In Our Hands Rescue New York, New York

I cannot ethically or morally agree to the one star I have added above. I applied to Pixies & Paws ( formerly IOHR) for a Corgi Mix named Marshmallow. We were accepted, approved and interviewed. The interviewer informed me that she had another candidate to speak with, and we agreed to meet halfway in a dog park over The weekend so that we could meet Marshmallow. I was to hear back from her the next evening. At 5 pm the next day, I receive this text: Hi Arlene, I am so sorry but the family I spoke with last night after you has gone ahead and paid the adoption fees and so Marsh is no longer available. There are so many other pups waiting for their forever home, I hope you don’t lose hope and keep searching❤️ _________ I was floored. I didn’t know that it was all about who sent the funds in first rather than the best home for the doggie. As an experienced adopter , I should have done my due diligence. Now that I have read all of your reviews everything has fallen into place. I will be reporting them to the appropriate groups and hope they they will be shut down before they hurt anyone else with their scams.

They have a variety of merchandise but didn't have what I needed.

I fostered my pup Ozzy back in 2018. I had been an approved foster for years and my partner and I went to an adoption event of theirs in Greenpoint on a whim. Once there we saw Ozzy (his name was Lincoln back then), a little basset hound lab mix. We spoke with Emily who told us that he needed a foster, even if it was just for a few days. We agreed and wanted to do whatever we could to help this little shorty puppy. Within 2 hrs we decided that he was ours and called Emily telling her we wanted to adopt him. The only caveat being that we were going on a pre-planned vacation in a few days. We were only going to be away for a long weekend but we were flying to the midwest so we would not be able to take little Oz. Emily went above and beyond. Securing a trusted dog sitter for us from her network within hours and made the whole process seamless. She made sure that we would be able to keep our little Ozzy! He has been the light of our lives ever since and there hasn't been another vacation that he hasn't come with us on. He was in perfect health and, as a lifetime rescue owner, was the most well behaved, mellow, sweetheart of a baby boy puppy. We personally had a wonderful experience with this rescue.

We were not looking for a designer dog. This org rescues “regular” dogs from extermination in the south where kill shelters abound. Our hound mix is a good dog who needed a good home. We are very happy with the folks at In Our Hands Rescue. They do wonderful work!

My heart was broken, I had just lost my Schnauzer to cancer. Buddy rescued me. In Our Hands Rescue brought me together with Buddy. So grateful and blessed. 4+ years later, I will never forget.

This review is from an experience 5 years ago! I just googled this org to see if they were still around. My story is this -- Jennifer Lamb, the owner adopted out a dog to me with fraudulent vet paper work stating the dog was healthy! After taking the dog to the vet the follwing day, the dog tested positive for a host of major issues including hear worm. It's a shame places like this are still in the "business" rescue.

I had a wonderful experience fostering (and then adopting) from In Our Hands Rescue. This was my first time fostering and Jennifer answered all my concerns via text promptly. She was available every-step of the way and I could tell genuinely cared about the dogs well being. We ended up falling in love and wanting to adopt our foster dog. Jennifer was professional and checked my references, she also told me we did not have to pay any fee until the dogs GI troubles from stress cleared up which made me feel like they really value the health of their dogs! I even met with Jennifer at her day job one day to pick-up something she recommended to calm stomachs. I really am not sure why there are negative reviews. I do not know what people are expecting but these dogs are literally coming straight from rescue situations. Yes, our dog needed a bath and had a mild ear infection - but other than that our vet said she was in great health. She came with all of her shots and medical records and they are even spaying her for free! Jennifer runs this organization ON TOP of another job because saving dogs is her passion! This takes a lot of dedication and I think the work they are doing is really admirable. I really could not say enough good things about the experience I had. We love our new addition so much!

Terrible "rescue". I've had an awful experience with them and my friend had an even more traumatic experience with them. The dogs arrive sick or, in my friend's case, injured and we are told it's normal, the dogs are adjusting. They will do whatever it takes to not have these dogs properly taken care of just to save money. And I find it very suspicious how many doodles and designer breeds they receive that breeders and mills are simply giving up for free to them. Look into this rescue because even from the outside you can see that something is off. They delete any inquisitive comments on their instagram and are so offensively rude. Look at any real rescue and you can clearly see the difference. There are no rescue videos--why mostly stock photos? There is something very wrong with this organization.

Hi I know that this company has poor reviews, but I only have the best experience working with the two ladies that run in our hands rescue. I started by fostering two puppies and ended up adopting one of them. Both were extra healthy and rescued from a puppy mill. The rest of the litter to seems healthy. The adoption price is a little expensive but these people are doing good work. Have a couple friends with adopted dogs from here and everyone’s really happy with their pets.

I found my new best friend "Duke" a wonderful beagle with In Our Hands Rescue back in July 2018 and had a good experience. The adoption fee was $550 received a tax document for the donation and vet records via e-mail.

I had been following this organization for some time and thought they would be the place my family would get our next rescue pup. I filled out an application and was DENIED the following day with NO explanation as to why! I honestly believe it was racial discrimination as I had dealt with the organization on Instagram and they had my name. After reading these terrifying reviews, I realized that everything happens for a reason! I'm glad my family and I didn't do business with this slipshod organization.

This is Retail Rescue at its worst. Buying pups and reselling for $1500 as "rescues".

I volunteer for the Humane Society in the county I reside. I have never seen where a rescue charges charges such a high fee for the majority of the animals they adopt. In my experience I would think that $1500 would only be charged to defer medical cost for that particular animal. I haven't really seen this happen though. My local Humane Society just recently adopted a beagle that had over $1000 in medical bills. His fee was $175 to adopt. This place seems more about profit than actually finding homes for pets. This place should be investigated!

They need to close down

We had a great experience with In Our Hands Rescue! The application process was easy to follow and it was thoroughly outlined on the website. The Frequently Asked Questions section was also particularly helpful. After our application was approved, we were able to meet the dog that we were interested in, and Emily helped answer all of our questions related to the process. Afterwards, we received medical records and the adoption paperwork instantly. We are so happy that we were able to adopt our new little buddy! :)

I wrote someone a reference letter for an adoption at In Our Hands. They got accepted, and then were told that the cost could be up to $1500 and more. What a scam...and what a shame for these animals.

I "adopted" my girl a little over a year ago. I paid a $950.00 dollar "adoption fee", and received paper work stating my girl was healthy. Once she was home we noticed she did not use her left hind leg. I brought her to my Vet, Dr. Thomas …

Update to below: I was contacted by one of the owners who was apologetic about our experience and refunded us for the emergency vet costs we incurred. This was much appreciated. All the “1 star reviews” unfortunately couldn’t be more accurate. We adopted a very sweet dog about 1 week ago that had diarrhea and we were told was healthy. The puppy was in a foster home and the foster family made the rescue owners aware that there was an issue with diarrhea as well as they were also concerned. This went unaddressed. Long story short, our puppy was diagnosed with Giardia after an emergency vet clinic visit. Between this cost and the astronomical adoption fee of $1500, we feel as if we were completely taken advantage of. My husband and I have made several attempts to contact the rescue to make them aware that we adopted the dog sick, to inform them that other puppies may have the same intestinal bacteria and need treatment- but our attempts have gone unanswered. Would not recommend at all.

We fostered a wonderful dog who is now a member of our family. #fosterfail We found the organization informative and great.

No no no no no! Stay away from this place! I had a very bad experience and it's my own fault because I should have believed the reviews and not give them the benefit of the doubt like I did because that's the kinda person I am. Anyway I applied for a specific dog and I was approved right away which I thought was way too fast and too good to be true but I was happy nonetheless. They set up a virtual meeting with the foster parent and I got to talk to her and met the dog and I showed him to my kids and we were all excited. I contacted the rescue and asked them if they could wait for me to pay the fee and Emily said ok. When I got the money in my bank (had to make a transfer from my savings account) I emailed Emily again saying I was ready to pay the fee for the dog and she simply replied that he was already adopted. I contacted the foster and she told me that "yeah so and so was adopted yesterday, sorry!" And then when I told her that Emily had said she would wait and that I basically didn't understand why she would agree to something and then turn around and give the dog to someone else, the foster replied that she was actually the one that adopted the dog because she got attached to it... meanwhile the dog still showing up as "Adoptable" and I felt deceived basically. Like why make my family go through all of this, show me the dog, make my kids excited, tell me they'd wait for me to then just simply say that it was adopted by the foster? And they didn't even tell me that! It was the foster that told me that and apologized to me and then Emily replied that she was DEEPLY SORRY and this was OUT OF HER HANDS. Really?! Who runs this rescue? Who sets the rules here? Why lie to people like this? I feel there's something not quite right here and I decided not to adopt from this place because I didn't like what they did to me and especially my kids. Do not pay the fee unless YOU CONFIRM that they have the dog you want!!! Even then, you're still taking a risk because what if you pay and then they go and tell you that specific dog is not available anymore and to simply pick another one? Don't trust these people. You have been warned.

Terribly dishonest manipulative utterly despicable organization. The entire board should be imprisoned

This is NOT a true rescue. Rescues don't charge $1500 for a puppy.

Do not waste your time applying to adopt through this organization. Dogs will be "available" to adopt when you fill out an application and after the many weeks it takes to finalize the application on their end the dog will have been adopted. A gigantic waste of my time on top of terrible customer service and communication. I highly suggest going elsewhere before taking the time out of your day to pursue a dog that will not be available after they take their sweet time processing your application.

I applied for adoption for a beagle puppy , the dog was listed on the application with his picture. I received approval about a week later and thought we were getting the pup. It turns out it was a generic acceptance and the puppy was already adopted. I was told in the email that if the dog requested was no longer on the website then he was not available. I was disappointed but found another dog on the site that we were interested in meeting and I asked for a meeting. I was sent an email on Saturday night with instructions on the meeting which was to be on Sunday 6/28. I had a question do I sent an email and recanted answer but was told in that email that the dog I inquired on had a confirmed meeting for adoption. If I hadn’t asked i would have made trip for nothing. I responded to email asking if the dog was available but did not get a reply I don’t know if all rescues are like this but in reading the reviews I think this one is unique. We lost our dog recently after 14 years and was trying to give a rescue a home. This has been a heart Breaking Experience and makes you want to buy an animal instead of trying to do something nice.

Aside from all of the previous reviews about the obscene $1500 adoption fee—which they didn’t inform me of until I had already picked out and bonded with my dog—the organization is completely suspicious in every other way. The woman working the adoption event told me that they “rescue” the puppies from breeders after they are aged out and before they get auctioned off to other breeders, but in order to do this they have to pay the breeder a large sum of money to take the litter. Which is why the adopters are up-charged. Which is why they are directly keeping the breeders/mills in business. I didn’t find any of this out until after I had adopted my puppy. More shockingly, they’ve been withholding my puppy’s medical records and rabies shot certification. At the event they scanned her microchip and couldn’t find the hard copies of her medical records, so they said they would email them to me the following business day. Nothing for a week, and no response when I inquired. Finally, someone sent me medical records for a completely DIFFERENT dog—a different sex and different breed. When I corrected them, days later I got a blurry botched photograph of what I am presuming are my dog’s medical records and nothing else when I asked for a clearer scan. They also claim all dogs have had their rabies shots already but refused to send me the certification or the tag. I have emailed them countless times over the past 5 months asking about the medical records and the rabies cert, and I have never heard back since then. I commented on their Instagram and they deleted my comment. Now I am going to need to shell out more money to ensure that my puppy has had her rabies shot, and a probably more considering the rest of her vaccinations listed are cropped and unreadable on the “medical records” that they sent me. Do not trust this “rescue”—they are definitely a front for something else and are impossible to get a hold of or have an honest conversation with.

We got our puppy here and she is doing great. The whole process was easy.

Know what you're getting yourself into before you adopt a dog from these people. The $600+ adoption fee is ridiculous since I got nothing but a dog. I suspect the "free" neutering included in the fee is a crock since despite reaching out …

Yesterday went to adopt a rescue golden doodle. Only to find out the fees increased 3x for a designed dog versus a regular rescue. This is not a rescue. This was a front for a puppy mill. Shame on you In Our Hands Rescue. No valid rescue …

No legit rescue adopts any animals on a first come basis.

I highly recommend using a more professional adoption center rather than a low budget company who throws animals in crates all in one room. It was so unorganized and a mess. Adoption fee is way to much, you are better off buying a dog instead of rescuing them from here. The lady we spoke to was just plain rude and impatient. we were told that the dog we were adopting was going to be a small breed and it turns out she was going to be 45-55 pounds and that upset us very much because that is not what we went for. We took her to the vet and that's where it was confirmed that she was going to be much larger. They do not do refunds and we were told after we returned her, we could've kept her and brought her to a better agency. Your better off somewhere else. I could have spent donating to a shelter or other rescue group. If i had known.