Bring the Boys Back Home
This entry was posted on Thursday, April 19, 2007 6:53 PM and is filed under Utter Disbelief,rants.
Joanne Williams had a change of heart.
After going through a miscarriage at 5 months and the subsequent break up with the baby's father, Williams slid into a depression and felt the best thing for her golden retrievers, Jake and Dugan, was to bring them to a shelter to find a new home. These are dogs she raised from puppies. They're 8 and 9 years old, respectively.
The shelter,
Arizona Golden Retriever Connection, took in the dogs and found them a foster home. A few days later, Williams called to let them know she couldn't bear to be without her pups and wanted them to come back home. After initially agreeing, the shelter's director, Candy Ziemer, reneged and refused to return Williams' phone calls. She also won't talk to reporters. The dogs' foster mother, Sheila Anderson, also refuses to talk to Williams or the press about this issue.
Now, this is a long-standing shelter and rescue group here in the Phoenix area, not some fly-by-night operation. You'd think they'd have a really good reason for keeping the dogs and treating Williams like an unworthy parent. If they do have a reason, good or otherwise, they won't reveal it, and representatives from shelters and rescue groups around the region are scratching their heads about this one.
They have no idea why Ziemer would be acting like this. Many have cited similar circumstances where the original parents got their pets back without a hassle.
Several rescue groups in the area, except the one that matters most, can see the importance of returning Jake and Dugan to Joanne. Why Arizona Golden Retriever Connection feels they have the right to interfere in these three lives is beyond me.
The group's own mission statement claims they are "Dedicated to placing our rescued golden retrievers in safe, loving, and permanent homes."
Well, Candy Ziemer and Sheila Anderson, what are you waiting for? Fulfill your organization's mission and place Jake and Dugan back in their safe, loving, and permanent home with the woman who raised them. 
