Animal Rescue, Inc., New Freedom PA

I love this place. It was my first time coming here today to check out a dog for my mother. The staff were EXTREMELY helpful, kind, and knowledgeable. The dog unfortunately, did not workout but, they are going to keep us in mind when new dogs cycle in. They have everything there. Goats, chickens, koi fish, dogs, cats, etc. The landscape is beautiful and they really seem to care about the work they are doing.

After waiting for 2 weeks and calling several times to speak to no one, we find out we were rejected to adopt. And the reason.we did not fill out the adoption form completely. Thanks for wasting our time.

I was the first to go look at this dog, I was told that because I already saw the dog they would try and get to the application right away. They called my references, sounded very positive. I kept calling To check on the process, I got nothing but the run around. I called today and was told to the dog had been adopted by someone else. I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone. I am a very good dog owner that dog would be loved and well taken care of there is no reason Why I should have got him. I am very disappointed

They could not take the birds that were stuck in out hitch but then she told me she would call me back and find someone that would take them

Three years ago we adopted 2 older cats (age 7 and 10 at that time) from Animal Rescue. They adjusted to us right away - have never had health problems and are very loving (and spoiled).

I believe everyone was kind and helpful that we met. However, the adoption process felt too judgmental and critical. We are very good dog owners and were open to being a loving home. We live next to park, have tons of assistance with walking, caring for and loving our dogs. We were ruled out based on the fact that the dog snarled while on a leach when meeting our 2 dogs who were also leached and excited to meet him. No growling or biting occurred just a meet and greet. I don’t think this is behavior to rule out a loving family for a rescue dog. We drove 40 minutes, 3 separate times to visit and were willing to do what ever it took to make the dog adapt well. Don’t waste your time or your heart on this rescue. There are so many more wonderful places who care but aren’t this critical and unaware of basic dog behavior.

Also posted on Petsmart Towson's review section.
Thanks for breaking a little girl's heart! Constantly, we hear animal activist like ARI volunteers cry about how important it is for people to open their homes to animals who need adopted. Instead of buying retail, our family decided to adopt. Our little girl was overjoyed that she finally reached an appropriate age where she could be responsible in taking care of an animal. Last week we went to the Towson PetSmart location where ARI volunteers have cats for adoption. We probably should have heeded the warnings of the PetSmart employees who didn't speak highly of ARI, but we didn't. After our little girl fell in love with a kitten we decided to take the next step and complete an application for adoption. We are responsible parents who own our own home, diligently care for our child and have two promising careers. That said, apparently all that wasn't enough to please the radicals at ARI. After giving us the run-around regarding the status of our app, we finally received word that a volunteer had reached out to our references. The person reported that an ARI volunteer interrogated them as to our ability to care for a cat and whether we could afford a cat (?). Nevermind the fact that we have a child who we can afford to take care of, a home that we pay for, and two car notes. Probably safe to assume we can afford Meow Meow Mix and kitty litter. But apparently all that wasn't good enough for the crazy cat ladies at ARI who never provided us updates on our application status and any time we reached out for additional information gave us ambiguous feedback. Maybe we just aren't  the right "pedigree" for ARI. We are now 6 day past the time we submitted our app and still haven't heard anything from these so-called volunteers and advocates as to possible adoption options. If this is the trouble decent people have to go through in order to adopt a cat, I'll just buy retail next time and take my cat home the same day. Should have taken the advice of PetSmart employees and avoided these radicals.

They are amazing. They go so far above and beyond simple adoptions. They take care of animals long term that may not be adoptable. Highly recommend them. You can also donate to them in multiple ways. No kill shelter with hundreds and hundreds of animals.

We we're lucky enough to get out 3 legged cat from there and he has been the best cat ever. He was there for two years, from ages 1 to 3. They have hundreds of animals. Not many places hold onto that many as a no kill shelter. We are so incredibly grateful they took care of our cat until he found his forever home. The day I went there it was with 0 intention of getting an animal. I was taking my mom there to help her get animal home she was adopting.

I didn't know exactly how it would turn out with other cats and getting around with 3 legs (missing a back leg amputated all the way up to hip from accident) but if you didn't know any better, you never know. After finding out he had been there for 2 out of 3 years of his life I had to take him home. Couple years ago now. Runs around, up and down steps, jumps up on places you don't think 3 legged cat would get to. His only real issue is rolling around if he rolls of edge of bed. 3 legged cats don't land on their feet all the time. Luckily that is not often. Our 16 year diabetic cat passed and we ended up with kitten unexpectedly. Now he is even way more active having someone younger to play with.

More people need to support the rescues, adopt these needy animals, and make the "puppy mills" unprofitable. This is a great establishment run by hard working people, with lots of awesome animals needing homes.

II applies for adoption 2 weeks ago, I didn’t hear back until a week and a half later. I had contacted multiple people who just said “I’ll pass along your information” and probably never did. Finally once they got back to me, they interrogated me as if I’m some criminal. I have never owned a pet before and my wife and I just wanted to get one for the holidays. They obviously are not the people to go. They care so little about those animals. They much prefer to let them suffer in the shelter and put them down then to send them off to good homes, where they will be cared for and loved. It’s funny, they check to make sure we don’t abuse animals, yet here they are. Smh.

Non-profit NO kill shelter, nice place, loving caring people. I admire what they do for the animals. Lot of love, donations needed. They went out of there way to help us to find the right fit for our family.

I am very disappointed in our experience with this rescue. I will start by saying that I do believe that they care for and love the animals.

We came to the rescue looking to adopt a dog. At first we did not have a specific one in mind, we went just to look. The volunteer at the front desk was not welcoming at all. She asked if we had looked online and what specific dogs we wanted to see. I was caught off guard because I had been to another shelter where they let us go look at the dogs and the volunteers gave us suggestions of dogs that would do well with kids. That was not the case here. We ended up looking online on our phones and naming a few dogs. She let me go back to look at the specific dog that I asked about. The volunteer knew nothing about the dog I was interested in. I was able to bring her out and introduce her to my kids once I had spent a few minutes with her and got to know her temperament. We started the adoption process that day. We went back on 3 occasions to visit the dog we wanted to adopt; all 3 times she was in her crate & I was told that she was so energetic bc she had not been walked yet (this was around 2pm). There were other dogs that were allowed to run free in the yard, so maybe there was a reason this dog was not in the yard that I was unaware of. On one occasion I was able to speak to the person who called our references for our application. I explained to her that my son was getting very attached to this dog and I wanted to prepare myself and him if we were not going to get her. She told me that she was familair with my application and that we would likely get her. After going through the entire process, I received an email 16 days after our application was filed that stated we were declined because of "home & location". After waiting all that time, the adoption committee couldn't even return my phone call to tell me their reasoning for denying us. We live down a back road on a gravel lane with 2 acres of land and my house is backed up to woods, so I'm not sure what kind of "home & location" they would have deemed worthy. I'm assuming the issue is that we don't have a fence, but that is something that was on our application from the beginning and that I spoke with the adoption coordinator about. If that was an issue than we shouldn't have been led to believe we were going to get the dog for over 2 weeks. I understand that this shelter is run by mostly volunteers and that things may take longer because of that. My issue is that there was very little consideration or compassion for a family that grew to love this dog. I'm upset that we were not able to get this dog, but also in how the situation was handled. I hope that the sweet pup that we love will find a wonderful forever home soon.

Staff here are so willing to help introduce the animals, let us know their backgrounds and personalities and answer our questions. All staff were volunteers and it surprised me how much they knew. Dogs were running and playing in the enclosure so we were able to see how they interacted with the other dogs. Never felt rushed or hurried and they spent the better part of an hour with us. Now the hard decision, which dog will we choose?

We have taken a few strays that are around us here and the people and staff are extremely nice. Animals were well taken care of and the grounds on the property are well kept and clean.

You will not find a home for animals with this place. They turn you away instead. They are a bunch of liars when they say on their website they will welcome an animal and give them a home. They will not. They don't care about animals. I saw 10 - 12 people in the office today just sitting around doing nothing and flippantly turned a rescued cat away who only weighs 5 pounds. They wouldn't even look at her. The one worker as I was leaving told me to go to hell! DO NOT MAKE DONATION to these liars! They are scam artists!

This place is so great.they neutered my 2 Rescue Tom cats for very reasonable price. I tried several vets but they where way too expensive. The people there are very nice and Thank you to all the volunteers and the staff for helping animals in need. They sure could use some donations so they could continue the wonderful jobs they are doing for our communities. Thanks for fixing my boys Tigger and Leo.

First things first- the animals were all in good shape and it was obvious that they were cared for and moved.
However- the adoption coordinator Stephanie, was awful. I had probably four bad encounters with her while trying to adopt a dog, but the last one ended with her actually screaming at me and insulting me in front of everyone for a mistake SHE made. She also wasn’t there half the time she told us to be because she decided to have an extended lunch break, which then scolded me for not being there “on time. ” Along with this, I had mentioned possibly using the dog for an emotional support dog, at which she demanded to know my disability since it was “invisible. ” I should point out, not only is it incredibly rude and harmful to someone with a disability, it’s also illegal. Again, the volunteers clearly move the animals, but I am sincerely sorry for anyone else who has to encounter that terrible woman.

I took my kitten here to have her spayed, my little girl done wonderful. I would take another cat there, if ever needed to

Do NOT adopt from here. I cannot speak for ARI’s nebulous board of directors, but their adoption coordinator, Stephanie Duncan, is the most unprofessional woman I have ever had the displeasure to speak with. I spoke with Ms. Duncan in order to understand the true basis of why my adoption application was rejected, as the only reason stated was vaguely labelled as “failure to communicate. ” After she tersely hung up the phone on me, I drove to ARI’s Pennsylvania office with three witnesses from Baltimore with my questions.

Simple clarification was the goal. What I received was burning malice and a self-centered, condescending attitude. Not only did Ms. Duncan refuse to answer any of my questions, she constantly deflected the focus of the conversation away from our attempts to understand why our application was rejected. She implied that we wanted to overturn the decision or somehow question her so-called authority, when all we had done was ask a simple question of policy. Ms. Duncan spoke as if we were completely incompetent, and yet she claimed to know nothing about her own organization’s adoption policies or procedures. Her demeanor entirely childlike, rude, and hostile, and our conversation was a true embarrassment to the organization. (This conversation occurred in front of a couple surrendering their cat, and I can only imagine what must have gone through their heads as they witnessed this.)

Ms. Duncan told us that there was nothing anyone could do to help us, not even the director of ARI, with whom she claimed to have spoken. She spoke as if the issue was a mob murder, ordering us to “just drop it” as if she were a grunt for an illegal practice. Our conversation ended with Stephanie Duncan, a grown woman, interrupting me and stomping out of the office like a frustrated child. I have never been treated this unprofessionally. I feel sorry for her colleagues, especially the kind volunteer staff.

I expected far more from an organization that claims to want to help animals find homes and live healthy lives. I assume this is why people turn to puppy mills and pet stores. Because it is nigh impossible to adopt a cat that has been sitting in a steel cage for four months.

First and last time we will look to a rescue for a dog. Went through whole process, application processed, meet and greet with our dog and the dog Mason that we wanted to adopt only to then be told No because the farm we live on is, in their opinion, too close to a busy road. Very disappointed. There are no perfectly located homes but that doesnt mean there would be a lack of love, safety and care. I feel sorry most of all for all those dogs and cats that will never have forever homes.