Remember when I told you about Minnie’s dog kennel mishap? If not, you can read about it here Not Good, Not Good At All .  Both of us were very traumatized -probably me more so than her. At the end of that blog post I promised to write an email to the company who sells the product and let you know what their response was.

I did write them. However, in hindsight I probably should not have started off my email with:

Your product almost killed my dog…

It was not until I spoke with Gregory from  ABO that I became aware of the position I had put him and his company in. Basically, I had placed them between a rock and a hard place. All I really wanted was an acknowledgement of what their product had done to my dog, but Gregory could not even do that. Why? Because of the society we live in. He honestly thought I was setting him, and his company up for a lawsuit. That was never my intention, but I could see why an email starting off the way mine did would cause someone to think that.

Thankfully, Gregory is a very kind man and overlooked my mistake – spending a great deal of time talking to me. From that conversation I learned about how Gregory and ABO work to rescue, and find loving homes for many homeless animals in the Atlanta area. He seems like a very caring man who is passionate about what he is called to do.

Now onto why I had contacted Gregory in the first place. He explained to me that the directions that came with the kennel specifically state that an animal should not be left unattended in it. However, it was obvious Gregory felt bad about Minnie’s trauma, even if he had to be careful about what he said. In the end, he told me I could pick out two toys from his store, ABO, email him, and he would make sure that they were sent to Minnie.

Out of all the things I learned from this experience, two really stand out:

1. I think ABO is a neat company – with a great mission – and I hope you check them out.

2.  Never, under any circumstances, start off a letter of complaint with the words “Your product almost killed…” it tends to get people’s hackles up.