Saving Paws of Washington

My pom is the best. Pompay is well behaved and the shelter lady is a good groomer and pompay loves her best decision i have ever made.

This is 2015 and I urge everyone to do their homework! Contact the WA State Attorney General’s office and find out if this so called Rescue has changed names (which they have done in the past). I am still available to contact should you have any questions or any new information on this outfit.

I sincerely believe this «rescuer» is one of the «rescuers» who are simply doing what they do for the insane price they can then sell these «rescued» puppies and dogs for. When it comes to the care the dogs are getting, and the environment they are kept in, it’s a little disturbing and sad. I had a pretty bad experience with a dog who was healthy and clean when he came to them, and thin as a bone, terrified and covered in fleas when he left. I would never recommend this place to anybody. Unless something has changed substantially, I question their ethics wholeheartedly.

We adopted Charlie July 19, 2014 from Saving Paws at a Petco in Tacoma. We did not receive any medical, microchipping or insurance information and were told it would be mailed to us. In fact we weren’t made aware he came with a 30 day insurance coverage until I received a phone call from 24PetWatch weeks later informing us his 30 day trial period was coming to an end. When we called the insurance back they had an adoption date of July 29^th which was the the date Saving Paws got around to entering the information for Charlie which meant we couldn’t submit a claim for the July 23^rd initial vet visit until we provided proof of adoption date. I emailed Saving Paws Aug 1^st requesting all the information needed to straighten this out as well as the information I was still waiting for and received an email indicating if we have no heard from them in 72 hrs to please re-​email them which I did which prompted an email back stating she was out of town for the week and would get me the information I needed when she got back. Two weeks later I sent another email explaining the importance of not only proof of the adoption date for insurance purposes but also requiring shot information to pass along to the vet. Sad to say I never heard from them or received the documents requested. I had to drive to the Petco and ask the manager if he could provide me with any paperwork that would prove date of adoption which he was kind enough to make me a copy of. In addition, the July 23^rd visit showed Charlie had severe ear infections in both ears which no doubt he came to us with since we adopted him 4 days previously and that insurance claim is still pending to date. It has been a frustrating journey and we still do not have any information on Charlie. I have adopted rescue dogs in the past and I have received phone calls after the adoption wanting to know how our new addition to the family is getting along and NOTHING from Saving Paws. It’s as though they are running an animal mill … in and out as quickly as they can manage. This in itself is very concerning since there isn’t any follow-​up (at least with us) as to how the animal is getting along in his new home. We are incredibly disappointed this adoption process did not go as we expected. Our Charlie was adopted by another family through Saving Paws a month prior to us and they had zero information on why he was returned. Based on our experience we would not recommend Saving Paws as an organization to adopt from. In addition, 24PetWatch has the worse customer service and claims are very lengthy with no follow-​up from them. You have to call them to receive a status on claims submitted although they state they will contact you as soon as a decision has been made.

I hope to provide a balanced view of Saving Paws. I adopted my dog, Cabo, about a year and a half ago maybe (gosh, time flies). My experience initially was of an organization that is in such a rush to save dogs, that they don’t have the best organizational skills. I had originally requested another dog, made the trek to their pick up site, only to find out he wasn’t on the trucks. they weren’t sure where he was, and supposedly found out the dog was kept by the foster family. Is this true? I have no way of knowing.
Then came a couple days of figuring out if one of their other puppies was still available. The rescue society had rescued a female dog who ended up having parvo. She was also pregnant and her litter of puppies were infected as well. At the time, there were two puppies that had survived and the mom had been adopted already. Saving Paws wasn’t able to «hold» a puppy for me as they wanted me to see it face to face, and it possibly already had another hold. That said, we ended making arrangements to see the baby, and Cabo was taken into our family. He was a charmer and knew it. (He was also no longer contagious just as a heads up – we had two other dogs at home, and Saving Paws made sure he was no longer shedding when he was adopted out.)
4 – 6 months in, Cabo got aggressive. It got worse and worse. He started attacking our 4 year old Blue Heeler, then eventually our 5 year old female Basenji. He started showing aggression towards my husband and I and very quickly my husband had puncture wounds from breaking up fights. I got my own at one point. And I mean deep puncture wounds… we both still have scars.
I have been a life-​time dog owner and never dealt with this type of aggression. There was seemingly no exact reason when Cabo flew into red zone, and otherwise he could be so sweet. We had very hard decisions to make.
I called a trainer. An amazing trainer. We went through training both for Cabo, our other male and ourselves. We paid a fair amount. It didn’t fix everything overnight. Cabo got a muzzle. We did major behavioral modification. We gave it 6 months before we made a choice. By the end of 6 months, there was no choice to make. Cabo wasn’t 100% better – we don’t know if he ever will be. But he was part of the family… and was at a point where we could continue working with him without fearing for our own or our other dogs safety. He wears a lighter muzzle and we have hopes that eventually we will be able to let him go muzzle-​free. For now, he plays with his muzzle on (tug-​of-​war and everything), drinks water, plays with his brother and sister (which made us cry tears of joy the first time he did it post all this craziness) and eats without it on. He is a happy dog and his red-​zone behavior has lessened dramatically. He still has push-​back occasionally and tests boundaries, but I work with counseling and such and that’s normal.
Here’s the thing people don’t want to hear. I am giving the organization three stars for their actual organization around pick ups and such, but adopting a dog and that dogs temperament is never a shelter or organizations responsibility. Never. You are adopting a rescue animal. There is only so much they can do and, in the best cases, only so many situations they can put the dog in to see how it reacts. It is the responsibility of the owner to know enough about dogs to assess for behavioral issues and temperament. This is only something you can do if you are experienced with animals. All owners should get their dogs in training right away. The likelihood of an individual being able to do it themselves with often traumatized animals (that’s what they are coming from the shelters) is low. Beyond that, you have to expect an animal (especially a puppy) may grow into a completely different adult behavioral pattern, and be prepared for what that looks like. Don’t blame shelters or non profits like Saving Paws. It’s pointless and perpetuates the lack of responsibility people in America seem willing to take in general.
Saving Paws does well what their aim is – that’s saving dogs from imminent death at shelters in California. We are supposed to do the other part – that’s providing a healthy, learning and evolving environment for the dogs we choose to adopt.

If your plan is to add a member to your family you couldn’t choose a better resource or organization than Paws of Washington! I felt like I was doing a small part and make a difference by choosing a non profit rescue organization who saves thousands of lives a year! The precious lives that have been saved by compassionate individuals like Jacki who give animals a second chance at life when they were surrendered, abandoned, or abused! My sweet pup stares me intently in the eyes with love, affection, and gratitude as if he’s silently giving gratitude and love! The adoption process was simple and straightforward! The dogs were groomed, healthy, spayed/​neutered, all the bells and whistles! I had a few dogs I was interested in and made an appointment to view the dog. I was helped by Jacki who had incredible knowledge and information. She explained the background as well as personality! They really do an amazing job at finding a dog that’s a good match for you! What blew me away is this big hearted woman fosters these dogs for nothing! It’s inspiring! We talked for awhile about animals she had fostered in the past and I was almost brought to tears to hear the drama of animals struggles, suffering and followed by an happily ever after! Please save and change a life that was full of sorrow and give them a life they deserve and adopt from paws!

Unfortunately this rescue has zero ethics when it comes to their business and treating people with respect. They don’t answer phone calls or emails if there is a problem. Be extremely cautious before diving into an adoption.

I recently adopted a dog from this rescue. I love the dog but it was infested with fleas and had to have a $ 900 dental surgery the week after I adopted.
I did not hear from this rescue as promised to provide the insurance and microchipping until I went to the Petco to discuss with the manager. They were able to fax Saving Paws and I received the insurance information and was promised to receive the microchipping. Of course I never heard back. They seem overwhelmed and as such are doing a really terrible job of customer service. A responsbile rescue would have known that a dog had a serious dental issue, rotten infected canine tooth and flea infestation. Good forbid that this dog would have been adopted by a family that could not afford the major surgery and the microchipping. Stear clear of this rescue. Instead contact CHEW in Gig harbor. They are responsible and reliable and not just a dog churning rescue like Saving Paws of Washington.
I have noticed that several reviews have disappeared in the last week or so. Unfortunately, I checked the reviews out after adopting the dog and now several have been erased.
Beware!

Updated to add that several negative reviews have been removed in the last week, so please don’t take the more positive rating at face value. Also be sure to look up this business on the BBB’s site — 10 complaints in 12 months is pretty astounding.

I adopted a sweet, calm and well trained dog from this rescue in September. I would not trade him for the world!
This rescue may be overwhelmed with the number of dogs they are trying hard to rehome, but I saw plenty of happy people adopting healthy pets at their rescue events and don’t doubt the intentions of this organization.
I do think their priority is getting dogs in a home so they are not euthanized and the carefullness gets lost in the volume. I got a good idea of the issues my dog came with from the staff so I feel I made an informed decision to adopt him.
He has been cleared by the vet as very healthy and is showing a lot of progress on his issues because I work with him daily and he is a good natured dog. I am sorry for the few who had a terrible experience. Adopting a rescue pet is a risk (there is a reason they have been given up) and not everyone will be as fortunate as I was. Compared to adopting directly from a shelter where you know almost nothing about the dog, or using Craigslist which is a complete crap shoot, Saving Paws of WA is a step up.
I think this organization may have a few tragic stories, but overall they are doing what they can with limited resources and most people are adopting healthy lifelong pets from them.