Complaint Review: AdoptALab

I'm submitting this report to bring awareness to poor customer service provided by Patty and Lee Strayer at Adoptalab.org. This is the BBB report I submitted:

  Adopt A Lab Indiana, Inc.
  5800 S Burlington Drive
  Muncie , IN 47302

 Nature of complaint: The inappropriate behavior by customer service personnel

 Problem description:

  A dog named Candy was advertised as adoptable from AdoptALab on the Petfinder  website. On May 28, 2012 I filled out an application and submitted an email  inquiring if Candy was still available. On May 30, 2012 I received the
  following email from Patty Strayer: "I am sorry we cannot adopt to folks  in TX." I replied, "I am willing to fly out and pick up the puppy  if he cannot be flown alone." To which she responded, "Yes, that would be possible. Indianapolis or Dayton is the closest airport. I have one cocker pup left her name is Candy. Here is her picture. If you are
 interested, please give me a call." Patty Adopt A Lab 765-717-3408 I contacted Patty after spending 90 minutes looking at flights. When I told her  I could pick up Candy on June 13, 2012 she stated that it's not fair to have a puppy in a foster home that long and that she wanted her adopted by June 2,  2012. When I stated that I could look up flights for June 2, 2012 and  inquired of someone could bring Candy to the airport so I can catch the next  flight back to Texas, she stated that it's not going to work out because there were plenty of people who are interested in her and could adopt her by
 the weekend in the Indiana area. I was sad and disappointed but responded, "Ok." A few minutes later I called her back and asked who I could file a complaint with a she handed the phone to a gentleman named Lee (Strayer-her husband). I explained the situation and asked why Candy was advertised on the website if she was already being considered by another person for adoption. He stated that she had not been adopted and apologized  "that my dreams were shattered but we live in a mean world.
  Goodbye." That type of business practice is unprofessional and  disconcerting given that there are pets in need of a home and people who can provide a good home for them are denied for no good reason other than  "we live in a mean world." At the end of the day it's the animal that suffers which is ironic given that these animals were rescued from
 euthanasia and poor living situations. Please educate this company on professional business practices as well as customer service. 

As I started researching this establishment I ran across an article (http://www.justlabradors.com/forum/odds-ends/111894-rescue-group-gone-wrong.html) from 2010 which stated they were neglecting animals and operating without a kennel license.   Dog 'rescue' group targeted by city

Adopt-A-Lab, which is operating without a kennel license, had to remove dogs after the Muncie Animal Shelter found what it considered conditions of neglect.

By KEITH ROYSDON August 31, 2010

MUNCIE -- A local Labrador retriever rescue organization that is operating without a kennel license has complied with the Muncie Animal Shelter's orders to remove dogs to remedy overcrowded conditions.
But Adopt-A-Lab still needs a kennel license -- and must win a zoning variance to obtain that license -- and must take proper care of its animals, Muncie Animal Shelter director Bob Jessee said.

The Muncie Animal Shelter on Friday issued a warning and ordered Lee and Patty Strayer's Adopt-A-Lab, 3515 S. Walnut St., to remove, by 10 a.m. Monday, more than 30 Labrador retrievers from what the shelter director called unfit conditions. Jessee said the dogs were confined to cramped plastic travel crates for as long as 21 hours a day without ready access to food and water.

"The guy has complied with our stipulations of getting dogs removed," Jessee said Monday. "It's a wait-and-see game to see if they continue to comply."

The Strayers' shelter recently had nearly 100 dogs and puppies, although Lee Strayer said only about 40 adult dogs remained on Monday.

The Strayers said Monday that they're trying to perform a public service through their adoptions, for which they charge fees of up to $395.
"We are on pace to do 700 adoptions this year," Lee Strayer said Animal control flux
The Muncie Animal Shelter's action against the Strayers comes while local humane and animal control efforts remain in flux.

While the city operates a shelter, Delaware County government has relied on outside contractors for animal control. Mayor Sharon McShurley is in an ongoing disagreement with both the county commissioners and Muncie City Council over proposals for a joint city-county shelter.

Until a city-county agreement is worked out, animal control will continue to be hampered by limited resources and a few private groups receiving no public funds will deal with some of the stray or neglected animals that escape the attention of government.

On the Strayers' Adoptalab.org website, the organization claims to have placed more than 4,500 Labrador retrievers since 2003. Lee Strayer said Monday the group works with organizations in several states and provided e-mail testimonials from satisfied pet owners Jessee and Strayer agreed that the organization's South Walnut Street location -- a two-level building with a basement that opens onto a fenced back yard -- needs a variance in order to obtain a kennel
license. Ordinances require that kennels be at least 200 feet away from residential property. Strayer said, "We're at 140 feet instead of 200."The Strayers said they were planning to seek a variance from local planning officials.

Jessee said the city's next step is clear."If they deny it, we'll advise him he has to remove the remaining dogs from the property," Jessee said.Lee Strayer showed The Star Press one basement room where the organization's dogs are kept. He pointed out new kennels that replaced plastic crates in which the dogs had been kept.
"They don't want the dogs spending overnight in the crates," Strayer said. "I don't have a problem adhering to their stipulations. I just need time to do it." Strayer said Adopt-A-Lab had been operating from its South Walnut Street building for seven months after years of running the Lab rescue group through foster homes.