Aloha Rescue

I had quite an unfortunate experience with this «organization.» I saw an adorable puppy I wanted to adopt on Petfinder and arranged a meet n’ greet with my current puppy to make sure that they got along.
The representative seemed really nice and knowledgeable about animal rescue on the phone. She was accommodating of my schedule, even when I was running late (traffic was pretty bad going from the city to the suburbs that Saturday with Drafttown and the warmer weather). When we got to meet her and the puppy, things went swimmingly! The pups got along and we felt a bond with the pup. We were ready to adopt him! We had seen many great dogs during the past year, but no one we «bonded» with.
So here’s where things got strange and a bit disorganized. First, when we met, the woman mentioned that she was on disability as was her husband. She said she was going to set up a vet appointment with her vet and schedule a home visit 2 days from the meet n’ greet. She was super fast and responsive when it came to setting everything up, then suddenly she wasn’t responding. I finally got word back from her 2 days after the initial promised contact time, only because I called her. She said that first her husband had a doctor’s appointment, then she had taken in a puppy with a tumor. Ok, sh*t happens and props to helping a sick animal. She then said she hadn’t processed my application and also wanted to take the puppy to the vet to ensure that I was getting a healthy puppy. Um… if he was born in your care and his siblings who were previously adopted were good to go, what’s going on here? Had he not seen the vet, but his siblings had? Maybe he just needed a booster? Ok. Let’s let that go.
Then comes yesterday evening, when she is supposed to be telling me about scheduling a home visit, the vet appointment, and processing my application. She emails me that when she took the puppy to the vet, the vet wanted to adopt the puppy from her, «My vet saw him today and thinks he wants to adopt him. I will know more tomorrow AM as he took him home overnight. I’m sorry, but he gives me so much money off my services and I can’t risk him getting mad at me.» WHAT?! The puppy was staying with him overnight and she said she would let me know this morning. It’s 3:15 PM and nothing.
I had began to look at Aloha’s website and Facebook. Admittedly, I should have done this sooner. I foolishly thought that because Aloha rescue was on Petfinder, they were legit. Well, now I don’t know what to believe. The website for Aloha Rescue is a .com, not a .org. Another potential red flag. I called the vet office that was associated with Aloha Rescue, Brookville Animal Hospital, and they confirmed they had done a lot of work with this rescue, but that it was one woman who ran the rescue out of her house, versus the cage-​less shelter/​foster program it makes itself to be.
While I understand that many rescues have growing pains, Aloha Rescue says they’ve been around since 2008. No one else fostering? Really? Since 2008? The adoption fee ($ 400) is also pretty expensive in comparison to other organizations in the area — PAWS, Wright Way, Anti-​Cruelty, etc.
Part of me wonders if this is simply 2 people on disability selling dogs under the guise of a rescue, part of me wonders if this was an isolated situation. Regardless, do your research before adopting. You don’t want a shady rescue to have any part of your business.