Shadow – Paws for Life

Sophie’s Dog Adoption is tired of rescuing people from the clutches of Paws for Life. Since Melissa Di Stefano has started her lucrative business of reselling dogs from pounds and or puppies from puppymills under the name of Paws for Life almost three years ago, Sophie has been receiving calls from frantic people whose hearts went out to these “dogs on death row” that she has posted all over the net.

The problem these people face is they are getting a dog directly from unknown pounds whom absolutely no one knows anything about, have not been seen by a vet and many have parasites and some end up having behavioral issues that these people don’t know how to deal with.

Unfortunately, despite their numerous attempts to reach Melissa and or her staff / volunteers, they either get no response for weeks at a time or are told to tough it out until… And that’s where it usually ends until they call Sophie to the rescue.

Shadow is another perfect example, the woman who is stuck with this dog and has asked Sophie for help is now receiving threats from Melissa that they will charge her with theft if she does not KEEP this dog (in heat, very dominant, and very intimidating for this poor woman who is totally inexperienced).

Any suggestions from anyone out there to help with this particular situation is welcomed.

Shadow has been with this woman for a month now with no help from Paws for Life. Sophie went over to bring her a crate, toys, food and a decent leash as none was supplied.

This Paws for Life dog is a Weimaraner mix according to them. :D

Update: Further to an email from Shadow’s foster home to Paws for Life demanding that Shadow be picked up at 6pm tonight or else she would be surrendered to Sophie’s Dog Adoption by 6:30pm, we are happy to say that Paws for Life took their responsibility seriously and actually sent a couple of guys to pick her up at 6pm. So Shadow is safe and sound in the hands of her rescuers, Paws for Life.

Update 2: Following the post about Shadow – Paws for Life, Melissa has decided to take legal action against Sophie for alleged defamation and derogatory comments concerning her business practices.

The post and comments will not be removed…

Update 3: Sophie’s reply.

117 thoughts on “Shadow – Paws for Life”

  1. Hello,

    I had been scouring rescue sites for months looking for a second dog to adopt and let me tell you I was CONSTANTLY horrified at what I saw on PAWS FOR LIFE.. FIRSTLY…their URGENT PLEAS were very disturbing and I could NEVER believe the dogs that were slated to be P.T.S. (puppies, very popular breeds, adorable looking dogs, etc.) WHO makes these decisions, ANYWAY??? PLUS, their website SUCKS…they offer absolutely NO INFORMATION WHATSOEVER on the animal. EVERY DOG IS CUTE AND CUDDLY…(as per their vague descriptions)… Is it a male, a female (one dog changed sexes within a few days), how old is it? Is it altered? Is it child or cat friendly?…absolutely NO VALID, IMPORTANT INFORMATION given on the pets, EVER!!!…THEN when you e-mail them…WELL, their people skills SUCK as much as their website, SHORT, CURT, UNINTERESTED in POTENTIAL GUARDIANS….The ENTIRE experience left me with a bad taste in my mouth!

    1. The urgent pleas are because these dogs are going to be gassed, they do not have much info because alot of these dogs are strays what do you expect. Would you rather they make up a cute little happy story so it sounds better. These dogs and cats are desperate and when you get them they are thankful and probably not feeling great so maybe they seem cute and cuddly. Your damn right there web site is disturbing…Hello welcome to rescue. As for their e-mail response back they are busy trying to get these animals out and safe getting foster homes and transport ready for these poor desperate animals. The bad taste in your mouth is probably a very lucky thing for these animals, god forbid you would get a less than perfect dog!!!

    2. Firstly, assuming that I know nothing about rescues is very presumptious of you…secondly, my point is: which you missed…I am pretty sure that the ultimate goal of rescues is to eventually find a forever home for each pet. That being said, the PUBLIC…(your TARGET AUDIENCE) who wish to adopt pets often search various rescue websites. A USER-FRIENDLY website with good photos, accurate and complete information on the pet, and an approachable staff would be GREATLY beneficial for the adoptees. Is it not your goal to find permanent homes for these animals after you save them?? So you go and collect them, and then, what…you need to PROMOTE THEM in the best possible manner to ensure a greater chance of getting them adopted. and P.S….you also know nothing about the dog(s) that I own or have owned in the past, so perhaps your closing comment about a “less than perfect dog” is again, very presumptious of you! Feel free to RETORT, but I for one, am DONE with this FORUM!

    3. Debbie,
      I could not have written a better response! These were my feelings exactly when I thought I might consider getting a dog. Paws demands that those looking for a dog take a HUGE (and dare I say, alarming?) leap of faith.
      When I asked some of the above questions to a rep from Paws I was told, ”I can’t answer any of your questions, we cannot assess any of the dogs.” The person I spoke with couldn’t even tell me how big the dog was. When petite, small, medium and large cannot be assessed, you really start to feel uncertain about getting a dog from Paws.
      Isn’t it much easier to go to the SPCA and pay a fraction of what Paws what? Quite honestly, what exactly is the benefit of going through Paws over seeing the dog in person at the SPCA? A picture may tell a 1000 words, but in the case of Paws, the pictures they post only tell one… DOG. The rest of the picture one will find out about when the dog arrives at their front door.

  2. Are you kidding me, they are rescue dogs on death row. They also have kennel cough and other issues what do you expect top of the line well known breeder dogs. Why do you care if you do not want to deal with them then don’t but how dare you put them down for what they do. I do not see much activity of dogs and fostering/adoptions on youe web site… Really if you have nothing good to say…You know the rest!!!!

    1. Why does she care? Because places like Paws for Life only hurts the real rescues and how real fostering should work.

      The goal is not to use and abuse humans, it is to ask for their help. Every dog found in a Quebec pound will end up on death row if not adopted regardless of where they are actually sitting.

      -Rick

    2. Well i have never had an issue with anyone from paws for life not once, I fostered and then adopted and they were supportive of me at all times and very helpful. If you don’t want to have anything to do with them as a rescue then don’t!!! Take the energy that is used to downgrade this rescue and put it to something useful.

    3. Not wanting to argue but is it not better that these animals get out and into foster homes, just do not see the terrible things that Sophie does about PFL I have never seen any of the things she is accusing them of kind of not fair really.

    4. What you don’t see does not mean it ain’t. This post is what we see everyday and hear from the fosters stuck with dogs from Paws for Life.

      The wellbeing of the animal you say? Where is the food and or help from Melissa regarding Shadow and others? These foster homes are the ones calling Sophie because no other rescue wants to get involved with Paws for Life.

      Where is Paws for Life to protect these foster homes / dogs?

      Yes a pet is only but a legal contract such as lending someone a TV and Sophie will fight if need-bee.

      -Rick

    5. Well I know and Iam involved with 3 or 4 rescues that help place dogs for PFL so not sure where you are getting you info. Does not really matter. STUCK with dogs from from Paws for life WOW that is pretty harsh for the dogs, maybe they should not be fostering if they feel STUCK. Anyway guess we see things diffrent… STUCK fostering never heard anything like it. I hope you never get STUCK with a dog, myself bring it on that is what rescue is all about but I have never felt stuck or would not be a part of rescue.Too much!!!!

  3. Hi I have gone to a pound for paws for life and I can tell you that the dogs they rescue are going to die. You can go to the pounds yourself if you do not believe them, the one I went to was in St Hubert. They are just not allowed to disclose the location of the pounds on account of the contracts they signed with said pounds. The pounds have made them sign contracts stating they are not allowed to tell anyone where the dogs come from because the pounds do not want any troubles. In fact they had worked for years without letting any rescues access and therefore killing almost all the dogs that came in before paws for life. I can also say that I represent a lawyer who has agreed to help paws for life and can assure you that what you did today although seemingly a good act was in fact helping someone break a contract they signed, and as such you may be responsible for the costs (over 400$) paws for life has paid to get this dog out of the pound and properly cared for by a vet. The goal of pet rescue is to better animal wellbeing, not make pretty websites and certainly not to smear the good work of others.

    1. I so agree Rob and well put, is it not about the animals. We should be helping out between rescues and not starting a war between them.

    2. Rob, I find the secrecy surrounding the location and name of the pound in St. Hubert to be both COMPLETELY unnecessary and suspect. If rescuing dogs is the objective, why not make make the name and location of the pound available to all of those people interested in adopting dogs from pounds? If the pound does not allow the public to access its property, then going to the pound in person immediately becomes a mute point. Does it not? No, I do believe, despite your argument above, that the ONLY reason why Paw For Life does not make this information available is because Paws hopes to make money from those innocent people not aware of the entire situation at hand.

  4. I would first like to say to you personally Sophie how much of a scum of the earth bitch you are. How you could go as low as posting a blog about paws for life is complete bullshit. Did you ever think of acting like an adult and contacting Melissa directly! No instead you chose to tell the world about this one story that is complete bullshit. But hey, anything to get your adoptions up right? And also get more foster’s. Why doesn’t Sophie try and save all these dogs on death row? She must be making money on the side if she always refuses to help these poor souls. Spend you time saving, people who put down other’s are the ones who have something to hide. I am still trying to wrap my head around this whole story. How can people who don’t even know Melissa write all these horrible things about her? You people are fucked in the head if you think ALL paws for life volunteers and supporters are going to stand by and let you destroy this rescue. Look at your family dog and imagine him being on death row. Would you not do anything to save him/her? Well Melissa fights for these dogs as if they were her own. She will take in any dog about to die, no matter what. Foster homes know that we have no history on these dogs. They help because they do not want these animals to die. They are giving them a second chance. Sophie as you last stated, if for some reason you want a war with Paws for Life well I am ready. I am sure the 1000’s of volunteer are as well. Maybe you should have shut your mouth about this one, as it will come and bite you in the ass! Instead of supporting all rescues and their cause you chose to bash them, to make yourself look better. DUMB BITCH. Unfortunately the only ones who will suffer are the innocent animals. As for Donna, yes puppies and cute dogs die as well. Its reality. You are a complete retard if you actually believe all you wrote. As for the website, it is run by volunteers who work full time jobs. They do their best, which is all we can ask! Paws for life has nothing to hide, does Sophie? She started this, right? What is she hiding? We post everything on facebook, a sad reality for these dogs, but the truth. We lay everything out their and hope people will help. If you chose to support Sophie, you are against saving these lives and have stooped to her low ass grimy level. This is just the beginning Sophie!

    1. Contacting Melissa you say? You might want to ask her who contacted who some years ago when Melissa could not keep puppies in her condo! Trust me the contact option is no longer an OPTION!!!

      -Rick

    2. Wow. You have such a classy way of writing, Melissa!

      “DUMB BITCH”, “SCUM OF THE EARTH”, etc…

      It’s ironic that you pretend to have class when you so easily scream insults at people online. Those who don’t have FACTS to defend themselves turn to insults.. or lawyers. You have defamed me more times than I can count so it’s ironic to see you accusing OTHERS to “defame YOU”. Perhaps you are getting exactly what you deserve. Haven’t you heard the expression “You reap what you sow”???

  5. Who gives a shit! Rescues are here to help. I don’t know you Rick, but you seem to be a fucking moron. And no nothing about rescue. The people behind rescue don’t matter. Its the animals.

    1. Yes rescues are here to help. Paws for Life is not a rescue in my book and I’m Sophie’s son, I’m not active in the rescue world but I’ve been directly attached to it for the last 15 years. I’m also the one that maintains this website.

      Also these so called pounds with signed contracts sound like puppymills if you ask me, reselling the bad stock to Melissa!. Yes I’m currently trying to find and contact this so called pound in St Hubert.

      Care to give me the number anyone?

      -Rick

    2. Does volunteers actually think pounds have signed contracts with a non-registered rescue like Melissa OMG please the pounds sell the dogs to her then get fees from the city claiming the dog was euthanized. She knows that … and if this ever got out they would lose their contract.

    3. Evil are people who abuse/exploit/neglect animals and what is scary is a rescue who not only supports them but sends her volunteers there. Why not go save all the puppies while your at it from the pet stores – oh yeah it’ll cost $800 a pup – I see now says the blind man.

      BTW a reputable pound would only allow a reputable (registered) rescue to pull …

    4. So Carole, only animals at “reputable” pounds deserve a second chance? It’s true that all these dogs and cats that decided to be dropped off at “unreputable” pounds must be pretty dumb.

    5. Kat says:
      August 30, 2010 at 12:33 pm
      So Carole, only animals at “reputable” pounds deserve a second chance? It’s true that all these dogs and cats that decided to be dropped off at “unreputable” pounds must be pretty dumb

      KAT: Reputable pounds do not SELL animals to rescues nor do they need to HIDE that fact – they give them knowing they will be fully vetted & sterilized, properly evaluated etc Dogs shouldn’t be getting pulled (with no plan) from pounds whom are frightened to death, into cars, transported to another car waiting, into foster homes who aren’t prepared or worse adopter’s meeting/paying the rescue at the pound and off they go INTACT. Who exactly is following all these dogs lives … HELLO?

      Absolutely every dog deserves a chance to find a good home … why does this even need to be explained?

    6. Carole, I think it needs to be explained because again it comes down to what is really important, rescuing the ANIMALS! You are saying that rescue organisations should only deal with “reputable” pounds thus leaving all the ones in “unreputable” pounds there to die?!? That`s what needs to be explained i think! Why do you assume that every pound cares where the animals will end up and if they will be sterilized or not? Maybe they don`t! But why do the animals have to pay for that? If you think every animal deserves a second chance, then what would be your solution for animals in “unreputable” pounds who just want to dispose of them?
      Which brings me to say that ALL of PFL`s animals i have ever picked had a”plan”. They were brought to homes who had signed foster agreements in hopes of finding their foster dog a new home. When i told PFL that someone on the street showed lots of interest in my foster and that i took their email in case PFL would allow me to go to them and make a house visit, they said they prefered not to risk it and would shortly send me applications, which they did. So thanks to them, after a home visit that i did myself this week, my foster dog will end up in a few days in a GREAT home! Not too bad for him i think. Was he not worth it because he ended up in an “unreputable” pound? Was the pound encouraged now to put another dog in his empty place? No because he would have been “gone” anyway. So it has nothing to do with encouraging them and supporting them, it has only to do with saving the ones that are innocent in all this, the ANIMALS! I don`t believe any animal in our civilized country should die in fear without the little bit of dignity i`m sorry! Not even the “bad stock”, which for me does not exist.

      …And btw to whoever referred elsewhere in the thread that PFL gets little guys to drive dogs around and makes them feel important, i am an educated woman in my thirties who could do anything i want in my spare time, but i choose to drive animals to foster and adoptive homes to make me feel “important”. Any problem with that? And all other “drivers” i have met seemed to be very nice, kind and polite people who have full time jobs but just wanna do their part. I am so done with this forum since obviously people just see things differently and it seems i won`t change that.

    7. The point is if you want to save a life anyone can drive down to 9900 chemain Chambley in St-Hubert to get these animals at the regular pulling fee! What PFL does is dog brokerage, animals are not real estates! You don’t need to be a rescue to save lives out pounds. It cost money to kill animals, a business would rather give the discards for free then having to pay for vets or gas consumption fees to kill.

      A pound is also open 24/7 to accept stray animals as does the Montreal SPCA and even The Berger Blanc! However this SCDD, this St-Hubert pound serving 22 municipalities is closed after business hours. They even have a guard dog out at night and video cameras to make sure you don’t abandon a stray on their property.

      -Rick

  6. I can’t believe you would say paws is not a rescue. Anyone who saves dogs from death is a rescue. These mills would other wise kill their dogs if they did not take them. You being in quebec should know this. Or wait, let me guess. Sophies only takes in owner surrenders. No dogs in urgent need I suppose. Most vetting already done. Good for you for sticking up for your mom, but maybe know more about your facts before you write something. Melissa has a lot of rescue who stand by her, who stands by Sophie? Who are these “other” dogs that have been brought to you by paws foster? Really curious to know.

  7. Something about this doesn’t sound kosher. A person who’s afraid of a dominate animal is going to be an enabler for the dog. No behavioral changes will me made. If you want the animal to be prepared for their forever home, they need time, and patience. If the person is not willing to, or afraid to continue, it’s hurting both them and the animal in this case.

    A dominate dog should not go to an inexperienced person.

    In all my years of fostering, I have always been provided the supplies for the animal.

    Whatever the volunteer’s limits are, they have to be respected.

  8. I foster for paws. I have no problem supplying food and leashes for the dogs, whatever they need. Paws has them vaccinated and netered right away. They even give the kennel cough vaccine! With the amount of dogs that come in, supplying food ect would be impossible. I would rather spend 20 dollars and let them focus on saving another life. Also had a pleasant experience with them!

  9. your allowed to think what you want but to go and publicly say these bad things about is laws is pretty low. There have been so many lives saved becuase of this rescue that i can not even keep track of the lists. I volunteer for paws and do what i can and when i can, i have save numerous dogs and cats from the pound and I am happy to continue to help Melissa and the other volunteers with whatever they need help with. You people who are posting bad stuff about paws need to do your homework and find out the truth before putting down a rescue that pays money from their OWN pocket to save lives. Instead of bashing, why dont you work together. in the end its the animals that suffer and you are helping to make that happen. Very muture Sophies’s adoption, very very mature! continue this and you will loose what fosters and volunteers that you have left!!! LONG LIVED PAWS FOR LIFE!!!!

  10. You are 100% right Christina. I don’t want to go as low as she is. But I will, by saying. She is a stupid bitch who cares about money, not the animals about to die!

  11. I have been volunteering with Melissa since may. i have been to the pounds on several occasions and picked up those dogs my self, the rejects of society that NO OTHER RESCUE EVER WANTS TO SAVE. I can personally attest my frustration having called several rescues everytime INCLDUING SOPHIE HERSELF to ask for help for someone to take in these poor lost souls abandon and spat on by society. MOST RESCUS INCLUDING SOPHIE HERSELF HAVE SAID NO TO SAVING ANY, HAVE LEFT THEM DIE IN GAS CHAMBERS. MELISSA REFUSES TO DO SO. so many of us volunteers and melissa have PAYED FROM THEIR OWN POCKETS to save these poor babies from a horrible death. SOPHIE REFUSES TO SPEND A DIME ON THEM, SO TELL ME, WHO IS REALLY TRYING TO MAKE MONEY TRHOUGH RESCUE??? SOMEONE SAVING DOGS AND HAVING TO PAY THEIR RELEASE OR SOMEONE TAKING IN OWNER SURRENDER?? WITH NO PROBLEMS?? well shouldnt cost you much sophie right??? you just charge people adoption fees and dont spend anything yourself??? whos making money now?? I HAVE SEEN MELISSA WORK EVERYSINGLE SECOND OF THE DAY AND HAVE EXHAUSTED MYSELF HELPING HER SAVE THESE DOGS!! im so insaulted by people like you!! RESCUES SHOULD HELP EACH OTHER!! bashing paws for life really??? do you want all thse dogs to die sophie??? BECAUSE THIS IS WHAT YOU ARE ASKING FOR RIGHT NOW! ITS SO FUNNY BECAUSE YOU OOUT OF ALL PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT THE THINGS HAPPENING IN QUEBEC AND POUNDS, DONT PLAY INGORANT HERE U KNOW THE HORRIBLE THINGS HAPPENING WITH DOGS ! THIS IS A POWER TRIP TO YOU??? AND LET IT BE KNOWN THAT I HAVE CALLED THE FOSTER OF SHADOW OVER AND OVER AND EMAILED HER. I HAVE PROOF AND TAKING EVERYTHING TO COURT WITH MELISSA!! YOU ARE ONLY PUNISHING THE DOGS AND I HOPE TO GOD THAT YOU WILL FEEL VERY GUILTY ABOUT ALLL THE LIVES YOU HAVE LET DIE BECAUSE OF THESE BAD MOUTHING. LET IT STAY ON YOUR COUNSCIOUS. what has this world become??? i have joined melissa to help save dogs and escape human’s disgusting careless and lack of respect of life and have just been faced with even more carelessness. GOOD JOB SOPHIE AND SON! YOU HAVE NOT ACCOMPLISHED ANYTHING BY THIS, JSUT PROVEN HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE THERE TO BACK MELISSA UP AND EVERYTHING SHE HAS DONE! and also, sophie nice way to speak about dogs “with parasites and sick”! YES SICK AND DIRTY AND DYING, WE HAVE SAVED THEM ADN CLEANED THEM UP AND REHOMED THEM! THEY ARE STILL WORTHY AND DESRVING OF A HOME, ALTHOUGH UNPERFECT. YOU JUST PROVED RIGHT THERE THAT YOU ONLY SAVE PERFECT DOGS GOOD JOB!! YOU JUST SCREWED YOURSELF. insteading of attacking other rescues go attack the laws and goverment who are allowing gas chambers, back yard breeders or puppy mills. OR ARE YOU AFRAID OF MAKING A CHANGE IN THE WORLD???

    1. Melissa: You have NEVER once worked in the real world (no, escorting is not a normal job!). The way you are running your rescue is a clear indication that you have absolutely NO business sense. If you want to prove to the world that you are doing such a wonderful thing for the animals you claim to save, why don’t you show us NUMBERS and happy testimonies from people who adopted from your rescue? Or do you have so many unhappy testimonies that you cannot even produce ONE successful experience? Speak to us with FACTS and NUMBERS and stop yelling insults at everyone who have a legitimate concern about your BUSINESS (I use the word BUSINESS since purchasing an animal and reselling it at a much higher price makes you an animal BROKER. Should animals be treated like real estate? Who are you screwing in the end? Think a little before screaming insults at everyone online.

  12. Hey!! Listen up!! How dare you criticize Sophie!! She runs this shelter all by herself and runs it beter than a whole groups of people running a shelter. She never kills an animal and gives it all treatment needed at the vet, no matter what the cost!! All the money comes out of her pocket and she’s lucky if she gets any donations. She supplies materials such as food, leashes, vet care and much much more too all her foster famillies. She once had up to 10 dogs in her house and I only have one and it’s already a lot of work so imagine 10. Seriously people!! I have nothing against Paws For Life Rescue but don’t you dare insult Sophie’s Shelter!! Once she got a call about a mom and 7 puppies locked in crate in a warehouse and she went no matter how late it might have been!! She gets all her dogs operated and they have all their vaccines!! She even helps people if they have any problems with her dogs. If you leave a message or send a e-mail she always writes or calls back as soon as she gets them!! Which is usually very very soon. She does a wonderful job and has a gift with dogs and has been doing this for 15 whole years!! Her slogan says it all: “Giving dogs a second chance”. You rock Sophie continue the good work!!

    1. i have been a foster for PAWS FOR LIFE for quite some time. THEY DO THE EXACT SAME THING THAT YOU DO SOPHIE EXCEPT FOR FOOD, WHICH I HAVE NO PROBLEM COVERING BECAUSE THEY DONT GET ENOUGH DONATIONS. I DONT MIND DOING MY PART!!!
      WE ARE IN THIS TOGETHER!!! WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM BASHING ANOTHER RESCUE INSTEAD OF HELPING????? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU REALLY??? IM AM HAPPY TO FOSTER FOR THEM AND WILL CONTINUE TO DO SO! YOUR ONLY HURTING THE DOGS IN THIS SOPHIE NOT ANYBODY ELSE.

    2. THEY HAVE DONE ALL THE VETTING ON MY FOSTER DOG! COVERED EVERY PROBLEM SHE HAS HAD! I ADMIRE PAWS FOR LIFE. I DUNNNO WHERE YOU ARE GETTING YOUR INFORMATION SOPHIE BUT YOU SHOULD GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT !!!

    3. Do you know how to read? Helping dogs you say? What do you think Sophie did today? Did she not help Shadow not end up on the street or the city pound? The only bashing I see here is against Sophie. She is only exposing what she has had to deal with concerning Paws for Life and the many calls of please that she has received. She is just trying to avoid seeing these dogs dumped just anywhere because no one is returning their calls.

      What would you do? Send the person to hell? And to tell them it’s not your problem, or would you do what you could to help with the situation?

      -Rick

    4. what is this a competition of who provides more?? paws for life never bashed sophie she is the one bashing paws!! who cares who is saving dogs we should all be in this together saving them!! we all volunteers for the poor animals and there should be no competitions!!

  13. Ok. # 1… with 30+ years in rescue…….sometimes we are ONLY given 2 hours…. to decides who to PULL…. we now nothing, regarding KC or behavior… etc…Melissa and many other rescues are on the front line…..

    how many of you who are bitching want to receive a call about 5-10 20 pups see their faces and turned them down t be GASSED………

    this is what Melissa and the rest of us receive daily……

    we all make some mistakes, but who want to knowingly kill a poo precious soul…. LEAVE THEM BEHIND…. Melissa has her heart in the right place… if she had sufficient support…200 fosters etc….she would attempt to save them all….

    I have never met her….I am a 3rd party foster for her… but……….. as such there is a baby girl 2 years old at my feet named Winnie… she was about to be gassed at 3:30 a few Fridays ago……

    She plays , loves and lives …. because of Melissa…..God know none of us are perfect…… and until you can stand in God’s stead…. please focus on helping and not judging…..

    DAR :)

    P.s.

    BTW… Winnie wants to say… I got to play, breathe, eat love and feel love today….. all because Melissa cared enough to rescue me….

    thank you and all PAWS UP

    1. Melissa keeps writing under all these different alias, pretending to have support for what she says.

      The way you are conducting yourself on this blog is a CLEAR indication that you are not to be trusted. All you seem to do is insult others, send cease and desist letters and dismiss any criticism coming your way. Go back to McGill and take a leadership class – you CLEARLY and URGENTLY need it.

      And keep in mind that in life, you reap what you sow. You can’t go around criticizing and defaming everyone else.. and not expect the same to happen to you when you do something wrong with your business.

  14. Why all this nonseces? Listen up I don’t care who’s right and who’s wrong. You both shouldn’t be criticizing each other. Your job is to help mans bast friend and according to what I heard you both are doing your jobs at the best you possibly can. You each rescue dogs who are abandon, abused… If you read their stories you can tell that they were not the luckiest dogs. No dog is pefect!! You each take the dogs to a vet and give them their vaccines and get them operated. You supply food and shelter for these dogs. You guys each pay from your own pockets. Your job is to save them so why waste your time in court or on the computer arguing when you could be saving more lives. Isn’t that what this is all about, saving the lives of animals that deserve a second chance.

    Stop fighting they need help!! :(

    1. Nobody disagrees that Melissa saves lives, the point being made is that she uses and takes advantage of people’s emotions to rescue these dogs. But then no help or follow-ups are given to these people who wanted to save a life, not necessarily have to deal with the financial and or unknown behaviors of these dogs. To be a foster home, you need support from the rescue in order to cope and deal with the dog you just welcomed into your home.

      Picking a dog off death row might save his life but to leave him with someone who cannot cope nor reach the rescue is putting the dog right back at risk of ending up in a pound, back on death row. If you rescue, you follow through from beginning to end.

      -Rick

    2. ARE YOU WITH PAWS 24HRS A DAY AND SEE WHAT THEY DO? WHO THEY RESPOND TO WHICH CALLS THEY TAKE, EMAILS RESPOND TO ETC ETC???? SO HOW ARE YOU TO JUDGE WHAT THEY DO ON A DAILY BASIS BECAUSE OF ONE OR TWO COMPLAINTS? ALL LARGE ORGANIZATIONS WILL HAVE CRITICS BUT YOU ARE NOT EXPERIENCING THIS FIRST HAND YOU ARE LISTENING TO HEARSAY AND FROM HEARSAY YOU DECIDE TO BASH A FOSTER WHO SAVES LIVES? HOW DOES THAT MAKES SENSE! I’VE FOSTERED WITH PAWS 4 TIMES NOW AND EVERY TIME THEY RESPONDED EVERY SINGLE CALL, EMAIL ETC EVEN WHEN I HAD A PROBLEM WITH ONE OF MY FOSTERS THEY CAME OVER TO TEACH ME HOW TO USE SOME BEHAVIOURAL TECHNIQUES WHICH WORKED. THEY HAVE ALWAYS BEEN AN AMAZING SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR ANY ISSUE I FACED AND FOUND AMAZING ADOPTIVE HOMES FOR ALL 4 FOSTERS. THEY ALSO DID ALL VETTING ON EVERY SINGLE DOG AND ONE NEEDED MEDICAL CARE COSTING THOUSANDS AND THEY STILL COVERED IT WITHOUT BLINKING AN EYE.

      SO YOUR POSTS JUST DONT MAKE SENSE YOU CLAIM THEY DONT DO THINGS PROPERLY BUT IM SURE THERE ARE A MILLION CRITICS AGAINST YOU AS WELL(WELL MAYBE NOT AS MUCH SINCE YOU ARE A MUCH SMALLER RESCUE)BUT NATURALLY PEOPLE WILL CRITICIZE AND I DONT SEE PAWS WRITING ALL OVER THEIR WEBPAGES BASHING OTHER RESCUES. REALLY SOUNDS LIKE A HIDDEN AGENDA! SOUNDS LIKE JEALOUSY THAT THEY ARE RECEIVING MORE PUBLIC ATTENTION AND PERHAPS TAKING AWAY FROM YOUR “RESCUE” AND YOUR BUSINESS SOUNDS LIKE THIS IS JUST A PLOY TO GET ATTENTION FOR YOUR “RESCUE” BY BASHING ANOTHER ONE. SHAME ON YOU!

    3. Why would you try to destroy a rescue that you just yourself says saves lives! Is saving animals lives not what it’s all about? If so then why would you try to cause problems for those who volunteer to save lives?

      Why not put your attention to those who harm animals and not on those who help them. Doesnt make sense something is very off with this posting.

      I WAS a supporter of sophies rescue until this post but I cannot support a rescue who is trying to harm another rescue for no found reason it just doesnt make any sense!

    4. I PERSONALLY HAVE GIVEN ALL FOSTERS MY NUMBER AND GET ALL CALLS AT RANDOM TIMES IN THE MORNING AND ANSWER EACH ONE!!!! I HAVE NOT IGNORED ONE PERSON AND SHADOW’S FOSTER HAD MY NUMNBER TO CALL ME FOR ANY PROBLEM AND GOT NO PHONE CALLS. I HAVE EMAILS I FRONT OF ME TO PROVE I HAVE CONCTATED ALL FOSTERS SO YOU HAVE NOTHING ON US! STOP WASTING YOUR TIME HERE AND GO HELP DOGS!!

    5. Why did Shadow’s foster mom call Sophie? Why didn’t you help her with Shadow? Sophie didn’t go looking for this situation, it came to her and she agreed to help as the woman was very distraught, claiming she could not reach anyone and was ignored. Once Sophie’s name was mentioned by email to Paws for Life from the foster home, then the volunteers started leaving threatening messages to Shadow’s foster mom. When Sophie and I got there it was obvious the foster mom was upset, so why did she contact Sophie? Ask yourself that question…… Are all these foster homes calling Sophie for help making this stuff up? What would be their point. This picture of Shadow was taken by me today in front of Shadow’s foster home two and a half hours after Sophie received the call, where were Melissa’s volunteers?

      -Rick

    6. AS FOR SHADOW FROM THE SECOND SHE TOLD US THERE WAS A PROBLEM, WE RESPONG WITHIN THE SAME DAY!! WE RESPOND SAME DAY SYING WE WOULD MOVE DOG ASAP. THIS IS 48 HRS AGO GIVEN ALL DEATH ROW DOGS COMING IN, IT MAY TAKE A FEW DAYS TO FIND FOSTER HOMES WE DONT MAGICALLY MAKE THEM APPEAR. WE HAVE PROOF OF THIS IN EMAIL SAYING WE WILL SEND VOLUNTEER TO HELP DEAL WITH ANY DOGS IN THE MEANTIME. FOSTER NEVER RESPONDED TO COMMENT. NEXT COMMENT RECEIVED WAS THAT DOG IS GOING TO SOPHIES. SHE HUNG UP ON MY FACE SEVERAL TIMES!!!!! WE HAVE VET PROOF OF HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS AND WE WILL FILE A POLICE REPORT OF STEALING DOG!!!! I HAVE ALL PROOF OF RESPONDING TO SHADOWS FOSTER IN SAME DAY WITH NO RESPONSE FROM HER AND ONLY ONE SAYING DOG IS GOING TO YOU SOPHIE!!!!!!!!!!!

    7. Police? Does McGill not teach you how to read? You should call the police and see if they will take this dog from the foster home as she is still there waiting for someone to take her in.

      You have proof, and Sophie has someone claiming she’s had the dog for a month, are you calling your foster homes liars? These kind hearted souls who help you save dogs’s lives are in fact awful people who make up stories about Paws for Life and their methods?

      I’m sure they would be thrilled to know that you consider them to be liars who for some unknown reason want to bother Sophie with nonsense.

      -Rick

    8. WHERE WAS PAWS TODAY:??????????? WE WERE BUSY SAVING THREE LIVES TODAY ABOUT TO BE GASSED TO DEATH!!!!!!I HAVE MANY PROOFS OF THAT!!!! WHAT WERE YOU DOING SOPHIE???? PLOTTING AGAINST PAWS???

    9. ummm do you not see that paws is defending themselves against a post that was made to defame the rescues character and the director of the rescue???? I dont see paws arguing I see paws defending their name against a posting on a website bashing a rescue that does so much! Do you know they save over 30 animals a week from being gassed! I see all the post on facebook, working all hours of the day on trying to help these animals! So why should they be insulted for that when they have done nothing wrong but volunteer their time to save lives! Paws has not started this but clearly volunteers, fosters and supporters are defending them because its obvious to any eductaed person that what paws does it AMAZING work! BRAVO PAWS! DONT LET THESE JEALOUS PEOPLE AFFECT YOU KEEP UP THE GREAT JOB SAVING ALL THESE ABANDONED SOULS!

  15. RICK YOUR COMMENT JUST SHOWS YOUR LACK OF CLASS. WE ARE NOT PUTTING ALL OUR FOSTERS IN ALL SAME CATEGORY. ALL FOSTERS ARE AMAZING!!! THIS ONE PARTICULAR ONE IS GIVING FOSTERS A BAD NAME THROWING DOG OUT LIKE GARGABE. WE HAVE BEEN CALLING AND WRITING TO TAKE DOG BACK BUT SHE WILL NOT ANSWER ANY OF US!!! WHAT PART OF THAT MAKES US NOT WANTING TO HELP WITH SHADOW????THE ONLY THING FOR US TO TAKE SHADOW BACK IS CALLING POLICE FOR THEFT. WE HAVE BILLS TO PROOVE IT IS OUR DOG. YOU BEING A FOSTER BASED RESCUE SHOULD KNOW IT TAKES TIME TO FIND ANOTHER FOSTER. SHE IS LYING AND WE HAVE PHONE BILLS FOR PROOF. DOES THAT MAKE SENSE TO YOU RICK??? WHAT ARE YOU UNABLE TO READ??? WE HAVE PROOF OF EVERYTHING :)
    AND IT HAS BEEN SENT TO MY FATHER IN LAW WHO IS A BIG TIME LAWYER. GOOD LUCK FOR DEFAMATION OF CHARACTER AND THEFT!!!! DO YOU UNDERSTAND THESE WORDS???? OR MAYBE YOU SHOULD HAVE GONE TO MCGILL???

    1. If you had written to her to take the dog back, this foster home would of been happy to return Shadow as you don’t seem understand we also have proof that this foster home contacted us in search of a solution to remove Shadow this intimidating dog as she says from her home.

      This posting started early this evening, it is now passed midnight and as far as I know Shadow is still there. No one has come through from Paws for Life, only threats to have Sophie charged with theft for allegedly taking a dog who in fact is still waiting for you.

      Will Sophie get a call in the morning from the police wanting her to surrender this dog to you Zeina, or will your father resolve this “contract” issue from the foster home to place Shadow in one of your “good” foster homes? Or will she get another frantic call from this foster home because the dog snarled at her once again?

      Sophie really hopes that this situation will be resolved without her by morning as she has no time to waste with situations like this.

      We posted this blog to alert everyone of this situation as no one from Paws for Life appears to be reachable other then by such methods as this post.

      -Rick

    2. I HAVE ACTUALLY CALLED YOUR MOTHER RICK SHE HAS NOT ANSWERED ME. I WANTED TO HANDLE THIS INMATURE WAY. I HAVE BEEN CALLING FOSTER MOM ALL DAY !!!! I DONT GET WHY YOU ARE NOT UNDERSTAND MY WORDS??? AGAIN I CALLED HER ALL DAY SHE WONT ANSWER!!! ARE YOU SCARED OF POLICE NOW?? IS THAT WHY YOU ARE NOT TAKING SHADOW LIKE YOUR MOM HAD SAID?? WHY ARE YOU USING SHADOW AS A PAWN?? POOR DOG YOU ARE MAKING HER SOUND HORRIBLE!!! SHE IS A SWERTHEAT STOP MAKING HER SOUND LIKE A MONSTER YOU ARE A RESCUE!!! WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU????
      YOUR MOTHER COULD HAVE ANSWERED ME AND THIS WOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED AS WE COULD HAVE COLLABORATED TOGETHER, RESCUE TO RESCUE. YOU HAVE DECIDED TO MAKE THIS INTO A COMPETITION. IT IS LIKE POWER TRIP TO YOU AND YOUR MONTHER. WE ARE READY TO TAKE SHADOW. WE CANNOT REACH FOSTER HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO TAKE THE DOG??????

    3. Listen PAWS FOR LIFE doesn’t even supply their phone number on petfinder.com. So how do you expect to get a call if someone might want to help you save theese dogs if u don’t even help them by suppling your phone number. Sophie’s number in on her website, adoptapet.com and petfinder.com!! Sophie never turned this into a competition she was just explaining her opinion and I bet she had it up to here with you. It shows how inmature you are by treatning to call the cops or sueing. Who are you!! Aren’t you suppose to be saving those dogs on the “death row”.

    4. S.E you don’t even supply your name and hence the reason we have computers and e-mails. BTW if you won’t even supply your name I am sure your phone number would not be available either.

    5. YOU HAVE PROOF OF HER CONTACT AND I HAVE PROOF OF US RESPONDING. WHY DID YOU NOT ANSWER MY CALL SO WE SPEAK ABOUT THIS?? INSTEAD OF INSULTING US AND OUR WORK? WHY DID SOPHIE ATTACK US RIGHT AWAY? I CALLED AS SOON I AS KNEW AS RESCUES SHOULD HELP EACH OTHER FOR THE DOGS WELL BEING. WHY WASNT THIS DONE??HOW CAN WE TAKE SHADOW IF THEY REFUSE TO ANSWER US? IN CONCLUSION TO EVERYTHING YOU JUST WASTED A DAY OF OUR LIVES SAVING DEATH ROW DOGS AND HELPING OUT OUR WONDERFUL FOSTER HOMES TALKING TO YOU HERE. YOU AND YOUR MOTHER SHOULD BE OUT HELPING SAVE LIVES INSTEAD OF CRITICIZING.

    6. RICK WATCH YOUR MOUTH AS IT IS YOUR MOTHER WHO WAS UNREACHABLE TONIGHT. NEITHER DID YOU OR HER TRY TO ANSWER MY CALLS BACK.

    7. Zeina, this is getting childish. I am now home, Rick has been with me all day and I see my phone, which has call display, and unless you called from a place called Belle Gueule, twice around 8:30 pm, there was no call from you. Regardless of where or when you called, you never left a message or would have received a call back.

      Unfortunately I left your phone number in a bag at my vet tonight, and will only have access to it tomorrow to call you, as I am not to bother your foster home at 2:00 am to get your number.

      I never bashed you guys, never insulted anyone, nor did my son. I only posted what I had to go through today, and if you actually took the time to read the original post, I was asking for solutions. Then I started getting bashed by your people who threatened to call cops, charge me with theft, but did anyone actually read anywhere that I took the dog in?

      I did not take the dog, not because I am afraid of cops, but because I wanted to give Paws for Life the chance to come pick her up. I told the lady that if you came through, to surrender her back to you, if by Sunday she had not heard back or the dog had not been picked up, I would take her (and yeah, probably stick her in my kitchen as I have no room – I rescue with a plan of action, I don’t just plop anywhere I can). At the last conversation with her, you had left insulting and threatening messages to her…..

      As for making this dog sound horrible, let me tell you that I went to assess and evaluate this dog, and I was expecting an out of control dog. What I found was a wonderful, ready to learn, quite respectful of authority, and definitely a great dog (by the way, not a Weimaraner mix as you told her). However, if you read instead of seeing red, it says that the foster home “claims” this dog is dominant and intimidating. She told me Shadow urinated and defecated on her feet as a sign of dominance, that Shadow snarled and growled at her, and being a novice and never having dealt with a dog like that, was very intimidated and somewhat scared. I never once wrote that the dog was that, only how the foster home felt about Shadow.

      This woman called me, pleading for help as she claimed no one from Paws for Life was returning her calls/e-mails, and it had now been a month. The dog went into heat (which I have confirmed since I brought her panties and saw the blood), and you are claiming that she is lying and full of it. That you have in fact tried to contact her all day, tried to reach me all day, yet I was only at her place around 4:30 pm, got the post up on the website at about 6:00 pm, yet you tried to reach me as well as her all day? If that’s the case, I guess you had been contacted way before I got there, and way before any posting was made asking for help, since I have no calls that are unknown to me other than 2 at around 8:30 pm. (if in fact you work at Belle Gueule). All the other calls showing on my display are either associated with a voice message, or are numbers/names of people I know. No Zeina on this phone…….

      All I ask, is that you resolve this situation, the woman I met today was very upset, distraught, on the verge of tears, and would have really liked me to take the dog from her, but because she is not my dog (I don’t “steal” dogs from other rescues, such as Candyce Sousa who has stolen one of my dogs), I posted this in hopes that Paws for Life would come through, or that someone would suggest something in order to help resolve this situation which is beyond my control, but I do feel for people who want to help, and in turn get shit on by “rescues” who don’t know what they’re doing….

      Just for your information Zeina, all dogs in Quebec will end up on death row at one time or another if they are not rescued, and buying dogs to save them, does not make someone a rescuer, especially when it comes to puppies. No pound around here would gaz puppies, especially not litters. I have been rescuing dogs for 15 years, I am a 50 year old woman who has seen more than her share of dogs in conditions that will make the toughest man cry (see Tucker’s story on this site), and know that we unfortunately can’t save them all. We all wish we could, but crying wolf everytime a pound sends you a picture of a new arrival and making people’s hearts bleed at these “urgent” posts, only takes away from other dogs who are just as much at risk of eventually being put down. All dogs are important, not just the ones Melissa lists, and that’s where the problem is with me.

      I have received calls in the middle of the night, once from Massachusetts, once from Connecticut and once from Vermont, from people who were willing to drive all night to rescue these poor dogs on death row, but yet could reach no one… Calling me in the middle of the night, thinking we’re all one big network, and I would be able to tell them exactly where to drive to rescue these dogs.

      This has happened 3 times that I can remember, I could dig up these people’s numbers and have you get in touch with them if I had time, but I’m too busy actually helping dogs, not shitting on people who have bleeding hearts, and will never want to go through this kind of experience again.

      Paws for Life has been hurting the hard work I have put into obtaining a network of good, reliable foster homes, and you only get that by being there for them when they need you, even if that means at 2:00 am to pick up a dog they feel is scary. You know how many dogs who do the “lip wiggle” I’ve picked up because people were intimidated? I know they’re goofy, harmless, but the foster home is scared, the dog is gone (to my kitchen if that’s all there is – I don’t tell them: wait till something comes up). That’s what being a responsible, reputable rescue is all about as well as picking dogs off death row and planting them wherever you can fit them….

      I have been working at making this a rescue where I can rely on foster homes to help, as without them we are nothing., I learned from my years of doing this, I made my own screening form/procedure because I felt that no one was tough enough (and Melissa didn’t bother to even re-format it, she changed 3 questions, changed my logo and info, and kept my Word document identical. Couldn’t even bother to make her own form)…… She told me while I sat in her convertible BMW that she wanted to do like me “make money rescuing dogs”. I answered her, Melissa, if you want to drive in this $100,000 car (she told me it was only $96,000), not to quit her day job, that she would lose her shirt at this.

      3 years later, what do I see, a girl making a buck off these poor dogs, and it is killing me. Say what you want, I have dealt with her, I have spoken to her about her ways, does she try to deal with me? Where is she, is she posting anything? She’s feeding you what she wants, you guys are all gobbling it up, and that’s fine.

      My reputation speaks for itself, I will go out of my way anytime, anyday to help a dog who needs me. I don’t tell people “oh well, you’ll just have to deal with it alone in the meantime”. If you rescue, be there. Don’t crap on people who want to help, as I am tired of hearing people tell me they’ve fostered for Paws for Life and never want to try that experience again. I am not making stuff up, I have been keeping it bottled in for too long now, and today was it. I cannot turn these people away who come to me for help, as I know way too well what people do with pets when they have no solutions. I don’t do it to help the people, I do it to help the dog they are stuck with who may or may not get picked up by Paws for Life before these people get fed up and take them to the only place left in town, Berger Blanc. Is this where you would want the dogs you rescue to end up, because I told people “not my problem”?

      Get this resolved with your foster home, or I certainly will. This dog doesn’t deserve to be in limbo and possibly end up at a pound, or worst yet given away on Kijiji.

      Sophie Fournier
      Founder – Sophie’s Dog Adoption
      Reg. No. 82837 1419 RR0001

    8. Say what you want Sophie we all have our different opinions on what rescue is. We are many people who are part of Paws for Life and as much as you bash it for the rest of your life we will only stick together in our fight to stop careless killinds of dogs.PAWS IS A REPUTABLE RESCUE in my book. Just don’t understand why you coul not be mature and call Melissa or me about this? instead of posting about this? at your age, you should be more mature than this really. I am done writitng here, but as much as you try Paws for Life will not go down, we all believe in what we do. quit making up rumors it is very childish. We have not bashed you or posted shit about you anywhere because you rescue dogs too and rescpect that. that is all we ask of you. if any other rescue had heard things like you have, they would have called us to help. posting here is no way of helping and everybody sees this now. it is posted for everyone to see what you are trying to do

    9. Sophie and her son are very smart and have been running sophie’s dog adoption longer than you have been running paws for life rescue. Aren’t you supposed to be saving these dogs so why in the world are you wasting your time writting all this junk. It just shows how unperffesional u are. By the way Sophie didn’t steal your dog she was just suppling a crate, a leash, toys, food and guidance.

    10. Maybe you should have gone to Mcgill? Yes, maybe he should have. It seems to make people extremly successful with proper social interaction and ability to write at a grade 7 level. It scares me, as a future English teacher, to know that you are going to McGill and this is the best way you are able to compose your thoughts and feelings in writing.
      If you have threatened this foster in any way, the same way you seem to be throwing around threats to use daddy dearest the “big time laywer” in regards to Sophie and her son, then I do not blame her for having some hesitation to contact PFL anymore. Animal rescue is about the animals, but it is also about having the ability to interact with the people you work alongside with (fosters, potential adopters, vets) in a respectful and professional manner. I read this forum with no judgements for PFL, I respect the work they do saving animals. Someone really needs to make sure Zeina, that you are no longer able to speak on behalf of PFL because you are giving the whole operation a very bad image from these postings alone. Good Luck with your continued animal rescuing, it is a very good thing to do.

  16. Sophie and Rick do neither of you have anything better to do with your lives then post this nonsense about another rescue. Why dont you spend your energy on saving dogs!!

    1. That’s what I do all day, and if you read the original post, you will see that I was not bashing anyone, just stating what I know and trying to find someone to help as Paws for Life was obviously not helping resolve this situation with their foster home.

      Instead of getting involved and putting in your two cents, try following what actually happened here. Did Paws for Life jump in their car to solve this? Or are they accusing me and my son of wasting their time “all day” with this???? Look at the times involved here. I got in from my day of “work” with the rescue about 1 hour or so ago… My son has an I-phone and takes care of the webstuff while we’re on the road. Who’s wasting time? I am just now getting behind my computer, and had to reiterate the fact that there was no bashing on my end, at anytime. Read, read, read and read again, and see who’s trying to bash who? Did anyone actually get this dog yet? If this was one of my dogs, believe me, he would be in my apartment already, I would not be taking the chance that an overwhelmed foster home, especially if she is a looney as they claim (this is not their first foster home who’s a looney who contacts me – and as they told this one on their message, “mentally ill”), as I would be too afraid a looney would dump my rescue dog on the side of a road somewhere… Think about all that before you get involved and start telling people not to waste their time. If I didn’t have to deal with her leftover crap for the last 3 years, believe me I would not even be talking about this situation right now. But comes a time when enough is enough. Have you been rescuing for 15 years, directly, in your home, in your car? So don’t tell me what I should be spending my time on, believe me I do have much better things to do than sort her shit out and help the people she leaves stranded.

      Did you supply food, de-worming, come with your thermometer take the temperature of these new arrivals in her foster homes????? No, but I did, because they could not reach any of her volunteers, they were out picking and planting other dogs off death row, into homes where they just stay there until someone is good and ready to get back to you. It may work for you, but not for all foster homes.

      Sophie Fournier
      Founder – Sophie’s Dog Adoption
      Reg. No. 82837 1419 RR0001

    2. Sophie if you really cared about dogs you should be happy to help out other rescues lol! you shouldn’t be complaining about it! again rescues should help each other out! communication and respect. doont use one foster home that was bad and generalize it because i assure you that out of the hundreds we have there is always one or two that are bad. just like for every other rescue. I dont know what your issue here is with Paws for Life but ENOUGH IS ENOUGH FOR US TOO! Stop complaining about the fact that youhave to help out, this is life! or do you get mad everytime you have to help a dog that is out of your rescue? anways like i said i am done here, many people have seen what we do and appreciate it and help and you will never change that with all your posts and comments to inderectly bash us for some reason that is beyond me. this province will never change because of people like this, complaining about having to help out and collaborate with others. everybody is on a power trip in this dog rescue stuff.

    3. She should be happy about taking time out of her day of rescuing dogs to drop everything to deal with a distraught woman who is recieving no help from the recue she is fostering from? Yeah, that sounds just about right. You know, I have fostered for Sophie and have always recieved whatever I needed for the foster dog. Paws for Life, I have been following your facebook page and it is sad, so sad I blocked it from my newsfeed. It is great you take these dogs from these specific pounds that gas, etc but the entire way you are going about rescue is wrong. You are playing with peoples emotions. From the sounds of it you are playing with people and then leaving them high and dry. If you really think the province will never change because of “rescue” then you have a very poor view of what really happens. This province will never change because of pet stores, puppymills and irresponsible owners who dump their animals at the first inconvience.

      PS: Please stop typing in caps, as a university student you should understand that is not an acceptable way of typing and is very hard for readers to focus on. The amount of people who type in caps or full posts really makes me shudder.

    4. Well said Justine! We know the truth and it’s so frustrating when a “rescue” leaves a foster high and dry and another REAL rescue has to step in. This is not the first time by far that Sophie has had to respond to these kinds of situations from Paws 4 Life fosters. And to think that Sophie was the one who helped Melissa get started a few years back. Melissa was utterly clueless about running a rescue and obviously has chosen to run things her own way. I sincerely hope Paws 4 Life will do the right thing and place the dog with another foster as proper rescue practice dictates. This shouldn’t even be an issue. You don’t EVER disrecpect your foster homes like that. Sophie never has in all of her 15 plus years of rescuing. I have been with her since 2006 and have fostered several dogs for her. I have 1 with me right now and another is joining us tomorrow night. She’s the real deal.

    5. sorry hun, but i dont think university has anything to do with caps lock. what does that have to do with anything? why is everyone here trying to pick at the small things? anyways im out of this forum it is getting ridiculous. if you dont like my post dont read it. as a university student, im outa here and putting my time to better use, helping melissa save the abandoned dogs.

    6. Justine if you can’t handle the truth about dog pounds and the terror these animals go through then turn a blind eye and the world will be all nice and pretty. Stop looking on PFL web site no one is making you. Just remember the more people that stop looking and learning about the horrible stuff that is going on in our country the more lives will be lost. It is out there and it is real!!!

    7. Tauny, first of all you have no clue who I am and what I know about the world and its horrors. I can promise you it is a whole lot more then you though. I have been doing animal rescue for 8 years (being 26 that is not really a bad thing) I have been an animal rights activist since I was 9, have been vegetarian for 17 years, vegan for 4 and do everything I possibly can for any animal that ever enters my life. So dont ever dare tell me that I am pretending this shit doesnt happen to animals, I am fairly certain I am much more knowledgeable then you on the subject, but does that really matter? No, what matters is the way PFL is conducting business. I understand these animals NEED someone and the desperate pleas are obviously doing a good thing by getting fosters, but none of that matters if PFL doesn’t follow through with their fosters. It also does not help when you have idiots commenting like you and Zeina in support of PFL making assumptions and threats about every comment you read. Get a life. No one is arguing that what PFL does for the animals is not a great thing. Every life that is saved is awesome, but if this rescue is causing problems for another PFL needs to step up and change what they are doing. Sophie has obviously been getting numerous calls regarding PFL, so that means PFL needs to step up and figure out what they are doing wrong. Like I said, I blocked the feed from my facebook because it is depressing, and when I have 2 fosters along with my dogs in my home and know I cant take any more in, I do not feel like reading about it. If something upsets me I have every right to not look at it, it doesnt mean I am dismissing its realness.

  17. I know PLENTY about rescues…(presumptious of you to assume that I do not!) Good and accurate representation of animals, good websites, good communication skills with potential guardians, is what gets dogs (PERFECT AND NON PERFECT) ADOPTED into PERMANENT, FOREVER homes. Is that not the point of a RESCUE? and P.S. Also, what do you know about the kind of dog(s) that I have or don’t have?? or HAVE HAD????

    1. we provide people with the information that we receive. are you able to juggle university classes, a full time job and a rescue that takes up most of your time? i think i would rather put more effort into saving lives and speaking with foster homes than making emails and websites all pretty. remember please that this is all volunteer work and we do the best we can with what we have. anybody can become a volunteer and help out too instead of critising.

    2. Nice Zeina all your hard work and the rest Of the Volunteers that supports PFL good job keep it up. It just takes a few to ruin something good or try to. Let them sit on their computers doing nothing but bitching it is the best place for them…

    3. I was not being presumptious but yes as you know in a Perfect world that would be great to know all about the dog and it’s tempermant. This is far from being a perfect world and PFL is doing a great job. There is going to be sometimes that the dog won’t work out for whatever reason but are you suggesting they let them be gassed to death rather than taking the chance. I am sure they thought the foster for Shadow would work out and sadly it did not. How could they possibly know in the short time that the pound keeps these animals before gassing them and also if they were strays what their personalities are like. Please!!! If you are going to be invoved with rescue you have to take the good with the bad or else you are volunteering for the wrong orginization. We just went through fostering a Black Cocker spaniel from PFL and yes he had kennel cough so we had to keep him away from the others for over 2 weeks and yes he has some fear aggression that we are working on but was he and all that went with him worth it, oh yes very much. We now have our fourth rescue dog and to see them lying beside us all safe and happy was worth every bit . We love him and he has given us so much unconditional love it seems like he knew where he was and what was going to happen to him and we are so glad PFL and ourselves took the chance and took him not knowing much about him infact we did not even know he was a 7 month old Puppy that was going to loose his life because no one wanted to foster him. You are the one that put out a nasty blub about PFL and until you have walked in their shoes then you should not jump to conclusions, for god sakes yes their web page is full of urgent pleas what are you suggesting they put if you can do better than by all means jump on in there they could sure use your help.

      Martha Tauny

    4. So, Ms Know All – you’ve been fostering/volunteering for a few months, wonderful thank you but please come back after a decade or two – you just may have a difference perspective on what a RESCUE means.

      Again very presumptious of you to assume no one here has fostered sick dogs and/or has multiple rescue dogs themselves, run a rescue, fight the puppy millers, know what happens in pounds, seen things that only nightmares are made of to ONLY to find out Melissa pays $50 a dog to these horrific abusers who now have another empty space to fill. For Christ Sakes, open your eyes – this isn’t about PFL’s rescues or that she’s blonde, it’s about running a REPUTABLE rescue properly as in:

      Please don’t shop – Adopt!

      Many people over and over in rescue have tried to direct her, help her, speak to her, teach her, she doesn’t listen – that being the point.

  18. The Foster woman that has Shadow seems to be the one causing all this BS. So sad PFL ever got involved with her but I know they wouldn’t have if she had shown her true colors beforhand. Shadow peed on her foot to show dominance give me a break fear maybe . I know Melissa will find a good foster for Shadow . They have limited time to save these dogs and unfortunatley have to rely on the fosters that are stepping up to the plate to be responsible and do the best they can for these desperate animals. I just adopted a young Cocker spaniel from them that I had first fostered he was also hours away from being gassed and had kennel cough was very listless. I paid for his food and vet bills and leash and halter and toys because I wanted to not because I had to. I called it a donation towards a great cause. And to see Shade sittind with us and snoring because he is now safe and he knows it is something that words can’t express. Our new adoptee makes 4 that we have got from rescue and sure they come with issues. My better home and garden home now does not have the gorgeous shag rug anymore ( looks too much like grass I guess ) or the beautiful new furniture that we just but 2 years ago. Yes they sometimes have accidents in the house, so what. And sometimes they can show a little fear that might be taken as aggressive but on the most part they are all very loving sweet and thakful best friends to my husband and I. They sleep in the big bed and are as much a part of our family as the dogs we raised from Puppys. Fostering is something you do to help out a very sad situation and if you are going to do it and for some reason and it better be a damned good one you can’t keep the dog then you must realize it is going to take a bit of time to find another foster that WILL keep the dog so he/she does not have to be placed yet another time. Do you know how hard it is on a dog to be moved around from place to place. I do our first rescue was moved 3 times before we got her. She now has OCD and that is something we have to work on every day and will for the rest of her life. She is anxious and very unsettled and it is so hard to see her go through that. We did not send her back we love her and we will with alot of patience and love see her through it. With our love she is doing alot better she will never be perfect but hey makes our lives interesting.lol So please if you are going to foster an animal think of all the pros and cons and weigh them out and make sure you are ready for this because if you are not and decide to give the animal back after a few days it is the animal that will suffer and no one wants to see that. BTW PAWS FOR LIFE and all the volunteers You Rock!!!

    Tauny and Shade

  19. I’ll have you know I’ve been a volunteer for paws for a year,and can tell you in all honesty mellisa bends over backwards for these animals!of course we don’t know the history,they we’re ABANDONED!thats why they get gassed!if you want to talk shit,do it to the goverment to get these animals treated better than a goddam couch!

  20. I am actually the one who went to pick up Shadow to bring her to her foster home. I picked her up from the pound in st-hubert that many here don’t seem to believe exists or don’t seem to believe they actually gas dogs very shortly after they arrive if they are not adopted. The person who found Shadow and kept her overnight at his home before bringing her to the pound told the pound workers that she was a very sweet girl and even nice to his children at home. That is all the info we got about Shadow. Were we supposed to let her there to die only because we only had that little bit of information about her? She seemed like a good candidate for any foster to have. Of the 5 dogs i was transporting in my car, Shadow did not make a sound and barely moved the whole long car ride. She did not seem aggressive at all. As for her race, even vets seem to disagree on what mix my dog is and my foster dog as well so it means nothing if the girl was told she was a weimaraner mix and you think she’s not it’s irrelevant!

    Bashing what PFL does every minute of the day, to pull dogs and cats out of hell to save their lives and place them, even if it’s for a small pull fee, seems pretty pathetic to me. I have volunteered with them a few times and already rescued so many lives and what a good feeling.. PFL has so many followers hence so many emails/inquiries/questions/real-life situations to deal with per day and so many dogs into foster why should they be expected to provide all their foster homes with leashes crates and food? Should they be running around all day buying and delivering these things around and recollecting them instead of focusing on the real thing, which is actually pulling tons of animals out of high-kill pounds and puppy mill dogs who spent their whole lives in cages breeding and are about to be disposed of god knows how?! And what about trying to place all these animals? It is certainly not that easy and situations constantly change and add up every minute!

    I’m also a foster mom and i don’t see what is the big deal of buying my foster dog food and a leash. Being a foster parent is an engagement and you choose to do it at your own will and if a rescue org does not provide these few little things for you what is the big deal to go get them yourself? A few bucks and a few minutes of the day? If you really can’t afford it then ok go to another org who will provide without bashing the other.

    PFL has too many things to deal with already! Every single time i had a question about my foster dog i was answered promptly, even when more urgent things were happening at the same time.

    It may be normal for some different rescues to disagree on certain things or to function differently and that is fine, but i just don’t get why this had to be made public! Couldn’t Sophie have dealt with this in private with PFL??? No one should abandon volunteering or fostering for PFL because of this post it would just be unfair for the innocent animals!!! “Cute” or not, clean or dirty, potty trained or not, they all deserve to be pulled out of those hell holes they are dumped in in huge numbers everyday because of careless human beings. Why trash the people who are only trying to repair what society has broken??? I just don’t get it.

  21. Sophie, why don’t you delete all these clueless idiot posts?

    1st of all PFL volunteers … it’s NOT about volume but the individual LOVE and CARE they should be provided with. I agree with Debbie their site/wording – sounds like puppy brokers rather then a loving rescue who promises to give that pup a life … ONE ANIMAL AT A TIME …

    She gets a bunch of kids (who now feel really important) running around picking up dogs from the pounds and puppy mills then they deliver them to anyone who applies to foster or adopt which btw are approved within 5 minutes … what a rescue!

    Sophie, you have a legit reason to rant. Dogs being pulled and placed anywhere and with whoever, dogs being met & sold at the pound intact, puppies being bought from millers … PAWS 4 LIFE your a disgrace.

    What a joke perks actually saying contact Melissa? Most of the time she’s on vacation and when she isn’t, she’s sleeping. The ones’ posting on her behalf are spending their money, doing all the work then she gets the fees DUH – she’sblond but she aint dumb … as I said a bunch of idiots!

    1. Most of the posts are from the same computer / IP address. Nonetheless as someone already commented, their own comments shows what needs to be shown, their clueless. They should rethink their people and communication skills.

      We have the address and number for the St-Hubert pound, we’ll keep everyone updated when more info comes in about these undisclosed contracts.

      -Rick

    2. Rick Sure hope you contacting this pound because you are pissed off at all the comments on this blog does put the animals in jeapordy that would truly be a very very mean thing.

    3. It’s nice to see the people that work for the Canadian government are clueless.

      I hope you realize google crawls and archives this page and comments!

      -Rick

      New comment on your post “Shadow – Paws for Life”

      Author : Tauny (IP: 74.14.132.251 , bas1-ottawa10-1242465531.dsl.bell.ca)
      E-mail : laflechet@inspection.gc.ca
      URL :
      Whois : http://ws.arin.net/cgi-bin/whois.pl?queryinput=74.14.132.251

      Comment:
      Rick Sure hope you contacting this pound because you are pissed off at all the comments on this blog does put the animals in jeapordy that would truly be a very very mean thing.

    4. You know Rick your mothers blog says no e-mail address will be made public so another low blow you are doing on behalf of your Mother she must be so proud. BTW not my real e-mail but thanks for pointing out that nothing you say is honored. To say that people who work for the Canadian Govt are clueless is along the lines of why this all started putting down a fellow rescue glad you are consisent. Now maybe others that were supporting you will see your true colors.

    5. The blog didn’t make your email address public, I did. If it’s not your email then why use it!

      Your IP address also matches other comments and to track down comment abuse I will use said information.

      I don’t trash comments for a reason!

      The Internet is not anonymous.

      -Rick

    6. Thought when I responded to this blog it was for a good reason was not aware that if we all did not agree with you then you would call it comment abuse!!!!. Is a blog not for the reason of using your own opinions Feel bad that you are using your Mom’s web site and blog for your own pupose which has nothing to do with Rescue. Will not respond again because it is a waste of my time. Over and out :D

    7. Comment abuse is when the same internet user comments with multiple identities. We call those clones in the computer world. It has nothing to do with the content of the comment/post!

      -Rick

    8. Wow A little jealous are we no I would say alot jealous if you want to rant about someone because you have a personal vendetta do it on another page. You are a pathetic peice of work…

    9. Carole what is your problem you are pretty rude, you sure have a hate on for PFL and Melissa. Whats the matter that you have to insult her like that . Problem with the fact that she is a pretty blonde, appears to be. Grow up and stick to the facts on what is being disgussed here!!! The dogs. Personal bullshit deal with it somewhere else no gives a shit about your immature jealousy???

    10. yeah right i ear about that too jealousy jealousy sophie… if people could know a much you lie…. i hope you have many nice dog with good price cauz you will less sell,,,, ho yeah it’s real you’re not there for sell just to puch a compagny because someone wasnt find that she could help a DIFFERENT way mnaaaaa some people love dog because they like control seem’s you’re one of them dear… agree with you tauny

    11. We don’t sell dogs. So calling Sophie to buy a dog would get you nowhere. You need to be approved and with your message about buying a dog it either gets ignored, you get verbally blasted by Sophie or your application is rejected. If we sold dogs we would sell to people like you, but we don’t. By the way stop cloning. It’s useless.

      -Rick

    12. Marc, or John, just see my reply to your French post under the name John, as I have no time to waste answering this post. Rick answered you earlier while we were on the road, but now that my day is over and I get to put in my comments, I can only say I hope your parents are proud of you right now.

      You are wasting valuable time, thanks to my son being a whiz I have no problems finding out who’s real and who’s not. And so far, what I’m seeing on all these posts are clones as Rick tells me they are called in the computer world. So you might think you’re all smart and helpful to Melissa, but we are far from being stupid. You are not talking to some bimbo with her teenage son here, you are talking to Sophie and you should maybe check out who this Sophie is before you make assumptions that what some “tweens” who volunteer for Melissa repeat like parrots. I never wanted war, just to educate this woman that the way she claims to be “rescuing” is not rescue. Do it right, or don’t do it at all. These dogs will most probably end up with me at one point or another, because there is no follow-ups nor any screening done.

    13. If your son is such a WHIZ as you say why is he creeping your web pages does he not have a real job. Posting everyones e-mail Sophie and you approve of this then you are just as nuts as he is. When you put a blog up that says no e-mails will be revealed then you should honor that but instead you let your son post on your behalf and that makes you a liar…Nice, you are just not seeing the light here Sophie. As for you ending up with any of the dogs that PFL have saved that is a very scary thought to me. I would not wish that on ANY animal!!!!

    14. Tauny Nixon-Lafleche, my job is maintaining websites. I see your still using your work email for personal stuff. When clones use fake identities I make it public. This information will be useful to others. I’m also a Facebook application developer and an ISP (Internet Service Provider). It’s nice to see the paws for life volunteers using Facebook are fake accounts. You guys just keep shooting yourselves in the foot. Keep posting with clones it just gives me more proof.

      I’ll be contacting Sympatico, Videotron, your office and Facebook about said clones using their services. Unlike Ottawa designs, I’m the web host and it’s my server, I have the luxury of doing my job anywhere with a iPhone in hand.

      So I’m in both worlds. In your world you made the mistake of using your inspection.gc.ca work email. Now you’re pissed. In my world, you’re a trolling clone account.

      Email is not private. Sophie has no privacy policy concerning her site. I post the IP address and the email of clones and there is nothing wrong with that as Sophie likes to know who she’s talking to. Clones are often affected by a medical condition called schizo.

      -Rick

  22. Update: Further to an email from Shadow’s foster home to Paws for Life demanding that Shadow be picked up at 6pm tonight or else she would be surrendered to Sophie’s Dog Adoption by 6:30pm, we are happy to say that Paws for Life took their responsibility seriously and actually sent a couple of guys to pick her up at 6pm. So Shadow is safe and sound in the hands of her rescuers, Paws for Life.  

    -Rick

    1. In case no one else said THANK YOU, I will Sophie. I’m sure this foster mother was very happy. I’m sorry you had to drop everything to help another rescue’s responsibility but that’s just who you are – don’t ever change.

    2. hahhaha réponder au telephone …. pi vous aller vous faire rejoindre …. hahaha foutu compétition…. cest beau de voir comment ta peur de perdre de largent je voulais acheter une chien de chez toi mais a voir comment ta de la haine je vais aller a paws quelque chose qui eux au moin font leur possible … sans juger les autre…. hahaha ta sauver certain chien vraiment bravo … mais a ta place je cracherai pas sur les autres …. en passant ta toujours 1 plainte pous 60 client pour la demoiselle qui dit kya bc de plainte sur google …. ben quelle google la bonne compagnie pi quelle se disent ke si a 10 000 plainte … contente de voir quelle a rien a faire…. pi dite lui kya au moin 600 000 personne qui son contente ;) quelqun de pas contente se plein quelqun qui se fait arnaque crois avoir bien fait …. les autres profite du temps avec leurs chien et fouille pas dans la vie des autre pour inventer des histoire

    3. Wow, premierement John ou Marc (vu que c’est toi l’anglophone qui se fait passer sous le nom de Marc), apprends a ecrire, en francais ainsi qu’en anglais si tu veux avoir l’air plus ou moins intelligent.

      Deuxiemement, Sophie’s Dog Adoption n’a jamais vendu de chiens, c’est la raison qui me pousse a dire que Melissa n’est pas un organisme, car elle revend des chiens qu’elle achete a petit prix. Donc je t’encourage a aller acheter un chien d’elle, car cela prouve mon point, et il est evident qu’un gars comme toi ne passerais pas mes criteres de selection. Je ne place pas mes chiens a qui veut bien payer les frais d’adoption pour un chien sterilise, vaccine et en sante, mais seulement a des gens qui sont approuve en tant que famille adoptive. Si tu ne passes pas mes criteres, tu peux aller ailleurs, donc ne perd meme pas mon temps qui est trop precieux pour toi. Des chiens ont besoin de moi, par contre je n’ai pas besoin de toi et de gens comme toi.

      Troisiemement, je ne peux repondre a mon telephone car je passe plus de temps sur la route a m’occuper des chiens que j’ai sauve. Contrairement a Paws for Life, je m’occupe de faire des suivis avec mes familles d’accueils et je leur fourni ce dont ils ont besoin. Si tu me laisses un message, tu peux etre certain d’avoir un retour d’appel, mais je ne suis pas magicienne et ne peux deviner que veut me rejoindre…..

      Quatriemement, si tu fais des recherches et que tu te renseignes sur Sophie’s Dog Adoption, tu verras que les choses que Melissa ou sa gang peut te dire est absolument faux, le nombre de chiens que j’ai sauvee de l’euthanasie est tout ce que j’ai besoin de savoir, que les gens me croient ou non. En quinze ans j’ai sauve a moi seule, plus de 1,500 chiens, et la semaine prochaine ma reunion anuelle aura lieu afin de revoir les chiens que j’ai placee durant ces 15 dernieres annees. Chaque chien qui vient a la reunion, se rapelle de moi et me fait realiser a quel point ce que je fais est important, peu importe les mauvaises langues et les gens qui ne sont pas d’accords.

      L’intimidation ne me fera jamais arreter ce que je fais, et les menaces de poursuites ne font que m’enrager car mon temps est precieux. Des vies dependent de ma disponibilite et du temps que je peux leur consacrer. Etre en cour pour me defendre dans une histoire idiote est honteux……. Mais j’y serais avec toutes mes preuves a l’appui. Personne n’empeche Sophie de sauver des vies de la bonne facon.

      Dans 10 ans, quand tu sera devenu un adulte, peut-etre que tu reliras ceci et realisera a quel point tu etais innocent.

      Sophie

  23. Thank you Sophie for bringing this problem with Melissa and Paws for Life to light. The public needs to understand that “dog rescue” does not necessarily mean the same thing from one rescue group to the next… I have heard many negative things about this so-called rescue group, including many other fosters who were stuck with foster dogs that they were guilted into taking without being provided any background at all on the dogs behaviour and no follow up or assistance from paws for life either for behavioural issues, medical issues to to provide food. I urge all good-hearted volunteers to take careful stock of the rescue groups that they are giving their time and money to and make sure that the rescuer is not benefitting financially from “rescuing” these animals. Any registered charity (is PWL a registered charity?) should be able to provide financials on where their money goes. As volunteers and donors, we should investigate the ins and outs of any rescue that we give our time and money to.

    1. Exactly Erika.

      PFL isn’t registered, non-profit nor charitable. People who donate want tax-receipts, not necessarily to claim but to know when you are a charity you also have Board of Directors who look over every transaction which gives people peace of mind that their hard earned money IS going toward the animals they want to help.

      So, if any of you think this doesn’t directly AFFECT/HURT other animals in rescue then you are an uneducated, selfish power-tripping bunch!

  24. This all started off by me posting a comment defending PFL as I have been helping them for a few months and never had any problem with anyone. Melissa or Cher has responded to me very quickly and they have been nothing but understanding when I could not foster and very graciuos when I could. It has now turned into a he said she said and people are just starting to be mean and hateful towards PFL . People should be glad that Melissa has ventured off on her own ( did not realize she satrted with Sophie, sour grapes!! ) We need more rescue groups not less. It has become a screaming insulting match. I am out of here going to go walk my dogs 4 that are from rescue and my latest Shade who I have adopted after fostering from PFL. I am very glad I found Paws for life as it has given me a beautiful 7 month old Cocker that was due to be gassed and Shade is very glad he was part of the PFL rescue team becaise he is now home. Please lets remember the real reason for RESCUE!!!!

  25. Seriously Sophie and Rick, if really you threaten to contact the pound and put all these animals from the pound in jeopardy because of one or a few bad experiences and refrain so many dogs to have happy endings instead of being gassed to death, you are seriously both evil and hope karma will bite you back as soon as possible. Not your dogs but both of you!!! That is plain EVIL. Melissa is blonde, Melissa drives a nice car who gives a shit?!? Isn’t it about the animals????? I am disgusted.

  26. Basically why would you want to turn a pound against another rescue organization??? Why??? When i look at my foster and my rescue dog and think they were almost put down i just wanna cry, and you wanna stop people from taking those amazing animals into their homes??? And you wanna take second chances away from these animals??? I just don’t get it!

  27. I just happened to stumble across these posts by following links, and I have to say: This is absolutely disgusting. Those representing and supporting Paws For Life who are swearing, name-calling and making threats here should be ashamed of themselves. Personally, I will be writing to whoever I can to insist this chapter be shutdown or have it’s management and team re-organized.
    A simple Google search brings up over 100,000 pages of people complaining about their experiences with Paws For Life. That’s a lot. I do not know Sophie, or this agency, but I do not see a problem with her high-lighting yet another experience for a woman who was obviously distraught with her dealings with Paws For Life. Saving animals is an admirable act, something to be proud of, but these threatening, foul-mouthed supporters of an orginazation that makes so many visible mistakes is absurb, and I do have a problem with that.

  28. I adopted a dog from Paws For Life and my experience was nothing like many of you have described.

    The people at the rescue were very open with the information they had on the dog. The lady who had her before me gave me all of the available temperament info and medical history prior to foster. They were very sure to follow up several times in the first few days, and regularly thereafter.

    I can’t imagine my family being complete without my new fur-child. (Fozzie Bear, Cavalier King Charles) They have shown genuine caring and I have at no point felt alone. Agreeing to become a foster is no more of a financial burden than owning a dog. You get a dog from a breeder, a pet store(god forbid), a shelter, or a friend you take the same kind of responsibility. Paws For Life provides a valuable service for these dogs, they give them a second chance at the eleventh hour.

    Trying to hit another rescue below the belt is of no benefit to your ultimate mandate which should be to help the dogs. I have never met Melissa, but chastising her because she is a blond and drives a sports car is petty and really makes me think less of you as a rescue. I could say something about you thinking you can HOUSE train dogs proficiently and sufficiently living in an apartment but I won’t, as it will detract from my point.

    I don’t expect that this will ever actually be posted, but there are two sides to every story Sophie, and you are coming off to me as fanatical. This is counterproductive, and I am hoping in the future you and your son will concentrate there energy on rescue, not petty feuds. Grow up, and blow away.

    1. If you want the bottom line Paws for Life is not a rescue, nor a business in Quebec. She’s just using a name without a N.E.Q. If she was a business or a charity she would have one of the two registration numbers. She can’t even give tax receipts!

      Why do you think her lawyers are quiet now?

      We do know every story has two sides. It’s why we posted this. Again thanks for your input as it really makes no difference at this point in time. The point has been made in the original post let alone the comments.

      We unlike PFL have nothing to hide and this site has open and unmoderated comments. PFL used to run as a private Facebook group closed to the public. Who’s hiding what! Who’s yelling at who! Who’s banning loud mouths from the group? Who’s manipulating and intimidating her volunteers? We see that with PFL not here as we can surely deal with comments in a respectful and professional manner.

      -Rick

    2. I don’t understand why people can’t read before they post these types of comments. Here’s what you wrote in your comment directly to me:

      “Trying to hit another rescue below the belt is of no benefit to your ultimate mandate which should be to help the dogs. I have never met Melissa, but chastising her because she is a blond and drives a sports car is petty and really makes me think less of you as a rescue. I could say something about you thinking you can HOUSE train dogs proficiently and sufficiently living in an apartment but I won’t, as it will detract from my point. ”

      Where did you read in my original post (or any comment thereafter by myself or my son Rick) that she was blonde and drove a sportscar????? Can you actually read who posted comments before blasting me? Go back to my original post, read it again and again and again, and tell me where I bashed, insulted, or made suggestions about Melissa’s personality? I am just tired of being stuck in the middle, trying to help people who wanted to do a good thing and are getting crapped on. There may be cases like yours, I don’t deny it, but the ones I hear about are the ones where Paws for Life has royally screwed up, and I’m fed up. At 50, I may be considered a “bitter old woman” but believe me, I am far from being bitter. I am just fed up of people trying to make a buck off poor dog’s backs, whether it be puppymills, pounds or people like her who are in reality a “middleman”. I will help these dogs from the St-Hubert pound get rescued, but not in the way she is doing it.

      People can go give their money directly to these pounds to save these dogs, middlemen are NOT needed in the rescue world. We are not here to make money, we are here to SAVE dogs…..

      So learn to read what is written instead of what you think might be written before you start telling people to grow up and that they are fanatical and should stop feuding. Read every single comment posted since my original post about Shadow, and tell me who should really grow up.

      I am happy that your dog found a wonderful home, and that is the point. Not for some lady to make a buck while she claims to be helping. She may be saving lives temporarily but has no clue where they are ending up in 90% of the case. Despite all the screening I do, dogs don’t stay more than 4-5 years on average in a home. This month alone I’m getting 4 dogs back, none of them due to their own faults, just families’ lives changing and no longer wanting their beloved pet. So is Melissa saving lives forever, or just for a couple of years until people send their dog back to the pound?

      You have to keep track of these dogs you save, not just take them and plant them somewhere in hopes they’ll be ok. You have to make sure they are, or you are doing it all wrong.

      Sophie

  29. I think Paws for Life (Melissa) probably has her heart in the right place. She want to save the dogs on death row. I have been to one of those high kill shelters, with which PFL deals, and it is not open to the public. We rescued a dog, on behalf of PFL, and during the ‘foster’ phase we had responses to our e-mails. However, as soon as we expressed interest in adopting & completed the contract responses always included a ‘request for payment of adoption fee’ (not necessarily in very friendly terms but I am able to understand the fiscal side might be difficult). While fostering, the puppy was taken to the designated vet for her first shots and tests (fecal, heartworm), provided medications for roundworm. As the adoption process got under way, the puppy developed Bordatello … we were told it would pass on it’s own but we could take the puppy to our vet seeing we were adopting her (at that point, there was no confirmation or acceptance of our adoption application). As requested, we paid the fee for the puppy in good faith. Our vet gave us some medications to help puppy sleep at night and suggestions to help with soothing throat, as well to keep puppy away from other dogs for 2 weeks. Upon the 2 week ‘quarantine’ period elapsing, I started email PFL regarding the spay / neuter (which according to the adoption contract was including in the adoption fee) but received no response. I contacted their designated vet clinic directly but was informed they no longer do work for PFL as there are too many outstanding bills. I have emailed to both of the PFL contacts but have heard nothing back as yet.
    If anyone knows of a very reasonable vet clinic for spay / neuter I would be most interested. We have already paid $450.00 for the puppy which was supposed to include neutering :(

    1. She wants to save dogs on death row and make money at it, if that’s a good heart so be it.

      The dog pound in Mirabelle won’t charge when pulling out death row dogs (we got one today), they even wanted to make a deal with Sophie so she could pull them out on a regular basis when needed at no cost (since the pound gets paid by the city for making room!), the problem is room even with Sophie’s Dog Adoption. Sure she could post these dogs like PFL does finding room in new foster homes, but without knowing what you’re getting into who knows where these dogs end up in 4 years. Statistics don’t lie as you can read all about Bert, Levi 3 and Flossy aka Cody…

      The next problem is the pounds in the USA (who do it out their hearts) transport a dog across border for less then a $10 pulling fee, see the problem with the Canadian (PFL) way of doing things? $450.00 bucks later and you’re still not done. Yes for sure the bottom line is she saves lives at that “time” but the big picture is these dogs go right back at the pound… Not everyone is willing to dish out cash when fostering, for the ones who do great, but as you’re putting a sad face about already paying $450.00 what does it matter? Money is only paper, a dog is a life.

      I’m glad this dog found someone like you willing to take the time and spending the money needed!, on a side note Bordetella is Kennel Cough, a common flue virus, do you bring your kids (if you have any) to the doctor for the flue shot every year! Some do some don’t… but at least unlike in the USA your kids doctor visits are covered by Medicare, vets who deal with rescues in the USA and Canada won’t waist a rescues non-profit revenue on a flue shot that’s 20 years old!

      Only once the dog shows a problem do they get vetted, but for a simple cough they’re not. We also know that the Bordetella vaccine is over 20 years old… I don’t know if you follow the human flue shots, but it changes every year as the flue virus keeps getting stronger, something not done with the Bordetella shot, yet the Bordetella virus is getting stronger and stronger each year.

      The question to ask is who’s making money here! the Vets and PFL. That’s why laws won’t be changing anytime soon in Quebec, the puppy mills bring in tax revenues selling sick dogs… The bottom line that Sophie and I are saying is if you wanna save a life do it your self, not with a “Pet Broker”. The American pet brokers have to deal with registered non profit rescues or the pounds wont release said animals just to “brokers/advocates”. Some in Florida will, and those who do have various fees for “registered” and non registered rescues (aka Brokers)…

      And yes, contact Sophie by phone at (514) 523-5052 leaving a detailed message about this post and she can get your dog neutered for $150. The vets who really do help out rescues do it at cost…

      Vets are like car mechanics, you need to find one whom you trust… Without getting to much into specifics, why does a car manufacture make break lines out of something that can break? So that the mechanic fixing your car has no choice but to replace said parts, it’s the same thing with computers, welcome to reality!

      We live in a world of consumers… Vets are no different with over vaccination and medication, they often play with emotions just like PFL does, every puppy is born with worm, it’s natures way, they get transmitted with the mothers milk! No different then your computer tech saying all your data is lost unless you pay up…

      -Rick

    2. Thank you for your response to my message. I am sorry that you have the impression I am somehow saddened about paying for this puppy; that is not the case at all. She was to die the next day, I did confirm that with the ‘pound’ at which she was being held. You are correct money is only paper. I do know what Bordatella is (I have fostered for CGDB and have owned dogs in my past); PFL did pay to have the internasal vaccine (at my request to their designated vet) provided. As you state, the vaccine is old and new strains of Bordatella arrive annually. However, my concern was with the emaciated condition of the puppy and serious secondary issues (ie., pneumonia). That being the reason for seeking out vet assessment of the Bordatella.
      I am, also, aware of the US rescues (Save a Lab, For the Love of Labs); however, in order to cross the Canadian / US border the dog must be up-to-date on shots and have the certificate to show this. I have tried, previously, to save US based labs but have run into the issue of the border crossing so my efforts are spreading the word through my US connections and fund raising.
      I appreciate your offer of assisting me with finding reasonably priced neutering and will contact you. The puppy suffers from motion sickness and, although, I have worked with her daily (since mid-September) on car / car rides it is not possible to travel for more than 30 or so minutes before she vomits. For the first 30 minutes, there is extensive drooling (this is not one of the drooling breeds). I have tried a few homeopathic options to no avail.
      I would, also, like to provide a bit of an update. I have heard from PFL, since my last posting, it appears that Melissa was extremely ill and, therefore, ‘out of pocket’ (not reachable). The puppy will be neutered, Melissa will be reimbursing $150.00 towards the neutering as it is not possible for me to travel to Montreal (as puppy would be very sick in both directions regardless of whether she has empty stomach or not). Puppy will definitely be neutered.

      Regards,

      Deanna

  30. Zeina.. i am currently fostering a dog for paws for life, and i do not have your phone number; apparently all your fosters have your number; can i have it, as well?

    Sophie, you are doing a great job with your rescue. The people bashing you must be suffering from some form of dislexia since it seems like they are not reading anything that you are writing and are responding very immaturely …

    I saw your site and I have met you before and I see that you are actually helping many dogs in need and especially ones that are that are more “difficult” to handle.
    Even though these people might not see it,at least there are other people that are more “aware” out there, that actually do! ^-^

  31. Sophie, GET A LIFE!!!!!

    I have absolutely no idea why people say good things about you? I don’t care if you have helped a dog in your life, you are cruel to people and the few times I have spoke to you over the phone you yapped about all of your lawsuits from dog aggressive dogs you put into foster homes. My boyfriend and I spent an entire morning filing out your pointless foster forms to emphasize that we are unable to take dog aggressive dogs or puppies. And what do you do when you finally honour us with your phone call after 1 week of sitting by the phone……you ask if I could take a dog aggressive pit bull. Then I sheepishly admit I am not familiar with this breed and prefer a breed I know for my first foster experience. She then actually goes onto to tell me that I don’t know dogs very well and that she can teach me how to handle a dominant, dog aggressive pit bull in my small apartment. I take all of my courage to tell her I am not comfortable with this and then she calls me another week later asking if I will take puppies, that just had surgery. She obviously cannot read or understand English so the foster forms were a waste of everyones time. So again with her little memory or her little respect of people she called again asking if I could take another dog aggressive pit bull. Can she really be that stupid???? Yes she can, because she calls me back again yelling at me that I am like everyone else and she can do it all herself.

    I am so grateful she let me go, since I had HUGE red flags after she
    1) She didn’t bother to read my foster form,
    2) Finally calling me 1 week later only to be told that she doesn’t know what computers or cell phones are and that I would have to wait a week to receive any sort of reply from her.
    3) She told me I don’t know anything about dogs, when I have volunteered at shelters all of my life, and am a professional dog walker and sitter.
    4) Never listened to my fears of fostering an aggressive dog.
    5) Pressuring me to foster these dogs,
    6) Insulting me for not accepting aggressive dogs.
    7) Telling me about all of her lawsuits from aggressive dogs.
    8) Bashing other organizations.

    I have thankfully found Paws for Life and am a huge advocate for Melissa and everyone involved. I have taken 5 beautiful dogs into my home, after Melissa carefully reading over my foster forms and selecting the dogs that would suit my household best. If there are any problems with my dogs, such as kennel cough, ear infections, fleas, etc, she books an appointment within 5 minutes of me texting her. She has texted me up to 15 times in one day when I needed something and I respect that I can rely on her.

    I go to the ends of the earth for my foster dogs. I drive them to vet appointments, adoption days, give them 2-3 long walks a day, bath them, cut their mats, treat them for fleas, interview potential adopters. I have not felt like some potential adopters would be a good fit for my precious dogs, and Paws for Life has supported me 100% in my decisions. They respect my opinion since I know these dogs after living with them in my home. I have seen dogs come to my home from being abused, dirty and neglected and left clean, happy and confident. I wouldn’t say these lives were STUCK with me.

    What does Sophie do all day?? She goes to pounds that Paws for Life are helping and criticies them then posts them on U Tube. Really Sophie get a life! We are the ones saving lives Sophie. I know you don’t respect humans enough to let us do this work, but can you at least respect the dogs we are saving? These dogs have saved my life. I love being a part of Paws for Life.

    P.S. I know Sophie probably will never find or understand this email, so can someone please read it out to her and then explain what I am saying.

    Well it is time to go walk my foster dog, who is curled up in my lap. I am sorry he is not laying on the concrete in the pound. I know you would rather he is there.
    Thanks

    1. First of all, Dog Lover, it is obvious you never fostered for me. Since you hide under an alias, I don’t know who you are, and honestly I don’t care.

      If it took you and your boyfriend a whole day to fill out a 2 page document, that says a lot about you. Secondly, if I called and asked if you could take dogs you had said you couldn’t, I would like to know where you said it, as there is no section on my form about dog aggressive dogs. As well, I would not have called you to see if you could take puppies who just had surgery, as I have no puppies in need of fostering who had surgery. The last one was back in June …. she needed reconstructive surgery… So if that’s the one you’re referring to, again, there is no section on my form about puppies who have had surgery.

      The questions are stuff like: would you take a dog that has issues (including fear aggression), not good with kids, recovering from a medical condition, pregnant, etc… and I do get applications from people who only want to take perfect, easy, no trouble dogs. I would never tell you you know nothing about dogs, as I don’t even know you. I may have offered to show you how to deal with issues, I may even have asked if you would take Tyson 4 (he is my only dog who is dog aggressive right now – and it’s not aggression – read the post about him).

      I never force someone’s hand, I never insist, but I do ask as sometimes people are afraid of the unknown, but willing to give it a try if educated and informed….

      I am very happy that you are rescuing for Melissa, and delighted to hear that someone actually has access to a number in order to “text” her…. How wonderful technology is…. Most of her foster homes have squat… No number, just an e-mail address for volunteers to get back to. Obviously you are VERY IMPORTANT in Melissa’s eyes. Good for you.

      As for all your bashing about me spending my days at pounds to hurt the dogs Melissa wants to save, the fact I am not computer literate, and all other trashing you may have done, I DON”T GIVE A DAMN.

      What I do is for the dogs, you can have the opinion of me that you wish, unlike Melissa I don’t go crying that someone hates me… Boo hoo hoo…

      Just so you know, I am very happy not to have you as a foster home, and I do hope all the dogs you have fostered have in fact found a good home. That is the bottom line. I don’t care about how you feel about me, I don’t do it for the foster homes, I do it strictly for the dogs.

      If you feel I somehow overlooked your answers and called you to waste your time, I do apologize. I, unlike Melissa, do not have little Indians running the show, I do it all and can sometimes overlook things, or not be clear in your answers. Of course, I have no clue who you are, so I don’t even know if this is true or not, but assuming you are not lying or making this up, I do admit I could have called you to see if you would take dogs, that you had mentioned were not good fits.

      As for insulting you or what-not, get a life girl. I don’t insult, nor put down people who don’t want to take a specific dog, unlike Melissa I try to make sure before the dog goes in, he/she will be a good match. Obviously there was NO good match in the dogs I needed a foster for at the time we were in touch, and that is fine. Unless you are saying I stuck you with a dog aggressive dog when you had specifically said no, then you have nothing to bitch about. I do ask, and sometimes I confuse people… It happens, I am only human.

      Sophie

  32. I know Sophie very well. She is extremely dedicated, very smart, and would never say anything that wasn’t proven and the real truth. You can bet your dog’s life on it…
    ===
    Debby is absolutely correct.
    ===
    Rob and Martha are in complete denial, and also a couple of idiots.
    ===

  33. I must say that support all efforts to help animals. I happened across this posting conflict while looking to help out.
    It’s extremely disturbing to read. I was very pro PFL but feel skeptical now that I’ve read the comments above. Dusty is so freakishly angry, I don’t think he should be working with animals.
    As for PFL, the reason I was poking around the net was because I was looking to donate funds. I know it’s a volunteer org but Paypal or transferring funds to a private email is just sketchy. I wanted to pay the release fees for a dog on death row but without the name of the pound ( you say apparently silenced under contract?) I was to wire money to some woman? Who was she? The pound owner?
    There are Canadian organizations that will set up sites and help gather funds for non- profit orgs. I guarantee that many more people would ve comfortable donating their money and time.

  34. The truth is PFL “saves” hundreds of dogs and cats a year. The other truth is these dogs would have been killed on death row. The other truth is all of the puppy mills feed pounds like the now closed Saint Hubert SCDD pound and the Berger Blanc etc etc pet shops who make money selling and killing dogs – usually in that order – often the same dog. The truth is PFL is a quasi-cult followed by some well meaning but lost ignorant folk, bleeding hearts, and out and out evil people. Those who have more recently gotten involved now implicated in a rescue group cannot possibly wrap their heads around this one. The truth is no normal person can wrap their head around this except for Melissa, her loyal followers, and the men and women who can shove dogs into a gas chamber or stick a needle through a dog or cat’s heart while the creature fights for its life. The truth is the pet and veterinarian industry are just that – industries.
    Rescue groups of all kinds actually unfortunately do feed into the dog and cat industry. There must be a coalition and order to stop all this non stop cycle of selling saving and killing. It’s insanity. Too many well meaning groups (not PFL in this bunch), many well meaning but the aim and trajectory are lost – and more animals die – vivre le Quebec.

  35. Sophie, you clearly have an axe to grind about Paws for Life, but you are really not helping matters. If even a few volunteers are put off by your malice from helping Paws for Life, animals are dying because of you – bottom line. Rescuing animals from death-row is inherently imperfect and very occasionally a person may find themselves with a problem animal, but wouldn’t you say that is still better than the death of that animal?

    Matthew

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