Rising Phoenix Mastiff Rescue in Yakima, WA reviews... scary!

[NeoBull]

So, the whole reason I started looking into her was because I had posted an ad on CL trying to find my dogs litter mates to exchange photos and maybe get together for a play date with some. I got an email from her saying she had had 4 of them come through her rescue and they all had health problems, aggression, thyroid problem (strange for only being 5 months?) and needed joint and ACL surgeries.

Now, I thought this was weird for a few reasons... a. it didn't help me locate any of the dogs, b. I'd already tracked down a bunch of them and they were all very healthy and far from aggressive... and the biggest problem... I have 9 of the litter mates where abouts accounted for out of a litter of 11... so there's NO WAY she had 4!

I looked through every single adopted dog from her "rescue" on petfinder, not a single one of them was one of my dog's siblings.

I don't know what her motive was for emailing me a bunch of lies...

That's when I moved on to the reviews.

Reviews: http://www.zootoo.com/rescue-groups/zip-98903-rising-phoenix-mastiff-rescue/reviews

I asked about them on a local rescue group on FB and had a guy (runs a boxer rescue) email me with his expereince with them:

"I had a dealing with Rising Phoenix. I was looking at a bull mastiff for adoption. When I went to meet her, she was severely emaciated, had an aborted litter 3 days prior, had cuts all over her face. It was horrible." and " Yeah. Literally the bull mastiff I was looking at was 40 lbs under weight, was droopy due to being spayed 3 days prior, had a litter aborted, and was severely chewed on and bloody."

Anyway... just wanted to put this out there... anyone needing to surrender a dog or looking to adopt should probably stear clear of her! I get a "dog flipper for profit" vibe from this "rescue". Hence, adopting out un fixed, malnurished dogs to people for $400-500! (check reviews!)

 

[angelbears]

Thanks, if you find out more please keep us updated~!

 

[NeoBull]

I will, and if anyone here has ever dealt with them (her) please share your experience.

 

[NeoBull]

So I've had 2 people now (boxer rescue guy and my husband) suggest a motive for the email she sent me... they both thought maybe she was trying to scare me into giving my dog up to her by trying to make me think she was going to have a bunch of costly health problems. I never would have thought of this, but since they both thought the same thing maybe there's something to that theory...

I've never given a dog up, and I don't ever intend to!

 

[mia]

I looked at that rescue when I was looking to adopt, saw the bad reviews online and left it at that, I couldn't find any references from my rescue pals in WA either.....

 

[Marrowshard]

Read all the reviews on zootoo ... what a horrible place! I wouldn't wish that kind of treatment on my worst enemy. For shame!

~Marrow

 

[ruby55]

What needs to be done to shut this place down? Who do we contact? Posting bad reviews online obviously doesn't do it.

 

[NeoBull]

What needs to be done to shut this place down? Who do we contact? Posting bad reviews online obviously doesn't do it.

I've been wondering the same thing...

One of the people that wrote a review seemed pretty sure they didn't have non-profit status, if we could confirm that we might be able to get them taken off of petfinder right? That would kept a lot of potential adopters from finding the "rescue" and hopefully keep people from surrendering thier dogs to this flipper...

 

[jdyazel]

This place is FRIGHTENING. I have actually spoken w/some people that know the person who runs this rescue. She should not be adopting out the dogs that she is- a lot of them come from terrible conditions and have a lot of problems that need serious addressing before adoption- which she has neither the facilities qualifications to do. Additionally, the fees she charges are outrageous. I have e-mail correspondence from her- I considered adopting a puppy from her and then I read the reviews on Zootoo. I have also followed up w/the people on Zootoo. No one has anything good to say about this place.

According to the WA Secretary of State office, the organization is a Non-Profit, but I would think that there should be other ways to get it shut down. Humane Society maybe??

 

[mia]

The people with complaints should write formally to the organization that governs non-profits in WA (don't know as I am Canadian and have a bad cold at the moment, low brain function). The other is yes to contact the local humane society BUT they have to be people with first hand experience and knowledge, if the dogs have the basics there might not be much they can do. The other is to find out what shelters she is getting dogs from and ask them to stop. Again one must have proof so she can't sue for defamation etc... We had a rescue up here and it was a nightmare to shut down but eventually we did.

 

[namiss]

Thank you guys sooo much! She has a pug listed for adoption that I was trying to get. I was getting suspicious of her more and more and now I know!!! I feel so bad for the dogs! I just sent her a nasty email. I want to help take her down!

 

[namiss]

I just made a facebook page against the rescue. Head over and "like" it! Lets get the word out there!! https://www.facebook.com/pages/Risi...tiff-Rescue-is-a-SCAM/395475463802653?sk=info

 

[namiss]

Forum burp

 

[Gypsy Rose Lee]

The owner/operator of RPMR (Rising Phoenix Mastiff Rescue), located in
Yakima, Washington, LaTricia Porter (Tricia, Trisha) is currently under
investigation thru Yakima animal control for operating a non-profit dog rescue
without being licensed, they have received hundreds of complaints from both the
United States and Canada, for selling sick, emaciated dogs, dogs that have not
been spayed or neutered or brought up to date on their shots, untrained and
aggressive dogs whilst lying to prospective buyers. For 'flipping' dogs, for small filthy kennels, for lying and for
theft, and giving buyers falsified vet papers with names of vets who do not
exist. There's also a question about falsifying income tax returns. Apparently, she'd been doing the same thing in California and had to leave
because of an investigation.
They are trying to find out where she has put over 20 large dogs - the ones
she has up for adoption right now on several web sites, including Petfinder.com
- they cannot be found on her property, and no one knows what she's done with
them, or what she has done with the MANY dogs she's unable to sell - where have they gone?
You may want to google rising phoenix mastiff rescue reviews,
there are many complaints about Porter and her "rescue" from as far back as
2008 logged on the internet.
It has also been reported that she registers "mixed" Fila puppies as pure bred. WHAT A GAL!
Animal Control officer, Randy Sutton -randy_sutton@live.com - 509 961
5439

 

[NeoBull]

WOW... well it's good to hear that they're investigating her! Thanks for the update gypsy!

 

[lolisnme]

this is so sad! I can't believe people would do this. By the way, if anyone reads her ads you can tell right away it is not legitimate because of all the grammatical errors and spelling mistakes. That alone shows the person writing them is not very educated or careful enough to spell check. (let alone take care of their "adoptable dogs"). It truly is disgusting what this woman does. Hope no one else gets scammed!

 

[chuckorlando]

I shared your FB page on mine

 

[kimmacc]

WOW thanks for posting this! I have been trying to go through them for a while now to adopt a dog.

 

[mia]

Thank you for staying on top of it and sharing the information.

 

[MyMia]

I adopted a Cane Corso from Rising Phoenix last summer and even though there were red flags I went ahead with the adoption. I feel lucky that I ended up with a great dog even though so much of what they describe about her was completely wrong. Fortunately she is very friendly with children, other dogs and people but she destroyed the steel door of her crate to get out (so much for being crate trained) and has a destructive streak beyond belief due to separation anxiety when left home.
I am sick to my stomach from reading all the negative experiences and horror stories. I feel lucky that I have not had any health problems yet and it appears my dog has been fixed even though there is evidence that she has been bred. Her teeth are in terrible shape, several are completely broken off and I was told she was a transfer from another rescue group out of Southern California who took care of her medical care. Now I don't know what to believe.

When I was approved as an adopter I was so excited that they had 2 females available that we could choose between. We made arrangements to make the 7+ hour drive to meet with them and both the available dogs. We were bringing our male Mastiff and wanted to be sure they would get along before we made the commitment. They met us at a neutral location with only one of the dogs saying the other was not feeling well because she had just been fixed. The one Corso they brought immediately went after our Mastiff when we introduced them but when they assured us she wasn't aggressive towards other dogs we wrote it off to nerves.

We took her home and even though there were a few arguments between the two dogs we wanted to make it work. When I reached out to her for advice and to ask for more details about her temperament & behavior Trisha made me feel like I was being overly concerned and that it was a normal part of the adjustment process. I felt like I was bothering her so I didn't contact her again. Fortunately they do get along now and she has been great at the dog park and is perfectly behaved in any public situation. So apparently the people who owned her first spent time training and socializing her.
I am still in shock but also happy that I was able to save her from...I can't imagine.

So here is a concern I have. I was told that she was micro chipped & they would remain on the registration but would add my name to the account. Based off of what I know now I should probably check to see if there is eve a microchip and find out what I can do to have them removed. Has anyone heard of this policy and any advice on how to deal with this?
I was too trusting that a rescue group would have the dogs best interest a priority. Now I am wondering how I can find out more about the history of my dog or at least get information from the "other rescue" if one elitists.

I feel lucky that my experience has turned out so well so far but I'm kicking myself that I didn't do more research first. I heard about the reality of this rescue group from a guy at the dog park who was going to rescue a dog through Rising Phoenix but when he wasn't getting answers to his questions he started investigating and waalaa look what he found.

I wouldn't trade my dog for anything and it's sad that where I really saved her from was the rescue group. Thank you to everyone who has come forward to share their story and get the word out. I hope the authorities step in and close this place down before more dogs suffer needlessly.