Whoa... I was expecting this place to have some bad reviews, but not nearly the type of bad reviews that it does. Hmm. Kind of glad I didn't yelp back when we got our first babe. So anyway, we recently adopted a second dog from the Naperville humane society, so this review is in contrast to my review of NHS, wherein I complain that they didn't really thoroughly vet us as pet parents, making me nervous that they adopted animals to any jackalacka who wanders into the shelter. So of course in this review, I'm going to complain the exact opposite. I saw hamish's litter on ADOPT's website and was immediately in love. I grabbed my fiancé and we drove from the NW side of Chicago all the way to BF naperville (ps, how is this place seriously in Naperville? Where does Aurora start? Because man... It's out there) so that we could get there in time for "adoption hours" (different, mind you, than viewing hours, during which you may look, but may not interact. Tease.) and meet our dream dog. I wanted this dog so badly, it was palpable. So we filled out an application, and then we went in for The Talk. I felt like we should have had a single light shined in our face, with vague threats of torture or worse if we didn't pony up every detail of our lives. It wasn't a talk, it was an interrogation. It started with living in the city - yeah, I get it. But it was a nice neighborhood. No, we didn't have a yard. No, we hadn't owned a dog before. I get it. Those are big black marks against us, and rightfully so. But then, it got ridiculous. "Well you're engaged? So when's the wedding?" "Um, 18 months away." "Oh good, because if it were even a year away I'd walk you out now - you'd be too stressed to own a dog." "Um... k." "But if you're of marrying age, soon there will be kids. So I don't think you can have this dog. Chihuahuas are delicate and children hurt dogs." "Ma'am, we don't have children." "But you will." "No, we won't." "What do you mean you won't?! You will." "Um no ma'am, we don't want children." "Well... Fine, but your friends will and they'll hurt the dog." No seriously, that all happened. Then they asked us for 3 references, allowed us to put the dog on hold, and we left, certain we would never see the dog again and feeling like petty criminals. After calling my mother, two friends, and my landlord twice, this mean old woman FINALLY bestowed upon us her blessing to adopt the dog "so long as I didn't come in as excited as I was originally because I was just too excited." WHAT?! Sorry my first ever dog was a cause for happiness. I assure you the glee was NOT me looking into the future of children snapping puppy legs in my living room... Good lord. ADOPT gets a lot of things right - the dog came to us with food, painkillers for the neuter, lots of instruction for care, and in PERFECT health. And I respect ensuring that the animals are going to the best possible home. I wish there was a happy medium between NHS and ADOPT - someplace where you could be checked for sanity but not checked with a blood sample - cuz I really think it'd be the perfect shelter. read more

ADOPT animal shelter is a fantastic little private shelter that does it's absolute best for the pets they rescue. We got our little dog from ADOPT and she came all of the way from Puerto Rico! They don't do same-day pet adoptions, so don't go in expecting to walk out with your new dog, and they have limited hours on the weekends, but since it's almost completely run by volunteers, I am willing to forgive a little bit. I actually think that same-day pet adoptions aren't necessarily a good thing. Anyway, if you want to know what animals they currently have, their website is not the best resource... they have a facebook page, but visiting and meeting the puppies and kitties is the best way to know :) read more

I'm not too sure why I came in here I was already set on getting my kitten from a breeder but I think I was just curious or just wanted to see how it was, at first when waking in it looked almost like and hospital or old age home lol so I waited till someone from the cat department came and greeted me and showed me around. The lady at the front seat was kinda snippy and rude but the older lady showing me around what much nicer. Once in the car rooms only one was somewhat descent and that was the one with the older cats. The two others were kinda gross, I didn't even want to touch the cats in those. We left and I walked away with the same perspective I came in with. As bad as it sounds I'm sticking to getting my pets from breeders. read more

I'm truly amazed at this faciliy in comparison to the City of Aurora shelter. Since I live in Aurora, I would have adopted from Aurora's shelter but I only saw pit bulls available - and I hear pit bulls are too friendly to be guard dogs. It's sad that Aurora's shelter is a KILL shelter, so it would have been great to have saved a dog from the Aurora's executioners. In addition to A.D.O.P.T. being a NO KILL shelter, A.D.O.P.T. treats their dogs soooo well. There dogs are treated soooo well that mine didn't even want to leave, initially. Granted he was a troublesome guy that had been at their facility more than a year. Over time, he grew to love the staff there. I had to come back to visit about ten times before he was finally willing to leave with me. It's great that they do not just hand pets over to anyone that can sign a paper. It really shows how much they care. I was fortunate to have been allowed to adopt my boy; even though, he has already eaten: two pairs of work boots, two wallets, two belts, and an iPhone 6s. read more

My fiance and I came to ADOPT to look at the kittens. We got to look at the kittens, but they never even asked what we came there for. I wanted to adopt a kitten, they never asked what I was looking for, or what kitten I was interested in. They also never asked if we wanted to interact with the kitten either. I felt like I was being treated like a child when I'm 25 years old and have owned three cats before. The lady proceeded to tell me that "a kitten doesn't stay that small forever, it will be full grown at about 7-8 months of age." Gee, thank you I was not aware of the fact that animals grow! I was also told that in order to adopt a kitten, I had to take two because they need "social skills." I will not be coming back here. read more

Applied for a pair of adorable/sweet kitten siblings here the other day. Lori called me because my vet couldn't find the records of my previous pet that passed away under my name. (so very impressed that they ACTUALLY make sure their animals go to homes that will keep them fully vetted!!!) Lori and all the staff I interacted with was so nice and informative! (made me want to stay there all night and hangout with the staff and kitties!) They gave me awesome print out information on care/ and how to properly transition the kittens into a new home. Lori and all staff answered all my questions with such care and patience... to see Lori and the staff with all the kittens was such a pleasure they genuinely love each and everyone of them. Would highly recommend this place. Some of these reviewers must have gone to a different facility because all I saw was helpful and caring staff! (To both me and the animals they care for) read more

I took my 2 cats to their low cost spay/neuter clinic and upon bringing them back home discovered about a week later an infestation of fleas on both my indoor cats! I write them an email asking for help or at the very least advice on a lw cost flea treatment being that frontline is overpriced and due to losing my job I couldn't afford it. Their response was to use top spot which is basically useless cause it doesn't kill eggs or larvae. So if you want your animal to be uncomfortable and your house overrun with fleas without even an apology than I say come here, if not find other options! read more

Working in customer service for over 15 years I have become a large proponent of giving positive feedback when due, as well as sharing negative feedback when justifiable and helpful. Unfortunately, my family and I did not have a good experience with ADOPT. I was first introduced to ADOPT a year or so ago when I contacted them for a Cub Scout tour. The tour went well, and they had a nice presentation for the boys. As a thank you for the tour, all five boys donated various items for ADOPT, including pet food, supplies and toys. When we returned to ADOPT recently to look for a young cat to adopt for our sons, we thought we would have a similar pleasant experience, however that wasn't the case. We have been loving and dedicated pet owners of a senior dog, 15 years old, and a senior female cat, 14 years old. We were hoping to adopt a male cat, of any age, for our kids to call their own. Initially we looked at the kittens, but were immediately discouraged by the staff that a kitten would not be a good idea because they like to play, and our older cat would not like to play. However, they didn't seem to care that we had three boys that would enjoy playing with a kitten! Then we looked at all the male cats in the facility. We had a hard time finding out which were male and female, but when we did the staffers told us they didn't really have too many male cats, and especially any that would be good with another cat...dog...kids... Finally we thought we had found a cat to bring home! It was a young male, with a great disposition. We filled out the adoption application and submitted to the front desk. Once submitted, they noticed on our application that we may want to have the cat's front paws declawed. They advised that you can't declaw a cat over a certain age, which isn't a fact, but an opinion. Either way, I said to please proceed with the application. We would have to discuss potentially owning a cat with claws. A few days later our application was declined based on the fact we wanted to have the cat declawed and that the cat did not test well with dogs. Of course the cat didn't test well with dogs, it's a 7 -8 month old cat that had never seen a dog! Plus I doubt the cat would have had issues with our 15 year old dog, who is basically a house cat anyhow! ADOPT needs to make adoption more accessible and stop discouraging willing and able families! They have a nice facility and you can tell they receive lots of donations, but it's not a zoo...the animals are not on display, they are there to be adopted! I guess they would rather return spayed/neutered cats to the wild then adopt them out to a loving family. read more

We have now had Chaplin/Guapo for nearly three years now. He is as healthy, loving, and cuddly as ever.

I recently adopted a super cute dog from this shelter. I at first saw a picture on petfinder of a lab mix at this shelter that I thought I might be interested in adopting. I drove there to meet this dog and the staff was very helpful and enthusiastic about helping me find the right pet. The lab mix ended up being too high maintenance for a first time pet owner, so one of the volunteers asked if I wanted to see the rest of the dogs. I followed him through the shelter and unlike many other shelters, they don't have an overabundance of animals here, which I consider a positive aspect, since that means they can give more attention to the ones they have. I walked through the rest of the shelter and noticed a cute little poodle mix. I never thought I would be interested in that breed of dog, as I've always saw myself adopting something like a lab or a husky... a bigger dog breed. However, as soon as I met this little beauty in one of the playrooms, I immediately knew this was the right dog for me. I adopted her about three weeks ago, and I cannot be happier. My family is so ecstatic that I ended up with as great of a dog as she is. The staff at this shelter shows genuine care for their animals, and are very overprotective. They will ask a lot of questions before they allow you to adopt one of their animals, and will tell you straight up if they feel that a particular dog should not be brought into a home with children or if you have other dogs/cats, and will be strict about certain dogs only being adopted out to homes with fenced in yards....but these are all really positive points to make. They are looking out for what is best for their animals. For example, the lab mix I looked at was recommended to only be adopted out to someone with a fenced in yard. When I took her for a short walk around the property, I could totally see why. She was high energy and needed a lot of space to run around in. If you have good intentions and are the right type of person, I recommend going to this shelter to adopt. Don't go to pet stores or puppy mills!!!!!!!!! You are supporting a cruel industry! You can't lose when you adopt an animal from a shelter; in addition, you are giving a homeless animal a great home. I was told by the shelter that my dog was a stray found by animal control. How sad to think this great dog was roaming the streets alone, and could have been easily killed by a car or another animal. Not only did this shelter impress me with their diligent adoption process and responsible staff, but they let me know that my dog needed a hernia surgery before I adopted her, and they covered all expenses and had one of their vets perform the surgery. The incision had opened a little bit during the post-op healing phase, and so I called them to see what I could do... they told me to go to a nearby vet, and after I asked about the financial aspect of having to get the incision closed up again, they said they would cover the expenses. I ended up not needing to have much done, because the vet said it wasn't opened to the point where it would need to be closed with anything more than one staple, so I didn't need to pay anything... but that was pretty decent that this shelter was going to cover the expense. Some shelters would say it was my problem now. That just shows how good quality this place is. ADOPT your animal from A.D.O.P.T!!!!!!!! read more

We adopted from this shelter several years ago, and we ultimately are happy with the dog we ended up adopting. We did have issues when we were looking and dealing with the adoption process. We had seen a dog online, called about the dog and were told it wouldn't even be available to be seen until a certain date. We made sure we were the very first people at the facility that day, only to see the dog walking out the door with someone else. When we asked, we were told that that person worked for the shelter and basically had first choice. We live an hour away, so that would have been nice to know before we made the trip. We did feel over analyzed also during the interview. For example, I had a dog for 19 years growing up, and the person kept saying "there's going to be an issue because you have no experience with dogs" I was thinking, "Um ... what?" It's disappointing to see so many negative reviews, I can only believe that the employees and staff are doing their best. It would definitely be to the ADOPT's advantage to address some of the issues these reviews raise, whatever they are. read more

This was the cleanest and the best shelter I have ever been in. They treat their animals as they were family, and the new fur baby parents fantastic. I like the fact the cats and kittens are in rooms so they can play instead of those little cages. Plenty of toys and things to climb on. They even have a bed in each room for the babies to lounge on! read more

On 3/18/2012 I called this agency to ask about taking my cat because she is mean and I have a baby due in 3 weeks. We have been working with her to calm her down since we found out we were 4 weeks along to get her ready for the baby, but to no avail she is still very dangerous and has proven to us that she cannot be trusted with children as she has attached 2 of my friends babies. I spoke to a man and I dont believe that this agency is the one to work with. It is clear to me after speaking with that man why people drop their pets off on the sides of roads or on farms. You try to do the right thing and find them a good home when you have no other options, and people make you feel like crap for trying to do the right thing. As well as making snide comments about my parenting abilities. We will go elsewhere to find her a home to the best of our ability, but we are not going to work with this agency and its guilt tactics. I can't imagine an adoption agency trying to make a teen mom feel like crap for putting her baby up for adoption because she can't take care of it. But its a good thing ADOPT isnt handling human adoption, just pets. If this is the attitude of your company, then I dont think anyone should have to deal with it. It just makes it perfectly clear to me why people dont even try to find other homes for their animals. Amanda D. read more

As a past volunteer of A.D.O.P.T., I can probably add some insight into the behind the scenes shenanigans that go on there. First, I don't know who this Rich person is (supposed to be the new director of ADOPT.) The president, could be a cut throat person. She has run out several great volunteers. Here's what you need to know: We had a wonderful married couple who was extremely dedicated to ADOPT as volunteers. They were run out of ADOPT by the board of directors and the board's followers. The reason? The board didn't like the personality of the husband. Many volunteers in the cat section admired this couple, for their hard work. So when the "marrieds" were run out, a block of people left with them. This left the cat section under staffed. The board keeps bad volunteers (those that start fights with others, those that are bigoted) and run good ones off. I think the volunteers do the best they can and ADOPT as a whole does as well. But when you have bully's on the board of directors running off good people, what does that say about the organization? To comment on some of the other postings: The Pomerarian: The volunteers should not been given preference over the public in an adoption scenario. That just seems unfair to me. The cat with worms: The cats are supposed to be dewormed immediately upon arrival at ADOPT. All pet rescue organizations are running on a tight budget. There is a limit to the costs they can expend once you take possession of the cat. When you adopt a pet, it is presumed the new owner will take care of the pet's medical expenses. I believe there is a statement to that effect on the contract you signed. There are volunteers that "foster" animals for ADOPT (like a foster parent.) The fosters have alot of control over who is permitted to adopt "their foster animal". I have seen a family come in AFTER they were told they were approved for adoption a specific dog. The foster put the kabosh on the adoption, after the family drove over to ADOPT. The mother of the family started crying in front of her children. The reason for denial of adoption priviledges: The foster did not feel the mother could spend enough time with the dog, even though the mom was a stay at home mom. I might add that the children were school age and well behaved. For this reason, some pets at adopt spend alot of time in a cage because of power trips of those doing the adoption or "fosters". Toward the end of my volunteering at ADOPT: To save money, they stopped giving painkillers to the animals after a spay or neuter. This seems cruel to me. ADOPT being a no kill shelter: ADOPT started to call itself a "low kill shelter". They killed a dog name Kylie, Cindy, and others. Kylie was kept in a cage and not treated very well by it's foster. Then when the foster couldn't care for Kylie any longer, she went into a cage. She didn't adjust to a cage very well, and was ultimately killed by ADOPT. I personally know people who would have and could have taken Kylie. But ADOPT's management would not approach the proper people who could have helped out, because of pride. Although ADOPT does have many success stories, they have their share of horror stories as well. read more

Remember that old episode of Seinfeld called "The Soup Nazi", where the soup restaurant owner would ridicule and berate all the customers who came in to buy his soup? Well, my impression of most (but not all) of the volunteers I've met at this shelter are that they are "the Pet Nazis". I have tried to adopt both kittens and dogs from here and I have been treated rudely on 3 occasions. The first time I went in and was asked if I would declaw a kitten. My response was that maybe, it depended on if the cat was trashing my furniture or not. The volunteer started crying and made us feel as though our home would be a torture chamber. She said the cats have phantom pain from this procedure. When I asked her how the cat described the phantom pain to her she did not really have a response. Anyway, on the declawing....I get it. It is a controversial topic and I respect people who are totally against it. We had a difference of opinion. The second time I went in I was asked what type of food I would feed the cat. I named a common popular pet store brand and you would have thought I was planning to feed the cat shards of glass and rusty nails. I got a lecture that my food choice was not acceptable. Really? I plan to spend thousands of dollars on food and vet care for a kitten for the next 15-20 years, saving it from a life at a shelter or early euthanasia and you can tell ME that I am not qualified to adopt it because we don't share a brand preference? Tonight I went in and it wasn't the specific time for viewing, but the lady at the front desk (one of the few people there who understands that kindness to humans is also important) let me go back to view the kittens because I had been there before. As I was in the back viewing the kittens I was questioned by one of the workers whether I was a volunteer or not. I explained that I wasn't a volunteer but that I had been given the OK to be back there by the woman at the front desk. She gave me a hateful stare down as if I was some sort of evil cat-napper up to no good. That encounter was the last straw. I went to the woman at the front desk who had OK'd my visit and complained. She seemed genuinely concerned that I had been treated so rudely and led me to another person in the office, a man named Bill. When I addressed the issue with him, he basically shrugged his shoulders and said "sorry you had a bad experience" rather than try to make it right by asking his rude employee (or maybe she was a volunteer?) to apologize to a customer. I really don't think these people want these animals to be adopted. They have no concept of how to treat their customers, the prospective families. I am sure they absolutely despise the puppy mill/pet store system, and frankly I am not a huge fan of that distribution channel either and would prefer to adopt. But the volunteers at A.D.O.P.T. need to get a clue: I WILL GO TO A PET STORE OR ANOTHER AREA SHELTER BECAUSE THEY ARE NICE TO ME. read more

why would you make people pay to volunteer for you? like seriously, why would i pay to provide you with a service???

If I could give this shelter 0 stars I would but not possible. One of the worst adoption processes I've gone through. Just recently fell in love with one of thier kittens and put in an application on a Sunday as was told we would get a call to see if our app got approved on Tuesday. Come Tuesday, no call. They are closed on Wednesday so i was not able to make it in so after work on Thursday I go in to inquire about my app and they say she's already got a hold and going home tomorrow. Never got a call from them, an explanation of their adoption process and my cat was given away. Mind you my application was in before the people who are now adopting the cat. They also lied about calling me and my mother and saying we spoke with an adoption counselor; both of which never happened. Will not be going back to this shelter. Such a shame when all you want to do is help out an animal. Do not adopt from this organization. Very poor communication. read more

We had such a terrible experience with this shelter. They were very nice and seemed genuinely interested in helping my family adopt. We were approved and were arranging the adoption when I got a call with a message saying nothing but, they've changed their minds and have denied our application. I had to call to get a reasoning. It was about our cats shots not being up to date. I said I could remedy it because I honestly hadn't known. My vet had never told me he wasn't up to date. I told them I was willing to go get the shots and was told that if I didn't take care of my current pet why would they give me more. I was floored. What a horrible thing to say. She closed with "if you'd like to get your cat up to date and complete your paperwork truthfully, you may reapply in the future." Is it because I'm not up to date, or that I'm not deserving. Make up your mind. It was an honest mistake and they made me feel like a monster. We have donated money, supplies, and time for that shelter through our daughters girl scout troop. Now I have to tell our kids that the cats they loved will not be coming home, as they told us they would. How do you explain that to children?! Heart broken. And will now make sure my experience is known. read more

Wow, I thought maybe I was being overly sensitive after my visit to A.D.O.P.T, but after reading numerous responses.....I believe this is not the case. Here is my story. It has been 8 years since I have had a dog and I was finally ready to adopt a shelter dog, knowing that this is a huge responsibility. I found a dog that I thought would be perfect for me, filled out an application that morning and then drove an hour to the shelter that evening to meet him. Upon arriving I asked about this fury fellow, and was told he was unable to be viewed, and that no one had seen him yet. I was also told they had not received my application, which I thought was strange since I received an email confirmation stating they had received my confirmation....so I think to myself...no big deal....its a organization run heavily by volunteers, maybe there was some sort of miscommunication. Then beyond belief I got to see the dog and spend some time with him. He was wonderful, loving, full of energy....the perfect dog for me. I was then somewhat interviewed....in a rather rude and nasty way. They could care less in the fact that I have animal training experience and told me if I was considered (and made it clear that I was not first on their list....even though I had been the only person to come in and see the dog) it was mandatory to take the dog to obedience training. After some hesitation I agreed, knowing that it is quite expensive to have a stranger teach a class that I had once taught. After the interview I was told if the first or second choices didn't want him they would call. So then they called....and wanted me to come get him! I was thrilled! They were concerned however that I did not have a fenced in yard. I had told them that In the future after getting a dog, I would be installing an invisible fence. They told me I could not install this fence myself (which I have done before costing about $100 for a yard my size which is 2 country lots) but that I would have to have it professionally installed, and that they work with a company and could get me $100 off coupon (this company would have charged around $1000). This really made me suspicious. When I asked why I couldn't do it myself, I was told that it wasn't an option. I was a little hurt. I explained how I had put one up at my parents house, as well as at friends houses and we had never had an issue. They then proceed to tell me that I needed the professionals to do it, because they would train the dog on the fence....As If I would not, and I would let the dog run around getting shocked or something. Just ridiculous. All in all, I was very disappointing in this shelter and their ways. They would rather keep their dogs in kennels instead of adopting them out to loving and caring families. I also have a strange feeling that they may have some kind of deal with the underground fence company that they are using. I dont know what it is, but something about that whole thing was fishy. I feel terrible for any animal that is placed in this shelter, because it seems the only way you can adopt from here is if you are willing to just throw your money around. I'd rather adopt from a normal organization, put in my own fence, and spend that extra money caring for the dog, buying dog park permits, and having the dog participate in agility classes. Very disappointed in this organization, and I feel they have moved very far away from their purpose and mission. read more

I adopted a kitten from adopt almost a year ago. They have kittens in a decent sized room with a bunch of toys, a cat tree, some tunnels, blankets and its very clean. The staff there was very friendly and very helpful with me. They have different aged cats in different rooms and they have some adult cats in the biggest room with lots of cat trees and windows for them to look out of. I Adopted my kitty but noticed he was not eating when i took him home so i called and asked them about it and they were really friendly and asked me to come in and their vet there would check him out. It turned out he had some kinda ulcers in his mouth but the vet there gave him some antibiotics and they did not charge me for them. They got him to eat in no time and he was soon healthy after. The staff and volunteers there are so nice and caring you can tell they really love the animals. i would definately recommend this place i am even thinking of volunteering here myself. read more

Many years ago we tried to adopt a small dog from this shelter. We were not allowed to do it because the dog we had our sights on was small and could have been mistreated by my then young kids. I understand the almost militant enforcement of their related rules, given how easily people around here seem to dispose of unwanted pets. It is very hard for volunteers to judge whether promises of extra care will be sufficient to prevent a return. I did end up adopting a small dog from a neighbor and he lived happily with us until he died of cancer. My second experience with ADOPT has been very good. I am bringing a senior dog home with me this very week. Understanding the limitations of well intentioned volunteers who won't deviate from the norm out of fear could go a long way. So could going beyond office politics. I hope the board members' actions mentioned by an ex-volunteer are the exception and not the norm. There are internal struggles in every organization, profit or not-for-profit alike. They are opportunities for improvement where true leadership can make a difference. read more

I would never visit ADOPT again. Manager told me they couldnt afford to test for a scratched eye on the cat I was to adopt. This is 2 weeks after another vet I called said it must be checked asap, its very painful to the poor cat. Watery, half/fully closed, discharge. I was approved for adoption until shelter manager was offended about the 2nd opinion. She cancelled my adoption. I filed a complaint with animal welfare, an investigation has started. read more

was there last saturday, the animals all look well cared for, but my number on reason for writhing this review, is that with all the people they have working there, you would think that the litter boxes would be clean. the whole place smelled like a litter box, and all the litter boxes i saw were in desperate need of cleaning. would probably not adoptfrom this location. read more

Based on my experience I think its fair to rate this 3 stars, the facility overall is 5 star. One of my dogs had recently passed away from old age, he was purchased from a store and this time around I wanted to adopt. I just started to look for a younger dog when I came across a liter at A.D.O.P.T in Naperville. I read through their site, even completed an application so that I was ready when I arrived there that evening. Upon arriving, I was greeted by a few of the volunteers and given a mini walk through of some of the dogs on the east side of the building. The greeters were extremely friendly and helpful. The shelter itself is very clean and well set up, many of the dogs were wagging their tails. When they were ready, I was taken to the area where the liter was. I did have some time to observe the puppies and I wanted to know more about the adoption process. I was shown to the front lobby where I was met by one of the adoption counselors. She held out my sheet and started going through the two other dogs I have at home, one female that is neutered and one male (9) that is not. When asked why this was, I stated that he was a pure bred and at one point in his youth he was going to be bred. I was immediately told, in front of everyone in the lobby, that I was being denied for adoption because of my male dog not being neutered. I must have had a look of bewilderment on my face because the initial response by the counselor was "well its the responsible thing to do as a pet owner." I know my initial response was "well he's 9 and I am not going to chance putting him under anesthesia." I am not arguing the point about neutering a dog, but I feel the delivery was harsh. I thought being a responsible pet owner was to love the animal, take it for its checkups, giving it a caring home? No where on the website does it state such a requirement, let alone I wanted to adopt a male dog who I would be neutering. I feel that I am a responsible pet owner and had she even checked my references she would have found that out as well. My older dog has no bad records, has been fully taken care of and is a truly loving dog that would have posed no threat to a new addition to the family. It has taken over a month for me to write this because of how insulted I felt. I love my dogs, give them a great home, make appropriate medical decisions for them and if that means I am an irresponsible pet owner in your couselers eyes then maybe they need to look at more than what's on paper. Thankfully ADOPT is a no-kill shelter, its just sad to know that a counseler there would rather a dog sit in a shelter than go to a loving home. read more

My fiancee and I have been doing research on getting a dog now for over 6 months. Long story short, we found a puppy that we thought would make a great addition to our family. We called ADOPT this past Sunday early in the morning and had a great conversation with one of the female employees. I wish I could remember her name. She was great! We decided to drive out there that afternoon from the city. We new that we weren't guaranteed to get a puppy that day, but we thought it was worth a shot to drive all the way to Naperville to meet the puppy and the folks at ADOPT. I would NOT recommend anyone to this place. My fiancee and I have an open layout courtyard building blocks from a dog beach. No children in the near future etc... in other words ideal. Instead we were made to feel as though we didn't deserve a dog because we live in the city and that we wouldn't make good parents because there was a CHANCE we could have a baby 10 years from now. Also, the woman who showed us the puppy didnt even offer to take him out of the crate. We drove from the city to Naperville and didn't even get to touch the dog. All in all a completely awful experience read more

We had an excellent experience with ADOPT. Yes, there was a bit of a wait while they checked us out, and yes, I had to push a little to make them understand we were offering a great home, but our dog came from a very sickly litter of puppies and they took excellent care of them and nursed them to robust health. Our dog is super-healthy and amazing and were it not for the quality of care he got at ADOPT as a newborn with terrible worms (the mother was found pregnant in Kentucky two days before she gave birth), we wouldn't have this most beautiful dog in our lives. I saw recently that one of our dog's littermates was returned and up for re-adoption, and I think how traumatic that would be for our dog, so I believe that ADOPT (or any shelter) does have a right to grill people and test them a bit to see how they'll hold up under some challenges. Everyone falls in love with a puppy--how could you not? They're trying to see if you'll actually go the distance beyond the love of cute puppydom. It must be awful for them to see a dog returned through no fault of its own. read more

We fostered for this shelter for a short while and never again. Within 2 days of arriving at my home said foster cat developed severe diarrhea. When I informed ADOPT that said foster had diarrhea they did nothing. 5 days after the diarrhea occurred she has stopped eating. Their solution send home with meds but not look at foster the next day. On day 8 of the foster being in my home she had aborted 3 kittens and was near death. Called them again demanding they see said foster they did. Their vet sent me home with meds after giving fluids to her. Take foster home 2 hours later foster has gone even more downhill. Call again and demand foster be seen by a vet and they send me to one where that vet found another kitten inside and tons of puss in the uterus and believes she had distemper. ADOPT ended up putting said foster to sleep after that but did not test her for distemper. I have personal cats of my own that I now have to worry about because ADOPT refused to help with their cat in foster care. I have had to bleach my office and cannot allow any cats in that room for a very long time. read more

We went in to adopt a cat as a family pet. We currently have an older cat and wanted to get another. We filled out the paperwork online then proceeded with our family to A.d.o.p.t, to find one. We were greeted and the they brought us back to see the cats. We pick one out and they put the cat on hold for us. I was told they would review our paperwork and call us. I didn't hear from them in 3 days so I decided to call. They could not find my pets records so I corrected the problem and they said they would call us back. Then 2 days later the lady called we got everything figured out ans she said someone should call us in 24 hrs to pick up the cat. 3 days later someone called and said the cat is no longer a good fit for my family. How can all this change in 3 days? They told me the cats is not good with small kids? Why all of a sudden, just a week ago it was fine even licking my kids. The cat is still up for adoption but it says nothing about not being good with children. I feel discriminated againist and lied too. I would not do business with them. read more