March 26 2009
The Blue Cross Charity Disgusts Me
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What follows is my personal and independent review and experience of what happened to David and Heather when they fostered a Dog with the Blue Cross. It is my personal opinion based on the involvement I have had throughout this process. It is not hearsay, it is based on facts and hard evidence that I have seen, most of which has already been presented on the main story located here. I have worked for 10 years assisting charities with a variety of duties including dog walking, fund raising, adverting and a variety of technical projects which is how I met David and Heather.
As they were not experienced dog trainers, they requested assistance from the Blue Cross as they had been promised training. After many broken promises, David and Heather contacted the fostering project development officer (Denise Young) insisting that they required the training they had been promised. The only available trainer that the Blue Cross had in the area had been fired because they didn’t like her attitude. Again it was promised that as soon as a new trainer was appointed, they would be able to talk to the trainer. Again nothing happened and again they contacted the fostering project development officer (Denise Young) only to find that the Blue Cross had re-hired the trainer they had just fired.
The problem with the trainer was that she refused to offer any advice over the phone and would only assist with training in person during Monday to Friday while her children were at school as she claimed she could not find a babysitter.
Without warning, Denise Young went on holiday but first contacted the local coordinator and instructed her to get the fostered dog transferred to a Blue Cross kennel before she returned from holiday. David and Heather were furious that this had been done behind their back and they contacted the Blue Cross head office.
The Blue Cross held a meeting with Denise Young when she returned from her holiday and she told them that she had told David and Heather to arrange their own training and could not understand why they had not done this and continued to request training. This was an out and out lie. David and Heather not been told to arrange their own training.
When I heard about this I had assumed it was a case of one rotten apple within the charity who was lying to save her job and integrity within the project. I already knew a lot about the Blue Cross and was confidant that they would resolve this problem quickly and fairly.
Instead the Blue Cross set up a sting operation. They invited David, Heather and their fostered dog for one day of training. What was kept secret was that the whole thing was a farce. Before they even arrived at the training, the Blue Cross had already arranged storage and transfer of the fostered dog to their main kennels.
After a very short training exercise where David and Heather learned all they had been asking for since the start and the fostered dog had shown signs of improvement, they were taken inside and told that they should hand over the dog.
Denise Young offered the opportunity for David and Heather to adopt the dog. All they would need to do is complete the paperwork, no checks would need to be done at all as they had already been assessed as foster carers.
David asked if they could have time to think about it. Denise Young wanted them to make the decision in the car park giving them only 20 minutes to decide. David asked for extra time as it was no small decision. There was a lot to check and confirm before David and Heather could make their decision. The behaviorist who attended the training session agreed with David and suggested one week to think about it. Denise refused and offered a maximum of 12 hours.
During this 12 hour period, David and Heather were unable to contact the Blue Cross head office as the people they needed to talk to were not at work during the weekend. There was also the added problem that most businesses David and Heather needed to contact to confirm training prices, food costs, bedding and all the other accessories that would be required were closed during the weekend.
David made the decision that he would do nothing until he could talk to the person who had arranged the sting operation so that he could find out why this had been done and why they had not been kept informed.
On Monday David talked to the Blue Cross head office and they confirmed that they had planned the whole thing, however they refused to accept that it was done behind their backs (despite the fact that it was not done in front of them, nor had they even been informed of it). They demanded that the Dog be transferred on Tuesday morning and refused to provide any more time even though their own behaviorist had advised one week.
This gave David and Heather just one business day to gather all the information they needed to decide if they could properly afford to keep the dog and provide everything that the dog could possibly need. It simply could not be done in the one available business day.
Again the Blue Cross refused to extend the deadline despite the recommendation of the behaviorist. The Blue Cross confirmed that if David and Heather could adopt the dog, all they would need to do is complete the required paperwork and would not need to be assessed as they had already been assessed.
By the time Tuesday morning came, David and Heather had been unable to gather all the of the information required to make the decision of adopting the dog. Although all they wanted to do was adopt the dog, they understood that it was a big decision that should not be taken lightly. The Blue Cross on the other hand had only offered 20 minutes to 12 hours for the decision to be made.
Heartrendingly, David and Heather handed over the dog on Tuesday morning. By Tuesday evening, they finally had all the information they needed to make a decisive decision and could confirm that by adopting the dog, they could afford and obtain everything they needed to make her a permanent part of their family. They called the Blue Cross who gave a flat out “NO”. They argued the decision based on what they had been told in the past, but the Head of Companion Welfare refused to reply to their e-mails. Undeterred, they contacted the CEO of the Blue Cross who finally agreed that she would let David and Heather have first refusal after they had assessed the dog.
The dogs behavior deteriorated dramatically as soon as she was put in a kennel. David had endlessly warned the Blue Cross about this, but they had refused to listen to him demanding that kenneling the dog was in the dogs best interests. (ask your local vet if a home or kennel is the best place for a dog during training)
Finally, David and Heather were told that they would need to be put through an assessment to make sure they could look after and handle the dog despite everything that the Blue Cross had previously said about not needing an assessment.
The assessment day arrived. David and Heather traveled to the opposite end of the country for the assessment. The Blue Cross CEO, Press Officer, Kennel Manager, Handler and Behaviorist attended the assessment.
In my view, the “review” process was a complete sham. The blue cross said that they would be assessed like anyone who tries to adopt an animal, but it is hard to believe that the Press Officer, CEO, Kennel Manager, Handler and a hired “independent” behaviorist is used for every single adoption application they process.
Before the assessment began, they read the dogs 7 day report which covers their review of her over the first 7 days. Both David and Heather were deeply shocked by the serious problems the dog had produced as soon as she was in the kennel. Over the 7 days her behavior had deteriorated and she currently had a lot more problems than she had ever had when living with David and Heather. I found it very hard to understand why they thought that putting a dog in a kennel and away from the home that she had lived for most of her life was the best thing for the dog. If this were true, it would completely defeat the whole point of adopting the dogs. Why not just keep them locked up in a kennel if that is better for them than a home they have known for most of their life.
Among the things that the dog was no longer good with were groups of people and other dogs. She had never been good with a gentle leader and had always been much better with a normal lead. However, David and Heather were taken with the dog to a fenced in area. On one side of the area was all the people who had turned up for the assessment (6 in all) and on the other side was a barking dog. Still wearing her gentle leader, it would have been very hard to conrol her as she would have spent most of her time trying to get the gentle leader off as she had always done when living with David and Heather. This is exactly what happened and they were marked down by the behavioralist for this. It seems to me like the Blue Cross had put David and Heather into a situation where no experienced dog handler would have been able to pass the assesment. If done on purpose this is what Princeton University refer to as a “Set up” or to “ensnare”. When I heard about this I assumed that any self respecting and professional behaviorist would have taken this into account, however it is as if the behaviorist never read the 7 day report.
The report that was generated from this assessment marked David and Heather down for things that never happened as well as using parts of their conversation with the behaviorist to advise that the dog needed more experienced owners. David and Heather instantly disputed the entire report as being inaccurate and misleading. They requested the name and qualifications of the behaviorist so that they could verify the qualifications and experience of the behaviorist. The Blue Cross refused to look into the blatant inaccuracies and misleading content of the report. They also refused to provide the name or qualifications of the behaviorist.
All the way through this entire process, I had been 100% sure that the Blue Cross would resolve this problem. Instead, they have backed up the Fostering Project Development Officer, despite knowing that she has lied on at least one occasion. There has been a complete opposite between what the Blue Cross said they would do and what they did. David and Heather have given up their time, money, home and life to assist the Blue Cross while the Blue Cross lied to them and operated behind their backs, paying no attention whatsoever to the feelings of the people involved.
When the Blue Cross press office was contacted, they confirmed the party line saying that everything had been done in the best interests of the dog, yet it is clear to everyone that the only thing this has done is made the dogs behavior deteriorate to the point that it became a serious concern. The dogs behavior only became a serious concern once they had put her in a kennel.
The Blue Cross clearly thinks that the easiest way out of this situation is to get the dog in their property, refuse to give her up and block all attempts made even if this damages their public image revealing them to be two faced liars. The Blue Cross has point blank refused to answer our questions. They have also done exactly the same to supporters who contacted the Blue Cross on our behalf and have since pledged to never support the Blue Cross again. After all, why should anyone support a charity that believes it can act in this devious manner, get away with it and never have to answer any questions about their actions.
I am starting a petition which we will be passed to the Charities Commission as well as every member of government, member of the house of commons and member of the house of lords who has had their name on any animal rights or associated acts. The Blue Cross may be refusing to answer any questions on this matter from David and Heather as well as other supporters, but we will not stop talking about this or pushing it until there is a resolve. Be it that the dog (if still available) be offered to David and Heather with a sincere apology, or we will do all that we can to tell everyone about this story, pushing for a change within the Blue Cross which can be either voluntary or forced. After all, the Blue Cross is knowingly employing someone that has lied and acted in an underhand manner on at least one occasion bringing the charity into disrepute.
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