Nemasket Orphaned Animal Haven reviews and complaints
Rude and unhelpful
Contacted this place because I was interested in adopting a brother/sister kitten pair and within 2 hours of my first voicemail left on their system, I got a call back and was told to submit an application online. After submitting the application and waiting, I emailed them. I got no response to that, so I then called and left a voicemail (which states you will receive a call within 24 hours). I received no response after about 72 hours of leaving the voicemail too. After trying to call them 2 more times and getting no one on the phone, I finally decided to send them an e-mail retracting my application for the kittens after I read all of the complaints on this website AND being ignored. Of course, I was not happy in that last email I sent them. Somehow, MAGICALLY it seems, after being ignored in all my other attempts to contact them, I received an email back stating that they had called and left me a voicemail needing my landlord's phone number since it go cut off the application. Naturally, I looked through all my phone calls and voicemails (even deleted ones stored on my iCloud) thinking I had accidentally missed it. Of course, there was absolutely nothing. I sent an email back stating they had not called and for them not to contact me again. So, I get the last email stating that they are "glad someone else has to deal with me". Very mature, and very professional I might add (notice the sarcasm).
Final point - I get that they are staffed by volunteers and staffing is short, but so are almost all other kill shelters. I received responses within 24 hours from 2 other places with kittens we were interested in that were also small and fully volunteered staff. There is just no excuse to be ignored for that long just trying to get a simple update. Then, when you finally get fed up and don't want to deal with them, you get a rude response within the hour.
All in all, beware of dealing with this place. If you are looking at possibly owning a kitten/cat, look elsewhere.
Country of complaint: United States
Address: Raynham, Massachusetts
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
Linda
I called Linda last week with regarding re-homing my my two cats. After a day she called and found new home for them. I called the new adoptive parents and said as this is hard for us we need about a week to be sure we're doing the right thing. Our cats have been part of our family for 10 yrs! I think that wasn't an unreasonable request. After much consideration and finding out one of our cats has diabetes we decided not to re-home. I sent Linda an message thanking her and explaining the situation and to my horror I got a string of emails from attacking me for wasting her time. Calling me crazy and psycho and saying she would warn the adoption world against me. This lady is freaking NUTS! Anyone DO NOT do any sort of business with her. RUN AWAY! All i can do now is hug my cats tightly and thank god I didnt release my animals to her. I fear for what could have happened.
Country of complaint: United States
Address: Massachusetts
Phone: 508-386-3729
I was so excited when I saw my dream kitty on their site. I left a message and got a call back. It was Linda! All I wanted to know is if this certain kitty was still available. I could not have been kinder to her. She told me to go to the fair and hung up! Rude [censored]. Horrible person. I will wait until the right kitty arrives in Scituate. So upsetting!
Linda Brackett
I have nothing good to say about Linda Brackett or her "haven" for orphaned animals. It has been a year since our experience began, and we are still just as angry. As previous complaints have indicated, we were told our cat was vet-checked and in good health. We were also told that he was a young cat (specifically 2-3 yrs.). None of this turned out to be true. He was in very poor health and was more like 5-8yrs. old. Within a week and a half of the adoption, we tried to contact Linda. She eluded our phone calls and when we finally did reach her, she suggested we bring the cat back. I should mention that we have two little girls who, along with us, had fallen in love with him. So, that was certainly not an option. She suggested to us that she contribute (partially) to one of his medical bills, provided that we bring him to her vet. We felt that was fair, at the VERY least, and agreed. But she never followed through. She never answered or returned our phone calls, and please believe that we were persistent! I could go on and on, but it would be a waste of my energy and time. Please learn from our $6, 000 mistake (2 surgeries and endless pet meds/vet visits for untreated infections, etc.) and DO NOT deal with Linda Brackett. If she had the best interest of these cats in mind, then our little guy would have been properly cared for and attended to before he even got to us. She is a liar and I do not believe that she is doing anything for the good of the animals that she has "taken in." It is such a shame that a wonderful experience like pet adoption could have turned out to be so negative. Shame on you, Linda. You are a bad person hiding behind the guise of doing good, and you should not be allowed to do it anymore.
Country of complaint: United States
Address: Massachusetts
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
Rude
The person that runs this is rude and disruptive to society. They will talk down to you and if the treat a person looking to adopt a pet like that how do you think they treat their animals.
Read full complaint and 5 commentsangry , rude and uncooperative
After searching for several month for my missing cat I found a picture of a cat that I believe to be my cat. I called the shelted and left a message that I had seen the photo and that I thought it may be my cat and that I was very anxious to view the cat. I received a screaming call from Linda Brackett who runs the shelter claiming it was not my cat and that she didn't steal it! I never even slightly indicated that I thought she stold my cat. At no time did she ask me about my cat and when I asked her what her attitude was about she claimed I had the attitude and that I was a bad person for letting my cat out and then slammed the phone down. I didn't let the cat out and my cat is microchipped and registered with every vet and animal officer for miles around. I also rescued her and her sister from the MSPCA about a year ago. Do not take your animals there and if you are missing a cat in that area I would report it to the police. Now that she brought up the subject of theft I am very suspicious about her motives and definitly about her methods. Why wouldn't she be happy to be reuniting some one with the pet? Why wouldn't she ask me to come and veiw the cat? why would she be angry that the cat may have found its way home? Could it be that she is paid from the adoption fee's! the more she gets the more secure her job is and the more important she becomes. There has also been a rash of ferile cats in Raynham, Hum... I wonder where their all coming from? Are they being brought in to raise money for this so called private shelter?
Country of complaint: United States
Address: Massachusetts
Phone: 508 386 3729
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
FYI - To tinakitty who posted on 21st of Jan, 2012, I have been informed NOAH is very much in operation and I have been told that the new part time animal control officer in Raynham uses her to help cats and kittens. I'm happy that he is working with someone who cares about cats, but given the number of complaints against Linda on this board alone, I have to wonder why is she snapping at so many folk, and why did she loose her volunteers. People who truly love and care about animals enough to volunteer don't just drop. I get the sense that the owner of NOAH was overburdened and had issues of her own going on. It might be best for her to release the reigns into the hands of someone not as overwhelmed while still staying as the lead. I for one came looksing for reviews on NOAH as within the last 2 weeks I took in a feral mom and her kittens and was told I should bring them to her. After reading all the stories here, I will not, but will rather work with my vet to find them good homes once I've gotten them through their first 8-10 weeks and treatments. Feral mom will stay with me, as she is just learning to trust :)
I can not believe someone would comment about Linda after Nemasket Orphaned Animal Haven ended work in late 2010/early 2011. You are obviously uninformed and just wanted to complain about something. Regardless, I volunteered at NOAH for almost five years. To some people, our policies were unfair, but that is because people have biased opinions when the situation involves their wants and needs. Look at it from our perspective; the cat is the most important individual. All volunteers were experienced in judging people/families/environments and how they would affect the desired cat. If there was something off, or the family seemed unsuitable for the personality of the cat, we would have to decline for the cat's well being.
For the original complaint, Linda is just honest and upfront. And when people are ignorant and do not understand how much work goes into NOAH to help the animals, ex. why do we have to pay for the cat? Or why can't I have this one?, then it should be understandable when she might have been frustrated. We never saw a dime of the money go towards ourselves. Rather, we used our own money, ESPECIALLY Linda, on numerous occasions to help the cats. Any fees were for the health costs for the cats, which, if you are a responsible pet owner, you would know they can be extremely high.
As for the last comment, first of all, as much as it might kill you to admit, your children might have been behaving badly, therefore giving the volunteers and Linda GOOD reason to reject your application. I'm sorry, but if you watched other kids misbehave, you might think, wow they should NOT have pets, they might hurt them or make them miserable. Maybe your kids were that way and you just didn't know, or they weren't old enough, or something. Linda is not prejudiced as you make it out to be.
And in the case of your friend, you're too vague. NOAH SPECIFICALLY stated that vet fees would only be paid within a week of adoption. How do you know the cat did not catch said disease after adoption? The vet checked our cats numerous times every week. You are making claims that you don't know are true.
NOAH is no longer running because the number of volunteers dropped and a limited amount of people can only do so much. I know for a fact Linda loved all of the cats who came through our shelter, she gave all her energies to helping them find happier lives. And she is reliable, I called her for help with a cat problem recently and she came through for me. So please, although there is no shelter anymore, do not try to make Linda out as a bad person. She is in fact quite the opposite and still remains a friend to cats today.
I had numerous encounters with Linda Brackett. She is an extremely controlling woman who "snaps" the head off of any person she feels would not be a "good fit" for her animals. I was planning on adopting a kitten for myself and my family, but Linda felt that her cats would not " thrive" in a home with children. I was shocked. Only families without children can adopt an animal? It turned out to be a blessing being denied from Linda. My neighbor adopted a young grey and white kitten a few months back and when she got home, her kitten had terrible diarrhea. My neighbor called Linda who told her that stress was the cause and the kitten would feel better soon. The kitten was in the litterbox 10+ times in a few hours. My neighbors attempted to contact Linda again to see if they could bring the kitten to her vet. Several attempts were made, but Linda refused to repsond. My neighbor rushed the kitten to Westbridgewater Animal Hospital..The kitten was diagnosed with a deadly virus. The kitten was extremely dehydrated and on the verge of death. Again, my neighbor left numerous messages for Linda and did not receive a call. This kitten was in her house for only a few hours and was now fighting for its life. The end result was the poor baby died leaving the owners with an extremely high vet bill. When Linda finally returned their calls, she was angry that the kitten was brought to West Bridewater.. What? Are you kidding me? She told my neighbors that she should have been notified... and since they made a choice to bring the kitten tot he vet without her approval they were responsible for a bill that was over $3000. This is robbery. What quailifications does Linda have? Since this episode, I have spoken to many people with similar stories. I hope if anyone wants to adopt a kitten, that they take this complaint and others into consideraton. What a terrible experience . It appears that Linda cares more about the numbers of cats or kittens that leave her shelter rather then the follow up health concerns. She blames owners for the kittens getting sick, rather then them begin exposed to other littermates that might have spread disease. Anyone wanting to adopt a pet from NOAH, be very careful!
ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS I HAVE HADTHEHPLEASURE OF SPEAKING WITH LINDA B.
I PERSONALLY HAVE FOUND HER TO BE
A DEDICATED AND CARING PERSON, WHO
SPENDS LONG HOURS TRYING TO PLACE
HER CATS. SHE ONLY WANTS THE BEST
FOR THEM. I PERSONALLY HAVE BEEN TO
SEVERAL OF LINDA'S ADOPTION DAYS, I HAVE NEVER SEEN HER RUDE TO ANY
PROSPECTIVE ADOPTIVE PERSON. IF ANYTHING SHE TRIES TO HELP EVERYONE
OUT AS MUCH AS SHE CAN TO MAKE THE
ADOPTION PROCESS MUCH EASIER. LAST
WINTER WE ADOPTED A CAT FROM LINDA
I COULD NOT ASK FOR A BETTER PERSON TO ADOPT OUR CAT GILLIGAN FROM. SHE
WANTED TO MAKE SURE HE HAD A LOVING
HOME, WHICH HE DOES AND HE GETS ALONG WITH OUR OTHER CATS. I KNOW
SOMETIMES THINGS DONT ALWAYS GO AS
YOU WOULD LIKE THEM TO, BUT TAKE TIME
TO GET TO KNOW HER, YOU WILL REALLY
SEE WHAT SHE IS ALL ABOUT. SHE IS A
GREAT HUMANITARIAN AND A GREAT PERSON AT THAT. J.C.
The complaints against Linda Brackett of Nemasket Orphaned Animal Haven are completely accurate, despite her rebuttal. The unknown reviewer hit the nail on the head when she said "calling her just rude is being polite."
Despite what Linda says about how they "loose" money with each adoption, they can't be losing too much because to adopt a cat from her must be impossible, what with her proper-care criteria. I inquired earlier today about adopting two cats (must go together). My wife and I had been planning on one, but we'd have taken two if that was the only way a cat we wanted could be adopted. We would have been loving owners, feeding them well and treating them like family, which, of course, they would be. We'd have provided them a good home, and most importantly, a home other than a cage at PetSmart.
I told Linda that we'd had a cat who died recently. We spent $1, 000 on the best medical care for him, but his illness was terminal. He grew too weak to care for himself and had to be put down, despite our best efforts. We fed him baby food with a syringe. There's nothing we wouldn't have done for him.
Linda asked for the vet's name. I gave her the vet's name, and also the name of another vet we saw previously. We did not bring our cat for annual checkups, not because we didn't care, but for the same reason I myself don't have regular checkups--I don't feel the need. If I'm sick, I go to the doctor. Our cat was an only cat, an indoor cat, never exposed to the outdoors or other cats. But if he was sick, or seemed ill, off to the vet he went, right away. We could not have treated him any better.
Twenty minutes after submitting the application, here was her reply, with nary a question asked of me:
"Beverly Animal Hospital has no record of you or George. Dr. Pelletier's office states they saw George on 1/20/09 and was very ill, he was then put to sleep on 2/2/09.
Nemasket Orphaned Animal Haven is committed to placing cats in homes where they will receive regular and consistent medical care. It is a MA law that ALL cats be vaccinated for rabies even if they are inside. Yearly medical exams can detect problems before they are evident.
With this medical history we will not adopt to you.
Linda Brackett
President/Rescue Coordinator
Nemasket Orphaned Animal Haven"
Did she ask if I had records to show his prior care? No. (I do. I'd forgotten they were in my wife's maiden name.) Did she speak to the doctors who'd provided our cat's care at both Danvers Animal Hospital and Beverly Animal Hospital? No. She got inaccurate information from the front desk at Beverly and simply asked the receptionist at Danvers for information without asking to speak with the doctor. How would the receptionist know what kind of owners we'd been? I'm sure this particular doctor would've given us a good review, since she wrote us after our cat's death, saying how "lucky" he was to have had "such a loving family."
I even gave her the name of the breeder from which we'd purchased our cat. A breeder who, when told of his death, said we'd always be welcome to one of her babies.
Keep in mind, the adoption site says nothing about needing to have owned a pet to adopt from them. Nor does it say one must divulge that they owned a pet when they don't currently have one. If you've never owned a pet, you can qualify for ownership, apparently, by just seeming to have good intentions. If you've recently spent 1, 000+ dollars trying to save your beloved 11-year-old cat, that's not enough to show you can care for an animal as far as Linda Brackett, "President/Rescue Coordinator, " is concerned. To her, we're lawbreakers because we let our cat's rabies vaccination expire. And we're just poor potential owners for not making annual appointments at the vet. Had she simply said, "We can't adopt without a record of annual visits to your vet. It's our policy, " I'd have let it go. But she had to imply that we didn't take proper care of our cat, which could have prevented his death: "Yearly medical exams can detect problems before they are evident."
I have not included here the other snide remarks in her emails.
In short, if you've ever owned a pet and not followed through with your annual checkup and vaccines, you'd best not tell her.
I can understand the attitude you have gotten from Linda Brackett. She is rude and unreasonable when it comes to dealing with her. I adopted a kitten from her which ended up being very ill. Upon calling her to ask for just half of the payments paid toward medicine, I received a "tongue lashing" which was very uncalled for. Therefore, I stopped the pmt on the check toward adoption fees. She brought me to court and was ordered a judgment against her to pay me for a small portion of the vet expenses. She has yet to pay me and now will be brought to court, served by a constable, to pay up. Her behavior is unwarranted and she is unreasonable to deal with. During the first hearing with the magistrate, she was untruthful and plain nasty. Many others, I am learning, have the same feelings toward her. It is unfortunate that she has built this reputation against herself. She is definitely an angry person and calling her just rude is being polite! I am hoping she was not aware that my kitten i adopted was so sick, but asking to help out with half the medical expenses, not the vet visit itself, was very reasonable on my part. The positive result in this ordeal is that my kitten is now healthy and is a wonderful addition to our family.