Animal Welfare Professionals

This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous

Hello all,

Recently, we received the below Google review. Essentially, we had an internal miscommunication, and put up a dog for adoption who had come back to the shelter after being adopted out the first time, after biting  his previous adopter. Struggling on how to reply to this, and was hoping folks here would have suggestions.

Thanks for your consideration.

#AdoptionsandAdoptionPrograms
#FieldServicesandPublicSafety*
#MarketingandSocialMedia

Even if it was the fault of the adults in th family (bitten 4 times before action was taken???) I would apologize and take all the blame.  "internal miscommunication" sounds good.  Did you check on the dog in the new home?

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Cindy Eby
Jackson, MI
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Hi there, 

I would reply with the below. 

"Hi <name>, thank you for bringing this issue to our attention. At <shelter name>, we do our best to ensure every dog who leaves our facility is an ideal fit for their family. We would like to know more about your experience so we can improve our services in the future. Please contact our <job title> at <phone number>." 

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Tiffany Ditto
Director of Marketing and Communications
Texas Coalition for Animal Protection
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This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous

You actually ought to consider involving legal counsel before responding or posting publicly about this.  If you have a lawyer on your board, that is who should guide you on wording any response-and handling how you notify the new adopter. There is some potential liability for your organization with having made this this placement, so words now may become exhibits in a future suit if the dog injures the second adopter. This isn't just an issue with a bad Google review, but with a potential lawsuit from negligently placing an animal known to be dangerous. Most insurance carriers will also cancel your policy for not having protocols to avoid placing dangerous animals.   There is a lot of potential organizational fallout, so have your board involved. I would not respond until your board decides on a path forward. 

This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous

Thanks very much.

Original Message:
Sent: 09-12-2023 10:54 PM
From: Anonymous Member
Subject: Feedback on how to address difficult Google review

This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous

You actually ought to consider involving legal counsel before responding or posting publicly about this.  If you have a lawyer on your board, that is who should guide you on wording any response-and handling how you notify the new adopter. There is some potential liability for your organization with having made this this placement, so words now may become exhibits in a future suit if the dog injures the second adopter. This isn't just an issue with a bad Google review, but with a potential lawsuit from negligently placing an animal known to be dangerous. Most insurance carriers will also cancel your policy for not having protocols to avoid placing dangerous animals.   There is a lot of potential organizational fallout, so have your board involved. I would not respond until your board decides on a path forward.