A business owner in Pasadena, Texas, decided to take a different path in finding suitable candidates for their job openings by hanging up a large banner on his property that is visible from the street and read: “Now hiring non-stupid people.”

Walter Parsons, the owner of Pets Gone Wild Resort, said he bought the sign with the bold message after growing frustrated at some of the workers whom he had previously employed.

Parsons said he had been trying to fill multiple positions for some time through online postings but was not getting many applicants, and the employees they have hired have not worked out.

“We’re trying to weed out the people that do come in. We hired one last week that lasted three days,” Parsons told KHOU 11.  

“Repeatedly, ‘Get off your cellphone, you’ve got dogs to watch.’ ‘OK, put the cellphone up, go back out there.’ Twenty minutes later, she’s back on her cellphone,” Parsons continued. “At least be as smart as I am.”

“I’m not going to pay you to be on your phone,” he added. 

As someone who built his business from the ground up, Parsons said he wants to ensure the employees they hire are equipped to handle a “strenuous job.”

“You’re out there from sun up to sun down,” he said. “You get breaks, but you’re watching dogs (anywhere) from 60 to 140 pounds. You don’t want a dog fight. It’s just like kids in a daycare. They fight and given the opportunity; dogs will fight too.”

Parsons said the sign worked as within 24 hours, they got three solid applicants and have since taken down the sign. 

“They don’t think they’re stupid, so they came in to apply,” Parsons said.

While the unorthodox tactic worked for Parsons, not everyone was happy with the sign’s message.

“What does it say to prior employees? ‘Oh, we think you’re stupid so we’re trying to hire somebody that we think is smarter than you,’” a Pasadena resident named Taylor told KHOU 11.

“The fact that they felt so emboldened to put something up there like that, it’s disgusting, it’s distasteful, and it’s unprofessional,” Taylor said.

Other residents said it gave them a laugh.

Pasadena resident Darlene Daniels told The Houston Chronicle that the sign confirmed she had come to the right place to drop off her labradoodle named Bear.

“You want to get the best quality people to take care of the pets. This is my baby,” Daniels said, suggesting that Parsons “did it to be funny, and I thought it was funny too, but it also just sealed the deal for me.”

Ultimately, Parsons said his only goal with the sign was to find the best quality employees possible.

“Come through here and take a tour and take a look at the responsibility that we have. Would you put your child somewhere that wasn’t dedicated, that didn’t have smart people in it?” Parsons said.

Rebecca Burke dropped off her two-year-old German Shepherd named Belle at the resort and said she approved of the sign’s message.

“I mean, I wouldn’t want to hire stupid people, so it doesn’t bother me,” she said. “[Belle] is precious, and it sounds like they want people they hire to be committed to the care of the animals, and I appreciate that commitment.”