In Their Own Words: A Couple Unmasks The Truth Behind Mayte's Rescue
We are committed to giving a voice to all those who wish to share with our readers truthful experiences. Here is one such story told, in their own words:
What happens when you confront Mayte Garcia?
Like me, you're bullied, told you are never allowed to have any affiliation with her or the rescue ever again! You're promised reimbursement for transportation they were supposed to provide as a convenience, only when physical proof you have handed the dog over to a complete stranger. You are spoken to, by her and her staff, rudely and so condescendingly, you feel like a child, yet your only problem is that a dog, you were not expected to be taking home, began destroying you space and property. However, when you speak to staff about that issue, you are, in turn, told by her highly trained staff, to smack the dog very hard on the nose, since that is one of the most sensitive parts in their body, and that will get your point across!
Mayte does not make any attempt to communicate with you directly, only thru Josh or Drue. They are her minion messengers. When you have to drive 4 hours to pick up a foster, because unlike Mayte states, they do not provide transportation if they don't feel like it; only when and if convenient for them. Yet, when get there, and Mayte herself is not there to greet you, of course, because she is too busy at home giving orders via cell phone to Josh, and find that you only have 3 dogs available to choose from because 4 of them are set to go to the adoption event and 4 to 5 others were supposedly taken to the vet. This leaves you with a dog that is food aggressive, one with mange, or one that Josh has had for several months.
When asked about others dogs, one in particular we had asked about before--- that had actually ended up being adopted then being returned within the same week because the adopters went out of the country, Josh had to call boss lady Mayte to ask permission about us taking that dog. I don't know what she actually said to him, but we were told some lame reason why we only had those 3 to choose from. After our 4 hour drive to retrieve a foster, because as Mayte did not provide the transportation she promised, we were rushed out of the haven house in under 30 minutes!!
When things went sour with the dog, that we had no choice in taking because after driving 4 hours, we were not going to leave without a dog, especially since we were set and ready to foster. We contacted Josh verbally via cellphone to explain issues going on with the dog. The dog had been chewing and destroying personal items in our home, chewing electrical cords, and digging almost 4 feet under our fence trying to get out. Josh seemed surprised stating that she had never done anything like that before and found it hard to believe! Yes, it is hard to believe that an 8 year old, well trained dog would destroy anything!? We were told he would talk to Mayte and get back to us. This is where her true colors came out like I stated in the beginning.
We were belittled and told we were banned forever to ever have anything to do with her, the dogs, and the rescue because we only had the "destructive" dog for a week!! Mind you, when you get a dog from her rescue, you do not sign any paperwork of any kind, no time frame on how long you are asked or expected to foster are discussed, no forms for reimbursement are given to you for money spent on the foster which, by law, if you are a legitimate registered animal rescue, that form is legally required to give to each person fostering. None of the "legal" protocol is done at all. The dog we had didn't even have a licence or rabies tags on her collar, and we were not given her shot record, which made us nervous since we had three of our own dogs at home.
To summarize my horrible foster experience, Mayte will not reimburse you for any money spent for one of her dogs, they used the dog as ransom, stating until with physical proof of handing the dog over to a complete stranger, you in turn will get reimbursed, but only for an amount Mayte wants to give you. In our case, $70, not the $110 we had to spend on gas to get the dog (when she advertises that she provides transportation), then to drive 4 hours to return the dog back, because they were all unable and unwilling to come get "their" dog.
Oh, by the way, after a week of my husbands repeating attempts at trying to contact Josh about our reimbursement thru PayPal, we were never contacted back, and we never received reimbursement! So buyer beware. Do not do any business with Maytes’ Rescue. She will blow sunshine up your behind and act sweet in front of you, but when something doesn't go her way, watch out!! You will be spoken down to and banished and then they will retaliate against you and throw your name and other personal information all over social media, which by the way, falls under harassment!
Despite the unpleasantness of our experience with Mayte’s Rescue, nothing was ever said by me because I didn't want to blast it all over social media. Since Mayte’s Rescue Vice President, Dave Buchansky, opened his mouth and spread inciteful posts that harass me and provide my contact information, I feel I am owed to speak about the truth now. Anyone who wants to know the truth can check across FB and IG. They won't find anything negative we have said about them following our experience!
At thefunksoldiers.tumblr.com, we want to remind Dave that his stated position is Vice President of Mayte’s Rescue, it is on her filing paperwork. This means he is an officer of the organization and subject to the laws with regard to the CA Whistle Blower Act as it pertains to employees (Drue) and Volunteers (any person who fosters for the rescue). Since Mayte’s Rescue is not a CA registered charity, she has no policies regarding whistle blower protection, therefore, the state law applies. His online behavior in exposing this former foster’s personal information is intimidation and violates the statute. He effectively broke the law...but keep talking. All he's doing is making it so her organization does not get its CA DOJ registration approved. Remember, they are watching you and all the other officers of Mayte’s Rescue, Dave. If Mayte does not get her registration, she cannot raise money in CA, then what will you all do with the rescue?
For those who need to see the law that was broken: http://www.publiccounsel.org/tools/publications/files/wb_policy.pdf.
Broken Ethics for 501(c)3 organizations: http://www.socialworker.com/nonprofit/management/nonprofit-ethics-nonprofit-handbook/
http://nonprofithub.org/human-resources/7-ethical-dilemmas-facing-nonprofit-organizations/
Volunteers may sue nonprofits under Title VII: http://www.thenonprofittimes.com/news-articles/volunteers-may-sue-nonprofits-for-harassment-under-title-vii/
https://charityvillage.com/Content.aspx?topic=Workplace_Harassment_What_makes_nonprofits_vulnerable#.WWFHzNUrLrc
Nonprofits and social media harassment (3-5 and 8-9): http://www.thenonprofittimes.com/news-articles/nonprofit-social-media/
