Animal Friends

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I got a good experience

THIS PLACE WAS NICE INSIDE..THEN WALK IN AND THEY GAVE MY INTERRACIAL HUSBAND AND I THE LOOK OF UM....OKAY! SO WE WENT BACK TO LOOK AT A DOG..LOVED HIM DID OUR ONLINE APPLICATION THAT MORNING..WHICH I WAS TOLD YOU NEED TO DO SO..I SAID WELL WE DID BECAUSE WE THOUGHT IT WOULD MAKE IT EASIER..SO THE LADY SAID OK GO SIT DOWN...AFTER ANOTHER WALK BACK BECAUSE THERE WAS LIMITED SPACE TO SIT BACK WHERE THE DOGS WERE, I WALKED BACK TO THE COUNTER AND THERE WAS A LADY WHO CAME AFFFFFTER WE DID...AND SHE WAS TAKEN..RIGHT BACK. EVEN THOUGH I HAD BEEN STANDING THERE WAITING TO SEE THIS DOG. AFTER WAITING ...WITH ANOTHER COUPLE WHO WAS THERE TO SEE THE VERY SAME DOG...THE LITTLE HANDHELD BUZZER BUZZED WE WALKED UP AND ASKED WAS IT OUR TURN..AFTER SITTING FOR 45 MINUTES..AND THE LADY SAID "UM NO SORRY BUT I SHOULD'VE TOLD YOU ALL THIS SOONER BUT THIS DOG ISNT A GOOD FIT FOR YOUR FAMILY..OK ONE HOW DO YOU KNOW? WE NEVER EVEN GOT TO BE INTERVIEWED..WE DIDNT EVEN GET TO SEE THE DOG BESIDES US WALKING BY THE CAGES OURSELVES. WE WERE CHEATED OUT OF OUR ONE ON ONE WHICH WAS TO TELL US HOW WE INTERACT WITH THE DOG IF HE LIKES OUR SON..ETC.
..WE WERE JUST TOLD HE WOULDN'T BE A GOOD FIT..BUT NO ONE ELSE WAS TOLD THIS AND WE EVEN WAITED IN THE FRONT HALL AWAY FROM THE DOGGY DOORS BECAUSE WE WANTED TO SEE IF WE WERE THE ONLY ONES WHO WERE DENIED. AND YES , WE WERE. OUR SON WASN'T UPSET I GUESS BECAUSE WE DIDNT' PROMISE ANYTHING BECAUSE WE WENT HERE THREE YEARS AGO..AND THE SAME THING HAPPENED. WE WANTED THIS TIME TO BE DIFFERENT SO WE DIDN'T TELL OUR SON WE WANTED IT TO BE A SUPRISE. FUNNY THING IS THERE WERE PEOPLE LOOKING AT THE DOGAS WELL WHO HAD A GIRL WHO WAS ONE YEAR YOUNGER THAN OUR SON. WELL NEEDLESS TO SAY IT'S A WRAP FOR THIS FACILITY. I GET WHY THE OTHER PEOPLE WHO MADE COMMENTS SAID WHAT THEY DID. MAY WANT TO WATCH OUT..YOU NEVER KNOW WHO COULD BE WALKING IN TO DO A STORY ABOUT THIS PLACE..BLACK..OR WHITE.

Wanted to attend teacup meetup with my dog. Since in two different occasions I drove my 25 miles to attend published meetup and to find it was cancelled. I called ahead three times...no answer...left three messeges...no answer. Did eventually 1/2 hour before it started...receptionist said it was on calender and she was not certain...redirected my call...voice mail only..tried to call again...could not get thru!
I give up...they seem really bor to care...hour later..no call...
Never going to attend. Their loss of my money.

I just adopted two cats from camp Horne animal friends alittle over week ago. Sadly I had to return Chloe belle. She did not get along with my 14 year old male cat B. He told us he was unhappy by peeing on my son's toys, bed, and also our bed. For his sake I had to make a decision. I was reluctant to return her because she is a wonderful cat. Cute, very loving, and good with my 2 year old son.

     When I got to animal friends I was greeted by a girl who wasn't very nice about my situation. I was already a wreck to part with Bella girl,  and the way the worker talked to me didn't help. I explained to her what was going on and asked me if I had cubby.  I was unaware that bonded cats couldn't be separated. There is nothing in my contracts that says this.  If bonded cats are truly bonded then there should be one bonded contact for both cats.

    She demanded that I bring cubby back or an officer will be dispatched to my house. I was confused and spoke with her for about 20 minutes. All she kept saying was bonded cats have to stay together. Cubby has adapted just fine. he was happy, eating well, and very loving. Got along great with our other cats just fine.

     After I spoke with the girl I asked for Bella girl back. The girl rudely said I don't feel comfortable giving her back to me. I was informed that animal friends found an add on Craigslist for Bella girl. I was not aware my 18 year daughter posted an add.  She thought she was helping because she didn't like seeing her B upset.   She has had him since he was a kitten.

    I was the owner of both cats and it's not fair that cubby was taken from me because another party decided to do something without my permission. Cubby was not posted on Craigslist so his contract was never breached.  But since they are bonded in theory, not contract, which I signed an individual contract for each cat, I lost both cats.

    I returned cubby today and he didn't want to leave. He cried the whole way to animal friends and it broke my heart and I told him it was not my fault.  When I arrived at animal friends I was mistreated by a different employee at intake, who showed me no compassion for how I felt about the situation.  I kept my composure to the best of my ability, and let her know this is wrong to remove cubby from a good home.

     Just because animals bond together doesn't mean both animals will adjust to the same home. Sadly cats get separated at a young age without a choice.   My five year old buddy cat came from animal rescue at petco and he was separated from his brother at 2 year's old.  He bonded with B right away and are inseparable.  Buddy, B, and cubby all laid together and were happy. 

     I not only lost both cats, I lost another family member again within a month. Even with all my frustration I still donated my nice cat carrier to your establishment.  I wish I could be compensated in some way for a misfortune caused by a flaw in a contract. 

      The bottom line is cubby had a good home and I am worried about how upset he was/will be,  and I have no control of his future.  My wife and I have a dream of owning a no kill facility to help unfortunate animals.  The lady's we spoke with during the adoption process were great and very nice. It's sad that the intake people are not people friendly.  They were condescending and rude.

    Thank you for your time.  Please fix this so this doesn't happen again to any family or animal.

                      Jason Deninno

On 5/14/2014 my partner and I happened upon Animal Friends on Camp Horne Road, Pittsburgh. We wanted to bring a puppy into our home and had our hearts set on the Shih-Tzu breed. We had been in contact with breeders all across the state initially looking for a well bred pedigree. We were driving in the North Hills and decided to stop by Animal Friends and see if they still had the Shih Tzu we saw online a few weeks before.

Nikki, a very knowledgeable and compassionate worker at animal friends directed us to the area where dogs are housed. Before we left the desk she also noted that the Shih Tzu we saw online was still there, but was part of a "bonded pair." This meant that where he lived previously he has become irrevocably close with another dog (his brother) and they have come to depend on one another for support and protection. We decided that we had come a far way and should entertain the notion of seeing both dogs.

Passing through Animal Friends we were visiting all of the rabbits, cats & kittens and eventually the canines.

We marveled at how orderly and inviting the place was. There were even full sized social/ exercise rooms for the animals.

We took note that time is taken with each animal to be petted, groomed, and cared for.

Finally arriving at the pen of the Shih-Tzu's... We instantly fell in love!

Nikki then took us to a private room where we could get acquainted with the dogs and see if we would want to adopt. While having our interaction with both of the boys, we answered some questions about our lives to see if we would be suitable "parents," and then she told us much about where they came from and their health history. I was surprised and delighted by how much detail Animal Friends spent on profiling their charges.

The dogs were both neutered, were up to date on all vaccinations and we're already licensed! We were so enamored by their personalities that we decided to adopt!

Since they were a bonded pair- Animal Friends only charged us for a single dog which was a $75.00 donation. I could not believe that I was willing to spend over $1000.00 for a single puppy when I was now adopting two loveable doggies in need of a good home for so little a cost.

Nikki was excellent, and she has become a friend of the family receiving regular doggy pictures and updates on how they are doing.

A week after we brought them home, the second dog came down with a bad cold, and Animal Friends asked us to bring them up for a veterinarian appointment. Marsha, a vet tech at Animal Friends was so caring and thorough with my dogs that it really touched my heart. She was very knowledgeable and made sure that the dogs received proper treatment.

I must say that the service was amazing. Animal Friends truly does care about their animals and to whom they adopt them out to. In saying so, I highly recommend anyone who is looking to adopt a pet to visit them and possibly go home with a new addition to your home!

My family has decided that we are very interested in adding a kitten to our family. I decided to stop at animal friends today. While there were not any very young kittens, there was a multicolored kitten that was about 5 months old and my daughter fell in love with this kitty. We filled our the adoption form and waited for someone to assist us in meeting this kitty. Let me begin by saying, the staff was anything but friendly and helpful. They made me feel as though I was not worthy to adopt an animal. They told me I needed bring in my husband and my dog and to meet the cat before we could be considered for adoption. I was fine with that, even though my husband works midnights, and would have a very difficult time getting to the shelter during normal business hours. I told them three times that I was in a rent to own agreement for my home purchase, and the lady told me that I was still considered a renter and they would certainly need to speak with my landlord. It didn't matter that I offered to a contract to the staff which outlined the specifics of my purchase agreement. But at this point we were still willing to give it a try. I overhead the staff speaking about us, and giving us dirty looks, and I heard someone say "well they will just have to wait". They also told me that my dog and the new cat would have to get along: a situation that I feel is set up for failure when you bring a dog into an exciting new place with lots if animal smells and he scares the hell out of the cat. It didn't take too many more dirty looks and 45 minutes of waiting without actually getting to visit with a cat before I had to drag my tearful screaming daughter out of there. She was very sad and had been hopeful that she might get to meet and make this new kitty a part of our family. I complained to the staff at the front desk, so that they knew the staff is chasing away potential adopting families. The woman at the front desk apologized, and told us that her dauther had a similar experience. She wished us luck at our next shelter and gave my daughter a sticker. This woman deserves a raise. I had every intention of adopting a cat from animal friends, but now I will go elsewhere. I will never return to Animal friends and I will advise others to stay away. You really need to work on the friendliness of your staff, or you will chase people away.. I hope the kitten does find a good home and isn't subjected to life in a cage, like I think your staff must prefer. I'm sorry to be so negative, I am not usually a negative person. But I feel like it is a real shame what happend to day. Shame on Animal Friends. :(

I've just read a lot of negative comments and I'm sorry you had a bad experience. A year ago I adopted a corgi-Aussie cattle mix. She was a stray, rescued from death from another shelter. Lana was a perfect match for me. The only negative is she was bigger than I thought I wanted. The staff was excited to help us with the adoption process. Lana has been a blessing to me and I am grateful to have her.

This place is terrible. First let me start off by saying that I work in the Veterinary field and have for 8 years! Also, I have adopted from animal friends in the past. I applied for a puppy from them and they made me jump through a million hoops just to get to see the dog. They told me that they could only keep the dog on a 2 hour hold because they had to interview everyone in the house after I told them that my fiance and I work all day. They said that they might be able to make an exception bu they would have to speak to their supervisor. They also spoke to me like I had no idea what I was talking about when I probably had more knowledge about dog behavior then they ever had training in their life. After they made me drive all the way back to my house to get my dog on my lunch break so that my dog could meet the puppy they strongly discouraged me from adopting the dog saying that they did not think that my dog would do well with another dog and that he would bite another dog. My dog has lived with other dogs all of his life and he would never snap at another dog. The way they do their meet and greets they try to get dogs to snap so that they dont have to adopt to you. I am a big supporter of shelters, but I will never adopt another animal form there again. They really lost a good home for this dog, considering that my dogs only get specialty care. Highly disappointed in the service that I received.

On the day we adopted a dog everyone in the adoption area was very nice and helpful.But the counselor told us EVERYTHING we needed to know about the dog.EXCEPT for the heart murmur.I read about that in the animals documents when we got home.Maybe they felt the dog would never be adopted if they gave out that information.After a couple weeks we were fed up with the behavioral problems of the dog.I gave it so much love and attention so I can not figure out what I could have done to make him so angry.He was like Jekyl and Hyde.I called Animal Friends main number 3 times to let them know we were coming,but no answer.So we brought him in and everyone in the admissions department was very rude and accusatory as if I mistreated or abused the dog.I'm a dog lover and that would never happen.They scolded me for bringing in the dog without an appointment.Remeber,I called 3 times.Anyhow,to make a long story short,Amy called me to tell me I could never adopt another animal there.That's too bad.Any animal in my home gets totally spoiled and pampered.

Go find a shelter that has real people !!!!

While the facility is beautiful, the "adoption couselors" here are not knowledgeable about the dogs, the breeds, the breed tendencies, or training techniques. In our experience of attempting to adopt any of three different dogs there, the conselor was extremely rude, arrogant and misinformed about basic animal behavior and biology. Even when we brought in the other dog in the house for a meet and greet, the councilor ignored the exceptionally-well-trained, happy, well-loved and healthy dog and made the not-so-veiled suggestion that we were unfit dog owners after trying to politely point out that she was not "exactly correct" on a behavior in another dog that she clearly couldn't handle and didn't understand.



We walked out without a dog, and without any remaining desire to go the adoption route for a new dog. The dogs there are wonderful. The Adoption Councilors, however, are in great need of training.

I had a very bad experience here when I was attempting to adopt a dog. The people who worked there were extremely rude and unhelpful. They required me to make repeated trips and in the end I left in frustration without the dog.

a bunch of mean people run this place they are rude. my friend found a new born kitten and asked them for help and they made her cry. they told her the kitten is gona die anyway and that they dont hav room for one lik that. well another shelter took the kitten and its 5 weeks old now and doing fine. no thanks to animal friends.

Place is very clean and animals are well taken care yet placement volunteers were very demeaning when asked a question telling you they were trained and not to question anythnig they say as they were "experts" It is my opinion they need much more training before dealing with the public.

The dog training is poor, they act like you are an idiot if you don't do for the animals as much as they do. When you question them about fees for service, they get huffy. I only wish the foster care system had people who were as dedicated and had as much free time on their hands as these schlubs.

The people were very nice when I called looking for a small dog. They were willing to answer any and all of my questions. The woman I spoke to put me on a contact list and gave me useful information! Thanks!