NMDR has written into its latest adoption contract that they can come to your home at any time in the future and if they are unhappy in any way, they may take the dog back. Unless one is a member of the NMDR fan club, people need to be concerned about sharing a problem they are having with their dog. NMDR cannot be trusted to not exercise this clause. They are a partner group to North Shore Animal Rescue League, and according to things I have been informed about, NS has taken dogs back for reasons like someone moves to an apartment (the dog was originally not OK'd for apartment living). This clause has no place in a dog adoption contract. We don't even do this with human adoption. If there is a problem, there is a different system set up to deal with it. NO PERSON WORKING AT AN ANIMAL RESCUE HAS THE RIGHT TO COME TAKE YOUR PET IN THE FUTURE!!!!! NMDR is all about Theresa Strader and her reputation and the kennel's reputation. If anyone has a concern or negative feeling to express, they get locked out from communicating with NMDR in any way. NMDR would rather threaten to sue people to shut them up than to simply talk to work out a problem. NMDR is a place to turn for help IF: (1) it will get NMDR or Theresa Strader in the newspaper for a photo op, or, (2) the person is in the fan club. (Fan club members are Theresa Strader groupies or donors. The more you donate, the more attention you get.)

NMDR does a decent job of promoting their dogs on their own website, on FB, and some pet adoptions sites. They do hold adoption events, but you will notice a pattern to the location of their events that includes more desirable zip codes. However,--AND THIS IS A BIG PROBLEM--NMDR has a real problem with honesty and ethics when it comes to actually adopting dogs out. They are very possessive of their dogs and too many fosters are allowed to just deny people from questionable reasons. NMDR is equally guilty. I have been contacted by several former high-up volunteers who have shared horror stories with me about some people not getting to adopt dogs they had been approved for. I was one of those people, but I would not even mention this if it hadn't happened to so many others. NMDR is very much a "good old buddy" system and adoption is more about WHO you know that what kind of dog person you are. This organization has, for the most part, wonderful volunteers. However, the director has some serious issues and her "groupies" do whatever she says. The volunteers who refuse to follow her blindly either get FIRED--yes, she fires volunteers who don't agree with her every word, or they leave in disgust and go to a better rescue. I DO KNOW ALL OF THIS FOR A FACT!!!!

National Mill Dog Rescue has a very effective fostering program for their own dogs. I do not believe, unless they have changed policy recently--that they, as an organization, encourage their foster people to help out any local shelters. Some fosters may do that, but not because of NMDR.

This group does not even attempt to rescue dogs from local shelters. They will drive hundreds, even thousands, of miles to "rescue" dogs from puppy mills--while never releasing the location/contact information of the puppy mill, but they will NOT drive 50 miles to rescue a dog in a shelter close by. Single dogs do not matter to them. The "correct" size and breed of dog matters to them and they know which puppy mills will provide what they want. When a group "rescues" from the same puppy mill time and again, they have switched from rescue to customer. When a group refuses to release location /contact information that really would aid in closing down a puppy mill, they have become no better than pet stores who protect their sources. National Mill Dog Rescue--their real name--will take some of their dogs to the local shelter, but, to my knowledge, they do not take dogs FROM the shelter to help find homes.

This group only spays or neuters the animals they bring in from puppy mills. They have no program to do any more, even though they are now a big enough group with enough volunteers, resources, and access to the necessary people that they could and should start such a program. They will argue that this is not part of their mission statement. I would suggest their mission statement should be adjusted. They are not accomplishing their mission statement. It needs to change!

This does not apply for this organization.