And boy, am I furious. We filled out an application this weekend, hoping to adopt two young kittens we met when we visited on Saturday. We already have two grown cats but one is getting quite old (15), and we have plenty of room and love and financial ability to care for another pair. I was told to call Monday, after twelve noon, to find out the status of our application.
Let me say early on that I fully approve of a slow, careful application process and am glad for the places that do not allow instant adoptions. We were subject to similar scrutiny when we adopted Max and Fiona. Pet adoptions should not be a spur of the moment decision, and there are enough horror stories to warrant the agencies being careful to check whatever information they need to make sure their animals are going to decent owners. Which is pretty much what I thought we were; our current cats are both pampered and loved.
When I first called JSAC back today, at 12:10, I was informed that we were being denied because the vet I had listed on the application had no record of seeing Fiona. I told the woman "Well, your application asked what vet I use. Now that we have moved to this town, we're using XYZ Vet, but only Max has been there so far. Prior to this, we used ABC Vet where we lived before." So she agreed they would check with ABC Vet and told me to call back in a half hour.
I called back at 1:00, and was told again that we were being denied because ABC Vet didn't have a history of an annual visit for Fiona for 2009 on file. They HAD a record of her visiting twice in that year, but because ABC hospital's records didn't indicate the reason for the visit, it couldn't be considered "annual veterinary care" as far as JSAC was concerned. And they pointed out that there had been a gap in Max's treatment. When I asked when, she said "he hasn't been seen by ABC since January 2011." And I pointed out that that visit was only fourteen months before his March 2012 visit at XYZ. And she said "Well, that's a gap." She then proceeded to tell me that Fiona was overdue being seen by XYZ by now "because it's summer and cats need to be seen at the beginning of the summer for flea and tick prevention." I was getting audibly annoyed when I pointed out her that a) Fiona's last visit was only 10 months ago, and b) we don't get ticks and fleas because our cats don't go outdoors. Ever.
I tried telling her we had a long record of good care, had been many years at LMNOP vet in Red Bank where we'd lived for years, and she then offered to call them to "see about our record" but she was already quite snippy with me at this point, telling me to call back in about an hour.
I called back at 2:15 and was immediately transferred to the director, Pat SomebodyorOther. She confirmed that we were being denied because LMNOP Vet in Red Bank had no record of us since 2007. UM - HELLO? THAT'S WHEN WE MOVED OUT OF RED BANK. She continued to claim that we had failed to establish a history of annual veterinary visits. I pointed out that there had indeed BEEN annual visits, or even more frequently, and yes we did let Max go fourteen months between visits, but we had recently moved here. And I couldn't explain why ABC's records didn't state the reason for Fiona's 2009 visits but it was clear we had a long history of taking our cats to be seen by vets frequently, wherever we lived. And then I guess I pissed her off by pointing out that they were willing to let people with NO experience or proof walk away with their animals, and would allow people to adopt who intended to let the animals roam outdoors, and perhaps I would have been better off lying to her and saying I had no animals at all right now? She responded that "We get people like you lying to us all the time."
I next told her that I'm not the type of person to do such a thing, obviously hadn't lied, had been open to them performing a home inspection, etc. She told me "This has been our policy for thirty years and I'm not about to change it." I started saying how disappointed I was that this wasn't working out (and I was doing this all very calmly and politely actually), and then I realized that this woman, the Director of The Jersey Shore Animal Center in Brick NJ, had hung up on me.
Ohhhhh kaaayyy. I now understood the level of maturity I had been dealing with. How very professional of her.
You know what JSAC? POG MA THOIN.
