“If I made a mistake,
      It wasn’t with Bubbles”
     
      EDITOR:
      I am writing this letter to bring to light my situation as the first foster parent of a dog named Bubbles, who was found this summer on Chicago Ave. in Youngstown and turned over to Animal Charity, 4142 Market St. in Boardman.
      Around early August I began fostering Bubbles and continued for almost two months, during which time it became my intention to adopt him.
      Lisa Hill, the executive director of Animal Charity, picked Bubbles up on Fri., Oct. 1 for a fundraiser and picked him up again on Sun., Oct. 3 to attend another fundraiser at the October Festival in Boardman.
      After the Oktoberfest, Lisa told me they (Animal Charity) wanted to keep Bubbles overnight to x-ray his lungs. She called the next day (Mon., Oct. 4, and told me that Bubbles’ x-ray showed that his lungs were cloudy so they needed to keep him. I asked if I could visit with him, all the while assuming that he was coming back to me.
      Lisa Hill said ‘yes’ and I saw Bubbles almost every day.
      Over two weeks later, Lisa called me on Mon., Oct. 17 and asked if I could come in at 6:00 p.m. for an update on Bubbles’ health. A friend went with me.
      When we arrived Lisa was in her office. Mary Louk (president of the board of Animal Charity) came in and closed the door.
      Lisa Houk asked if I knew why they “took Bubbles” from me. I said I didn’t realize he had been “taken from me” and assumed he was coming back to me. She said, “no” and proceeded to direct a set of accusations at me in an unfriendly and aggressive way.
      For about an hour and a half, Hill, Mary Louk, my friend and I discussed these accusations. I clearly stated that I wanted to continue to foster Bubbles and was planning on adopting him. They refused, saying that Bubbles was going to a new foster home the next day and if I wanted to adopt Bubbles, I could “fill out an application the same as any other person would.”
      I stated several times that I felt I deserved a direct answer to a direct question and they said that I was not permitted to adopt Bubbles. I walked out of their door, thinking to myself I would never come back.
      Ms. Louk repeated back to me each time that she couldn’t answer my questions about adoption directly, and her best advice was that I should “turn around and walk out the door.”
      I wasn’t permitted to see Bubbles that day. I was not permitted to know where Bubbles was going and I wasn’t permitted to adopt him. In other words, I was never to see Bubbles again. This is extremely harsh treatment and I intend to defend my position on each accusation.
      During my second week with Bubbles I received a phone call from a ‘generous local resident’ regarding Bubbles. He called to ask me how Bubbles was doing, and also, to tell me that he was paying for Bubbles’ heartworm treatments and that he and his girlfriend wanted very much to adopt him. He told me that he heard I was getting attached to Bubbles and wanted me to know that there would be “no hard feelings on his part if I decided to keep the dog, but he really wanted this dog.” I thanked him and told him that he and his girlfriend were welcome to visit Bubbles at my home.
      Later that same week, when Lisa Hill was leaving my house, I told her about my conversation with this ‘generous local resident.’ She became visibly upset and asked how he got my number. I told her I wasn’t sure but maybe someone at the store where he and I shopped had given it to him. She stated emphatically that the ‘resident’ was not to be on my property to see Bubbles, unless either she or Tommy Schneeman (a humane officer) was present. I was surprised at her reaction, but agreed.
      Lisa called a few days later and asked if they could pick Bubbles up to take him to visit this local benefactor and see what their home looked like. My concern was that with the 17 other dogs that live with him and his girlfriend, Bubbles wouldn’t get enough attention.
      Lisa reported the place was “stellar” and that I and the other people should stop worrying about this issue. This took place before I had decided that I wanted to adopt Bubbles.
      As the weeks passed I stayed in touch with Lisa and kept her appraised of everything Bubbles and I had been doing. I started to make Bubbles’ food (a sweet potato, pumpkin puree and vegetable casserole with raw organic organ meats) and he was thriving and gaining weight. His coat was shining, he stopped shedding and he was getting stronger and healthier every day. I told her where I took him and what we did around the house. During this time, Lisa and Tommy stopped to pick him up for the occasional fundraiser and I brought him to the [Animal Charity]shelter for visits. One Sunday when he stepped on a bee I called Lisa and she came over to make sure he was okay. I made it clear that I am comfortable with cat and horse care since I’ve had cats and do have a horse, but this was my first dog. Comments kept coming back in person and on Facebook that Bubbles was looking good and thriving. Everything Bubbles and I did was in the public domain and I received nothing but positive feedback.
      Bubbles used to like to ride in the hatchback of my Mini Cooper so I offered to drive Lisa Hill to Akron for Bubbles’ vet exam. He had finished his prednisone three weeks prior to this exam and his doxy two weeks prior to this exam. The vet was extremely pleased with him and said that all of his symptoms had abated and he was ready to begin his heartworm shots. I do not have a copy of this report. I assumed he would start his shots the next week, but Mary made the appointment four weeks out (Oct. 17). So now it was going to be six weeks from the end of his heartworm protocol before he started his shots.
      In the meantime and with Animal Charity’s (AC) permission I had taken Bubbles to see my vet. In addition, I contacted a well respected local dog trainer and made an appointment for a private lesson. She asked if Bubbles could go into service and I told her that he belonged to AC.
      The trainer texted Mary [Louk], who said “foster [parent]” has first pick and Lisa has second pick and a “generous local benefactor” has third pick. I saw the texts.
      The trainer thought it would be a good idea to put Bubbles in basic obedience school and I did too. I made certain Mary knew he had to start his heartworm shots on Oct. 17, and asked if she would speak to my vet to make sure this would be okay. In addition, I called my vet’s office and reiterated my concern regarding Bubbles heartworm. He returned my call and told me that school was fine until Bubbles started his shots. He stated that he sees lots of heartworm cases and many were much worse than Bubbles. He listed four or five of the symptoms which Bubbles did not have and said that the medicines for heartworm have changed in the last two years and added that dogs were not generally getting as sick.
      In the meantime, Lisa came to drop off two t-shirts that my friends had bought. I asked if she could visit with Bubbles since he liked her so much. She did and it was during that visit I told her we were starting school on Tuesday. Lisa told me Mary (the executive director of the board) was adamant that Bubbles not start school. So I called the trainer and told her that we could not attend and explained why. The trainer said Lisa must not have remembered correctly because she had already spoken with Mary about Bubbles attending school and Mary was “fine with it.” I asked if she was certain and when she said yes I said, “I’ll be there.”
      School was on Tues. Sept. 20, and Lisa (the Animal Charity executive director) said that she and Tommy (the humane agent) wanted to borrow Bubbles on Friday and Sunday of the same week for fundraisers (Displaying the dog to the public). So on Friday she and Tommy picked Bubbles up and on Saturday I took him to Pet Supplies Plus for a Paw Platoon fundraiser. Paul and Jen Poulus are the founders of the Paw Platoon. They were both there and Tommy Schneeman stopped. I brought Bubbles and we had a great time.
      The next day (Sunday) Lisa and Tommy came to get Bubbles for the Octoberfestival in Boardman. They told me they wanted to keep him overnight for an x-ray. On Monday Lisa called to tell me that Bubbles’ lungs were cloudy and they wanted to keep him at the shelter. I asked if she wanted the food that I had been making for him. She said yes and picked it up.
      I was visiting Bubbles most days at the shelter. Then on Mon., Oct. 17, Lisa called at around 3:00 p.m. and asked if I could come to the shelter so she could update me on Bubbles’ health. I agreed. My friend and I arrived to find Lisa at her desk. Lisa to wait and shortly after Mary Louk came into the room. She shut the door and launched into an accusation about how I had hurt Bubbles.
      The first accusation came as the obedience school issue. After insisting several times that I had not knowingly gone against their wishes and demanding that she call this trainer on the phone, Mary (the president of the AC board) stated that she had already spoken with the trainer and she had admitted to making a mistake and apologized to her. Mary agreed to take that charge off the table.
      The second accusation came as a result of the Sat., Oct. 1 Paw Platoon fundraiser at the Boardman Plaza. Mary accused me of letting Bubbles out of my car and letting him run half-way across the parking lot without a leash. I denied that charge and told Mary what I did was back my car right up to the store’s door and when I opened the hatchback Bubbles jumped-out before I had the leash clipped on him. That was true.
      Then Mary vehemently told me that Jen Poulos told her that she ‘saw’ me let Bubbles run half way across the parking lot without a leash. I stated ‘that’ was not true and reiterated what I did.
      It seems a simple thing to say to me, “Look, we heard this dog was off leash in public. Don’t ever do that again.” I sincerely believed that Bubbles would never run off because he always stuck so close to me. It was the trainer who explained why that was not good thinking concerning dogs. You try to educate the rest of the world, why not me? I will freely admit anything I did wrong but I am not willing to accept random accusations.
      Returning to the local benefactor, I had been uneasy with the fact that Bubbles was being kept in a crate or in Lisa’s office and appeared not to be thriving. I called the benefactor on Wed., Oct. 12 and asked if he knew that Lisa and Mary were keeping Bubbles at the shelter? He sounded surprised and said he thought Bubbles was still with me. I told him what Lisa had said regarding Bubbles’ lungs and that I couldn’t understand why Bubbles wasn’t back with me. His response was that Lisa and Tommy called and asked if they could see Bubbles before the dog started his heartworm treatments on Mon., Oct. 17. He said yes to Lisa and told me he planned on asking why Bubbles was not with me.
      The benefactor also stated that Lisa told him that he could have Bubbles sometime late December, or early January.
      I asked if he knew of any reason why AC would have taken Bubbles from me and he told me that they had asked for a donation, and he agreed to give them $1,000/month for 12 months, so that Tommy (the humane agent) could have a full-time job as humane officer, along with paying for Bubbles heartworm expenses. He apologized and said he hadn’t meant to hurt me or anyone in any way. He offered to call when Lisa and Tommy and tell me what they said regarding all of this.
      The benefactor called around 8:00 p.m. and said that Lisa told him I was taking Bubbles out in public too much and Bubbles might be around too many people and maybe some dogs. My question in response to that statement is to ask why no one came to me and said, “You need to keep Bubbles at home more.” That would have been a very simple solution. Apparently when they took Bubbles out in public it was different than when I did the same thing.
      If I made a mistake, it wasn’t with Bubbles. It was trusting Lisa Hill and Tommy Schneeman to be honorable with their word.
      Thank you for your time and consideration on this matter.
     
      Sincerely,
      Angelina Tiberio
      Southern Blvd.
      Boardman, Ohio