on PetFinder.com that was listed at their facility. I contacted them immediately to see if Thumper was still available for adoption. They only way to contact them is via email. I requested an adoption application 3 times which Heather never sent to me and she wouldn't answer my questions about Thumper, although she did respond that the adoption fee was $125 and he was available. Since she didn't send me an application, I sent her a copy of the application I filled out for our local shelter, in hopes that they might have a mini or toy aussie come through for adoption.
My personal reference is my veterinarian, and I was willing to drive 6 hrs (one way) to pick up Thumper, so I was really diligent about continuing to try and get through their adoption process. I sent several emails to Heather trying to make arrangements to come to Salt Lake to pick up Thumper, and she refuses to answer my emails although Thumper is still listed on their website as up for adoption.
Why would a rescue facility fail to work with an applicant that has stellar references and an easily verifiable background?
So, I did a quick internet search for reviews of Wasatch Animal Rescue, and found several negative things. One report has already been filed against them on usacomplaints.com because they stole pictures from an Australian Terrier breeders website. Additionally, Yuppie Puppy documents a bad transaction with Wasatch Animal Rescue, and another potential adopter couldn't find out anyone that had heard of this rescue and reported that that were not a registered not-for-profit, even though their web page states that they are.
I think it is suspect, that they don't provide an address or phone number on their webpage. Our local animal shelter is run by volunteers, and is on an appointment basis, but you can still call them. The only thing that seems to work on the Wasatch Animal Rescue website is their donation button.
There website describes a terrible case of abuse for a little dog named Hope. It sounds to me like the kindest thing to do would be to euthanize Hope because of her severe and debilitating injuries, but they are using her as a fundraising mechanism. But wait... There's more... Even though they can load pictures of everything else on their website, the picture of Hope doesn't actually appear.
I also find their puppy mill story suspect... Supposedly, they travel to the midwest to rescue dogs from puppy mills. Unfortunately, there are a lot of abused/needy dogs a lot closer to Salt Lake than the "mid-west." Wouldn't it be a better expenditure of funds, to take care of local dogs, instead of spending all that money on travel? I think they use the "mid-west puppy mill story" as a smoke screen, and excuse as to when local people aren't familar with them.
Unfortunately, my husband and I have invested a lot of emotion in this situation, because we were so excited to find the breed of dog that we wanted, and then to be able to provide a fantastic home for an abused animal was really going to be fulfilling for us. I now believe that Thumper is a complete fabrication, and that Wasatch Animal Rescue has created a shell of an organization to trick people into donating to their website.
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