UPDATE 12/23 8:24 PM
SKYE IS HOME! I give details as soon as I can.
Yes, you read that correctly.
K9 Rescue and Rehabilitation (K9RR) in Auburn, WA has a husky named Skye that belongs to a family in Yakima.
K9RR founder Tamera Kesterson acknowledges that Skye belongs to the family.
But she refuses to give the dog back to its legal owner.
How Skye ended up in this situation pulls back the curtain on a common tactic shady dog rescue groups use to generate cash.
Not All Dog Rescues Prioritize Rescuing Dogs
Since I started the Seattle DogSpot website I’ve learned that just because someone fills out a form to start a dog rescue group doesn’t mean their top priority is saving dogs.
Skye is an 8-month-old husky that K9 Rescue and Rehabilitation won’t give back to his family. Photo from Stolen by Rescue FB page.
Most of us look into a dog’s eyes and see a sentient being, a trusted friend, or a loyal companion (usually all three). But people who run disreputable rescue groups look in a dog’s eyes and sees something completely different: Dollar $igns.
After writing about a number of questionable dog rescues like the Olympic Animal “Sanctuary,” P.U.R.R.R., Shepherd’s Way Animal Rescue, and K9 Northwest, seeing another dog rescue trying to maximize profits instead of rescuing dogs shouldn’t surprise me, but I have never seen one of these groups take a lost dog and refuse to give it back to its owner.
How this happened is somewhat convoluted, but it’s important to understand so you can see how Skye ended up with strangers hours away from his home and family and what regulations 2 rescue groups ignored (and continue to ignore) after Skye was found.
Yakima Rescue Had Skye But Didn’t File Report with Animal Control
According to Skye’s mom, Laurie Penske McKinney, Skye escaped from their backyard on Saturday, December 5th. She immediately began to look on Craigslist and lost and found pages for Washington pets on Facebook to see if anyone found him, but she found nothing about Skye.
On December 7th she checked with the Yakima Humane Society to see if anyone brought Skye in (the Yakima County Sheriff’s Office contracts with Yakima HS to provide housing services for the animals picked up by their Animal Control Officers) but Skye wasn’t there.
She checked again on the 9th. No Skye.
In the meantime, a Yakima area rescue called K9 & Kittyland Rescue found Skye on the 5th.
Now here is where things start to get sketchy. Washington law considers dogs property, no different than a watch or a table.
According to Washington RCW 63.21.010, anyone who wants to claim found property (like Skye) a must report it to “the chief law enforcement officer…of the governmental entity where the property was found.”
In Skye’s case, K9 & Kittyland Rescue should have reported she found the dog to the Yakima County’s Sheriff’s Office not just because it would make it easier for him to be reunited with his family, but because it’s the law.
Furthermore, RCW 63.21.020 states that a person can’t claim ownership of the found property “If the owner satisfactorily establishes, within sixty days after the find was reported to the appropriate officer, the owner’s right to possession of the property; or If the chief law enforcement officer determines and so informs the finder that the property is illegal for the finder to possess.”
If K9 & Kittyland Recsue’s founder Brandi Ervin reported to the Yakima County’s Sheriff’s Office that she found Skye he would have been reunited with his family 2 weeks ago when Ms. McKinney called to see if anyone turned him in. That’s how the system is supposed to work.
According to K9RR founder Tamera Kesterson, whom I spoke with last week, Ms. Ervin had a local veterinarian scan Skye for a microchip, but he/she didn’t find one. After keeping Skye for 3 days, she asked Ms. Kesterson to take Skye because he was “too animal aggressive.”
An animal transport picked up Skye and dropped him at K9RR on Tuesday, December, 8th.
K9RR Says Dog’s Owner Must “Adopt” Him
While Skye was with K9 & Kittyland Rescue, Ms. McKinney posted pictures of and information about Skye on social media. On Wednesday, December 9, someone called her to say that a dog that looked like Skye was listed for adoption by K9RR. Ms. McKinney then called K9RR and left a message about Skye.
Ms. Kesterson called back to say she did have a dog that looked like Skye. Ms. McKinney then sent picture and Skye’s microchip number to prove he is her family’s dog. Ms. Kesterson responded that her vet didn’t find a microchip on Skye when he vaccinated and neutered the dog.
Ms. McKinney called her vet to find out why K9RR’s vet couldn’t find Skye’s chip. Ms. Kinney’s vet then called Ms. Kesterson “to inquire if she had received a chip number from the vet who vaccinated and neutered Skye and Ms. Kesterson said she did.” He then confirmed that the chip number was Skye’s.
Skye has only been with his family since May 2015. Image from Stolen by Rescue.
So why did Ms. Kesterson tell Skye’s owner that the dog didn’t have a microchip but then told Skye’s vet that he did have a microchip?
And when Ms. Kesterson was told that Skye had a microchip, why didn’t she call Skye’s vet (his number was listed on the chip)? That’s what a responsible rescue would do.
Instead, Ms. Kesterson told Ms. McKinney that if she wanted Skye back she would have to pay to adopt her. Here’s part of Ms. Kesterson’s responde as described by Ms. McKinney’s lawyer in a letter he sent to K9RR’s lawyer:
“Bottom line here is that legally he now belongs to this rescue. Per our conversation this morning I am willing to work with you but you must sign a contract with me and reimburse me his expenses. Are you willing to do that? This will also connect me with him as a back up owner.”
This is complete and utter BS.
Several people I contacted confirmed that no Washington law exists that says Skye belongs to K9RR. Ms. McKinney doesn’t need to adopt her own dog although she has offered to pay the expenses K9RR incurred. And who’s ever heard of a dog rescue being “a back up owner” for a dog? What does that even mean?
That Ms. Kesterson insists that Ms. McKinney pay to adopt a dog that is already legally hers is absurd.
As I noted, Washington law considers a dog property. Let’s say instead of a dog, someone that found a table gave it Ms. Kesterson.
Using her logic, if the table’s owner found out she had it, she would require the owner to pay her money before giving back the table.
This is not how reputable dog rescues operate.
K9RR Demands that Skye’s Owner to Sign Release
Ms. Kesterson said that before she would give Skye back to Ms. McKinney she would have to pay K9RR $219 and sign a release absolving Ms. Kesterman of responsibility for what happened to Skye.
The money is supposed to cover the cost of Skye’s neuter surgery, vaccinations, and boarding. Although she isn’t required to pay for Skye’s expenses, Ms. McKinney said she’ll pay them so she can get Skye back as quickly as possible.
The release form is another matter. If I were in this situation I wouldn’t sign it. Why would I absolve the person illegally holding my dog for almost weeks from bearing any responsibility for what she did?
And, if K9RR did nothing wrong in taking Skye from another rescue and refusing to return him to his legal owner, why is Ms. Kesterson demanding that Ms. McKinney sign a release?
K9RR’s Less Than Sterling Reputation
Through my work to expose people running shady dog rescue groups, I’ve found that most of them are no strangers to either the court system or animal control officers. Or both.
I first heard about Tamera Kesterson and K9RR in late 2014 from a woman at All The Best Pet Care in Queen Anne. One of her customers told her about a puppy she adopted from K9RR that had been diagnosed with parvovirus the day she brought him home.
When she adopted the dog Ms. Kesterson made her wait outside when she went in the garage to get him. She didn’t ask any question to determine if the adopter’s home and family were appropriate for the dog they wanted. She said the dog was “healthy” up-to-date on vaccinations but couldn’t provide any records to confirm it. The dog was not crate trained, house trained or friendly with strangers as K9RR claimed on Petfinder.com. Fortunately he survived.
Though my research on this case I did a public records request to Regional Animal Services of King County for its cases regarding K9RR. Here are some I found:
Investigation Report A11-002471-01 – 4/13/11: A person reported that Ms. Kesterson “has 40 dogs in crates stacked floor to ceiling in her garage.”
Investigation Report A12-006050-01 – 9/17/12: A man reported “possible hoarding, abuse, and an illegal hobby kennel at K9RR in Kirkland.” When officers responded 2 weeks later the place was vacant. K9RR did move from Kirkland to Auburn, so Ms. Kesterson could have moved before the officers arrived.
Email dated September 16, 2012 – A man reported “a potential situation of animal hoarding and abuse” at K9RR. When speaking to Ms. Kesterson on the phone he heard dogs “making an insane amount of noise and sounded like they were in great pain.”
When he asked to come look at the dogs she said he could only pick one dog and would not let him see where the dogs were kenneled.
He said that “the woman seemed more interested in the adoption fee than anything else” and “it sounds as if this person is using “Rescue” animals to make a living.”
K9RR put Skye up for adoption the day after he arrived. Due to public pressure. Photo from Stolen by Rescue.
Email dated January 20, 2014: An animal control officer went to Ms. Kesterson’s residence regarding the complaint from the woman referenced above that adopted the puppy from K9RR with parvo.
She “refused to allow the officer inside but admitted to having 43 dogs.”
Case Tracking Number CO0080630 – January 22, 2014: The Seattle/King County Health Dept. sent her a letter saying that she was required to obtain a permit to run an animal shelter because she had so many dogs at her residence.
Notice of Violation V14-003247 – Ms. Animal Services fined Kesterson $1000 for “operating an unlicensed kennel.”
Investigation Report A14-001130-01 – 3/17/14: An animal control office was finally allow to see where she kept the dogs. She had 32 dogs. The officer reported the dogs all looked in good health and their crates were clean. She said “each dog gets 20-30 minutes of playtime every 3-4 hours” which doesn’t seem possible. At that rate it would take 15 hours to take each dog out just once a day.
Ms. Kesterson has also made multiple appearances in King County Superior Court. Since 1991 she’s been in court 27 times as a defendant (I have not reviewed each case to see the charges or outcome).
Stop the Games and Give the Dog Back
At this point I don’t understand what Ms. Kesterson thinks she can gain by continuing to refuse to give Skye back to his family. She’s going to end up paying thousands of dollars in legal fees, and if the case goes to court she could be responsible for paying Ms. McKinney’s legal bills.
In my opinion, this situation contains no gray areas. The law recognizes that Skye belongs to Ms. McKinney and her family.
As I said earlier, I spoke with Ms. Kesterson last week and she insisted that she has done nothing wrong, but her actions don’t back up her claim like not telling the Ms. McKinney that her vet told her Skye’s microchip number.
In addition, she can’t provide any paperwork or records showing how K9 and Kittyland got Skye or recording Skye’s transfer to K9RR.
More importantly, if the goal of dog rescues is to find loving homes for their dogs, why would K9RR refuse to give a dog that already has a home back to its family? And why would a real rescue prolong Skye’s confusion and loneliness by preventing him from going home?
Ms. Kesterson has no legal right to keep Skye, nor does she have to right to dictate any conditions that Ms. McKinney must meet in order to get Skye back.
I hope she realizes the and just gives Skye back to his family immediately.
If she’s counting on Ms. McKinney or her supporters to give up their efforts to get Skye back to his family, she’s vastly underestimating their tenacity and resolve.
It’s past time for our state legislature to adopt laws and rules regulating the animal rescue industry! We know there have been many problems involving rescues simply obtaining and selling as many dogs as they can, which of course is not a good thing for the poor animals involved, for many reasons. Legitimate rescue groups do not indiscriminately sell dogs to make as much money as possible; Tamera Kesterson’s actions take a giant leap forward, above and beyond the actions of other problem rescue groups. This woman not only needs to be forced out of business, she needs to be in jail!
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
Absolutely agree with Jeff Salter. Our laws require changes in order to keep ‘shady’ rescues from operating. The dogs deserve our best. People like this are a blight on all rescues, even though there are many fine ones. I hope Skye gets to go home soon.
I agree . Jail time is a must and she should not be aloud to own any other animal . I often wonder when a mass of dogs go missing in areas if it is these so called rescue groups . Sad their using animals to make a quick buck. Everyone now a days is a animal rescue.
All shadiness aside, this dogs microchip should be the only legal deciding factor in the determination of ownership. The McKinney family can easily prevail in court if they take Kesterman to small claims in her county. Personally if it was me I would have camped in her driveway while I called the sheriff to come with the scanner to check the dog’s microchip. Once it was determined I was the legal owner of the dog the sheriff would be legally obligated to seize the dog and return it to me. Why the Mckinneys have not taken a trip to the other side of the mountain to reclaim their dog rather than go through all of this mess is beyond me. Not siding with either person here and I believe both rescues involved in this non rescue are as shady as they get but if it was my dog and it was chipped in my name it would have been back home with me the day after I discovered where it was.
Don’t know if you live in WA or not but she has to drive over the Cascade Mountains to get to the rescue and the freeway has been closed off and on for several days. She is also working with law enforcement to get him back. It’s not a matter of them just showing up to get the dog as soon as she called them. They have to check the situation out before acting.
Camping in her driveway sounds like a great idea but you’d be on private property and could probably be arrested yourself even though she had your dog illegally.
This article is so biased, it makes me laugh. I would never believe a word that is written. If the source of the photos is biased. Let someone post a story that shows both sides, not just one. What a friggin’ joke! Get some education in journalism, author.
I’ve never claimed to be a journalist. I write my opinions based on the evidence I’ve seen. If people want to see her and her son’s responses they are both in the comments section.
I owned a natural and holistic pet shop for a decade in Pierce County. I can say your past dipictions of several rescue groups are completely accurate. Personally I have had interactions with P.U.R.R.R and K9 Northwest. It was clear from my brief interactions with these “rescues” that there is a fine line between “rescue” and animal abuse!!! Rescue’s like Ginger’s, P.U.R.R.R and K9 Northwest should be shut down and they should banned from owning animals.
Thanks for sharing your experiences. I’ve heard from others as well.
This is retail rescue at its finest. Steal a dog and refuse to return it to its rightful owner. Think this isn’t happening? Think again. It’s happening all over the country. Rescue have gone wild and out of control in the name of $$$. Some are even discussing breeding their own litters to meet the demand.
And they are bringing in dogs from overseas…which allows diseases to ride along with them.
How do you now that?
Because it is well documented. I believe the post referenced is talking about all rescues in general, and not any specific one. But it IS accurate that an estimated half-million dogs a year are being imported from overseas by #RetailRescue annually. This estimate is given by the CDC. There have been well documented cases of foreign dogs bringing in previously unseen in the US diseases, including a variant of rabies we didn’t used to see here. I have a link to the ASPCA transcript of their annual meeting where they discussed breeding their own ‘unwanted’ dogs to meet demand for ‘rescued’ puppies.
And theft of pets in this very same manner as Skye’s theft is becoming rampant in the USA. Look up #BringPiperHome. Her owner, with the support of the vast majority of the Sheltie Rescue Network, is fighting to keep her dog home now that she has her after a year and a half of a ‘rescue’ doing exactly what these jerks are doing to Skye and his family. Central Ohio Sheltie “Rescue”, (COSR) got the dog, Piper, after a similar skirting of laws by a shelter, of all places. The owner was out of town, and Piper was being watched by a friend, whose family had a medical emergency, and the emergency responders inadvertently let the family’s dogs out. They caught their other dog rather quickly, and someone also found Piper, an AKC conformation champion sheltie, and turned her on to the local shelter within hours as well. It was Good Friday/Easter weekend, and a failure to communicate by the shelter in contacting the vet on the microchip, who had the records of the owner because they’d implanted the microchip, resulted in Piper being illegally given to COSR. Within hours of the shelter opening, the owner got a hold of them with concrete proof of ownership of Piper, and the shelter told the owner that COSR had the dog, and had just picked her up. So COSR, who had Piper only hours, decided to just keep the dog because they didn’t like that her owners show and breed shelties…very responsibly and successfully, and in a beautiful home setting, I might add. (I’ve been to the owner’s home. I wanna come back as one of her dogs in my next life!) So anyhow, COSR kept Piper for around a year and a half, actually posting $10,000 of what was apparently donations to keep the dog from being returned by the court, until the court demanded they give her back to her owner. As it stands right now, the owner has possession of her dog, but is still racking up legal bills from COSR’s constant legal finagling as they try to take her dog away from her STILL!! Piper was returned to her owner is terrible condition, and not the same in spirit. She won’t leave her owner’s side, and is clingy. Her nails were overgrown, her teeth dirty, her skin greasy and flaky, and her coat dry and broken. All signs of neglect, which must have been terrible for such a pampered girl as Piper was in her owner’s hands.
Piper isn’t alone. There’s Soda, a Pomeranian held hostage in Dallas. There’s Flash, a beagle in PA being kept form his owners by Main Line in PA, a totally despicable organization, in my book. These three are right off the top of my head. There are TONS more. (I really need to start a file just for these cases.) And then there’s PeTA taking Maya off her OWN PORCH from her family and KILLING HER.
I don’t know if I can post links here; I’m new to your page, but if I can, I have them. Just ask.
It is also happening in a completely different category.My experience: I am disabled and live in my motorcoach.I live in Yakima.It has been public knowledge through themedia locally that Yakima just does not have enough R.V. parks available to accommodate the rapidly increasing population of full time R.V.ers?I was living in a monthly R.V. space on Chinook pass last summer because it was the closest space I could find to park my R.V. Winter brings slick road conditions,especially on the mountain passes.I have several medical conditions that require me quick travel for medical services.So I had to head back to town in hopes something in Yakima was available.Well I found nothing except pay per night at only one R.V.Park.So on December 13,2018 I rented a space for the evening.I was asked at registration if I had any pets.I informed the desk clerk that I hat a cat and a dog.They informed me that dogs must be on leash at all times and the dog walk to potty was outside of the property fence.NOTHING was said regarding cats.
The next morning I rented a second night.That evening I noticed that my kitty wasn’t in the motorhome.He had gone out when my Husband had come in from outside about 30 minutes prior to me realizing.We called for him all through the night.He usually always stays right near the motorhome and comes right back in if we are at a new place.Especially when I call him.He did not appear.Next morning,Husband went to rent space for a 3rd night.All of a sudden,manager informs him there are no spaces available.There were several nightly spaces empty,but manager claimed they were all reserved.This meant vacating and having to make several return trips to call for and search for my kitty.My Husband then asked if they had seen my orange cat.The manager replied that he had seen him on the pool deck the night before,but that he wasn’t there now.I asked every tenant I saw on each return trip.Also taking note that those empty spaces,including the one we had rented remained vacant until 5 days later.Hmmm…?About 2 weeks went by and during a search I saw a tenant I hadn’t previously asked and I asked if he had seen my orange kitty.He said “oh you mean the tabby”?I said yes,thinking he knew of his whereabouts.He stated he hadn’t seen him,but you better hope that so~and~so didn’t get ahold of him.I asked if he was referring to the maintenance guy.He said yes.I asked why and if he thought he would hurt him.He answered with an affirmative nod and twirled his finger saying “he’s not all there upstairs”.I was horrified!I pulled around the next corner and saw the maintenance guy blowing leaves.He tried to ignore the fact that I was stopped within 2 feet of him.He finally acknowledged me after a couple minutes and I asked and he confirmed that he was the maintenance guy.So I asked if he had seen my kitty.Almost before I finished the question,he got a very mean look on his face and with a raised and gruff voice,he said “YOUR CAT IS GONE”!! I asked him if he did something with my cat and he responded that I needed to get off the property! I told him if he didn’t tell me where my kitty was, that I was going to call the police.Thats when he turned and ran towards the office.I drove around and we both met at the front desk through separate entrances.I started to explain to the desk manager what had just happened and the maintenance man yelled over my voice to the desk manager that I had threatened him and told her to call the police.I then left the property and called the police myself.They said an officer would call me.
About 30 minutes later an officer did call me,but wasn’t able to take a report if I didn’t actually see him take my cat.However I was informed that I could not return to the property.Therefore,I could no longer search for my kitty from inside the property.I had posted my kitty as missing on several lost pet sites.During my checking for any sightings,I met a gal that spends many hours on these sites all throughout Washington, helping to match missing pets with their owners.She herself has been searching for her missing kitty for 5 years now and informed me that many times animals get transported to other locations to be adopted out,so I should never rule out the possibility that my kitty could be in another zip code.A short time after I started communicating with her about possible Matches on out of town sites,I learned the facts about her missing kitty.I was again horrified!She told me that 5 years ago she lived in the apartment building neighboring the same R.V. park where my kitty went missing.This is the location where her kitty went missing as well!I couldn’t believe it!Then she shared a post from one of the missing sites.I absolutely could not believe what I was seeing!The post was of an orange kitty that went missing 3 months prior to mine.The cats owner is a tenant at the same appts.She included in her missing post that the managers at this same r.v.park had stolen her kitty.I then found another missing post of a little black kitten that was missing within a day of my kitty from a tenant OF the SAME r.v. park!This is when I learned that the owners also own other parks out of town as well as having some affiliation with an out of town animal shelter.I learned that they bait,trap and dump animals that they consider ferals,and that sometimes during business trips they dump them along the way and that they take some of them to this out of town shelter.I also learned that there is proof that on one occasion the maintenance man was seen throwing a black kitten and a dog in his truck and leaving the r.v.park.I was told about how the management from the r.v.park mocked and joked ,laughing each time the one gal would go searching and calling for her missing kitty.How DISGUSTING!!! I apologize for taking up this ridiculous amount of space,but there was no short way to explain this nightmare that several of us are living here in Yakima,Wa.
So here we are,heartbroken and enraged,missing our beloved furbabies,knowing the probability of who the people are that are responsible for our beloved pets disappearance,and we can do NOT one thing to prosecute these evil people for STEALING our pets from us! The worst part is,knowing that those people are the ONLY ones who know what exactly they did with our pets and that information is IMPOSSIBLE to extract from them.Atleast it’s impossible to aquire it in a legal,humane manner…
I’m so sorry.
While I can agree that the story is “one side” that doesn’t mean it isn’t true. While you “never believe a word that is written.” What, facts , exactly a specifically, can you provide to prove otherwise.
Based on the law, did the “rescue” properly notify the authorities? Certainly the Yalima Shireff’s records would have a record. Do you have that or just “never believe”?
The microchip either was or was not found when the vet examined the animal. The “rescue” says it wasn’t, the vet says it was and the tracking number matches the dog. Do you have any evidence either way or just “never believe”?
While you make broad, critical statements. What facts do you have to counter the information. That is other then “never believe.”
Whether you believe or don’t believe what’s written is immaterial. Belief and disbelief are demonstrations of nothing but more bias, in this case on your part.
I couldn’t have said it better. I personally know Ms. Jester man as I got 2 rescue dogs from her. She paid out of her own pocket twice for my dogs to be professionally groomed. She handed over flea control products and didn’t ask for a dime. Her adoption charges are reasonable. In my case, $500 for the pair. She did say that if we found we couldn’t keep them for some reason, she would take them back as opposed to taking them to the pound. The vet charges for spaying, neutering, and vaccinations could easily climb toward $200. She has to buy food, treats, leashes, collars, and bedding for each dog.
Unfortunately, doing anything would cost the state money, regulating business takes inspectors and processes, too much for the modern politician to worry about. We need more social light shed on this and Petfinder needs to be responsible too.
The one in Yakima that started all of this is in on it also, they have been reported as actually stealing animals from around here and sending them over to her. She also needs to be closed down
If you hear of anything like this in the future please let me know.
Wow, so you have knowledge of this happening before?
I work with rescues and search daily on all rescue sites here in Yakima and k9 Kittyland is lying they never posted Skye not once between the day he was lost found and transported and a vet there found his chip and never called the owner either
Thanks for the info. No surprising.
I live in Yakima and I’ve been told to watch out for k9 kitty when dealing with found animals here.
I’ve heard it too.
SKYE IS NOT HOME! Brandi from K9 Kitty is still holding him. She won’t give him back.
Skye went home months ago. Why do you think she wasn’t given back?
I live alone with no family in the state, and less than 5 friends.
She picked up my dog bentley from a shelter when I vas on vacation visiting my mom for her last thanksgiving and when I returned home bentley was gone. I watched the security camera and saw my ex’s mom’s boyfriend cut him loose and wander away. My dog was immediately adopted out and I even had my dog chipped but they say it wasn’t registered, well hey was chipped at k9rr by tamera sooo that means she knows my info, but I never got any kind of message, when I found out and called her and explained who I was and that bentley (now known as Homer) was not from her “rescue” she said “oh thats why I couldn’t find a file for him” she chipped him, she should have a record of it! But I have the certificate from when I had registered the chip. With all current info. But I can’t do anything about getting my service dog back because the “new owners have privacy rights”
I hate the way people in this world are, I hate eveything now that my only companion is gone. Im lonely, he was the only friend who was there everyday.
You are wrong on almost all your facts; you are engaging in a which hunt…I know the facts, wait till they come out…you just might have caught yourself a defamation lawsuit….
I stand by what I wrote and will defend it in court if necessary. If you have documented evidence that proves something is incorrect please let me know.
Why hasn’t the Sheriff’s Office and DA in Auburn & Yakima become involved in this? Both “rescues” have broken the law, no two ways about it. Kesterson is actually in possession of stolen property. A similar thing happened in Ohio when a rescue insisted on keeping a champion Shetland Sheepdog. The dog’s legal owner won the case.
She’s working through the legal system with Yakima and King County law enforcement.
Actually, the case in OH with Piper, the Shetland sheepdog isn’t completely resolved. The ‘rescue’ keeps spending more and more money trying to run the owner too broke to defend herself, and thus, get Piper back. Piper is currently in her owner’s hands, but money spent by the rescue could still change that.
This is horrible, disgusting and shows hoarding at its finest.
I will leave that in more capable hands: attorney’s hands. WITCHHUNT…
OK. As I said, I’ll defend what I wrote in court if necessary. WA law is pretty clear regarding cases like this.
I seriously doubt this is a witch hunt. The facts speak for themselves. People, do your research before you adopt from a rescue!
Go away, Jennifer. You are not relevant here. You haven’t been relevant for years. Facts are clear as day… you would (and have) gone after people with much less on their record than this. Quit trying to stir shit.
Pryor’s Planet is one of the largest rescue groups in L.A. Jlp is the ceo of the rescue, yet she is NOT relevant? Obviously you have a limited vocabulary because you certainly don’t know the definition of relevant. Besides, JLP is certainlt not waiting around for YOU to validate her. Whoever you are… talk about irrelevant!!!
If the author is so wrong then produce the documents of Sky’s transfer and documents from the vet stating he had no microchip. Bottom line she has been advised the dog is owned and per Washington state law the moment she takes a dime for him she has committed trafficking stolen property. The cops will charge her with it. I’ve participated in taking back a stolen dog and helping the Everett Police Department in charging the sick individual who tried selling me the dog! Makes me wonder who else’s dog she’s stolen and sold.
Both “rescues” work out of a PO Box. I wonder how many dogs are transferred from Yakima to Auburn? Or how many other PO Box rescues, steal dogs and then quickly move to dogs to another part of the stae?
Good question. Since they don’t use paperwork no one can track that info. Convenient.
She has done this before About a year ago there was a guy on craigslist begging for the return of his dog. Telling anyone who would listen that she had stolen there dog and the circumstances. Noone helped him 🙁
Mine
we microchip our dogs so they can be returned to us with out a bunch of bullshit going on to get them back,. This lady is a thief and she needs to get that dog back to its rightful owner and then she needs to go to jail, the dogs she has now need to be checked for their rightful owners now also as she probably has more people dogs with chips that she has just decided to overlook and not return to their rightful owners, people like her make me sick, I have friends and family in yakima will do my best to expose this for what it is..
Agreed!
All I can say is WOW!!! Give them back their dog! The more this goes on, the more people are NOT going to support your rescue- if that is what you call it. I am sharing this along with many others I know.
Do the “right” thing K9RR
Where can I obtain more information on how to address a situation like this?
Please email me at rpregulman@seattledogspot.com and I’ll try to help.
I signed a change.org petition recently on a situation that sounds exactly like this one. I am not sure how to find the exact petition, but going to change.org might find it. Not sure if the one I signed on was this dog or not.
We have been a foster home for a very reputable rescue and feel very bad when Rescues are in it for the money. Having fostered many of the Injured dogs for SPDR that needed surgery to live, I know their fee never even covers the spay neuter fee and never touches the cost of broken legs, broken pelvis, and many other surgeries the dogs had. Their fee is very reasonable and if the dog does not come to rescue with the Owner releasing it to rescue or from a legal shelter, the dog is always held for a month before being put up for adoption to give the owner time to find it. It makes me very angry when people do it to make money off of a dog’s misery. Hope that something is done by the officials to get the dog back home and before Christmas.
Thank you for your comments and for fostering.
a past puppy of mine went missing in Centerville WA a year ago. She too is chipped but she has not been found or reported found. I now wounder if this lady got her hands on our Sky too. frown emoticon
I’m sorry you lost your dog.
If I were Ms. McKinney I’d be filing a suit against her for neutering my dog without my permission. She altered her pet after she knew that the dog had an up to date microchip. I’d be pissed! I hope she gets her dog back before the emotional trauma breaks him. The picture of him after she put him up for adoption is heart breaking. Is there anything we can do to put pressure on the “rescue” to give Ms. McKinney her baby back?
She’s currently working with authorities so there isn’t much we can do except spread the word about it.
The day that Skye’s story broke I immediately checked Tamera Kesterson’s K9RR web site, and saw approximately 50 dogs listed for “adoption.” One of them was Skye, listed as “Chuck.”
The story practically went viral on Facebook, and I checked Kesterson’s web site again the next day. Lo and behold, 75% of those “dogs for adoption” were no longer listed, including Skye (“Chuck”). I wonder why?
Actions do speak louder than words. The law is clear: Kesterson had no legal right to keep and withhold Skye from his owner once she became aware of the owner’s identity. Kesterson should have immediately contacted the owner and made arrangements to return Skye. Instead, she’s played games, concealed evidence and tried to cover her tracks. Now, she WANTS TO BE PAID in order to have Skye returned, as well as force Skye’s owner to sign a release of liability.
Again, actions speak louder than words.
It’s funny how people who don’t even live in this state will support a rescue that is obviously breaking the law.
FACT: Sky was never at a shelter which is the ONLY governing body entitled to hold a stray for less than 30 days.
FACT: Skye was found by 1 rescue and signed over to another, Neither 501c3’s and Neither reported dog missing to the authorities or surrendered them to county or city shelter for owner to claim
FACT: Dog is microchipped and registered to the vet, who reports dog was in fine health at time of chipping (less than 2 months ago).
FACT: Rescue was aware of the microchip and ignored their legal responsibility to return dog to its legal owner.
FACT: Rescues, even 501c3’s, have no legal authority to seize dogs from private individual’s, this can only be done by animal control or the sheriff’s depth and only with clear signs of abuse or neglect.
Every rescue in this state is watching this and looking forward to seeing what proof is going to be given that voids every law we have here in WA in regards to pet ownership.
Well said.
I know Tamera.
I have watched how she deals with potential adopters and her dogs.
I stand by Tamera, no matter what.
You stand by someone who is basically holding a family pet hostage after ignoring all applicable laws and the FACTS that would have had the dog home right after it was lost? That’s ridiculous. If she’d have contacted the vet who chipped Skye she never would have incurred these costs to begin with. Give these people their dog back! Simple. It’s THEIR dog.
Those who choose to stand by Tamera are just as guilty as she! Sad but true.
Her actions after she knew there was an owner says it all. Anyone who was rescuing animals for the love of the animal and love of people would be so excited to reunite them and would do it as quickly as possible. Standing between a beloved pet and it’s owner is unthinkable for any reason. There is no possible acceptable excuse.
Hi, my name is Kyle Kesterson. I am the son of Tamera Kesterson, and am the closest to the accused, having witnessed not only every turning point of this unfortunate circumstance, but also to my mom’s entire history, dog rescue and beyond.
Not only is Jennifer Pryor so far the most accurate in summing it up as a witch hunt, but it is in fact, simply click bait, Robert. You are manipulating your readers.
From day 1, you had a very specific filter to which you were going to write about this, when you saw bandwagon virality amongst a host of misinformed, yet emotionally charged people.
If you were remotely interested in non-biased reporting, not only would you not write as if to emotionally hook your audience and sharpen their pitchforks, but you would have been fair about reporting the determinations of the lawyers and their proceedings, deeming what was acceptable, lawful, and what the original owner must legally agree to, in order to bring this situation to amends.
There are a few very blaring issues with your story, aside from the many misspellings and grammatical issues that are frankly embarrassing. “Kesterman” ? Really?
Let’s work down the list:
“But she refuses to give the dog back to its legal owner.”
Hype building.
This should read, with factual context, “She refuses to give back the dog to its legal owner until proper documentation is signed, and expenses incurred are repaid.”
An added editorial note would be, “if any rescue releases any dog without proper documentation, they would be negligent, sloppy, legally liable if something were to happen, and it would damage that rescue’s reputation.”
Tamera has been very clear that the nature of the documentation isn’t an adoption. You kept your claim as that because it pisses your readers off.
She asked the original owner if an adoption document would work, as to not have to waste unnecessary time and money drafting a custom document for these circumstances, when the functionality of an adoption form would satisfy what she needs legally to protect her organization.
Tamera also never attempted to charge the adoption fee, which an adoption fee in a perfect world, would lead to a margin of profit as to help run the organization. Tamera listed out the expenses incurred while operating in accordance to the nature of rescue. She listed out a direct dollar amount as to not end up in debt, and not a dollar more. The lawyers have agreed that her requests are within reason, which is now why the original owner is agreeing to move forward.
Speaking of debt, let’s move forward with your hype.
” just because someone fills out a form to start a dog rescue group doesn’t mean their top priority is saving dogs.” That is true, because it is also vague.
If you wrote it specific to your victim, you’d have to include that there is a reason Tamera is a preferred rescue amongst many other rescues up and down the west coast, and wit dog transporters, vets, fosters, and individuals, and has been for over 5 years. There is a reason she has successfully rescued, rehabilitated, and found homes for thousands of animals, many who were scheduled to be euthanized. She excels unlike most, in offering effective treatment, space, and time, amongst dogs all other rescues turn away.
If one’s motivation is as surface as you’re claiming, they wouldn’t last but a few months, maybe a little be longer if they were really effective at misleading, but not for over 5 years. Reputation and word of mouth referrals are everything in this business. If you took the time to be an actual investigative reporter, wanting to cover unbiasedly, you’d have far more quotes from the positive experiences than you could write about. And that is a fact.
You mention her motivations are “generating cash” and “seeing $ signs.” This is the crux of your ludicrous story. If Tamera, or anyone in their right mind, was motivated by financial gain, a DOG RESCUE is the last place they’ll find it.
Not only is it untrue, it’s upsetting. Tamera, and many in the dog rescue business, give up so many comforts in life, and have to work tirelessly on call around the clock, 365 days a year. There is no day off, ever. And I have been personally witness to Tamera, my mom’s, dedication to rescuing, rehabilitating, and placing countless dogs, at the expense of her own health and well being, whether physical or financial, because every time she reads of the inhumane treatment and condition of the animals, or gets countless calls and emails directly from those I mentioned above, she digs herself further into the pain and debt that comes along with it.
The fact you are willing to discredit years of service to someone who truly lives and breathes sacrifice, for an animal that you have built your own business and identity around, is disgusting sir. If and when you are successful at getting Tamera removed from her ability to provide shelter, therapy, and a new loving family, you will in turn, be a massive contributor to the euthanizing and loss of so many dogs. Another fact.
Yet another huge problem with your point on only seeing $ signs, if that were true, Tamera would have no regard for where the animals get placed. I have been personal witness to the countless families and individuals, where she spent time and energy interviewing them about their lifestyles, going into their homes to ensure the safety and wellbeing for the animal, and flat out telling them they aren’t a good fit, and turning away their business. She is an incredible match maker, because she is motivated by the quality of life for the animal. Your parvo story scrapes the surface of one very irrational and disgruntled recipient. There was so much more to that story, but again, that would require investigating it.
Last fun fact on the nature of her business so “$ driven”. Some dogs that come into her rescue are, at the time, so far beyond damaged, emotionally and physically. And yet, Tamera has taken notice of a few key traits that might make them one day be able to be healed enough to have a chance at a new life. One very small, but very important example. She received a pair of pitbulls a number of years ago, Ava and Q, near the inception of her rescue. For years, she worked to make sure Ava and Q were able to stay together, and find THE right owner who can provide the care and attention necessary. Just those two dogs cost her thousands in supplies and care, yet despite the financial loss and time and space invested, she refused to put them down in order to just get new dogs to cycle through, because she held out with hope for them. And she was right.
Tamera has endured enormous amounts of loss due to the condition of dogs when she receives them, often times already riddled with diseases, needing surgeries, and so forth, and she always takes on the bill. Rarely does she get close to equaling out the expenses incurred, yet she has accepted this long ago, as it’s a part of the rescue game if she is able to truly save dogs.
“Most of us look into a dog’s eyes and see a sentient being, a trusted friend, or a loyal companion (usually all three). ” Pandering to the emotional state before characterizing the villainy, setting us up to believe my mom isn’t one of “most of us”. Classy.
The next section you highlight “where things start to get sketchy.” K9 Kittyland, being the primary point of contact to the husky, is in fact the epicenter to this mishap. But there is no proof it was at all sketchy, only a fact in that a microchip was stated not to have been found, and they took action according to their normal mode of operation.
It’s fascinating how, but obvious why , you put all of your firepower in the demonizing of K9RR and Tamera’s history, rather than where the fault of the incident occurred. There’s just way too much for you to write about to keep the readers engaged when you paint the history as you did. Again, if you were actually investigative, you would’ve have gotten through to K9 Kittyland. But you aren’t, so you didn’t. Instead, you focus your story away from your inability to get ALL the facts to communicate.
There’s so much to dig into on your history report, it’d take me all night. Just going to point out a couple obvious errors:
” She said “each dog gets 20-30 minutes of playtime every 3-4 hours” which doesn’t seem possible. At that rate it would take 15 hours to take each dog out just once a day.”
Are you adding up each dog as each getting their own time individually? Did you take into account a huge part of the rehabilitation process is socializing? After assessing each dog’s emotional and mental state upon entering the rescue, she creates a rehab path, and also makes matches to other dogs in groups that’ll be instrumental in their ability to connect. These groups go out multiple times a day, in groups. Do the math again, it’s accurate. I’ve spent many many hours a part of those play groups and seeing the often times miraculous progress they make.
“The officer reported the dogs all looked in good health and their crates were clean.” These officers are professionals when it comes to determining the state of wellbeing for these animals. Not only did the officer report the truth, how well they were being taken care of, but he also very warmly thanked her, saying that he doesn’t get to see situations very often where the animals have this quality of life, despite their unfortunate circumstances of neglect and abandonment. He was grateful, knowing how deep of an impact one individual made, and they’ve been in alignment and communication since. If there was malpractice or improper intent, an official would have taken notice and the situation would be different. Unless you’re inferring the officials are incompetent…
Re: court appearances – “(I have not reviewed each case to see the charges or outcome).” No, only an investigative journalist who wanted to provide proper context to the character of the individual would do that. If you did investigate and report with no bias, your story wouldn’t feel as emotionally charging, and in turn, not as lucrative.
“if the goal of dog rescues is to find loving homes for their dogs, why would K9RR refuse to give a dog that already has a home back to its family? ”
You certainly didn’t report on the actual condition of Skye when he was found, or the apparent neglect in noticing him missing, or that the original owner mentions on those viral Facebook feeds, how she takes notice of the dog trying desperately to get out of her outside dwellings in the freezing snow, as she just watches from inside. There’s so much you don’t care to include, because it’ll flatten out your story.
I’m just going to end this with my own emotional response to you – you’re careless and abusive with your power of a communication platform. You’re a bully, inciting a group of now misinformed, and emotionally manipulated bullies. You just contributed to an incalculable disservice to the future of the many dogs who may have had a chance, and to the many families that would’ve been touched by them.
If you had insight to the actual course of character, story, and depth of Tamera Kesterson, you’d be moved tears, and inspired about your own existence, putting pain into perspective, as have the many who have been shaken by her story and the miraculous recovery made that lead to the saving of thousands of lives.
Tamera’s truth of a story, is far more emotionally gripping, surprising, inspiring, and most importantly, MORE TRUE, than your poor excuse of clickbait witch hunt. Lastly, your technical writing is as poorly constructed, as the depth of your investigations. I can’t begin to imagine what other harm you’ve been responsible to on this website.
I hope that the number of ad impressions you get from this article is enough to where you sleep better because of it.
– Kyle Kesterson
Thanks for your comments. Nothing you wrote changes the fact that Tamera Kesterson is illegally keeping someone else’s property. She has no legal right to make any demands of the dogs owner.
There is a lot of talk in your post, Kyle. I don’t understand your need or desire to make excuses for your mom. If she really cared about rescuing dogs, helping them return home or find a great forever home she would give the dog back to it’s legal owner and not worry about the money she may have spent thus far on the dog. It’s appears that it is the fact that she is not willing to give the dog back to his owners until she pays. So answer me this Kyle, if I personally paid the bill for Skye to return home to his owners, would your mother release him today – before Christmas? The pass is open today – if it’s the money lets settle it and get the dog back home.
If Tamara was a decent human being, she would own up to the mistake she claims to have had happen and give the dog back to its owner. They have offered to pay for the costs incurred even tho this poor dog has had surgery without its owners consent.
She would not ask them to sign away rights or keep her as some random back up owner.
A good person would happily see the dog returned to its vigilant owners and apologize and accept the consequences.
But she didn’t. She won’t. It’s not who she has shown anyone by her own actions.
She has proof the dog has owners who have been looking for their dog. At no time has she made an attempt to reunite the family without being the greedy nasty person she is. She is holding onto stolen property In Order to get out of a mistake that will cost her thousands. In the end she will not win.
Thank you KyleI couldn’t have said it better. I personally know Tamera as I got 2 rescue dogs from her. She paid out of her own pocket twice for my dogs to be professionally groomed. She handed over flea control products and didn’t ask for a dime. Her adoption charges are reasonable. In my case, $500 for the pair. She did say that if we found we couldn’t keep them for some reason, she would take them back as opposed to taking them to the pound. The vet charges for spaying, neutering, and vaccinations could easily climb toward $200. She has to buy food, treats, leashes, collars, and bedding for each dog. Unlike the average bloke, she cannot go on vacations due to running a shelter. The dogs do come first. I don’t suppose any of you people have ever lost a pet and had animal control pick it up and take it to the local shelter or pound? I have. In Wenatchee, while visiting a friend. She got out of the dog door and someone opened the gat. She was unfamiliar with the situation and was frightened. When I finally found out where she was (her tag had my home number on it), I called and told them I would be right down to get her. I will have you know the City charged me $80 to get her back. They didn’t do anything with her except put her in a cage with a hard cement floor. When I paid the money and went back to get her, she was leaning up against the wall shivering of fright. So don’t tell me that Tamera is wrong for wanting her cost reimbursed. We live over on this side of the mountains and I have never heard such craziness out of adults over this. If the owners want their dog, pay the requested fees and work civilly toward a resolve and quit letting people like the author of this ridiculous article get involved.
Thank you Kyle Kesterson for your response. I couldn’t have said it better. I personally know Tamera as I got 2 rescue dogs from her. She paid out of her own pocket twice for my dogs to be professionally groomed. She handed over flea control products and didn’t ask for a dime. Her adoption charges are reasonable. In my case, $500 for the pair. She did say that if we found we couldn’t keep them for some reason, she would take them back as opposed to taking them to the pound. The vet charges for spaying, neutering, and vaccinations could easily climb toward $200. She has to buy food, treats, leashes, collars, and bedding for each dog. Unlike the average bloke, she cannot go on vacations due to running a shelter. The dogs do come first. I don’t suppose any of you people have ever lost a pet and had animal control pick it up and take it to the local shelter or pound? I have. In Wenatchee, while visiting a friend. She got out of the dog door and someone opened the gat. She was unfamiliar with the situation and was frightened. When I finally found out where she was (her tag had my home number on it), I called and told them I would be right down to get her. I will have you know the City charged me $80 to get her back. They didn’t do anything with her except put her in a cage with a hard cement floor. When I paid the money and went back to get her, she was leaning up against the wall shivering of fright. So don’t tell me that Tamera is wrong for wanting her cost reimbursed. We live over on this side of the mountains and I have never heard such craziness out of adults over this. If the owners want their dog, pay the requested fees and work civilly toward a resolve and quit letting people like the author of this ridiculous article get involved.
I volunteer with a rescue that is going to be listed on all it’s microchipped animals. The only reason we are want to be listed is if current owner or their alternate can not be located. We could then recover the animal. We would also be able to make a more extensive search to reunite animal & owner with no possibility animal might be euthanized.
I think that’s fine. In this particular case the dog didn’t come through the “rescue” that wants him listed.
There’s a lot going on in this post, but just to touch on the point of the fee charged to the owner: It is incredibly common for owners to have to pay a fee from a rescue or shelter when they find their lost pets there. I volunteer at a local shelter, and it’s standard procedure for us. Loving and caring for these sweet creatures comes with a cost, no matter how you slice it. Most of the time, owners are so grateful to have found their lost family member that they don’t even blink at the fee, and a small group typically needs a quick explanation as to why the fee exists before they pay it with no issue. A super small group tends to become irate, and it’s always heartbreaking to see a pet who is already terrified from their experience be reunited with an angry owner.
The owner has said she would pay a reasonable fee to cover her expenses.
What they consider “reasonable” might be very different from what care actually costs; we see this happen all the time. I’m not condoning groups who “rescue” animals to resell them later to turn a profit (which is probably incredibly difficult to do as there isn’t much money in animal rescue), I just don’t believe that’s happening in this situation. There are too many missing pieces.
Yes there is a lot going on in this discussion, but wipe away the miscellaneous crap and finger pointing, facts speak loudly.
Fact – owner is willing to cover costs
Fact – owner did everything according with Washington laws, and has made very reasonable measures to get their dog back
Fact – reguardless of the “rescues” intentions she is breaking the law and several of them.
I had my pit mix get out of the yard, Get picked up 5 blocks from my home by a community service officer, and dropped off at the designated Vet for my city. Both my dogs are micro chipped and between my calling to track him down and the vet calling me…I got him home the next day. As I was explained to, it is the law that is followed by all reputable and law abiding rescues/vet holding centers, once they find out who the owner is. I also support and help with Angel of hope rescue here in Minnesota and KNOW for a fact there are a lot of legalities when dealing with rescues and their adoptions. A good heart and being caring is a good start for being part of a rescue but you still have to follow the laws….break the laws that are there to protect the pets, you are not putting the animal you rescued best interest first. Isn’t that what you say you are?
You are talking about the difference between rescues, and shelters.
yes, SHELTERS can require an impound fee as well as licensing fees, BUT rescues must adhere to the same laws as a private individual and but there is no law that allows an individual or rescue to impose an in pound fee or handling fee on an owner when they find a lost animal and return it. Rescues are not allowed the same protections that SHELTERS are allowed as we are not county or municipal entities.
Basically this rescue are FLIPPERS!!!! They should return the dog to the owner case closed. They shouldn’t have to pay an adoption fee or reimburse since they did not follow protocol.
I personally would say “if you would like to make a donation to recover the expenses that was spent that would be appreciated if not that is fine we understand. But I also would of followed protocol of alerting the proper people.
All these crooked rescues are hurting the good rescues who work hard daily trying to save and rehome dogs.
Me- I’d give the dog back it’s the right thing to do. The authorities need to step up and get this dog back to its family and charge the rescue
Tamera Kesterson of K9RR released an account of what has been happening. Thanks for reading, we’re all looking forward to this getting wrapped up accordingly.
Honestly I’ve worked with many rescues over the years and am sickened by this one, and bottom line is they broke the law. Regardless of the supposed condition the dog was in and their supposed concern over the family’s treatment of the dog. The dog did not in any way belong to the rescue, so they have no rights to dictate the future care of the dog. The “rescue” trying to use the condition of the dog as reason for their actions is ludicrous. And their attempts to defend themselves only make it more obvious they are unethical.
If this account is true the point should be to shut the rescue down. And anyone continuing to use the words “property” to describe a pet is setting the animal rights movement back! If someone “stole” your pup, call the cops. And if you truly care, pay the fee, get your pet back, and file charges thereafter.
The rescue is also demanding she sign a release so she can’t take legal action against it after she gets her dog back.
Time to start regulating the bejeezus out of “rescue” and start holding our police responsible for enforcing our PROPERTY rights. Charge them with grand theft, fraud, deception, and DEMAND maximum fines and prison time.
My husky Max got out of our yard, 6/6/2015. We had many, many rescue groups help us in trying to find my sweet, loving boy. They spent a week and a half searching day and night along side us trying to bring him home. Not once did they ever ask us for money or anything. All the time, gas, and
effort putting into bringing Max
home was simply part of what they
did. Not once asking for
reimbursement. We never found
Max and they never asked for money. We donated what we could. I’m starting to wonder if maybe something like this story happend to my boy… I know my rescue group I was dealing with would not have pulled such bs as the mentioned above. I just wish the family could have their baby back because I know the loss, the feeling scared of what could happen, the not knowing, and the terrible feel of possibly never seeing their baby again. It has been 6 months since I’ve seen my boy, I miss him terribly and still cry to this day that I have no idea what has happened. It’s a quick accident of a dog getting out of your yard and turns into a lifetime of longing to see him again. I just hope if he’s alive out there, that he’s well taken care of and has a warm bed at night. My heart goes out to this family and shame on the rescue group who thinks they can keep a family pet. Maybe they sold my Max…
Do you have a picture of Max? I would very much like to take to you please!
Dogs are property. I know some of you do not like that description but the courts agree with me. Call the police and accuse her of possession of stolen property AND commence an action in whatever the local version of small claims court is; sue her for “conversion” which is legal speak for theft, seek the recovery of the dog and/or the maximum amount of damages allowed in that level of court. Also seek punitive damages for intention infliction of emotional harm and the ongoing deprivation of your property even after she knew who it belonged to and seek costs if allowed at that level of court. There will be people at the courthouse who can help them write it up (although not until after Xmas now). Small claims court is designed for the self represented and will hate this type of behaviour on the rescue’s part.
So, when a rescue person who is trying to care for as many animals as possible to keep them from kill-shelters gets a request to take care of a dog found on December 5, flea infested, with a bad case of worms and they agree and now they should sue the foster person? The owner did not place an ad reporting their dog missing, did not start looking for their dog on the 5th – ask the vet! Ask the Yakima humane Society!! The dog spends all its time in a kennel, not in the house with family. Another time, if someone had reported the dog was in the kennel 23 hours a day, with fleas and worms, some of you would have reported that and said how bad the owner was and demanded the dog be taken away. Get all the facts, not just one side.
Those are all accusations by Tamera Kesterson. None have been proven. And fleas don’t live in freezing weather.
What you are stating as all rumor with absolutely no evidence provided by the veterinarian that altered the dog. So to imply that the dog was full of worms and flea ridden is perpetuating a rumor that in no way has been backed up with legal documentation. Just like her accounting of adhering to a three day hold has not been backed up with any legal documentation. The law in Washington state is a 30 days or more for private individuals and rescues in regards to claiming a dog or any lost property as theirs. Please review RCW 63.21 in regards to the law.
SKYE IS HOME! DETAILS LATER!!
In reading this blog and also reading Tamera Kesterson’s post as in Any situation I suspect the truth lies in the middle. Let’s assume the owners agreed to pay the Neuter and any other vet costs which they should, let’s ask ourselves… Is there any other reason why a Rescue would be hesitant to give a dog back to someone? Why yes there is. If one has rescued for a long time and is a caring one no rescuer I know NO rescuer wants dogs in cages outside 24/7 as a “life” for a dog, I have been in rescue as a hands on volunteer for 12 years and I feel compelled to play “devils advocate” because any long time rescuer will encounter similar situations. If a rescuer is a good one, he/she has a certain moral standard for the care of dogs. Standards are why good rescues have standards in their contracts & homechecks that they will not adopt out dogs to anyone who will tether or leave outside 24/7. They are entitled to that standard because Dogs live for their humans and a huge percentage of dogs in shelters are strays etc and dogs who are left outside 24/7 are much more likely to escape. Yes as rescuers we can have standards and criteria for the dogs we place and we’re certainly entitled to deny an adopter if they said they beat a dog as a form if punishment. (An example as a standard) These are Judgements & standards designed to try to give these innocent dogs the best happiest life possible with people who will treat them as a part of their Family. So try for one minute to think about the moral dilemma if you know a dog will be going back to living in a cage outside 24/7 which is a horrible life for ANY dog. Huskies need LOTS of exercise and will escape over and over again and he wasn’t neutered? Seriously? If any dog’s exercise needs are not met which is part of the responsibility of Choosing and owning this breed and they are Not part of the family no matter if they have a heavy coat they will repeatedly look to escape their yard. Therefore, I can imagine and understand if in fact these owners keep this poor dog outside 24/7 for any Responsible rescuer they would loose sleep over the prospect of returning any dog to that life. Rest assured after 12 years of rescuing you are Never going to get the full story from the owners as once they’ve realized that the way they treat their dog is less than desirable to the rescue & they will change their story when rallying support. I have no idea what the truth is here and no one except the owners and the rescue will but I believe in this case people should think about the other side if this and all the “owner’s friends maybe can speak up and provide the evidence of how much time this boy spends inside being loved and how many walks a day & week he gets and where he sleeps. Recent photos at family gatherings inside and visits can certainly help clarify the FACTS. As for the law.., well most devoted animal advocates are willing to challenge the laws when it comes to a dog being neglected, abused or treated like an outside lawn ornament. Let’s see the proof that this boy lives inside and is a part of the family and everyone that knows them sees and interacts with him inside regularly. That should be so easy to provide if he’s an inside member of the family. My heart goes out to all involved and especially the rescue if indeed she was told this dog was outside 24/7. Every rescuer I know would not sleep knowing a dog would be returned to such a crappy life. No rescuer who has standards would want to return a dog to a life to less than any of their adoption standards. Like it or not, good rescues have standards for a reason and if you’ve never been a rescuer and been faced with a nightmare like this you have no idea what hell it is. Again, I have no idea what the truth is and I get the 60 day law in WA which sounds crazy but I emplore you to go rescue. Read applications, do the phone screens, do the homechecks and see what you quickly learn is or isn’t a safe & loving home for a dog. If any responsible rescue adopted out a dog and the dog got out repeatedly and the owners didn’t make changes to keep the dog safe they would take him/her back. Every rescuer knows even 1 time getting out of yard the dog can get hit by a car, starve to death on the run, attacked by wild animal or people etc. 1 time accident ok but over and over again it means the owners are NOT keeping the dog safe. It’s a dog owner’s job to keep their dog safe. That includes hiring a dog walker, taking dog to doggy daycare, walking the dog before and after work, extending fence, and ANYTHING just like one would a child to help
Keep the dog safe if he/she keeps escaping yard. Unfortunately, this innocent dog can’t tell us the truth about how he lives 24/7 so I sure hope all his families’ supporters can show innumerous photos of him being loved and cherished inside. Maybe that will help quell the rescue’s concerns.
You’re assuming that they do leave the dog out 24/7. That has not been proven. Neither have we seen any vet records confirming the dog had worms or fleas. This rescue has a series of confrontation with law enforcement that goes back for years, so I’d keep that in mind when they make accusations.
And regardless of a rescue’s intention, refusing to give back a stray to the owner because you don’t think the owner is providing food and shelter, at least in WA, is illegal.
K9 Kittyland should have reported the dog to the local shelter. K9RR shouldn’t have taken the dog and kept it from its owner. Rescues can’t act as the judge and jury regarding how an animal is treated. If you think an animal is being abused, report it to authorities.
My niece found the dog and called me. We posted the dog on Facebook without a picture. Asking nf if anyone was missing a husky type dog near 56th and Lincoln. We called k9 kitty land to help with the dog while we tried to find the owners K9 kittyland land posted pictures of the dog and we shared all over Facebook. Nothing heard about any owner until Thursday. The dog was found midnight Saturday. After that I have no idea how it got to the point it did I am not aware of any miss behavior on k9 Yakima behalf now or in the past although I have only been here in Yakima for a short time . It is sad that some rescues are behaving the a way they are and it is so common and we need to stop this somehow.
Thank you for trying to help Skye. If you find a lost dog again you should take it to the Yakima Humane Society as they will do a better job of finding the owner.
Not everyone is connected on face book or would even know where to look on face book for a stray dog. It was kind of you to take the dog in and try to help, but when you find a dog or cat that appears lost, the best thing to do, always, is to contact your animal control officer or local shelter for the area you live in. Rescue is not shelter.
As a rescuer, then you should be well aware of what the law is. And the law clearly state that rescues do not have the authority to investigate. prosecute or sieze an animal due to suspected animal abuse or neglect.
If there was truly any abuse or neglect, then the responsibility of the rescue would have been to turn the dog over immediately to the shelter or the governing authority in the county it was found and have them proceed with the investigation. This was not done by either rescue and is in clear violation of the law.
Furthermore by placing the dog up for adoption so soon after acquiring it would lead people to believe that it was healthy and not flea infested and full of worms or under any type of medical treatment.
Also as a rescuer you should clearly comprehend the law that requires rescues to hold stray dogs for a minimum of 30 days actively trying to seek the owner.
Yes, we all have concerns for this dog, but clearly the law was not adhered to hand in this instance if there were any signs of abuse or neglect, they were not documented since no documentation can be provided and the laws were not followed by either rescue.
Proof of vet records, as well as evidence of a 3 day hold allowed by rescues and private individuals has not been provided so therefore all statements made by them are pure speculation and personal opinion
He was returned last night!
I am the owner of the other dog mentioned in the post. I got my dog from K9RR via PetFinder. Tamera did not interview us and did not have us fill out any papers. She brought the dog outside her home and said we could take him for a week. She said he was up to date with his shots, and that she got him from California about two weeks prior. That evening the dog collapsed on a walk. We carried him home and he seemed to rally. That night he had a severe episode of diarrhea in his crate. We rushed him to a vet and learned he had parvovirus. Parvo is highly communicable, it kills, and is so preventable. I called Tamera from the vet hospital and she freaked out. She said she had 20 dogs in her rescue and that she needed to bleach the place. I told her that the treatment was going to cost a bundle and asked if she would help out. I never heard from her again. I called her repeatedly, and sent her copies of the vet bills. This dog also had worms, fungus and kennel cough. All I could think of were the 20 other dogs she had in her ‘care’, wondering if they got the parvovirus and if they lived. My story provides more information about K9RR and Tamera’s integrity.
Thank you for sharing your story.
K9RR was my first time in dealing with a rescue org and will be my last. I don’t plan to get another animal from a rescue org until there is regulation and oversight in place. As it stands, anyone can hang a ‘dog rescue’ shingle on their door and attain the 501(3)c or tax exempt status. There is no training or certificate required or screening of people’s motivations. There is no fiscal responsibility. It feels like the wild west with people acting above the law or not using standard procedures. We need bloggers like the Seattle Dog Spot to bring attention to a problem that is bigger than my situation and now, what has happened to Skye. It is time to begin lobbying for more oversight on these home-grown rescues.
Thank you, we’ll continue to investigate shady rescues. But don’t let the bad rescues deter you from adopting from other rescues. There are plenty of good ones too.
Please look into John Cunningham’s case in Terre Haute, Indiana. His senior Boston Terrier, Sassy, got out of the house one day in late October 2015. He began searching for her immediately. She was never brought to the local shelter. Instead, a Boston Terrier “rescue” from Eastern Tennessee (with MANY branches/divisions in neighboring states) got their hooks into her & decided that her chronic skin condition was proof that Sassy was neglected. They whisked her quickly away, across state lines, never searching for her owner. John finally spotted her photo on the BTRET website. He contacted them, asking for his Sassy back. That is when they opened up their bag of old, familiar treachery, deception, & cruel dirty tricks for John & Sassy. They hid her, moved her from place to place, and lied about it all while publicly trashing John, a retired, disabled, 21-year veteran of the U.S. Army. They played a shell game with Sassy. And they played with yet another unethical Boston Terrier “rescue”…in North Texas! John doesn’t know where his dear little Sassy is now. No one will tell him! On his fixed, modest income, John didn’t have the money to retain a lawyer, so he started a gofundme account for that purpose. “Someone” reported his gofundme account as fraudulent…twice! When he did finally retain counsel, papers were served on the North Texas charlatans who had tricked him into signing a release of ownership, with the promise that upon doing so, Sassy would be released to them and that they would indeed finally return HIS dog to him. They reneged on their promise to him. They had dispatched a mole to drive through his neighborhood, past his rented home, and THEY took it upon themselves to judge John’s home not nice enough for THEIR taste!
ONE day before the scheduled 1-12-2015 court date, the North Texas rescue asked the Vigo County Superior Court in Terre Haute for a continuance of 60 days! It was granted to them. These people are DIRTY! They have gamed the judicial system before. And now John & Sassy will be forced to spend at least another 60 days apart!
A number of his friends are trying to get media coverage of this case. This is no way to treat a distraught pet owner who WAS treating Sassy for her skin condition. It is no way to treat a veteran and a patriot who has honorably served our country. It is no way to treat a human being. And it is NO way to treat a bewildered little dog who has no idea where her dad is!
A better accounting of this story can be found at dogladyrants.wordpress.com “Update on Bad Behavior in Boston Rescue” . Also, John has started a Facebook page, Help Bring Sassy Home.
Any help, support, advice or coverage of this horrible story is much appreciated!
I don’t know that this story means you shouldn’t adopt from rescues. It’s not the dogs but the person that should be caught and punished. And if it is a shady rescue, you might be in a position to gather info regarding that.
It definitely doesn’t mean people shouldn’t adopt from shelters. People shouldn’t adopt disreputable shelters like K9RR.
If people complain about these large hoarding type rescues with too many dogs, then
where will the dogs they have go ?
How about you people complaining start your own rescue with a few of your friends
so you can unload some of these larger hoarding type shelters from their dogs.
That is what i did & we have 5 dogs, 5 people-each person has one dog in their home
for adoption.
But we can only take one dog per foster home.
How about all you commenting do same thing, need at least 30 small rescues-
that would at least accommodate 150 of the dogs.
Many of the dogs she brings here end up getting euthanized anyway because they are too sick, old, or have behavior problems.
Most rescues do a good job, but a small minority is in it for the money. I think Sharon Gold is one of those people. Most places like Forever Homes won’t give their dogs to other rescues because selling dogs is how they make money. As I wrote in the article, Gold most likely pulling in $84k-$168k a year.
What 150 dogs are you talking about?
I always knew the K9 & Kittyland Rescue was sketchy. I adopted an older dog from the rescue several years ago, who ended up becoming the love of my life. While I’ve always appreciate K9 & Kittyland Rescue for bringing us together, clearly some things didn’t add up. For example, I was told the dog had undergone several medical procedures, including surgical removal of cheat grass between his toes. I was told his adoption fee would need to cover the costs of his multiple medical procedures. I was stunned when she came up with the amount of $50 for an adoption fee, seemingly off the top of her head. I didn’t push the fact that the fee was so low, but I did ask that she provide me with the vet’s paperwork at the time of the adoption. Of course, she couldn’t find it, but promised to send it to me, which she never did. My vet in Seattle, upon examining the dog, used the word “bullshit” in regards to his “multiple medical procedures.” I’m just glad I got my sweetheart away from those people, and hope he’d really been abandoned, rather than stolen.
Thank you for telling your story and giving him a loving home.