Updated: GLAD I WROTE WHAT I DID, many others stating same on HOW IGNORANT/RUDE SO CALLED EMPLOYEES ARE!! Worthless POS IMO!!! WOW!!! I am a major animal lover and anybody that knows me knows that 100%. I have been going around with Animal welfare for 2 1/2 months now to adopt a dog, (you know.... The reason they are there!!!!) hopefully one of the older ones just to save them because a lot of people don't like older dogs. After some guy finally called me over a month and a half ago and I said the three or four dogs I was curious about I wanted to see and when can I come in and he said which ones and I told him and he said oh they're all gone I said what do you mean they're gone, I just saw on the website, he said they're gone!! And I said did somebody adopt them or were they put down and he hung up the phone on me. Needless to say I tried again last night and asked the guy that happened to answer the phone what the issue was with my application I said I've been trying for over two months to get a dog and I can't remember what happened with the one lady over the phone but the guy that answered the phone hung up on me after I asked a question and it happened to be the same guy and he said you're denied leave us alone don't call again you're denied!!!!!!!!! Now on lunch, I am trying to call again and ask what the problem is and the woman supposedly a manager said "oh we see that you were denied" and I said I want to know why I was denied what is the reason after a lot of back-and-forth with her and she said "because you spoke bad about the facility so you're denied!!!" I told her to have a nice effing day and I hung up on her. Animal welfare is there to adopt dogs out however it's very obviously they pick and choose who they allow to adopt from them. My sister adopted one and then when she went to get another one to have a friend for that one, they denied her and not give her a reason other than I think she said they thought she was too old to have the two dogs! She's 63 years old I didn't know that's too old to have two dogs and who is Animal welfare to evaluate your life and make that decision and see whether you are old enough or young enough or healthy enough to have a dog!??? With their limited hours I finally went in there on a Saturday to go in to adopt a dog and they told me it's by appointment only so I left my name and phone number which I know was thrown out after I left because as I was leaving some poor woman was going to her car to get a cage for the dog she just dropped off (which I did not know she already dropped it off at the time) and I asked her what was wrong, & what kind of dog did she have and if it was something I could take I would have taken it from her instead of leaving it there. The woman from inside (an employee) came to the door to hold the door open for the woman and told me loudly "DO NOT TALK TO HER!! Of course me being who I am, turned around and looked at her and said excuse me? You can't tell me who I can and cannot talk to! She said the woman is already grieving that she has to turn in her animal and I said I know which is why I asked her if it was an animal I could take I would've taken it for her and she said well the animals already checked in with us. (This is how I know the paper that I left my phone number and name and was immediately thrown out after I left)! Then, they don't even have the decency to call you to say you were denied they leave you hanging for two or three months until you were very perturbed by the behavior, I'm sorry but that's just really poor business practice! It's my opinion but it's also the truth sorry Animal welfare league!!! You obviously do not like the truth or do not allow people to speak the truth because if they do then you just deny them, as long as you all get your salaries! You have workers with major attitude problems care about because it sure as hell does not seem it's care for the animals because if it was you would do whatever you could to adopt the amount animals out!!! The animals are the ones that are suffering. And they don't allow cameras in the situation for a reason. Did you ever hear the saying people that have nothing to hide hide nothing... Obviously animal welfare league is hiding something just like they did before which launched a big investigation on the facility. They don't want cameras in there because they know damn well the dogs and cats are not taken care of properly. DONATE FOOD AND BLANKETS NOT MONEY! Make sure the animals get to eat daily and have volunteers be the people that go in and feed them because they will do it because it's in their heart not for greed!! I would never ever adopt from you so you can block me all you want but I'll make sure everybody knows the truth of what happens. Have a nice day. Oh by the way, you received one star because it was the only way I was able to post this otherwise I would've gave you -100!!! read more

This is my experience with this group. I had been feeding a feral cat and she became pregnant. We were advised by this place that we should get the kittens in asap, otherwise, they would not become adoptable, so in July, at 3 months old, 3 out of the 4 kittens were taken in. We were told they had a slight respiratory problem; they would be treated and then up for adoption. I couldn't believe that anything was wrong with the kittens since they were climbing trees, the garage rafters, chasing squirrels, wrestling, and just enjoying being themselves. They learned to use the litter box, play with toys, and were getting used to human contact. We requested that we were to be called when they were ready for adoption because there was the possibility that I might have been able to keep one, and we might find someone else to adopt. We were never called. We started calling after 2 weeks after not hearing anything, and we even stopped in to inquire about the kittens. They kept saying they were still being treated; that's all they would say. We asked to take them back and we would take them to our own vet, and we weren't allowed to do that, even though I said I'll make another donation and sign any kind of release they may have. Now, it's September and my daughter gets the name of a woman higher up who works for the organization, so she called her and explained the situation. The woman said she'd check into this and get back to us. The woman didn't call back, so my daughter called again and got her assistant who said "they're gone." When asked if they had been adopted, she said, no they died. We tried to find out what happened, when, etc.. and they said they have no records. All they had were the phone calls we had been making. I would have never dumped sick kittens on this place, as I said, they were running all over my yard, so how could they be sick enough to die? I went to this shelter after hearing this and got nowhere. All the woman would say is that they were sick. I then proceeded to tell her there was a 4th kitten that my daughter kept, whom was taken to the vet 2 days after the other 3 kittens were brought in.....and he was perfectly fine. The mother cat is fine, too. In fact, we had her spayed and they didn't find anything wrong and the father, also a feral, is fine. Everyone is okay except for the 3 kittens. They ought to be ashamed of themselves for what they are doing. At the very least, they should have broken their rule and let us have our kittens back...they would still be alive and thriving like their little brother is doing. Was it better to leave them there to die versus breaking a rule?? Their deaths were senseless and this did not have to occur. Even if they were a little sick, which I find hard to believe, we should have been told that they were going to be put into a room with a lot of other sick animals, and consequently, they would not have a good chance of surviving. Had we known that, we would have NEVER left our kittens there. We would have walked out with them. This place needs to change their policy. Whenever someone is relinquishing their pet, and if they are told the pet is sick, the people should be told that their pet will be going into the sick room and may never come out of the sick room. People should have the right to know that in case they would like to have the option of placing their pet elsewhere. It's very heartbreaking knowing that the kittens I raised and had gotten to know over 3 months are not here because of this place. It has been very upsetting living with what happened to them. I thought I was doing the best thing for them. I never thought this would be the outcome for them. Since the day they were born, they had the best care. I can't help but feel like we let them down. REST IN PEACE MINI-ME, MARIAH, AND SPOTTY DOTTY. WE LOVED YOU!!! read more

What a horrendous experience! I went to this shelter today with my girlfriend because she wanted to go and see the dogs, play with them and see if we would be able to adopt one down the road, and make him or her an addition to our family and hopefully find a brother or sister for our little Jack Russell Chihuahua mix. However, we were welcomed with unpleasantness and disrespect. When my girlfriend and I walked in we were greeted by a woman sitting behind the counter, but not in the good way, the way someone should after entering an establishment. The woman was chewing excessively loud and filled with attitude and unpleasantness, we later found out her name was Kristen/Christen. Kristen/Christen asked my girlfriend how she could help us, in which she informed her we just wanted to come in and look at the dogs they had, but before she could finish, Kristen/Christen interrupted her and informed her that we had to fill out a registration form. I then stated that we weren't going to do any adoption today, we just wanted to look at the dogs and such. Kristen/Christen again interrupted me and told us that's what they did, with more attitude. I was very confused as to why we needed to do all of this but we filled them out non the less. we walked up to the counter after filling out the papers and she was still giving us an attitude. I asked her if this process was really necessary seeing as though we just wanted to interact and wasn't going to take any adoption steps today, and she replied, we didn't have to do it, and I stated ok we wont because you are very rude and unwelcoming and was acting as though she hardly wanted to answer any of our questions and helped. It was like we were interrupting and bothering her and she wanted us to leave. Kristen/Christen then tossed my girlfriends DL on the counter, and slammed the paper down. I immediately grabbed the paper and we left. We called the shelter while driving home after realizing we never got her name. When I called Kristen/Christen answered and I asked to whom I was speaking with and she hung up the phone immediately. I immediately called back and this time I spoke with another person by the name of Phil. I asked what her name was and he kept going around in circles until he finally disclosed it to me. We were very disappointed that we weren't able to visit the sweet animals, because of this miserable disgruntled worker, who was riddled with attitude and very ill mannered. Even if it was a recommendation to fill these out papers, she could have explained this process and its purpose a lot better than give us an attitude and not doing her job. People like that shouldn't be working in establishments like this, it makes me think she also hates her job and probably mistreats the animals as well, because if you are going to act like this to customers then what goes on behind closed doors when she takes care of these animals, who are not able to speak and voice there concerns. TERRIBLE AWFUL SERVICE!!!!! read more

Came to this shelter for the first time and it will definitely be my last. I came to the shelter with the intention of looking and possibly interacting with the dogs there, but I didn't even get the chance to do any of those things. As I was repulsed and VERY unsatisfied by the interaction I had with the front desk receptionist who had purple hair, who I later found out was named Kristen. When I first walked in, I had no choice but to walk up to the front desk receptionist (Kristen), who was loudly chewing on her gum, as there was no one else working that I could have spoken to. Kristen did not care to greet me at all when I first walked in, and definitely did NOT greet me in a friendly manner when I did walk up to her, all she asked was what she could help me with. I told her I came in just to look at the dogs they had currently. Kristen told me I had to fill out an adoption form just to look around, as well as give her my I.D. I thought that was weird but understandable. I took out my I.D. to give to her, and she told me that I needed to fill out the form first, then give her my I.D. Did the order of which information come actually matter? No, I think she was just being lazy and rude. After filling out only the questions that I thought were necessary on the form, I returned the form to Kristen with my I.D. Kristen then asked me the questions that I did not answer, in very rude and mocking tone... And that was the end for me. I asked her for my I.D. back as well as the paperwork that I had filled out with my personal information on it, as I was so turned-off by my interaction with her that I didn't even want to see the dogs anymore. Kristen TOSSED my I.D. on the counter, instead of handing it to me, then threw the paperwork on the counter as well. After I left, I was still so annoyed with my interaction with her that I wanted to write a review, and I realized that I never got her name. I called the shelter and asked who I was speaking to, knowing it was her, and received silence, as she had hung up the phone. I called back, and someone else answered, his name was Phil. As I repeatedly asked who had been the girl working at the front desk, Phil either avoided my question or pretended he hadn't heard it. After several times of me asking who she was, he said "Kristen". So he could have been lying. All I know was she was Caucasian and looked to be about 40 years old and had purple hair. I will not be going back to this shelter, nor recommending it to anyone. Terrible customer service. read more

First and utmost, the volunteers and staff who work here have my respect. I applaud their dedication to the long hours to do all humanely possible to make the animals comfortable. It must be difficult for them to see the sadness and desperation the animals go through. Yes the shelter is crowded, but whose fault is that? The people who dump their animals when they decide the pet is an inconvenience, or do not neuter them to prevent additional litters being born are the very reason shelters get so over crowded! I have adopted from this shelter twice. About 8 years, we brought home a big sweetheart of a dog Kiba. He is a big dog, gentle and thinks he is a lap dog. He is a beautiful dane mix that due to his size was most likely passed up often. Kiba has a forever home with us, spoiled rotten and very happy. Last spring we had to put our shepherd mix to sleep. She was almost totally blind, had bad arthritis and her liver was failing severely. My poor girl was in so much pain, it broke my heart to make the decision but was best for her. My daughter and I decided to go back to the shelter to maybe look get another dog. We saw many dogs that would be great member of our family. She spotted the latest addition to our household, a dutch shepherd mix. Beautiful and friendly, Jenna came right to us and that was it. When we first saw her, she was sitting in a corner and seemed overwelmed--very unsure of herself. Poor baby, she came in as a stray (clearly dumped by someone & looked like she had a litter. Kiba (dane mix adopted8 years ago) and Simon the cat (adopted the year before) gave their ok's. Two days later we brought Jenna home. Jenna had to be fixed before leaving the shelter, which was fine with me. I had already called my vet to let him know I would be adopting another dog. I have already told my daughter and a friend that I will gladly pay the adoption fees when they are ready for another pet. And yes we are going to Chicago Ridge Animal Shelter. Yes they are extremely overcrowded and dogs are barking, you keep all those cages constantly clean. Everyone who gets a cute puppy or kitten needs to make it a permanent part of the family. Too many older pets are in shelters confused and wondering where their owner is! read more

What do you want them to do, it's not their fault they are filled to capacity. It's either house the animal or put them down for lack of space. They cannot stuff these abandoned pets into thin air, there is only so much room since they take in any pet that comes in. They take them in on the spot! I have gone here several times to look at different dogs and along with my brother as he adopted his dog from here. The dogs have indoor runs that are hosed down and cleaned every day as best as possible but yeah they do go to the bathroom in there, and they do bark. If barking bothers you don't go to a shelter, these poor dogs have no idea where they are or why they ended up here. They've lost everything they had, and they lost their family and it's not their fault some jerk abandoned them. The staff gets stressed out too, how would you feel if you had to take in unwanted dogs every day from people who are horrible and dump their pet because they got new carpet!!!!! Or any number of irresponsible things you have no idea the abuse the staff here has seen and maybe it traumatizes them. I'm sorry when you came to dump an animal that no red carpet was rolled out for you. Maybe if they had more volunteers it would be better there. They need foster homes for some animals that are too young, and they need helpers there for everything. Try to offer help before you criticize them for taking care of things how they have to. They have every breed of dog and cat you could want, puppies, and even small animals like bunnies. I saw a lot of bigger dogs. Give them a chance. The people who work there really care about finding proper homes for the animals. You have to fill out your information before you even go see them. Not only do they care, if you adopt certain dogs they will come out to your house to make sure it's going to be a safe place for the dog to live, how many shelters do that, Animal Welfare League has been helping pets for a long time and deserves more credit. The pets here deserve real homes, and shame on those who gave them up. read more

Do NOT for any reason, unless you absolutely cannot go anywhere else, bring your dog to the animal welfare league. The veterinarians, if they even are qualified to be that, do not know what they are doing OR they simply do not care about your dog. I brought my dog here for an exam and the vet missed so many OBVIOUS red flags and had my dog undergo surgery. After his surgery, they didn't even bother to wrap up my dog's 12 inch incision. It gets worse, I brought him back because I knew he had an infection and he had significant drainage. The people there took him to the back and didn't let me go in and they brought him out and said it was normal and to wrap an old tshirt around the incision to absorb the blood that was dripping. Unbelievable!! I took him to an emergency clinic where they told me that sure enough an infection was present. Unfortunately, my dog was not able to recover well from the surgery they did and he suffered greatly his last days of life. The emergency vet at the other clinic, noticed right away the red flags the other vet missed. He was able to tell me what my dog had without needing to see the results from the surgery. My dog did not need to undergo surgery. He did not need to suffer the way he did because of the people at the Animal Welfare League. I regret my decision of taking my beloved dog to them and I will never take any of my pets to them ever again. I suggest you don't either. read more

This was my second time at the location. The veterinarian recommended me to bring the dog on a Saturday for the walk in clinic. The first visit my dog had an appointment. When you walk into the location it is a lot of people and dogs to be expected. It does have a smell, so I waited the gentleman that does the paperwork for the drive through clinic, I didn't get his name. However, when it was my turn I first spoke hello. I example my dog had been here before and what package that I would like. He replied puppy shots. I paid and moving on some other women had questions he was very rude to them. So after my dog received his shots I asked was he given his rabies shot. They replied no, so I went to ask the gentleman about the shot and he went off. I told him that his response to me was puppy shots not that he was not old enough for the shot. I told him what he responded with and he was mad. So he went on saying this is not an public aid office very disrespectful. I asked to speck with upper management and let them know that 1 I'm not on welfare and 2 that was very offensive to people that maybe on welfare. So at this time other people are coming up asking for the manager now about his attitude. I understand he is helping a lot of people but, in my job fried of work I help a lot of sick people and he needs to be removed. read more

These people probably have my cat they pissed the wrong person off who will fight for justice. I don't care maybe she's not there. Someone s animal is. Look on cacc website. Your hiding your shit. You see this review please report these scumbags to the humane society of the us or international my cat is the queen bee. She ain't sitting in that slime pit scum bag hole while I do nothing Their almost off probation from their discusting humans behavior last time . Watch the animals going in there but never coming out don't worry about worrying about your jobs? You need think a little about prison no one goes in that building. Why? behavior towards the poor animals. I just read the whole animal welfare act just a little while ago. Don't u bother to respond to me either mother fucker. There's not one excuse. I'm Going with the cops if they'll do me the favor. I'm sure their sick themselves from these scumbags don't just write stupid review. Call humane society Don't just stop there. Imagine what the pets how they will suffer and us but their hell. Call humane society and go there with police because I was just told to do that. Then don't let this simmer any longer. Remember this shit last time now think of your pet. That's exactly whom I am thinking of right now. Lord give me the strength.. read more

Do not come to the clinic unless it is your last resort. Definitely do not come here to get a diagnosis for your pet. I wish I never had. The "vet" at the AWL misdiagnosed my dog and ignored all the red flags which another vet at another clinic noticed right away. The AWL botched a surgery on my dog and he got a major infection. I brought him in right away and they told me he was fine. I don't even know if they examined him or what they did because they wouldn't let me go in with him. They didn't even wrap his incision which had been bleeding, they told me to wrap an old t-shirt at home and that everything was normal. I was disgusted with their service and how they treated my dog. I took my dog to another animal hospital which is where they noticed that my dog had a terrible infection and they saw all the red flags for his real diagnosis. I sadly had to put my dog down. He endured so much suffering and pain from an unnecessary surgery because of the incompetent people that work at the AWL clinic. Do not trust these people with your beloved pet, based on my experience they are not qualified and will not really care about your pet. read more

I WILL NEVER EVER EVER EVERRR BRING ANY OF MY PETS TO THESE INCOMPETENT PEOPLE! If you love your pet, then think twice about bringing your pet to their clinic. Have you ever heard the phrase "you get what you pay for" well that holds true to this place. Without going into detail let me just say that if I could do it all over again I would find another place, my dog shouldn't have had to go through what he did. The people at the animal welfare league don't know what they were doing! I wish I never would have brought my dog there! The front desk is also very rude. All around a horrible place, it's too bad because offering low-cost care is great as many people and animals need it but low-cost should not equal low-quality when your pet's life is at stake. I got the impression that the "veterinarians" here are not properly trained. They made a huge mistake that cost my beloved dog unnecessary pain and suffering that resulted in his death. I will never bring any of my pets to these people, I wish I never had. read more

I recently visited Animal Welfare League to ask about adopting a pet, and unfortunately my experience was very disappointing. The facility itself appeared dirty and poorly maintained, which was concerning for a place that is supposed to care for animals. On top of that, the staff members I encountered were rude and unwelcoming. I came in simply looking for information about the adoption process, but no one offered to help or seemed interested in answering my questions. I felt like I was inconveniencing them just by being there. Adopting a pet is an important decision, and I was hoping for guidance and support from the staff. Instead, I left feeling discouraged and uncomfortable. I hope the organization works on improving both the cleanliness of the facility and the way potential adopters are treated, because both the animals and the community deserve better. read more

VERY NASTY HEAVY CAUCASIAN MAN AT FRONT DESK. Makes accusatory rematks and threats. Threatened to have police called on me .... i spend $$$$$$ there on animals for donation. Threatened me of dishonesty....when I said im a doctor...he accusedme of STEALING my degree. Called police on another black gentleman for simply tryi g to bring two pups in....the man was nit disrespectful. He stated he would not allow meback. I reported incident to the police station and village hall. I have never felt so disrespected while trying to do good. Animal Welfare League of Ridge Mall. Highly ignorant man at front desk.. who feels he is beyond reproach. Discriminatory remarks and highly hostile. Will report him to BBB and elsewhere. No one stops this culture ofbehavior and it is disgusting. Should not be tolerated. Yet it persists consistently, despite. read more

Animal shelter AND the place businesses dump off and discard their unwanted, undesired, detestable employees... the only logical explanation for the two b*tches working there because no one would "willingly" hire them -- and I mean NO ONE! NO customer service skills WHATSOEVER. But by far the most ignorant, RUDE, unfriendly and absolutely uninviting uneducated trashy FERAL HUMANS. No...not raised by wolves... wolves teach better etiquette I was not "vetted" and viewing the available animals for adoption is "by appointment" so I was not permitted to view the animals... Not just me -- they were equally rude and dismissive to people on the telephone. I feel bad for the animals there -- what could get adopted when people must interact with those cows guarding the front desk read more