Feedback & Complaints
At PetRescue, we are dedicated to creating a future where every pet is safe, respected and loved. We strive to provide the best possible service to our community, and your feedback is invaluable in helping us achieve this goal.
We understand that sometimes things may not go as expected, and we are here to assist and address any concerns you may have. We aim to handle each complaint with care and compassion and to resolve any issues as quickly as possible.
Below is an outline of the formal complaint process and how PetRescue manages and addresses complaints.
How to submit a formal complaint
For PetRescue to review and assist with all formal complaints we require individuals to complete our Formal Complaint form to collect information including:
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Full name
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Email address
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Contact number
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Organisation name (if you're a PetRescue member organisation)
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Who the situation/complaint is about
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Summary of the incident (include names, dates, and events)
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Supporting documents (this helps our team get an understanding and gather facts about the incident)
Please be sure to provide as much detail and context as you can, as this helps speed up the review to determine steps to be able to provide a positive outcome.
Once the complaint is submitted, you’ll receive an email to confirm it was received by our team. We aim to respond to complaints within five working days from the date the formal complaint is submitted.
The PetRescue team will carefully review the complaint, ensuring that all information is provided and is correct and accurate. We will contact you if further information, confirmation of details, or documentation is required.
Submit your formal complaint here.
PetRescue’s principles when handling complaints
The PetRescue team welcomes all feedback and complaints from our community and:
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Strive to handle all complaints with fairness, sensitivity, and accountability, with a commitment to respect, privacy and safety.
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Endeavour to respond to complaints within five working days. For more complex matters, we will respond with an acknowledgement within five working days and aim to keep you informed of the progress going forward.
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Are committed to accessibility. If you prefer or need another person or organisation to assist or represent you in the making and/or the resolution of your complaint, we will communicate with you through your representative. Anyone may represent a person wishing to make a complaint with their consent (e.g. advocate, family member, legal or community representative, or another organisation).
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Will ensure that the person handling your complaint is a different staff member, should your complaint be about a particular staff member
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Will respect your wishes should you wish to remain anonymous. Depending on the severity of the concern and where it does not compromise your wishes, PetRescue may choose to follow this up.
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Will advise you as soon as possible when we are unable to deal with any part of your complaint and provide advice about where such issues and/or complaints can be directed (if known and appropriate).
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Will respect that you are entitled to a review of the outcome of your complaint. If you request a review following our response, we will ensure a different staff member oversees the matter.
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Will record the details of your complaint against our complaints register. This will be regularly reviewed to identify any common grievances and we will accordingly make updates to our platform, policies or operations if necessary.
How PetRescue addresses formal complaints
Formal complaints will be prioritised by severity and urgency. Examples of situations where PetRescue will try to assist as soon as they can, and help to find a positive outcome:
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Severity: e.g. a pet has been adopted without being desexed and no desexing contract has been provided, situations where a member of PetRescue has breached the Membership code, confidential information that was shared on the website has accidentally been made public etc.
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Urgency: e.g. a pet has been adopted via a PetRescue member organisation and is unwell (if no medical conditions were shared at the time of adoption), adoption paperwork hasn’t been provided to an adopter etc.
There are some situations where PetRescue is unable to directly assist and would direct you to a third party to follow up or assist, these include:
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Lack of response to enquiries: If you’ve sent through an enquiry for a pet, the message has been sent directly to a PetRescue member organisation to review. PetRescue supports rescue organisations, shelters and councils across the nation. Many of these organisations are small, volunteer-based groups that are doing their best to handle the high volume of applications they receive daily and ensure that the pet goes to the right home.
We ask for your patience and understanding while waiting to hear back and advise that you wait for 10 days for the rescue organisation to respond. If you haven’t heard back you can go back to your conversations and send a message to check in with the rescue organisation. Additionally, you can find contact details for the rescue organisation on their PetRescue group profile to reach out to them. -
Animal welfare or cruelty concerns: PetRescue unfortunately does not have the authority to investigate potential animal welfare concerns. We suggest contacting the RSPCA who investigate matters of animal cruelty and neglect. You can report any concerns to them via http://www.rspca.org.au/report-cruelty. You may also wish to contact your local council who also has the authority to investigate these situations.
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Offensive Ads on PetRescue: We make a conscious effort to block ad categories including offensive and 18+ ads. On rare occasions, however, an ad will get through. If you see an offensive ad please take a screenshot of the ad and send it through so we can contact the ad providers to remove the offending ad ASAP. If possible, if you could also right-click and copy the target link. Note: make sure you right-click and don't open the ad though! This will help us identify and block that particular ad.
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Technical issues on the website: If you’re experiencing technical difficulties when using the PetRescue website, please contact our support team directly so they can help you work through this concern. You can contact us at info@petrescue.org.au.
Kindly note the above process is only for the submission of formal complaints. If you have a general enquiry or require any other assistance, feel free to reach out to us at info@petrescue.org.au.
Submit your formal complaint here.
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