Definitely recommend. The facility is very clean and the cats are well cared for. You will find the staff friendly and helpful. If you are thinking about bringing a pet into your home, you should definitely stop by, you won't be disappointed.. read more

Despite some of the appalling reviews, the volunteers at CARE do such great work for the rescued cats and dogs that they take in. They take in animals regardless of any chronic and debilitating conditions they might have and invest a lot of time and money into getting them healthy and ready for a forever home. I adopted my cat from CARE and it touched me to see the genuine compassion and care that they have for the animals that they rescue. I highly recommend adopting from them because they do such great work for the rescued animals in the community and you're bound to adopt a lifelong friend from them. To address some of the negative comments: they are all VOLUNTEERS with full-time jobs, which means that they sacrifice a lot of time to care for the animals and place them into loving homes. They have staff coming in 2-3 times a day to ensure that the cats are fed, medicated (if necessary) and that their litter boxes and cages are clean. For the people who complain about the shelter being dirty, it is sterilized and cleaned multiple times a day. I can assure you that no free-roaming shelter will ever look as clean as a hospital operating room, so get your head out of the clouds. For the people who are unhappy about a pet that wasn't a good fit for your family, you probably weren't forthcoming enough about your life and what you're looking for during the application process. The volunteers know these animals inside and out, and they know exactly what kind of home and living situation they animals need. If you aren't willing to change your life to meet the needs of a pet you're adopting, then don't adopt it. Simple. There's no reason why a volunteer would try and force an animal on someone, or withhold critical health and behavioral information, because it's not in the best interest of the pet. Everything they do is in the best interest of these animals. The volunteers invest a lot of time reviewing and following up on applications to ensure that the cats are matched with appropriate homes. If your application is rejected or you didn't hear back from the team at CARE, it's probably because the cat you wanted wasn't a good fit for you and your family; your landlord doesn't allow pets; your references never got back to us, or they straight up told us not to adopt out to you! It's pretty straightforward in my opinion. Anyways to the people who can look past the negative (and poorly written) reviews bad-mouthing CARE, I highly recommend adopting a pet from them. They work so hard to give these animals hope at a new life and they will work with you to find the perfect little fuzzy friend for your family. If it takes some time for you to hear back from them, just check-in! They are stretched very thin and do their best to keep all applicants up-to-date on things. read more

I volunteer at Care doing fostering! I feel they give the best care to cats and kittens going the xtra mile to help and injured or sick animal.. they respond quickly to requests and follow up if an adopter has any issues.. they are totally non kill and have great love and respect for animals read more

Great place for adoption the kitty of your dreams! They have lots of cats to choose from and they are well taken care of. They do a good job there and it is run by volunteers who do their best to take care of the kitties. Great job guys, I recommend this place if you are looking to adopt a new bestie! read more

CARE Southcoast - My handsome boy i adopted from the great folks at CARE!!! - Animal Shelters Near Me - Acushnet, Massachusetts

I wish I could give negative stars. The volunteer, Ruth, my boyfriend and I dealt with during the dog adoption process and trial period was the most unprofessional "adult" I have ever met. She was nothing but rude and disrespectful to us from the very beginning. When we told her we decided it wasn't a right fit and we wouldn't be keeping the dog, she actually got angry at us, made us feel worse about our decision and even made unacceptable comments about our ability to raise children (Although under our contract we were following protocol and doing exactly what we were supposed to do regarding not keeping the dog) We were threatened and bashed on Facebook by this woman. It was overall a TERRIBLE and disgusting experience. read more

I WOULD GIVE ZERO STARS IF POSSIBLE!!! The woman in charge Ruth was so rude to myself and my wife. She was absolutely horrifying to deal with and so incredibly unprofessional. Talk with her and you will see exactly what I mean she has no boundaries or respect for anyone. Does not look like she cares about those animals at all its all money with that one. The animals are all sickly, she tried having us adopt a young cat that looked like he was on deaths door at 1 year old. We went with another shelter and did not see anything as horrifying as what we saw there. Every cat had respiratory issues and eye infections from small babies to adults. One cats eyeball looks so red like it was about to fall out! The cages and walls are gross looks like no one ever cleans them and no one ever answers the phone or helps you. Some cats had no food or water in the cages and looked STARVED! The most unclean and gross rescue shelter I have ever seen there is no excuse for that. Volunteers are clueless and have no answers when you ask anything.Donate or adopt from a shelter that knows what they are doing. read more

We wanted a new kitten for our family. We were reaching out to different shelters with no email/return phone call back or if they did respond they were very short and non informative. We decided to reach out to C.A.R.E. left a voice mail and later that evening Heidi contacted me. I submitted an application that night and she invited me to the shelter the next day (even though it was not open to the public). We were greated by two very nice volunteer ladies who were cleaning. The cats looked very well cared for, the shelter looked and smelled very clean. The two nice volunteers were very sincere and knew about almost every kitten/cat there. We fell in love with two kittens and contacted Heidi right away and she was very receptive to every text all day. She text me about 3:00 said approved (application submitted and approved within 6 hours) and you are welcome to come pick up tonight. Off we went to pick the kittens up and there were all sorts of caring foster people, volunteers, and helpers there caring for the kittens/cats. Andrew reviewed everything with is talked to us about caring for them and checked them to make sure they were infact ready to go. We left feeling so good at the fact that not only did we adopt to kittens that needed a home but we got them from C.A.R.E. It was a great feeling to be in a shelter that had so much love for eachother and the animals. These people are all volunteers and most of the have full time jobs as well, and caring for animals is a big responsibility. We will recommend them to everyone! Thank you C.A.R.E. for doing what you do and making a difference to so many read more

They are the best. We rescued a pit bull lab mix and have received incredible support from this rescue. We were notified upfront about his issues. Raina and Lisa his trainer gave us a protocol and the first day we didn't follow it. My husband was bitten. We never ever gave up. Contacted Lisa and Raina. Received tons of support. Followed the protocol that was given to us from Lisa. We have the best loving dog. We love him to death. We have 3 rescue cats and now two dogs from other shelters. Southcoast hs been the best. Thank you Raina and Lisa. South coast is the best!!!!!!! read more

I wish I could give 0 stars! What an awful experience. Adopted a dog through them and ended up giving him back because of his aggression which was downplayed to us. Was made to feel bad because we wouldn't change our whole lives to accommodate the dog and was made fun of because of our concerns about his aggression when their own vet deemed him aggressive. They made an awful situation worse and I would not recommend working with them read more

A great place to view and get info on any cat they have. They do they're very best to help you find your pet. Heidi and Karen were great, also Clarissa the Forster parent does a great job with the animals. Thank you all for your professionalism. I highly recommend them all Ray. Banville read more

I adopted a pair of sibling cats from CARE last year. I went to the shelter and the cats looked happy and clean. I liked that some cats (the ones that have been fixed and had shots) were allowed out of their cages. It was pretty busy, but one of the volunteers still took the time to show me around and tell me about the cats and their personalities. The adoption process took a couple of days for them to contact references. When I took the sisters home, they were shy but the volunteers did warn me they would hide for a few days and to let them know if I had any questions or problems. The kitties came out of their shell and are now friendly and loving cats. I am so happy that I have them, and thank you to the volunteers at CARE for taking care of all these cats until they have homes. read more

Great group of caring animal lovers who never say no to an animal regardless of the medical costs.

if i could give negative stars i would. this shelter is neglecting its animals as well as falsely claiming on their site that the animals have all been given a clean bill of health prior to adoption. the owner knowingly allowed me to adopt 2 cats with worms and severe respiratory infections without disclosing that information to me prior to handing over $200. when i contacted them later in the day the owner insisted that cats sneezing out a tablespoon of bloody mucus was common and that using medication that expired over a year ago is fine and vet condoned. (she gave me pills because i inquired about their health because one gave a little sneeze), and then she said they needed a wormer, so she knew they had worms...which can be passed to people, thus endangering my health and the health of my 14yr old daughter. at my apt i also noticed that both cats smelled bad, like theyd been living in dirty conditions. in retrospect i believe the other animals i saw in there that looked worse for wear are probably not being cared for. since they deal with strays and rescues (according to their site) i assumed these were new cats being rehabbed. also they were serving food to people in a room that possibly has a bunch of wormy cats. my heart is broken and i am outraged. do not adopt from this shelter unless you have money for extensive vet treatment immediately after paying top dollar adoption. and yes ive taken additional steps to bring this to the attention of those who can act on it. read more

Can only speak for the cat center but all the volunteers are wonderful. They know all quirks of each and every cat and help you to find the perfect one. read more

If i could give negative stars I would. They totally downplayed the behaviors of a dog I adopted. The dog had extreme separation anxiety and needed someone home with him during the day. I told them I was worried about adopting a dog because of my schedule and they reassured me he'd be fine. Well, he wasn't. The dog was a total mess, he was chewing his crate liners, became aggressive towards other people and other dogs and then we found out we were expecting our first child. I made the rought decision to give the dog back and that's where it got interesting. One of the staff put me on blast on facebook, used my name on a public post, accusing me of neglect and either her or one of the other staff called the MSPCA on me. The dog was not harmed. Our other dog, also a rescue was fine in our care. It was an embarrasment and totally unprofessional dealing with Raina. this was after I fostered a different dog for them. They are self-rightoeous and judgemental and will take your donations only to turn around and bad-mouth you on social media without telling the whole story. Only half-truths to make themselves look like heroes. STAY AWAY. There are better rescues that are not run by crazy whack-jobs. read more

Unprofessional, unorganized, unclean and I am unimpressed! I have always had pets and rescued is the way to go. Our family has two dogs and two cats and after looking at the newspaper and finding a dog that we felt had 'kind eyes' with a description that we just knew fit our family we went onto CARE's website. There we saw a cat that reminded me of one who had passed away years ago. After some discussion we knew we were ready to add to our family. An older adult dog and cat. First thing first, we went to their shelter. It was closed with no posted hours. Called the phone number which went to a machine. Eventually received a call back and a bit of phone tag. Even a call from a foster home of the cat who had used her judgement to dismiss us as a suitable home because we had dogs and the cat had never been around dogs (REAL shelters test cats and dogs with each other). She gave me the hours of the CARE shelter and told me to talk to someone there about the dog. We went there and although they don't advertise they're open there were people there. It was just a place run a muck! Disorganized workers that were bothered that you showed up. Filthy blankets and bedding in a pile feet from the door. The cats looked unmaintained and frazzled by the commotion. I couldn't believe how unwelcoming a place that relies on finding homes for these cats could be! They don't want you there. The cats don't want to be there...the workers don't want to be there! A shelter is a good deed and perhaps in opening CARE they had good intentions. However the road to hell is paved in good intentions. If you don't have the ability to run this as a proper functioning facility step down and turn it over to someone who does. May I suggest Lighthouse? When we first went by CARE and they were closed (CARE is only open to potential adoptees two days a week for four hours, And for some reason during that time they choose to do laundry and clean little boxes. How moronic.) We went right to Lighthouse where we were greeted kindly, shown around and how fortunate are the animals there in such a well run facility. That is actually open more than they are closed. In my YEARS of animal experience and well...common sense..CARE should be shut down. It is not run properly and not only will the animals suffer from having to stay in such a place longer than they should but people who are new to animal adoption will be turned off to it after an experience there. They'll assume every rescue and shelter are the same way and THAT's a shame. read more

My family and I are in the process of adopting a dog from CARE. I have found them nothing short of amazing. They have been so supportive through this whole process. They do a foster to adopt program that I find to be so beneficial. They really care (no pun intended) about their animals and want to find the right fit for each animal. I have been in frequent contact with Raina who gives me advice and checks in daily to see how we are all settling in. She offered to come help with the transition and have a dog trainer come to the house if needed. I feel so blessed to have received a dog through them! read more

Truly the worst human beings I have ever seen in any organization. Who in their right mind would put a vicious dog into a family with small children? Seriously, that's exactly what they did. How do I know he was vicious? Well let me tell you..... this little 25lb so called "friendly" dog put puncture wounds through my fingers that took months to heal, blood everywhere. He tried to attack everyone he came in contact with. Our trainer had no luck either, we really did try and spent time and money. I even took time off from work to work with him. So after he bit me (which was the last straw), we called them to tell them what was going on. One of their workers named Raina said to me "what's the matter, you can't take a bite from a small dog? It must be very traumatic"........ I was like WTF? She can't be serious. She seriously should not have that job or any job working with animals. After arguing with them, they took the dog back. Now here's the kicker, we went on the president's fb page and months before there was a picture of the same dog up for adoption. In the posts below, it stated that he was set to be euthanized because he bit his previous owner.... they knowingly placed an aggressive dog into a family with small children. We documented all of it and it's in our lawyers hands while we decide on how we want to proceed. They traumatized 2 small children, and the nerves in my hand still have not fully healed. Do yourselves a favor and find a different rescue..... read more

if i could give negative stars i would ! i emailed them about fostering for them. I wanted to foster because i recently lost my dog and wanted to help. I saw them on Facebook and how they were BEGGING for fosters. i also joined there group on Facebook called Road to rescue. they post pictures of dogs they need to be fostered. i sent in my application a week went by and i started to comment on pictures offering to foster. I commented saying that i have not heard back, after my 10th or 11th comment i got a girl Becca to finally respond. I messaged her and explained that i filled out and application and have not heard back. She proceeded to tell me they have not received my application and i need to resend. I resent one to her and to TWO different emails! Becca then said she was going to sent my application to the person processing the dog i wanted to foster. After a week has gone by and still nothing i commented on another picture. The owner of the CARE said she was VERY sorry and would go look at my application right away. It has been about 3 months now and NO ONE bothered to get back to me not becca or the owner or the people i sent my application to. 3 months later and they are still BEGGING for fosters. after not hearing back i applied to another rescue to foster. there foster form was right online. I received an email the next day setting up a home visit. i am now fostering with them and would NEVER recommend fostering OR adopting from CARE. They are SO unprofessional AND VERY disorganized. Every time i commented on a picture and said i did not hear back they always said it was because they were all volunteers. Now that i foster for the rescue i foster with now i find that COMPLETE BULLSHIT the rescue i foster now are also ALL volunteers from fosters to people putting adoption events together. read more