Melissa's Second Chances

I adopted the most beautiful German shepherd puppy from them last September. He was in a wonderful foster home when I adopted him. The process was simple and I felt like I had all the information I needed when I adopted him. He was neutered, vaccinated, dewormed and had his microchip before he came home with us. He’s 13 months old and he’s been a wonderful addition to our family! Would definitely recommend!

We adopted our two kittens from Melissas and they were so responsive and helpful in our process to find a pair of litter mates. We had a blended family with pets that didn’t get along for many years, and so when we got cats again we wanted to make sure we would could find some that were buddies. They helped us find just the right pair and there was no pressure to adopt. We have also met some puppies in foster care that didn’t end up being a good fit, but I would definitely adopt from Melissa’s again the next time we are looking for a pet.

I spoke with a few different adoption agencies before I ended up with Melissa's. I ended up adopting my girl Evie (formerly Esther) from them, and I'm so happy that I did! The foster was really knowledgeable about my dog and the process overall. I got her as a puppy, and I know that there are a lot of adopters they have to talk to - but she answered all of my questions, even if I had a random one and texted her during the day. I still text her pictures of Evie and she is always delighted to see them. The process was quick, but I feel like I had all of the information I needed, and there is a facebook group for alums as well.

We have had a terrible experience with this shelter. This organization seems to care more about money and getting rid of animals as opposed to finding them a proper home. From the start of this process, the shelter tried to pressure us into taking home our puppy sooner than we had planned. I had coordinated a visit with our puppy's foster parent for a Sunday and was told that if we could not meet him on Friday we would not be able to get him. I rearranged my schedule and on the literal way to visit our puppy for the first time I was told that we would not be able to keep him if we did not take him home within 36 hours. We had no supplies because we were not expecting to take him home for a couple more days. The shelter even sent new contact info for the next person on the list to the foster parents while I was literally on the way to meeting our puppy. We knew this puppy was meant to be in our lives so we worked with the shelter to get him home even though we felt pressured throughout the entire process. However, this was just the start of our problems with Melissa's Second Chances. Our dog was bitten before we even brought him home. We do not know if he was bitten in foster care or even before he went into foster care. And neither does Melissa's Second Chances. They said that he may have been bitten in care or "at an adoption event". His bite has become infected and has ended up causing five vet appointments and over $750 worth of medical care. When we adopted a rescue, we understood that there was a possibility of medical issues, but this is completely unacceptable. I have emailed the shelter three times and have called at least five times. We have gotten response from one volunteer in the last three weeks. No one from the "leadership" team has bothered to reach out. Not only do they have no record of how our puppy was injured in their care, but they have made very little to no attempt to reach out and explain the situation. We received one phone call tonight from Nancy Gassmann, Shelter Director, who spoke to us for three minutes and simply said she would follow up after she had time to look at the information. She said she had first heard of this situation three days ago even though we had made our first, of many, attempts to contact the shelter over nine days ago. Nancy claimed that nothing had happened while our puppy was in their care even though we have provided them with photo and vetranairy records stating the contrary. Our puppy is a part of our family and we will never stop making sure he get the care he needs, but we are incredibly infuriated with Melissa's Second Chances. This organization should not be allowed to be taking in stray animals if they cannot guarantee their safety while being with the shelter. They care more about collecting that $350 adoption fee than making sure that the dog was taken care of in their care and placing animals in a proper home. (Photos attached are from his first full day in our home, when the wound was covered in fur still and the second photo is after the second vet visit where they had to remove the hair from that part of his infected face)

My family recently adopted Daisy, formerly known as Paulie, from Melissa's Second Chances. The adoption process was quick and easy, the foster mom was fast to reach out and setup a time to meet up (she was also extremely flexible, which we appreciate). Daisy's foster seemed to genuinely care and love Daisy as well. Daisy is a great and sweet puppy, she's everything we needed in a pup as we also have a young toddler. We are excited to have her join our little family. I will definitely look into adopting with this organization again, if the opportunity should arise.

My wife and I were looking for a puppy. We found one on the website. The website said that the information on the puppy was just updated 16 hours before we seen it. So we filled out all the information for adoption. The website says that you will hear something with in 24 hours. We'll that wasn't the case. My wife made several calls, I sent several text messages, we sent emails. Finally we were approved but then was told that the family that was doing the fostering decided to keep it. Which was really frustrating because like I said the information on the puppy was updated 16 hours before we applied for adoption. So just don't get your hopes up and fall in love until you get your pet home and don't expect any speedy replies.