Social Tees Animal Rescue

The owner, Robert, is just a mean man. He was very rude to me and my friend when we were visiting often considering adopting. A lot of their staff are lovely, though. The company does seem to be corrupt: peddling their animals for a quick adoption fee without home visits or a thorough application. I would go w NY bully crew for dogs or ASPCA and adopt a cat that’s actually in danger of being put down. Robert is just a schemer.

If it were possible to give minus stars i would! Its because of adoption centres such as this that people buy their animals. the lady i dealt with was just wretched and offensive. If your looking to adopt i suggest using a more friendly center such as the north shore animal league or the aspca

Would definitely not recommend this place. Terrible customer service. Lack of information and a complete waste of time!
After email communication on Tuesday with Samantha, she told me we could come and see Smokey (cat we were interested in) during their business hours and asked me to fill in the adoption application. I did this and emailed it back. I did not here back after emailing twice, letting her know when we would be coming
My wife came by at around 6pm Friday 14 August, to be told by a very rude lady that Smokey wasn’t available.
We were very disappointed that Social Tees didn’t take the time to respond to my emails. I understand that animals get adopted quickly and knew there was a risk waiting a couple of days to come and see Smokey; but I don’t appreciate not being told that he was no longer available when we had been in email communication.

Social Tee’s has come really far as a rescue organization in the last few years. They used to be very money oriented and not too interested in the dogs however I’ve gotten the impression recently that this has changed. I hope they continue in this direction.

Take the money and run seems to be their attitude. They said I was adopting a healthy Chinese hairless mix who had NOT been abused, loved people, dogs & cats. What I got was a malnourished (therefore hairless), abused and neglected Schnauzer mix. I previously had a pure-​breed Parsons Jack Russell — happy go lucky, fun and super energy dog.
This has been a heart breaking, tear filled and depressing experience. Not fair to my family & friends who cannot come near the dog. There were many signs that a shelter would recognize, but not a trusting new-​to-​dog-​adoption person like myself.
Social Tees will tell you anything to get you to adopt. The first year the dog was frozen like a statue for hours and hours on end, just hunched over & looking down, afraid of all people & animals NO eye contact, no playing, almost no reaction but fear & aggression to everything. Any shelter staff person would know what this means.
My vet noticed she has a long ago healed cut scar across her back, a partially cut off toe and a permanently broken foot.
Several trainers, dog walkers, policemen, staff at other shelters ALL agreed she exhibits the shut down and fearful behavior of a severely abused dog.
She is terrified of basement steps, gratings, fences, esp chain link, manhole covers, dark door ways, etc. She freezes up and needs to be carried. Also afraid of laughter, loud talking, clapping and a random assortment of common household objects.
Two years later using her original name, Gem, still causes her to cower in a tight ball as if awaiting a beating.
The staff at Social Tees stopped returning my calls or emails once I started asking about her permanent injuries and classic abused dog behavior. They never referred me to a trainer, never gave me advice on how to rehabilitate an abused dog, etc. I was on my own.
The only «advice» they gave was that it would take a month (ha!!!) for her to behave normally, to play, etc. It’s been 2 years and we are still stuggling .
It’s one thing to decide to take on the challenges of an abused dog, its another thing if you are not prepared for it emotionally or financially and neither is your family. AND if you have the help & support of the shelter through this.
Ultimately, not fair to myself, nor any of my family members who are unable to get near the dog. Nor can any of them assist in caring for the dog. I plan to buy from a breeder in the future.

After a trip to the vet within 48 hours of adopting our sweet dog, we found out that she had a yeast infection in her ears and pink eye. This was AFTER Social Tees told us she had a clean bill of health.
After the diagnosis, I immediately took to Unilocal to read reviews, only to find that we are not the only ones who they lied to. Dimitra and Sam were actually very nice and accommodating, contrary to some of these reviews. They agreed to reimburse us for a portion of our vet bill.
However, my blood is now BOILING as we just got a call from our vet that our sweet dog has WORMS, including one type that is extremely contagious and transferrable to HUMANS. Social Tees insisted that their «vet» checked out our dog before we adopted her. What, are they using a witch doctor?! This is completely unacceptable.
It’s so sad that such a seemingly worthy organization has such issues with business ethics.
I wouldn’t say DON’T adopt from here only because our dog is the best one on earth, but please do your homework before you adopt from this organization. They are dishonest, but the animals who need homes shouldn’t suffer as a result.

My wife and I adopted our dog from Social Tees 1-​year ago this month and she has brought so much love and joy to our family! The pup was just 12-​weeks old when we got her, rescued by ST from a kill shelter in Tennessee, and has been nothing but awesome. We of course took her to the vet just a few days after the adoption and everything checked out great and in line with what ST had told us.
About 6 months after we adopted I emailed ST to volunteer my photography services as I wanted to help get as many of these rescued dogs adopted. Samantha emailed me back and has been nothing but an absolute pleasure to work with. I have been to the adoption events at the PETCO in Union Square mostly but also up on 86^th street… the ST volunteers who run these events care deeply about the animals and only want them to find the best homes possible.
This is a wonderful organization that really cares about rescuing these animals and giving them a better life.
If you’re looking to adopt, this is a great place to do it from. They believe in finding fosters for their dogs so they spend minimal time in a cage. The team moves quickly to find great homes for each dog and every time that happens it opens them up to help rescue other dogs from bad situations.

I adopted a beautiful puppy from this agency. I paid exactly $ 350.00 as an adoption fee (which I can’t believe they refer to this as a «small adoption fee»).The puppy was about a month and a half old. So cute. I took him home. He had worms. I had to go through a d-​worming process for him and get him his set of puppy shots (which were all not free). He grew really fast and was very mal tempered. Ate a bag of rice, chewed up all my slippers, boots, basically everything in our home including my plants and the dirt in the plant pots. He even use to open up my fridge. I have no idea how he managed to do those things. He was so young!!! He ate like a giant. Lol. But I thought it was cute of him. I tried my best with him. But I had many restless nights because of him. I had great struggle with this dog and began to arrange to return him to social tees. Their relations with customers were so unpleasant. One of the ladies meant to forward my email to the director of the adoption agency and she (dimitria) ended up copying me on the email and referred to me as a «lunatic». Anyway… I eventually returned the dog to the east village somewhere, with the help of another /​different worker who happened to be very sweet (I initially bought him from the petco on East 86^th and lexington, as Socialtees was stationed in petco during this time). I gave them all of my paper work from the dogs shots and of course wasn’t offered at least half of my hundreds of dollars back. I wouldn’t recommend this agency to anyone. Sorry.

I am a 12 time Foster Parent for Social Tees! A lot of which I lovingly handed over to their forever homes. I get regular updates from some of their parents :)
When I met the staff and volunteers at Social Tees, they were VERY hard working and VERY attentive to their animals. They welcomed me and was extremely appreciative of any help I wanted to offer. I started volunteering at the weekend adoption events, Mayor’s alliance events and anything I could contribute some time to. I started fostering when Samantha and Robert endearingly asked me to foster Leo who had behavioral issues they were taking the time to work through. I researched as much as I could about fostering and Samantha provided any and all answers whenever I needed them. From there on, my AMAZING fostering experience with Social Tees began. They are ALWAYS responsive to any requests or questions I have. They offer any and all help I need in my fostering process and are very quick and understanding if anything comes up.
I can’t say enough good things about this team of animal advocates. I have never met a more dedicated, motivated group of animal lovers who will do anything they can for these rescue babies. I have seen first hand how the adoption process works and as a foster parent to these dogs (all of which I carefully adjusted in to my home and introduced carefully to my lifestyle) I make sure I am comfortable passing on these special animals who become a part of me. I give specific instructions on the importance of research and patience as adopting a rescue will be the most special and rewarding experience you will have and should be taken seriously. Social Tees does an excellent job of handling the hectic world of animal rescue. They are adamant on finding the perfect home for these animals and will make sure they have a perfect foster home until they do so. They simply do an amazing job maintaining their network and saving the lives of animals every day! I am proud to be in partnership with them in any way I can!

Social Tee’s changed my life! From fostering dogs to finally adopting my forever friend it has been the most wonderful experience.
Every dog from there is special. They teach you how to care for a dog from step one and to look and listen for a dog’s needs from the get go. Some of these dogs need some TLC and they teach you about be coming «their human» and about saving a life.
The fostering process was so rewarding and I met four amazing dogs. They all went to wonderful forever homes and I get to see them on Instagram.
My last foster I ended up keeping and I have watched her blossom from a shy scared girl into a sassy sweet loving snuggle bug! People stop me on the street to tell me how cute she is. Here’s the thing, I didn’t pick her. We found each other and we are both so lucky to have Social Tees in our lives!
Social Tees still helps me with questions and I volunteer and visit and I am now part of their family. And I am honored. It’s a special place. They work so hard and care so much.
They are protective and sweet and overworked and loving. If you get a dog from Social Tees you are very lucky to be welcomed in to this family of special people and even more wonderful dogs and cats. I have never met a bunch of more loyal and grateful owners.
I don’t know how I will ever truly express my gratitude to Samantha and Robert and Dimitra. They have very special hearts, they don’t do this for money and would literally give up their left arm to save an extra dog. They save lives everyday and their reward is seeing dogs in happy homes.
Please go see them, foster a dog or cat, adopt or donate. It might just change your life too.

Thank you SOCIAL TEES! U DO GOOD WORK!
The pet I adopted from Social Tees has been an incredibly wonderful experience.
The staff at Social Tees was:
Professional, kind, knowledgeable, followed up w/​2 phone calls to see if Zoey was
healthy and happy. And still occasionally touches base to see how we are doing.
I also so think it is important to support smaller organizations.
I had read the reviews of Social Tees on this site and was a bit leary because of
few negative experiences. I knew adoption might have challenges — but my experience was great. I say make your own decision — and make it based on the pet not a review.
I had two dogs that I had for 14 years… and they died within 3 months of each other. I was heartbroken and shocked at how long it took to recover.
I was finally ready to get a dog. I knew of the weekly events at PETco. and had seen a dog that seemed perfect for me that would be up for adoption through Social Tees
@Petco. Sadly I didn’t get my application in early enough.
I was frustrated and spoke w/​the Social Representative Dimitras who was genuinely sympathetic. She said, «- I know– it is super disappointing. But keep coming back — and consider fostering if you are concerned as to whether the dog is right for you.»
So foster I did. I was originally going to foster a larger dog — but Dimitras asked
me about the size of my apartment and a few lifestyle choices and suggested
I take a smaller dog that needed less exercise. She also said «absolutely no
pressure» if I needed to return the dog if there were problems.
I took home a funny little Schnauzer mix — and I just love her. She was very shy at first but soon became confident and happy. Dimitras was correct — she was perfect for my lifestyle and work schedule.

I fostered through them. When I told them I wanted to adopt my foster dog (& promised to messenger a check for her adoption fee within hours), for whom an adopter had been approved, their adoption coordinator Samantha sent me harassing text messages threatening to have the police escort their volunteer to pick her up. When I called Robert Shapiro, who runs the rescue, he told me that my wanting to adopt her made him want to «go over there & KILL YOU.» The story ends with me at the police department filing a criminal complaint for aggravated harassment. Because much to his surprise threatening to murder someone is against the law.

I recently adopted a dog from Social Tees and found the whole process disappointing. I hate to be writing negative reviews about a no-​kill animal rescue shelter, but the way the organization manages their adoptions leaves much to be desired, and I want others to avoid the same headache.
Others have mentioned this, but the adoption process is very rushed. I feel like they call your references to confirm that you exist, rather than to assess your suitability as a dog owner, and then hurry things along so that they can receive cash to fund their operations. We submitted our application over the weekend for a poodle mix, and were approved two days later. Their email said the next step was to meet the dog, but when we tried to coordinate a meeting, Samantha then said someone else was already meeting him and would have priority over us. I don’t know why you would send an email out saying that you’re approved to adopt the dog you applied for, and then quickly say that he might be accounted for already.
Luckily (or unluckily), we were able to adopt the dog we wanted. We paid the $ 450 fee, and Samantha provided us with his medical records and gave us instructions on how to care for him post his neutering surgery. She didn’t say anything else about the dog, i.e., that as a rescue he might be a little jumpy and that we shouldn’t really touch him and that we shouldn’t really have guests over for the first few weeks so that he could adjust. When we went to the foster home to pick him up, there were some hints dropped about how he could be snappy, and that he had leash issues, but nothing more than that.
Long story short, we ended up adopting a dog with a lot of aggression issues. His behaviors were pretty obvious to many people who have met him, so I’m surprised that this wasn’t addressed by Social Tees, and I don’t believe them when they said they didn’t realize he had these aggressive tendencies. He also bit me pretty hard when I tried to wipe his face, as well as three other people, but when I mentioned this to Samantha, she almost put the blame on me, saying that she had instructed us to not handle him on his face, and I vividly remember that she never said anything like that. She had only given us instruction on what to do after his surgery.
We drew the line at biting 4 people and returned the dog. Again, the return process was a bit strange. They didn’t say anything about how it was too bad he bit people or that it was unfortunate we had a bad experience. There was also no communication about next steps for getting a replacement dog, although at this point I wouldn’t want another one from here. I signed some papers and it was over. The advertisement for the dog is back up, and while I want him to find a good home, it will take a special person who is willing to invest the time to really address his aggressive behaviors and train him. I really hope Social Tees will screen for this, but know that you can’t count on them to do that. I hope Social Tees does the right thing and fully discloses everything so that the next owner will be the right match.
In hindsight, I guess I should have known that rescue dogs could be a risk, but it’s also Social Tees’ job to inform every potential adopter of this, since their audience is a very broad one that includes both inexperienced and experienced owners. I’m pretty sure most adopters are not Cesar Milan veterans who can handle anything so it would benefit the organization to disclose these risks as well as dog specific ones for each adoption process.

This place gives foster organizations a terrible name. Long story short: Social Tees owes me hundreds of dollars in vet bills for a foster dog, and I have been ignored for more than a year. STAY AWAY!
We signed up to foster because we love animals and want to help. When we heard about Stella, a «Weimaraner mix» in need of an emergency foster, we were glad to pitch in. We met her past fosters and took Stella in. We received no information about the organization’s affiliated vets, reimbursement policies, or Stella’s medical history — and by the way, she turned out to be a Doberman.
She was a sweet dog but clearly very sick. After trying unsuccessfully many times to contact Dimitra by phone and email, we decided that copious bloody diarrhea was enough reason to bring her to our own vet, and we’d sort out reimbursement later. Stella bounced back and became a happy healthy dog, but when we sent receipts in, we were told they only reimburse at certain vets (first we heard of it) and they would get back to us.
Of course, they never did. Multiple emails to Dimitra. Emailed every person on staff listed on their site. Nothing.
It’s been more than a year now and I would really like my $ 300+ back. I’m glad Stella got a forever home, but steer clear of Social Tees.
Update: After multiple emails to the company, I gave up ever seeing my money again. I’m glad Stella got a good home, but I wish Social Tees treated its fosters better.

Robert Shapiro and his volunteers have been helping abandoned animals find homes since the 1990s. Abandoned cats, dogs & reptiles.
Fosters always needed — take care of them until they find their furever homes. Please go in person & speak to Robert.

I did not realize how crazy and overwhelming it was to adopt a pet (my mum’s boss had helped us get Bobo bear.) After Bobo passed, I dealt with many organizations and rescues including Kitty Kind, ASPCA, and Bideawee and went through such a headache with all the ridiculous pre-​reqs that all of them required. Home visits, lists of personal references, YEARLY records of all previous pet’s vet visits just to name a few. I mean I understand why they have to, but it was just a tad excessive — i couldn’t find records for one of the years and the lady was goin’ nuts. Don’t these pets need homes? Several of the adoption agents that I encountered were rather ridiculous too and would say things like ‘you don’t look responsible’, ‘you’re too young ‘, ‘are you sure you can handle it?’, ugh. I got so fed up and stopped looking for a few months until I stumbled upon Social Tees.
I walked in and fell in love with the cutest black and grey kitty named Kush Kush (what nonsense is that?!) I was pretty much mentally prepared to go through the same crap that I had been dealing with up until now but was pleasantly surprised — the process at Social Tees was so quick and easy. The owner, Robert, was super nice and helpful. Turns out we used to play handball at the same park too. He made me fill out an application, asked me a few basic questions and gave me a brief history of Kush Kush’s background (owner was arrested so kitty was taken) and personality traits. Half an hour later and $ 150 poorer, I walked out the door with Kushie (hahaha) in tow. I ended up naming him Bandit!
It’s been 5 months since I adopted Bandit and I can’t imagine being without him. My roommate ended up getting a puppy from Social Tees as well — her experience was as painless as mine. The babies get along so well, too. Thanks Social Tees !!

Place seems overwhelmed but with good intentions. I’ve come by before to donate old blankets, towels, and dog food (which they happily accept). You can also foster dogs if you’re not ready to adopt and want to do something good.

I wanted to foster a dog, and Social Tees replied all too quickly. I initially received an email mentioning dogs that fit my preference (small, on the young side), but eventually got talked into taking a 70 lb lab. When I went to pick up the dog, there was urine and feces on the floor of the dog’s area, and the President (Robert) left a very odd impression to say the least.
After speaking to Robert about Powder (the lab’s) behavior, I decided to take her. She was good with cats (so he said) and great with people and dogs. He also informed me that she was not quite housebroken and that the only physical injuries she had were a limp and her slightly overweight physique.
Over the course of one week, I came to find out that the dog was perfectly trained (housebroken), growled at cats, growled at many dogs and people, and had more severe injuries than stated. When I called Robert, he was VERY slow to respond to my questions (I had to call several times and leave quite a few messages). The last straw was when the dog began to develop open sores on her feet (Robert did not appear to take this very seriously although Powder was obviously in pain).
Eventually I heard from Dimitra, who was also challenging. She authorized the dog’s vet visit and I arranged to drop off the dog at a specific time. She assured me that everything would be taken care of and that because they had misled me about the dog’s disposition and injuries, they would get another foster for her. I came to find out today (the day I’m writing this review) that Dimitra told the vet a totally different story (that she did not authorize treatment for Powder), perhaps to get free vet care.
This organization is an abomination to non-​profit animal rescue organizations. The dogs and cats here would be better off dead than suffering to this degree. Perhaps it’s the managerial tact and skill that is lacking, but I strongly discourage ANY dealings with them whether it be fostering or adoption.

Update: I want to be fair and document that there has been some follow up from Social Tees. Robert contacted me sometime after I posted this review. I never got the paperwork but he did offer to reimburse me for any veterinary fees for Sophie. When I took her to the vet she did not have a microchip (as I was told she did) and she was re-​vaccinated since my vet had no way of telling if she had ever been. I sent the bill November 2013 and received a reimbursement check this week (January 2014). I’m glad that I was reimbursed for her expenses but I can’t fairly raise their rating, as the experience in and of itself was still a one-​star experience.
SECOND UPDATE: We just found out from the vet that Sophie is a boy. At this point it is clear that Social Tees did not get anything correct.

Weekend hours posted outside — 12:00 PM. I arrived a little after.
There was a women inside cleaning and feeding so I knocked on the door.
She screamed at me and said WE ARE CLOSED — I am a volunteer she barked.
FINE.
I blew it off and came back at 12:30.
She said they were closed and then she ducked her head and continued to clean.
I tapped on the door and she SCREAMED at me again WE ARE NOT OPEN.
OK, I get it, but lady, what time are you open? It was ½ hour over the posted time.
I really needed to buy an animal carrier and it was an emergency!
This is an animal rescue place don’t you think they would want a potential customer to return? AND be a lil bit more welcoming? This crank just wanted to be left alone with her poop. I guess I must love animals more ’cause I would have been as sweet as pie.