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I had seen a Facebook post about a dog for adoption in mexico and she seemed like a good fit for our home so I contacted the group No Borders Animal Rescue Society, who was in charge of the adoption. When I received confirmation that I would be the owner of the dog i was so happy.
I coordinated the pick-up date with the rescue company who assured me that the adoption process would cost no more than $150, which I was fine with. When I arrived at the airport I was greeted by a Canada Customs employee who had asked me if I was the owner of the dog. I said, "Yes." He then had told me that my dog was going to cost $555 in importation fees.. and that I wasn't permitted to leave YVR until his importation fees were paid for.
As a grandmother on a pension this is more than I was expected to pay, and more than I was able to pay. I tried to contact Robin who was the contact for No Borders Animal Rescue Society, and she told me that this was standard adoption process fees. There was no warning or mention about any fees in excess of the $150 which I had paid. I was held by Canada Customs for more than 3 hours as they interrogated me, ran medical tests on the dog, and during that time the No Borders people would not answer their phones.
I finally was able to get my son to come to the airport and he was able to pay the importation fees, but by that time Canada Customs had increased the fee to over $1000 because of the medical tests which they had to perform. I was unable/unwilling to pay that amount as I considered it extortion, and the dog was kept in the custoty at the airport.
I suggest that everyone consider whether a dog is worth $1000 for an adoption and if so - maybe deal with a more reputable agency who will actually protect the adoptive family. Not just try to make travel plans without the experience or know0how to properly import a dog from Mexico. It's also my recommendation that the government investigate these people as they do not have the interests of the dogs in mind.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer's satisfaction.
After paying the application fee and being turned down, I now find myself wondering if this is a scam organization. If this is a real dog rescue organization, they are doing these pups a disservice. We have several English bulldogs already (bought from breeders). We are mature adults (in our 50s), offer a very nice & stable home on a fenced in acre lot. We are unquestionably finally capable of providing one of their 'dogs in need' the long term medical attention and care English bulldogs often require. If they turned us down, I cant help but wonder how many other good homes they are collecting the app fee from and then turning away. This is either a scam or they should be ashamed of themselves. Non-profit dog rescue organization.. In hindsight, very suspect - very suspect indeed.
I will attach full evaluation, application and full conversations .
Same thing here, they had my mom about to leave in a few hours to pick up our new family member from Calgary, told us everything was good to go and we passed the adoption process. Got a call a few hours later, a few hours before leaving for Calgary, and we were told that our pets were too overweight for us to adopt, and that we would not be picking up our new friend. This would be fine, had they told us this during the inspection, and before they went over the entire adoption process, including telling us how to pay them. Thank god we didn't get to the point of when they charge you hundreds of dollars in importation fees, as it seems as though this entire organization is a scam.
James, I am well aware of this situation.
Our process and procedures include an application, a phone interview and a home visit. Your mother was advised of this. She wanted YOU to be able to pick Bella up at the airport prior to these procedural steps and I said no. All adoptions must be completed the same way.
This adoption was rejected. We did not feel it was a good fit for Bella after the inspection. I will not get into our rationale with you because it might embarrass your mother. However, this is a direct quote from me to her prior to the home visit (June 12, 2017):
"Please don't concern yourself with cleaning...we are not interested in that. We want to know eating habits, walking habits, where she'll sleep, can she get out of the yard, are there any hazards for her, if she does get out-do you have a plan? And things of this nature"
After inspection we did not feel this was a suitable environment for Bella
We are not a scam. We are a Registered Charity and non profit society which abides by all rules.
We rescued Bella once and do not want to rescue her again in Canada . To allow this adoption to take place would have been irresponsible on our part, as we take every adoption and placement seriously and on its own merits.
My name is Ali and I am a transport/foster caregiver. I picked up a little Mexican dog named Panda from the Vancouver airport and kept her at my home overnight until she was ready to be transported to another foster mum who cares for her until she was ready to be handed over to the loving family that had adopted her. There were absolutely no catches, glitches or issues. All that was experienced was a little bit of a sleepless night due to a little puppy having to pee every few hours... Other than that, all that occurred was a well organized transaction to save a life.
Being in Mexico as I write this, I have witnessed first hand the extreme neglect and cruelty experienced by these innocent beings. It is enough to bring you to tears and more than enough to change your perspective on whether or not these animals are worth $1, 000. In actual fact these animals are worth more than their frail weight in gold. It is a living horror story what happens to them in Mexico.
It's great that you thought of adopting a dog, but know that adopting an animal goes far beyond the intial fee (which is pennies compared to the airline, medical, treatment fees), it is a commitment to 10+ years and $1, 000's of dollars.
It is people that run and support organizations like Nobars that are saving one dog at a time and in no wants to make the process any more difficult than it has to be.
I adopted two little dogs from this agency and they followed the exact policies and protocols outlined on their website. I dealt mostly with Maggie for our little twins but they were incredible to deal with. I couldn't have met a group more for the dogs than them .
Wow! My family and I adopted our little fur baby" Osa Bear" last November from this organization. Our pup is a joy to our family. We had such a positive experience and I must say although I am in Calgary...the process as exactly as described by Robin as above. Much..much thanks to Maggie who helped facilitate our adoption. When I think of the endless hours that these people volunteer to try and help these little creatures...I sincerely hope comments on this page are being said with the utmost consideration!
I mean Bad things. I have a friend in Edmonton who adopted her dog thru them and she told me she never got his vaccine recrods because they had lost them. And they wouldn't help her get another one from Mexico. Instead they told her to call the volunteer who brought her dog to there home because she must have stolen it! She had to pay to get him his shots again because she had to show the kennel that she was bording him at. I met the dog and he's great but this nobars group, and Robin, was not very organized and sounded really not like professionals.
I have also heard back things about this organization!
This is Robin. I have no record of any emails from you. Nor did I have any conversations with you. Advise of how and when you paid this $150.00. I show no records of this. According to you, you have my contact information, so contact me.
Your accusations do not align with our standard procedures and policies.
We don't charge $150 for adoption fees. Our adoption fees help to cover the cost of medical. The dog’s veterinarian bills are significantly higher than $150.00.
As a Registered Charity with an import permit with CBSA, they most certainly would have contacted me via phone or mail. We would have been fined significantly for importing a sick dog.
CBSA would absolutely have contacted us if a dog was seized at the airport. I have not received a phone call, email or mail from them, as I am the authorized signatory. A dog seized at the airport would not be taken lightly. What happened to the dog?
We never send dogs alone on flights...ever. They are always escorted by travelers.
I was in Puerto Vallarta at this time, and I would have been the person placing the dog on the plane. All dogs that were placed on the planes to Vancouver have arrived safe and into the homes of the Team Volunteers.
Volunteer Team members pick the dogs up from CBSA on every flight. At least one of these ladies is at the airport to clear the dog through Canada Custom. Every time and without fail.
NO dogs are ever picked up at the airport by their adopter. A team volunteer picks up the dog from the airport. The dog is fostered overnight to assess the level of stress. Once the team volunteer is satisfied that the dog is ready, the adopter is contacted to arrange a time to meet the dog in their home environment. We never allow pickup at the airport unattended...ever. We always visit in home.
We never adopt without a home visit... ever. Our procedures are to first fill out the application. Once received, you would have been contacted by a specific team member in Vancouver for a phone interview. After satisfying this criterion, a home visit prior to meeting the dog would have taken place with another team member.
Robin does not facilitate any adoptions in Vancouver. Robin does not facilitate any adoptions in Calgary. That is not my position. You would be contacted by a volunteer in Vancouver to follow up with any adoption.
CBSA...Canada Border Services Agency would not have run medical testing. Any testing would be performed by CFIA...Canada Food Inspection Agency. CFIA veterinarian would have taken the dog offsite and into quarantine for testing. Any testing would have been by the Government vet. And the testing would have been significantly longer than 3 hours. It would have been days!
CBSA head office will open in Calgary on Monday at their office on Aero Drive, at which time I will ask them to launch an investigation into this accusation. I will provide your name, Debrah McCain, as I am sure there is a record in the Vancouver CBSA offices regarding this alleged incident. If it happened as you describe, there will be a record.
So many of your claims are so farfetched that we will also ask the RCMP to investigate further; to find out who authorized this dog to be imported, who used my name falsely and who used No Borders Animal Rescue Society falsely, in an effort to determine the validity of your claims.
We do not take accusations lightly and it does not go unchallenged.
We had the same experience actually. We were ready to adopt a dog from a reservation up north and at the last minute they said it wasn't happening .. that they weren't going to rescue the dog after all.
My kids were all excited to get a dog and it was really hard to tell them that it wasn't happening. We ended up adopting a rescue dog through another organization and the whole procedure went smoothly.