- Report: #620762
Complaint Review: Friends of Animals - El Paso Texas
Reported By:
Adam -
El Paso, Texas, United States of America
Submitted:
Updated:
-
Author Not Confirmed
Why?
Friends of Animals
3130 Altura Ave, El Paso, Texas, United States of America
Phone:
915-565-0473
Web:
Categories:
Business Rating:
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Friends of Animals Friends of Cats Bogus charity has hidden fees, harasses pet owners, rushes kittens thru surgery. El Paso, Texas
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This started as a personal problem. I wanted to buy a kitten and I was given a bum deal by these people, Mary Speer and Dr. Sutton. They and their people denied everything they did to me. I then watched the classifieds and see time and again, so many people have problems with them and their groups. Only a few of the complaints are listed here. So many people ad to their classified "friends of cats DO NOT CONTACT ME" because people are harassed by Ms. Speer, who is interested in getting kittens, which she resales. Friends of Cats portrays that they offer free spay and neuter. In reality they charge for painkillers, charge for larger animals or refuse larger animals that are not adoptable, and gain grants for each service offered.
If you have had a negative experience like so many of us have had with "friends of cats", "friends of animals" or "friends of family animals foundation", please post your experience to public forums such as this, and let the Humane Society know. UPDATE 5-14-10. Yet another person has had a rotten experience with the bogus group and is added to our list.
After an initial posting alerting the public to the behavior of "Friends of Animals" aka "friends of cats" aka "friends of family animals", there has been alot of response. Some people included details on their own problems. Please read on the complete contents of this posting. Please pass this information on to any pet owners, particularly cat owners in the El Paso area. Warn them to stay away from the bogus business and their aliases and employees/volunteers.
1. Incessantly harasses people who are giving away or selling kittens/cats online: multiple unwanted and unsolicited calls
2. Asks for donations when in reality they receive normal business profits plus government stimulus per cat $50 3. Rushes cats thru surgery and sells them dirty and unhealthy 4. Processing underage cats who then DIE because they were too small to survive the neuter or spay 5. Refusing older animals that are not "quick sales" 6. Offers "extra painkiller" for a price that is not included in the "free" spay or neuter 1. This was my personal experience: My first run-in with "friends of cats"/ "friends of animals" was years ago. That is Dr. William Sutton and "Mary" who run a veterinary hospital on Montana street. I had never had a cat or kitten and was looking for one. I was told to go see them because I could get a neutered kitten for $30. These people plaster their ads all over El Paso's online classified ads. So I drove from my home to the vet clinic as I was told there was several kittens there. I arrived and was shown 3 very tiny kittens who were still groggy from surgery and wobbly, could not hold their heads up. The incisions on them were still red and raw. There was a tiny white male I was interested in, but I took a good look at him, he had filthy ears and mucky eyes and I was afraid if I bought him and took him home he would die on me. So I told them no thanks and I left. Later I saw one of their ads online and I replied about what happened, telling 100 percent the truth of the situation. I said I felt they were rushing the cats thru processing to make money and lying about their charity status. My ads were instantly deleted and I was blasted as a liar by supporters of this bogus group. I found out they are not a nonprofit at all. They do receive donations, they also receive a $50 government pay for each cat they process, plus they sell animals, in addition to their usual veterinary supplies sales and services. Be warned and steer clear of this bogus group that often changes their "charity" name and hounds people in their effort for quick cash.
2. This was emailed to me from a user on craigslist:
hmmm... that name sounds familiar
Is that the "animal lover" that called animal control on some folks in Chaparral, and had the animals confiscated and put to sleep? In another case, she butted in the private life of a lady who had taken in 2 rescue horses and also had them removed from a perfectly good home Dont you think those cats and dogs would have rather lived on, no matter what their circumstance, than to be MURDERED by the "shelter"? Mary, would you want social workers and busy bodies butting in to your private life? S.P. 3. This was posted on blissyardsales:
I totally agree with what is being said about Mary and her organizations. I work with animals and I also take in stray and unwanted
animals. I then get them their vaccines and get them spayed or neutered, I have completely given up on Mary for ANY kind of help I also stopped referring people to her. She is always making up excuses for not getting the OLDER kittens spayed/neutered. She only wants little kittens, I guess because they are easier to sell and the heck with the older ones. I called her SEVERAL times asking for her to help with older cats that already have owners and she WON'T. She makes up excuses or just never calls back. I personally adopted 2 kittens from her years ago, before I knew of her practices. Needless to say less than a week after adopting these kittens one of them died. Before she expired I had taken her to my Vet, she wasn't eating, I had to give her water by syringe and she would defecate on herself. The Vet tried what she could to help but "Precious" just couldn't come out of it. I was informed by the Vet I took her to that she was just to young to have been able to handle being put under to get spayed the Vets exact words were " her little organs were not mature enough to rid her body of the anesthesia, she was much too young to have been spayed" When I called Mary and told her about this, she told me that the Vet she works with knew what they were doing and that she never guaranteed the kittens, then she had the nerve to ask me if I wanted to adopt another one. WOW........ NO WAY Also to all the people that keep getting repeated calls from Mary and her organizations....... REPORT them, It is considered HARRASSMENT. Tell her NOT to call you again and if she does or any of her so called volunteers call back, then you just report them. It's funny that when you need her help she never calls back, but when it benefits her..... your phone rings off the hook. 4. This was emailed to me from a user on craigslist:
A REQUEST FROM A PET OWNER to Mary of Friends of Cats: please stop harassing people who are selling or giving their cats away here and on other local ads. Spaying is a choice. If you want to advertise your business then do so. But dont repeatedly call and email people who dont want to hear from you. Also, dont say you rely solely on donations, when you get $50 government pay for each cat you spay, plus you sell cats. That is not working for donations.
5. This was posted on craigslist:
I've been trying to find homes for my cats for over a year now. The last time I posted on craigslist I got 10 replies and not a single person actually showed up like they said they were going to. Now I'm desperate, I have looked to Friends of Animals, Pets Alive, and many many many other organizations for help and everyone has turned me away. My neighbors are viciously trying to get rid of me because they don't like cats, even though I am allowed to have a pet, they've even complained to the cops. It has gotten ridiculous. I just don't have the time or energy for all of these pets, I began rescuing in hopes of finding good homes and got trapped. I've even turned to local pet stores in hopes that they would adopt them off for me. Again no help. I just want to find my babies good homes finally, so hopefully there is a saint or several out there for them this time.
Attention: if you have had a negative experience with this organization, people, or any of their many aliases, please publicly post it so we can add you to the list. The people of the bogus charity are quick to flag any postings so keep it up until noticed. We will not allow their wrong doings to go unnoticed. Thank you |
