Complaint Review: Dachshund Rescue of South Florida AKA DRSF

On July 20th, 2010, I contacted Dachshund Rescue of South Florida for assistance in paying some anticipated vet bills.  I am a Cancer survivor (Ovarian) and have no children or family.  I have been struggling since I lost everything through a terrible marriage and divorce (business, savings, house, even my car) I lost both my parents to Cancer and my best friend in the world had gastric bypass surgery and it failed.  She is in an irreversible vegetative state. I had to move out of where I was living because the owner of the home let it slip into foreclosure.  Daisy (my little girl) became unexpectedly pregnant.  She is very small, so she was pregnant with only one pup.  I had contact with DRSF earlier last year when I surrendered some of my mother's dogs to them (with the loss of my income, I could not properly provide for them)  The experience was less than pleasurable. 

I thought they would be able to help me with her vet bills because at the time not only was I forced to move unexpectedly, but my employment contract with the state of Florida was expiring and I was facing unemployment (turns out that I ended up not being unemployed, I was offered another position the day before my contact was up)  I should have known better, the entire experience was so traumatic.  I took her to my vet to confirm her pregnancy (by an x-ray), and then contacted DRSF to arrange to surrender the pup to them.  They told me to take Daisy to their vet, and when I arrived, they told me that her life was in immediate danger and that she could possibly die because the pup was too large for her to deliver normally. A former veterinarian told me that she would never become pregnant because of her size and an anatomical/hormonal abnormality.  I should have had her spayed before, but I have been trying to stabilize my life for over seven years now. My dogs were NEVER neglected. I signed the paperwork and included that I was surrendering the pup under the agreement that I would be able to re-adopt Daisy as soon as her pup was weaned.

This began an 8 month struggle between me, Janet Perkins, Jennifer Hessley and others connected with the rescue.  I re-applied to adopt Daisy in August 2010.  I was required to submit the vetting records and references to complete the adoption.  After I had brought my other dogs current on their vetting (I had intended to anyway as soon as I got a permanent, stable job) gave them references and requested a home visit, I kept getting put off.  Jennifer Hessley told me that they were "too busy" to process my application, that half of the board resigned and they were short-handed.  I didn't want to push too hard, because they had her; I didn't.

After hundreds of e-mails, text messages and phone calls, I received the most shocking news of my life.  On March 24th 2011, Tom Botts (a former, current board member) contacted me to inform me Daisy was missing.  She had "run off" from her current foster caregiver, Ed Shapiro. 

I had Daisy for 7 years.  She suffers from separation anxiety, loud noise phobias and an enzyme deficiency; all which she takes medication for.  When she rides in the car, she gets very nervous.  Mr. Shapiro is a process server, and supposedly on March 3rd, she was riding in the car with him and "disappeared" somewhere along his route.  He stopped in 13 locations throughout Miami-Dade and Broward counties in Florida.  He doesn't "remember" the last time he saw her in the car that day which is a TOTAL lie because of her personality.

They waited 3 weeks to contact me to tell me Daisy was missing. 

Tom Botts told me that they never intended for me to re-adopt her, and that the remark was made by Janet Perkins "Well at least we know that her other dogs have been vetted"  I had every intentions of taking my animals to the vet for their annual exams and shots as soon as I started a new, permanent job.  I made $250,000 a year before losing my business:  I make $30,000 a year now, that's why I surrendered some dogs earlier in 2010.  I inherited 7 dogs from my mother, and as a promise to her before she died, I told her that I would take care of them until they passed away.  After my Cancer diagnosis, treatment, and losing my job; I fell behind in vetting my remaining dogs (4).  My mom's dogs, I just couldn't care for and made the difficult decision to surrender them to the rescue. They were only behind in vetting about two years.  These dogs are inside pets, and I even contacted my vet and he told me not to worry, but just bring them in when my finances stabilized.

Janet Perkins has never met me. The day that the "rescue force" came to my house to "save" the dogs I was surrendering, I was in the process of moving and the house was a disaster and dirty from everyone walking in and out of the front door. I had lost my job again (I was unemployed for 12 months during the past three years) and couldn't take all of them where I was planning on living.  They made me out to sound like some kind of animal abuser, hoarder and all around terrible person.  I contacted THEM to surrender my mom's dogs, no one contacted them on me. They have posted lies about me on Craig's List (of which I have copies) and have slandered and libeled my character and reputation. They have even gone as far as to tell everyone that I am lying about having Cancer.  I have proof of all of these attacks.

I made it clear from the beginning that I wanted to re-adopt Daisy.  I only signed paperwork surrendering her pup.  Their vet made it sound like she was going to die if they didn't do an emergency surgery to deliver the pup.  I was hysterical, but I only signed the paperwork for the unborn pup, not Daisy.  They took her from me and my world crumbled.  I told them as soon as I started my new job, that I would pay them back for her vetting expenses.  I offered to pay them back for ANY costs incurred to DRSF to care for her during the six months she was in their foster care. 

This entire "disappearence" theory is crap.  There is NO WAY Ed Shapiro didn't notice she wasn't in the back of the car ALL DAY!

I am very fragile emotionally from all of the loss I have experienced in my life.  This has pushed me to the edge.  No one will talk to me about it, just like I need to go away.  Tom Botts told me, "It's time to move on, Daisy would have wanted you to."  That's fine if you have family and children in your life to give you a sense of security and love.  I have no one except my dogs.  This little dog went everywhere with me and I treated her like my child. She even stayed with me in the hospital when I had my Cancer surgery.  She licked my tears during some of the darkest days of my life, and kept me going when I really felt like giving up.  I let them take her because I was afraid she would die during whelping and I wouldn't be able to do anything for her. 

DRSF, Janet Perkins, Regina Valenti, Trish Ferraro, Roberta Waller, Tom Botts, Jennifer Hessley and Edward Shapiro are all conspirators and scam artists.  They have committed fraud, theft and inflicted mental anguish and cause severe emotional distress because of their lies and deceit.

I am seeking an attorney to take my case.  If you or anyone who might be able to help me or represent me, please let me know. I have spent over $1000.00 looking for Daisy.  I have tested their story by listing a "found Dachshund" on Craig's List and the board members responded, but they may have not been told the truth about where Daisy is.  It's all a conspiracy involving Janet Perkins and her top lieutenants.  The other lower level ranking board members may have been told that Daisy was missing to keep up appearances.  I don't know. 

Soon after Tom Bott contacted me, he wanted me to confront Janet Perkins.  He never told me why I should.  After I had followed the route that Ed Shapiro supposedly took that day, I contacted him to let him know that someone near one of his stops had possibly spotted Daisy.  His response was "She's lying"  If he doesn't know where she is, how does he know the woman was lying?

If anyone has any advice or can offer any help, please leave a comment.  I am having a very hard time mentally and emotionally, so telling me to forget her and move on is not an option.  I want the truth, I want those involved to tell me what really happened. 

Tara, West Palm Beach, Florida