Would like to hear opinions about what happened to me with a TNR program...

Hi everybody,

This is the situation I would like to hear input about.

Around three months ago, kittens were born from a feral mother in my basement window outside. I had just left a job at that time due to a really wretched and horrible work environment and was in the process of locating another job. Money was tight and I took the responsibility for the mother and these kittens and found out about a TNR program that would spay/neuter for $10 each if you qualified (believe me I did at that time). So, I scheduled to have all of the kittens done and they scheduled me a month out stating that it was because they were a litter and not a single trapped cat. No problem.

I called the day before I was to bring them in to ensure everything was on schedule and to confirm the cost since I was getting very low on funds at that time. The same person that quoted me the price and scheduled me to have the spay/neuters all of the sudden upped the price to the same amount as my local vet would charge and I would be driving many miles to take them there.

They receive donations to help people who were in my same predicament to spay/neuter and this is for a TNR program.

Needless to say, I asked for her manager and she said that she was the manager and there was no one higher than her. I have never reported this but, feel that it needs to be addressed because I wonder how many people she has done this to. At the same time, I would hate to jeopardize any type of program like this with bad publicity.

I have since paid full price for their shots, medical treatment and spay/neuters from my vet who was wonderful enough to help me any way they could to keep costs down. (Love my vet!)

Here is my question and I am thoroughly upset with them for how they would impede someone getting them spayed/neutered when they receive donations under the guise that they are to help people with low funds. (They never even got so far as to have me to provide the proof I was unable to afford them to be spayed/neutered at that time.) My question...

Should I report this? If so, to whom? Would it hurt other legitimate type programs?

Thanks for your input. I have been mulling this and have taken no action due to the conflict in my own head about this.

I'd be upset too.

What reason did she state for the increase in price?  Be as specific as possible.

Also, three months ago may have been in a different fiscal year for the TNR organization; their money/funding may have dried up in the interim.

I'd go online and see what they publically state their TNR program is, cost wise.  With some programs, you have to supply financial information or complete a form attesting to your financial need.

Is the TNR program you dealt with part of a larger program, i.e., ASPCA?

Thank you.

She actually never stated the reason she upped the price. She just quoted a much higher price and then when I addressed the advertised $10 per spay/neuter for TNR, she just kept quoting the other price. Not once did she state why and I was personally so caught off guard and upset that I was arguing the price and telling her my situation again and asked to speak to her manager. By that time, I was so frustrated with her that I told her to forget it and had to wait until I was back on my feet again to have them taken care of. I brought them into my home and separated them until I was able to take them to my vet to have everything done. I had to borrow money to have two of them treated with antibiotics first due to congestion and infection. Finally, I was able to get them spayed/neutered, shots, etc.

I never thought about it being the end of the year and funding but, she should have told me I would think. That would have been much more professional.

It was with <name removed>. I would have definitely qualified at that time.She never even asked me for paperwork even when she scheduled me for the $10 each spay/neuter.

I am upset but, you can see where there is gray in this. Ritz, you even brought up another issue that I did not even consider and that was the funding issue near the end of the year. See, this is why I am wondering if I should just get over it because maybe it has more to do with that. But, if this worker is doing this to other people, they may not ever be able to take a full litter to the vet and pay the costs. That is also my concern and that is why people donate to these programs.

Thanks again.
 

if you sincerely believe that the clinic is trying to deceive people into paying a larger fee then i suppose i would contact your states attorney generals office.

have you checked prices on the website for that clinic? i see that a $10 rate only applies for one specific zip code. maybe the second time they did not realize that you were in that zip code and were quoting the normal rates?

I am sorry about the confusion you endured by this organization and am also surprised that this person was so unwilling to be more gracious with you. I have never heard of a TNR being so low - $10.00. It is usually about $35.00 per cat. Not sure what you ended up paying but I do think you could contact the organization once more and see about talking to the person who runs the group? That you want an explanation of the costs involved and requirements involved for future reference. I would also mention how you were treated, that you are not angry, you just felt slighted because you quoted one price and then told another. You just want to get this straight in your own mind. Thank you for taking care of these poor kitties!!

Thank you.

The funny thing is that I was given their phone number by a worker for either <name removed> (I had called both about the kittens in the window) From the very beginning the girl at <name removed> knew I did not live in Cincinnati at all. She knew I would be driving a long way with them. If the specific zip code was in place at that time, why was I referred to them from the other organizations and I wonder why she would not have said that to begin with or even after. That was never mentioned to me at all by anyone whatsoever.

Due to seeing the information on their website, I am not going to even address this anymore. I appreciate you drawing this to my attention. The reason is that obviously something was amiss with what they were doing in regard to me but, they probably were not communicating the issue whatever it was. The kittens are fine and have been totally taken care of by my vet. I paid $60 for each of the three females for the spays and $34 for the male to be neutered. I paid over $100 for two of them to be treated for congestion, for all to be wormed and additional money for vaccinations, flea prevention and pain medication. It was a whole lot more than what I was quoted by <name removed> but, I was able to do it recently (finally).

I am just upset regarding how unprofessional this woman was at <name removed> and that no one ever even tried to explain what had changed between the time I made the initial call and set the appointments to the day before I was to drive them down there. I am just so glad I called the day before. Could you imagine how frustrated and upset I would have been to have fasted them, drove them down there and could not have even had them spayed/neutered and would have simply wasted gas money.

Oh well, what has been done is done and I now believe that they did not communicate properly to me or they had made a mistake and should have admitted it rather than be totally rude to me for that they had done.

Kitties are doing great and that is what counts. :-)

When I asked for the manager. She said she was the manager and there was no one higher up than her. She was just unbelievably rude and actually a bit mean. It really was their confusion or mistake and they could have communicated that to me. She didn't and there are people that have a problem admitting when they are wrong. I am just going to leave it at that. 

I have really considered addressing this so that it does not happen to anyone else but, it does sound like someone messed up and just did not want to admit it.

Thanks so much! :-)

I just now found another website with even more specifics about the counties and pricing.

They have different information on this page. Maybe it is confusing for them due to the differences by county. Maybe she thought I was in a different county. She just should have admitted she made a mistake in quoting prices. It was not the person from the other organization's fault for quoting me the $10 price, it should have been the girl at <name removed> that either quoted me the correct price or at least admitted she made a mistake rather than acting like I had a problem.

I am just going to let this go after seeing all of this online. I probably should have checked this out a couple of months ago rather than going on verbals. Maybe she should have directed me to their website rather than possibly letting me show up there with the kittens for a huge negative surprise. Things turned around financially and kittens are just doing awesomely great. So, what is done is done.

Have a great night everyone and thank you for directing me to the website.