I have many rescue friends, they always send me some animals to help find them homes. I have had dogs my entire life. When I tried to adopt a couple dogs from dogs without borders, I was denied for the reason that I leave my dogs outside. Which is a LIE. My dogs use outside to go to the bathroom and to get a little fresh air. For the most part. My dogs are with me. I feed them healthy food and they have beds, pillows and blankets. They are really spoiled. So when I filled out the application, it took forever to get a response and when I did I was denied for a made up lie by them. I've read other reviews after this and there are more reviews like mine. Dogs without borders is not a good place. They treat their animals like prisoners and lock them in cages. They say it on their ads for the dogs. And they are really discriminatory. They pick based on what they actually want. Not for the best home for the dog. They should shut their doors and leave rescue up to the professionals who actually care. Oh. And I have reach out to them multiple times with zero response from them. I have heard the experiences from people they have dealt with. They all say that they are very bad. P.s. I have an email from them with their reason for denial and it has my application attached I may add to this just to show proof. They seem to lash out at people for their reviews. read more

My wife and I tried to rescue two yorkie females (8 & 10 years old and had to stay together) and after filling out the application and paying $10.00 we were told we don't live in LA County so couldn't adopt them. We were willing to drive the 2 hours to pick them up and were happy to give them a loving home even though they were way past puppies. They DON'T live up to their name and they DO have borders! The sad thing is the dogs are the ones losing out. read more

I hate to write a bad review about an organization that rescues animals, but Dogs Without Borders has left me no choice. About a month ago, my boyfriend and I decided that we'd like to begin fostering dogs to help us decide if we were up to the challenge of adding a third dog to our lives permanently. (We have two dogs at the moment.) We rent a big house with a fenced in backyard, my boyfriend works from home, we have experience with dogs...I figured we were the ideal candidates. Well, here we are, one month later, and I have yet to speak to their foster person on the phone. We played phone tag for weeks- I'd leave her a voicemail giving her exact times and days I was available, she would call me back only when I WASN'T available, then I'd return her call moments later and she wouldn't answer. I eventually got so turned off, I stopped trying. Meanwhile, my Facebook feed is filled with their posts BEGGING for fosters, and I'm just sitting here, staring at my phone. So that's cool. Last week, after much discussion, my boyfriend and I finally admitted to ourselves that we don't *need* to foster, we're actually ready to go ahead and adopt. I decided to give DWB another shot, since we were adopting this time, and surely they want to find their rescues good forever homes, right? We went through their website and chose a dog that we wanted to meet. I filled out the application last week and sent it in. I've heard NOTHING. Listen, I'm 34 with a stable job, a house with a yard, and am borderline obsessed with my dogs. Don't try to tell me I'm not a good candidate. They just don't return calls. Which upsets me on so many levels, because one of their animals could have been out of the shelter and in a great home by this point. I've already been in contact with another shelter- they set up a meeting for me immediately when I expressed interest in one of their pups. I appreciate the work that these organizations do, but if DWB refuses to communicate with potential fosters/adopters, what's the point? And still, their Facebook page pleads for rescues and fosters...and I sit here, staring at my phone. read more

Having worked up the nerve to start looking for a pup to adopt, we stopped by Tailwaggers pet store in October 2015 for their Saturday adoption fair. That particular Saturday, over a dozen dogs from the Dogs Without Borders organization were arranged in pens on one side of the store, with volunteers standing by to offer more information. We ended up falling in love with the first dog we saw, Howard (literally, we looked at two more and my husband was like, "I liked the first one"). We found out that DWB rescues dogs from kill shelters and then houses them with fosters, who bring them to these fairs every weekend until they get adopted. Howard had been with a foster mom for five months, and still hadn't found a forever home. So after we spent a bit of time petting Howard, we talked to the volunteer standing by his pen. She flagged down one of the organizers, who told us about their offer a Foster-to-Adopt trial program. Basically, we could fill out some paperwork, and then take him home for a week and make sure he was a good fit with our cats before committing to adopt him permanently. This was ideal for us, since we have had the cats for many years and wanted to make sure they wouldn't freak out. So we agreed, and then they sent us off with him, his crate, his harness, and some food. Since the fair was over by that point, they kind of rushed us out and didn't give us/suggest we pick up any dog bags, which we would end up needing about three minutes after we left. We made due, but I would really like if the volunteers were a bit more thorough with first time adopters - that was a needless stressor for us. By day three I was convinced we had made a terrible mistake, but by day six I knew we had to keep him. During the week, a volunteer from DWB came by to inspect our house and make sure it was a good place for a pup. We passed! All week, we were in contact with a foster specialist from DWB by email, who answered our questions and reassured us that it's always a bit rough in the beginning. At the week mark, we agreed to keep him, and we returned his crate and harness to another adoption fair and paid them his adoption fee electronically. A week later, I got an email asking us to return his crate and harness, and I had to clarify that I had already returned them, but that was the last I heard about it. It's a little over a year later, and Howard is the best thing that ever happened to us, so I am truly appreciative of this group. While the information organization and communication may not be perfect, they are helping dogs find homes and succeeding! read more

No communication with the fosters equals heartbreak for the fosters. Offered to take in multiple dogs, and they kept switching on me. When we finally got our pup, we were told he couldn't be adopted yet. Before we could even get in contact with the foundation, they offered our dog to someone else and just took him from us with no regard. We were crushed. I would never foster with them again. Don't bother, unless you like unanswered voicemails and emails and heartless people. So incredibly cruel. Update: They're response is a blatant lie. I told them before we set up his appointment to get fixed the following Friday that I was interested and was told he wouldn't be up for adoption until after he healed. I called over a dozen times during the week and could not get through. I was told only to email with emergencies. I received an email at 930 on the Sunday night before his surgery and was told I had to give him up within 48 hours. I emailed back immediately and didn't hear from them until Monday mid afternoon when they finally told me they wouldn't, not couldn't, but wouldn't do anything. That put me in the awkward situation of making me ask the new adopter if she would consider letting me keep him, to which she just said no. I cannot believe the director replying below would flat-out lie on a Yelp review, but no, like I said, it is impossible to contact them and they are cruel people just trying to profit off rescue dogs. read more

My girlfriend and I -lesbians and kindred spirits to dogkind- decided we loved each other enough to add a furry friend to the mix. And since penguins have feathers, we marched down to the PetSmart after a solid year of relationship to find DOG and FIND HIM WE DID. The second my girlfriend locked eyes with dog, she started losing her goddamned mind. I was calm and collected because we couldn't both be bumbling idiots: the dog has to respect one of us. After interacting briefly with dog, we were met by friendly volunteers who quickly asked us if we would be interested in doing their Foster-to-Adopt program. Based on what we were told, we would "foster" the dog for one week in order to "try" him out. If it worked out, we would keep him, if not, we at least helped out a dog for a week. We enthusiastically agreed (BECAUSE WHAT COULD GO WRONG) and began filling out the paperwork. We passed all of the verbal tests and all of the somewhat aggressive questions about jobs and amount of time being home and all that jazz. We turned out to be perfect candidates (i.e., freelancing, home a lot, lesbians), and the process was pretty simple. Within an hour, we were sitting in our car with dog and were just staring at each other like, "WHAT DID WE JUST DO" and "I ALREADY LOVE THIS DOG MORE THAN I LOVE YOU WHAT DOES THIS MEAN." The week started out pretty well. Dog was just five months old, so he was appropriately curious and rambunctious. He wasn't really house broken at all, so we were constantly taking him out and cleaning up excrement and fluids from our floor, BUT HE WAS ADORABLE. Midway through the week, we received some news that seriously changed our financial situation. Since our future was suddenly pretty uncertain, we agreed that maybe it wasn't the best time to adopt dog especially with the $300 adoption fee + other dog expenses that can come with a shelter dog. We figured that since we were in a one-week trial period, we would be able to bring dog to the next adoption fair without it being a problem. My girlfriend emailed the head dog adoption person (who will henceforth be known as Sargent Dogmaster) quickly after to tell her the bad news that we would not be able to fully adopt dog at this time and that we would be regretfully returning him to the next adoption fair. Sargent Dogmaster immediately called her and proceeded to bombard her for ten minutes with inappropriate questions about our financial and job situation. She was furious and oddly aggressive, as if trying to bully us into keeping dog even though we kept insisting it wasn't right for us at that time. When my girlfriend hung up the phone she immediately started crying. Within a few hours she had lost her source of income, she had given up an amazing pup, and then she was berated by a gruff SARGENT DOGMASTER. The next Sunday, we brought dog back to the adoption fair at PetSmart. We were greeted by the same friendly volunteer who comforted us and told us that crying and blubbering was a totally normal reaction to giving up your first foster. She then told us that he would definitely get adopted and that even if he didn't, she would take him home with her that evening. We were relieved to hear that he would be taken care of despite it not working out on our end. After we arrived home, Sargent Dogmaster struck again. During this ten minute phone call, she yelled at my girlfriend, insisting that we had agreed to take him for two weeks (when my girlfriend had simply verbally stated that she would possibly be interested) and that no volunteer had offered to take him (insinuating that we had lied in order to get out of taking care of dog for another week) and that if we didn't take him for another week that he would be boarded in the kennel for 48 hours. Just a lot of sassy, angry, and aggressive guilt-ridden threats. If this woman were a dog she would NOT get adopted AM I RIGHT *HIGH FIVE. I probably wouldn't have even written this review if not for the last phone call, but there's something odd about me that makes me feel protective and angry when someone yells at my girlfriend to the point where she cries ON TWO SEPARATE OCCASIONS. LIKE, OK. ONCE IS FINE, KEEP HER GROUNDED, BUT TWO!? GOOD GOD, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!? There's probably a lot of great dogs here, and adopting through them could maybe be a wonderful experience. Unfortunately, these people kind of hate humans. And until dogs are capable of adopting other dogs, rescue organizations need a whole boat load of humans to help out. Chasing them away might not be in the best interest of the pups. read more

I have never been inclined to write a Yelp review until now. DO NOT VOLUNTEER WITH THIS ORGANIZATION! I have worked with dogs for years, both in shelters and in a grooming salon setting. I have not adopted myself because I am still in college, and that is a responsibility I want to be sure I am committed to fully. I decided to try out fostering when I met some reps of DWB at a festival in LA. I filled out a form and was told I would get a call the next day. I never did get that call, and probably should have taken that as a clue to move on. Anyway, I emailed them, got approved and was set to pick up a dog in no time. No issue. I was thorough and fast in my responses, but of course, they were not. I figured they had a lot on their plate and I would do my best to be communicative as possible to make their jobs easier. The little dog I fostered was great! He did have kennel cough and I had to pick up medication for him after I picked him up because somehow they failed to mention it to me OR give me the medicine I was later told they should have had for me. Whatever, I dealt with it. Then, I was asked to take him to get neutered (on VERY short notice and a good distance from my house no less) I did it and when I went to pick him up expecting no charge, of course, there was an extra fee on his procedure. I paid and IMMEDIATELY texted DWB to let them know and I went straight home to scan the neuter certificate and receipt of the bill they gave me. I was assured that they had told the vet not to charge me, and it would be corrected. Fast forward to the dog getting adopted (YAY!) and my family back home was looking for another dog. I helped my father fill out a DWB form for a dog I had seen in a volunteer email, and everything went south. The woman that was reading my dad's application was very rude and was asking about all these things on the app that were NOT written on it (we have a fully enclosed yard and she was asking why my parent's house DIDN'T have a fence?) She also said the dog in question had nipped at the foster's pet and wouldn't be suitable for us. Then why did the description online say that the dog was friendly and would be preferred in a house with other dogs? We are a responsible family of dog lovers and we only have one small dog..... I was completely baffled. This was the icing on the cake and I wrote an email back to the volunteer director after she sent me a nasty email saying that we shouldn't have put in an application if we weren't ready to adopt. HOW ABOUT YOUR STAFF NOT LYING TO VOLUNTEERS AND POTENTIAL ADOPTERS? The experience was unreal, and I am STILL waiting on my refund for the neuter charge! I told them my family and I would be adopting straight from our local shelter, and as of December 23rd, we have had the most happy, loving addition to our family (Sherlock, the Australian terrier mix) that came from Upland Animal Shelter. His adoption fee was HALF of the DWB one and came with a full medical exam, a waiver for a follow-up, his registration tags, a microchip, a coupon for a free bag of food, toys and a handmade blanket! DWB may be helping at-risk animals, but it their complete lack of regard for the humans that are so eager to help that is inexcusable. PLEASE support dogs in shelters in whatever way you can, but DO NOT work with this organization if you don't want to lose money and be berated by incompetent staff! read more

This place is awful. They do not operate on the same page as all their staff / volunteers. They were going to bring me two small dogs to pick from. One lady came out, inspected the home and loved it. Cancelled bringing the dogs on that Friday because they needed their rabies shot. Apparently the left hand and right hand don't talk. So they say we will bring them on Saturday at noon. One lady arrives at 2 pm. Lady with dogs is still getting the rabies vaccine. Nobody calls to say we are running late. Lady arrives at 2:30. Apparently first lady calls lady with the dogs to say we are a bit bent because we have been waiting for a day half. The lady with the dogs gets out of her car ,days I don't feel comfortable leaving the dog with you. Doesn't even let us see the dog. Said if we want to see her to come to their facility. She is batshit crazy. Left hand right hand on different pages. Don't go here!! read more

This was a really incredible process & I was so grateful I could do the 7 day adoption trial. They made it so easy and I always had help from a foster mentor along the way if I had any questions. Can't thank you enough for finding me my forever furry child! read more

I adopted a Taiwanese dog from them and had a great experience. All the staff was courteous and professional. The process was very easy and safe considerably I adopted during the pandemic. The best part is, I have a wonderful dog that Iove and adore! read more

They love what they do and need more help from people who care! I currently have 5 rescue dogs, and my first was my blind and partially deaf dog Humphrey (origionally Bobbis) He is my favorite! he naps and sleeps with me all the time, and loves to play. They really tried very hard to find Humphrey a good home and never ever gave up on him! And I never will give up on him either. The adoption fees are pricey, however remember the money is going towards helping more animals that need homes. Help a dog today! Save a life! read more

I cannot even begin to convey how AMAZING the team over at Dogs Without Borders has been. I especially want to throw props out to Crystal E for being the most patient, kind, supportive and helpful human being on the face of the planet. Not to be dramatic. We did the foster to adopt week trial for our Lucky Penny, and they were helpful and supportive every step of the way. We adopted her within five days, and we're so happy to have expanded our fur family with her with the assistance and kindness of Dogs Without Borders. read more

They rescue dogs from the dog pounds. That's 5 stars automatically. These people are all great, they like what they do and they are doing something great, helping defenseless animals who face death just because stupid-ass selfish people abandon and abuse their pets. I've said it in other reviews but I hope there is a special place in hell for certain televangelist, BMW and Mercedes dealership owners, and people who abandon and abuse their pets. I believe in Karma and the people who abuse animals will have theirs some day, I'd sure like to watch.... Thanks to Galit and the others at Dogs Without Borders for doing what they do... Look at the picture... PROOF.... read more

Great rescue to adopt dogs! Galit saves pretty,great dogs from high kill shelters and makes easier to adopt them! you can foster to adopt and i hope they let you do a trial too(a week). I love her dogs and can't wait to adopt many!I love her adoptions,too! thanks everybody that help this great rescue! read more

Two weeks ago I adopted my first puppy, Major, through DWB at NKLA's big event. Before I took the pup home they asked me a lot of questions through the application and in person to make sure I had fully thought through my intention to own and care for a dog for the next 15 years of my life! Its a big commitment and I appreciate that after volunteering so much time to rescue these pets they want to make sure they go to a great, and permanent, home. Everyone I worked with was wonderful. In the week that followed the adoption the organization followed up with me to check in to see if I had any questions and make sure my new pup was settling in well. A volunteer, Hilary, came by for my home visit. She was super nice and full of good advice for training and general care without being at all preachy. My puppy was exactly what I was looking for, and I am really thankful for DWB for the work they do and bringing us together. If I ever decide to have another pet, I would certainly look to them again. read more

Dogs Without Borders - First family photo - thanks DWB!! - Community Service/Non-Profit Near Me

Absolutely wonderful to work with!! We found a dog on their site that we absolutely fell in love with and we applied. We thought that because of Covid-19 we would not hear back from them for a while as that is what we experienced at other rescues and shelter but we actually heard back from the staff with in a few days, super quick!! We loved the idea that their process is foster to adopt which showed us that they are really looking out for the dogs best interest. They don't have animals in cages they actually have volunteers fostering the pups until they move into their permanent home which is awesome. The transition of receiving our dog from their previous foster parent was very smooth. They really care for the animals and it really shows through their staff. Everyone we spoke with from their coordinators to our foster mentor were all very helpful and attentive. They also took care of a last minute surgery that our pup needed for his eye. I HIGHLY recommend you checking out their page as they have other wonder dogs that are in need of a forever home. We are truly happy with our sweet pup Mushu!! read more

Dogs Without Borders - Little Mushu, previously named Charlton - Community Service/Non-Profit Near Me

Don't adopt from them. They don't provide you with any info until after adoption. So much to say! Bottom line not much guidance is provided when you adopt a puppy and they rushed us in giving her back and passing her to someone else. When it comes to first time puppy adopters they need to be much more caring and show more compassion. If you never had a puppy dO NOT adopt from them. They don't care about your feelings. you are gonna be hurt at the end!!!they just don't know how to deal with human interactions. read more

After reading a bunch of reviews here, I decided to give DWB a chance anyway. While I definitely came across some of the red flags mentioned in others' reviews, I tried to put myself in the other's shoes and really come at it from a dog rescuer's perspective. These people saw (and dealt with!) the ugly and gruesome things that happened to these sweet dogs. A few people within this organization will benefit from brushing up on their people skills, but when I saw how loving they were to my muffin bunz, I knew I'll do whatever to keep giving love to my dog and this organization. Thank you for the new addition to my fam bam! read more

We had a great experience adopting from DWB from beginning to end. If you have an opportunity to go to one of the adoption fairs and meet a few of their adoptable pups, you should. That is what we did,and love our new little girl. read more

Galit Ruben (founder and director) is a force of nature! She does a wonderful job of matching dogs with both fosters and potential owners. My husband and I started out as fosters and, then, lo-and-behold, we fell in love "Harry the Worm," a feisty chihuahua-corgi mix. Frankly, we could have fallen in love with ANY of her dogs. It's a great place from which to adopt ... especially if you're looking for a small dog. And, if you're not sure you're ready for a dog, consider fostering a beastie! read more

We feel so lucky to have worked with Dogs Without Borders who helped us find our beloved dog! We had already a pretty picky Yorkie and Galit allowed us to check out several dogs to find out who might be a good fit. Cali, a blind poodle mix ended up being it! I would have never thought I would adopt a blind dog but she is so loving, gentle and easy going and doesn't even seem to know she can't see. She is a wonderful addition to our family. Thank you Dogs Without Borders! read more

Dogs Without Borders is a great organization. My boyfriend really wanted to adopt a dog but I wasn't immediately on board. We decided to look into fostering to see how a dog would fit into our lifestyle and with a quick google search, we stumbled upon DWB. We contacted them and Elena got back to us in a day. After a couple email exchanges, we agreed to foster one of the dogs. Well, within a minute of meeting the little guy, we knew we were not going to give him up and got in contact with Elena to go forward with adoption. He's a great addition to our home and we are really lucky to have found DWB. read more

Dogs Without Borders - Mr. Richard Donner - Community Service/Non-Profit Near Me

I've been volunteering with Dogs Without Borders since 2006 and I have adopted two little terrier girls through DWB myself. I have fostered many dogs for them. Some will get adopted in a week or two but many don't get adopted for months, and sometimes even years, either due to medical or behavioral issues that need to be handled before the pup actually becomes adoptable. Galit doesn't just rescue dogs who will be immediately adoptable but also commits to dogs who will need months or years of medical care and training before they are healthy and happy enough to become a successful memeber of a family. People often tell me that a rescue group made them wait two weeks before deciding to let them adopt the dog they wanted or had ridiculous criteria for their adopters. DWB has reasonable criteria and once your application is approved a volunteer quickly does a housecheck to make sure you can provide a safe home for your new baby and that's it. Yes, it costs money to adopt a dog. It costs far more to run a rescue that saves well over 300 dogs a year. I am proud to be a part of this organzation. read more

I would highly recommend Dogs Without Borders! Megan Dunn was so helpful with the process of adopting Cookie, and his foster family was so caring. It was a great experience, and we are so happy to have Cookie as a part of our family now. read more

I was pretty close to adopting but right after I fill out the application I had to wait a good 10 minutes before they can even get back to me with a decision. I was literally just standing there looking like an idiot staring blankly at every volunteer waiting to come talk to me. I understand it was time to pack up but at least have the professional decency to tell me that they would just have to get back to me regarding a decision I would highly appreciate that and would definitely agree and understand the situation but to leave me standing there and not minding me at all is down right disrespectful and unprofessional. I'm technically a client and professional salespeople doesn't leave their clients hanging EVER! Another thing is a lot of these volunteers don't know a single thing about dogs except that they bark and have four legs. I'm not an expert on dogs nor am I an expert with training dogs but I've been a kennel attendant and a dog walker for several years now and I know most definitely that prong collars aren't dangerous for dogs it's the human that's not paying attention that's the big danger in that scenario. Again it all depends on the dog's behavior and I know my dog all too well and who are these people to judge me for using one they definitely haven't seen the things I have and prong collars have helped with dog handling all the time because it's all about letting the dog know who the alpha is. Another thing I've learned through out the years is dogs who have reached a year old are very difficult and close to impossible to train so please don't give me that excuse that giving treats to any dog will change their habits. Lastly the lady in charge today didn't seem a bit interested in what she was doing. Not really sure if she was also a volunteer or worse was actually paid to do this because she obviously didn't want to be there. So I would definitely wake up and tell your volunteers to stop being know it alls before you all make nuisances of yourselves. read more

Worst experience ever trying to adopt from these people. I have fostered from them before which was all fine except for them not telling me the foster dog needed some medicine which then two days later they had me drive a ways to pick up without even an apology for not having had given it to me to begin with, at the time I didn't think about it because well I just wanted Rocky to be happy and healthy and I was having fun fostering him. After fostering I was obviously ready to adopt and I applied two different times. Both applications went unanswered/ignored for over two weeks until I reached out again and by then dogs were already adopted? I tried again recently with a dog they have on their site at the moment and again nothing until I personally texted one of the contacts there only to be ignored. Finally got an answer that said the dog is kid friendly so they want to adopt it out to a family with kids...really??? First of kids are in school all day! and when they are home and if they are not doing their extra curricular activities they are on their iPhones and computers, and if they meant they wanted toddlers well the dog is less than 10 pounds and would have to deal with kids pulling on its tail. Nonetheless the woman said to contact the adoption email which I did and still no answer. The most frustrating experience and from the rest of their reviews this is not uncommon with them. Adopting a dog is an emotional experience. Not like buying a loaf of bread and their disregard for that only shows their contempt not just for the humans who are looking to fill their homes with love but also their disregard towards the little creatures that they pretend to care for. If I could give them a big fat 0 stars I would. read more

Great experience with this group. We've adopted from them twice. They do great work! As a previous dog rescuer, the work isn't easy at all. We admire their commitment to not only dogs, but cats and pigs now. Thanks for saving animals' lives. You give them a great shot at a good life and spend money to save them when others wouldn't. Keep up the great work! Thanks for saving our 4 legged friends, regardless of species. read more

WORST customer service. I applied to foster a dog and never heard back. I then decided to email them about it and still never heard back. I then proceeded to message them over Instagram since that seems all they care about and I FINALLY got a response that said "be patient." First off, I'm trying to help their business out by offering to foster a dog. Do not respond back rude and continuously post about needing fosters when you can't read your own emails and see that there are PLENTY of foster applications already in. If you're advocating to treat dogs nicely, make sure to treat humans nicely as well. read more

It is really wonderful to see an organization that takes so much into consideration when finding homes for the dogs. As a donor I feel that my money is going to help in so many ways and love to hear about the success stories. They care for the animals and the potential owners to find the best match. Now always easy to do but very important for a good outcome. read more

The one positive thing about this rescue is that they do rescue a lot of dogs but after that it is a disaster! The dogs are not vet checked or even bathed when they come from the shelter. If you go to an adoption event, you are totally ignored as the staff just talk among themselves. There is one woman with blue hair and piercings that is so condescending to the volunteers and fosters that you don't dare ask her a question! My friend fostered for them and got a sick dog, and was told to bring the dog the rescue vet 20 miles away! They expected her to take a day off and do this on their own time. This rescue only cares about money- they charge $350 for a dog yet ask for the Dollar Store collar back before you leave the adoption event! There are so many good rescues out there that actually are in it for the dogs, not the money. read more

Quite simply, I found a perfect dog on DWB's website and filled out an application. This was six days ago. No communication whatsoever to even tell me they were not interested. It seems sad to me that these dogs are waiting to be adopted or fostered, and no one is communicating to potential adopters. I am a single male who lives in a dog-friendly small complex with a courtyard that all the other dogs here play in. Seems perfect, but I guess not. Fortunately, there are many other agencies that are responsive. read more

My boyfriend and I were interested in adopting a dog, We drove from the valley because we wanted to support a good cause. Well I guess no good deeds goes unpunished. We stood there for about 15 waiting to talk to someone and we were actively ignored while at the same time making eye contact with two employees. We left without talking to anyone. I guess this will teach us to stay in the valley where people are courteous and kind. Next stop the city animal shelter. read more

after loosing my 15 y/o dachshund i wanted to rescue a puppy for my mix he left behind. i applied for a pit bull puppy, got an interview, and was told i'd be notified REGARDLESS if i got him or not. they are super thorough with questions and home evaluations but never letting me know if i got the dog or not when you told me i would be told regardless is not okay. i tried to email again and never got a response. i'm sure that puppy got an amazing home it's just irritating to not know. read more

I love the fact that this organization is rescuing and fostering dogs that could be put down. I would consider adopting again from them. I got a 5 year old chihuahua from them who I absolutely love. However I've taken two stars out because the agency and foster care giver never mentioned that this dog is aggressive and bites! He has bit my boyfriend, a close friend of mine, and another dog. I feel like this should have been disclosed. The foster mom seemed to really want him out of her home - luckily I don't have many guests but he is unfriendly with almost every male he meets and some women as well. He was described as exactly the opposite of that. Again - I can't emphasize enough that this dog is very much loved but biting aggressive unprovoked behavior should be disclosed BEFORE adoption. read more

This review is not about what Dogs Without Borders does. I think their cause is fantastic, and personally I met some great volunteers who were really enthusiastic about their dogs. I walked in to Petsmart yesterday with my friend, my roommate and my new baby that I adopted from Woofstock at Roxbury park. My roommate has had lots of experience fostering dogs and was looking to foster another. I was just doing my thing, walking around Petsmart with my new boy, and my roomie just hung out with the foster dogs. After about half an hour, she pulls me over and tells me an 8 week old puppy needs a foster, asking me what I thought. I said for sure, if DWB is okay with us fostering when we have other dogs around, and that I had just adopted one from the shelter, then it was for sure fine with me. I hang around again for maybe another half an hour while my roomie fills in the foster application and of course, everyone is happy. Chloe tells us that the puppy is young and susceptible to diseases, and hasn't had all her shots updated. Once my roomie hears this, she says it might not be a good idea for us to take her because we were told my dog might still be incubating kennel cough from the shelter. I ask Chloe, what is the worst that could happen if the puppy is exposed to kennel cough? "She could get sick, and she could DIE." One would expect them to say "Yeah, maybe it's not a good idea for you guys to foster this dog after all since you have a newly adopted dog, and yeah it's not a good idea to expose the puppy to sickness and death" but NO. Chloe proceeds to snap at my roomie saying "You can't commit to a dog and say no all of a sudden! Someone else could have taken her but you already said you would!" and storms off to the back room. She then proceeded to say that nobody knew I had a new adoption from a shelter, so this was not disclosed. I WAS STANDING THERE FOR AN HOUR BEING A PROUD MAMA AND TELLING EVERYONE WHO WOULD LISTEN ABOUT MY NEW ADOPTION AND HOW IT WAS FROM THE WEST LA SHELTER! For fucks sake, they even tried to ask us to foster ANOTHER WEST LA shelter dog.. so HOW DID THEY NOT KNOW? What the actual fuck? My roomie is feeling horrible and close to tears at this point and I said fine, let's take her home and foster her then. We've had to quarantine all dogs in separate rooms, and the puppy cries bloody murder whenever it hears another dog but can't approach it. Yes, Dogs Without Borders is a great organization with a great cause, but I would think that they cared a little more about where their fosters go. read more

I did volunteering with DWB. The most important thing is, they don't care their dogs' condition, and thinking about SELLING dogs. I feel, they don't like dogs and just doing show up and racing game for SELLING. They push people to BUY dogs. Is It really good for dogs who already got scar from human?? I was fostering a dog. i was thinking adoption the dog and DWB knows it. But one day, they never let me know that the dog is going to be adopted and took her without any mention. I had already relation with the dog for adoption, but they don't care. So the dog was adopted by someone else, and we should be separated and will never see again. Still I feel I did stillbirth. This place, DWB is for finding good home for dogs. But they are not doing this!! They measure who will buy dogs as soon as possible. Is it really good for people and animals?? Really they are doing good job??? DOG ARE NOT PRODUCT FOR SELLING!!!!! If you really don't believe this, go to Pet-smart which they have dogs fair, and ask people who work for Pet-smart. read more

I volunteered with them for 6 months. They do not have their dogs examined by a vet when they come out of the shelter. I fostered a dog with them who gave my dog kennel cough, which cost me over $200.00 at my vet. That same dog also had severe scabies. When they dropped him off to me I noticed scabs on his ears. I figured their Vet tech, Betsy, would have noticed if it was something severe, so I didn't mention it. The morning after I got him, they called me wanting to come over to check him for Parvovirus because a dog he was kenneled with died during the night. Luckily, he didn't have it, but it made me concerned since I obviously did not want my dog contracting it. I noticed him scratching and mentioned it to them in an email. When I dropped him off at their adoption event I asked if they would check him for his severe scratching. When I picked him up, no one could tell me whether he was examined by their vet or not. A few days later I email them again about his scratching, no response. I text them, no response. I text them again and they tell me to bring the dog to them. I do this, and Betsy examines him and tells me to give him Benedryl and spray him with a spray she gives me. I ask her about the scabs on his ears, she acts surprised, then tells me this is something severe and I need to bring him to their vet right away. Turns out, the dog has highly contagious Scabies. How they missed this three times the dog was examined by them is still a mystery. I had to go home and wash everything that dog was in contact with. Beds, blankets, sheets, my dog, etc. when I told Galit, she was not even apologetic. She told me, this was the risk I take as a foster. More recently I found a dog online at the Downey shelter I wanted to adopt. I put my name on her, but Dogs Without Borders already had tagged her for themselves. Now, being I fostered four dogs for them, you would think they would let me adopt her and they would rescue another one. However, they are in this just for the money. They rescue dogs for $50.00, then SELL them for $300-350.00 saying they spayed, vaccinated and micro chipped them, when really the shelter does all of that! They should just want to find a good home for these dogs, but they even tell you in the foster agreement that fosters do not get a discount. It is all about the money to them. I understand they are rescuing these dogs from the shelter, and they are paying for their food, but that's all they do. What makes them think they can charge over three times what they paid for the dog? Their first priority should be finding the dog a good home, and clearly that is not their mission. If you want to work with a sincere rescue group work with Ace Of Hearts. They are not in this to make a profit, but to truly find these dogs a great home. Also, the Bill foundation is good. They quarantine their dogs two weeks at the Vet before placing them in a foster home. Stay away from this disorganized, greedy organization! read more

Without Dogs Without Borders, our dog and her puppies may have died alone and scared in the shelter. That is something we will always be thankful for and something we can never pay back. We discovered DWB and submitted an application with them because we thought they did cool work and their website was really well set up. Their New Dog User Guide and FAQ are helpful for any new dog owner. The adoption application was online and easy to submit. It asked very thoughtful questions and we were hopeful the rescue would use our answers to match a good dog with us. What really sold us was their foster-to-adopt program that lets you "try out" a dog for a week. We were really enthusiastic about this option but in the end I don't know if other rescues are on to something when they don't allow foster to adopt. The benefits of foster to adopt are pretty obvious, and the drawbacks were initially less obvious to us. To their credit, DWB was very accommodating about extending our fostering time since we were so unsure. But we were unsure because... I...kind of feel like Dogs without Borders overstated our dog's coping skills? (Is that a diplomatic way to put it?) When we put in our application we tried to be really specific about what we needed in a dog--especially since I was hoping to train a therapy/office dog. The rescue was really confident about our dog not having any behavioral issues. I ignored my own instincts about her and research about dogs and trusted the rescue, and I think that was a mistake in that, well, the dog we adopted will probably never have the ability to be a therapy dog (or maybe even a normal dog. Yet.) For example, I had read in vet journals that "velcro dog" behaviors were warning signs of separation anxiety, and the previous foster had reported these behaviors. When I expressed concern, the rescue volunteers reassured us that separation issues would not be a problem for our dog...and they were wrong. When we wondered about trying another dog, we were offered to try another dog that they described as having no separation anxiety issues, even though their description of her included similar SA red flags. There was also advice we were given from the rescue that just felt flat out wrong--such as buying a shock collar and using the vibrate button to discourage barking. (So much scientific evidence disproving this kind of training!) We were also told not to worry about heartworms in Los Angeles (um??) and not given a clear timeline of when her last flea preventative was, which was really dangerous and led to her getting fleas until we realized the rescue may not have been regularly treating her. Other medical needs were sort of delayed on her, too. She was overdue for her spay and was developing a tumor that the vets we were sent to by the rescue were slow to diagnose or treat. One of the vets we saw griped that DWB is the most difficult rescue she has worked with since they were less likely to approve medically necessary care. When we decided to adopt our dog, we learned that DWB would not dock from our adoption fee any vet costs we would incur from her preexisting health issues. On the other hand, during our fostering period we had access to a lot of phone support. The volunteers at their adoption fair were incredibly gracious and friendly. They were also helpful, suggesting safe toys and lending us an appropriate harness to try out. We could tell our dog loved them and the attention they gave her. A talented volunteer photographer snapped our adoption photo for us. I think what ultimately led us to adopt our dog was knowing that if we rejected her as a foster, she would be placed in yet another foster home. It wasn't until well into our fostering that we learned that our dog had been in FOUR previous foster homes in just a few short weeks. (This is likely because she also had a lot of puppies, and it definitely explained a lot about her anxiety issues.) Still, we were concerned she wouldn't get the medical treatment she needed if she stayed a foster, and afraid that we would psychologically crush her if gave her up. While we were able to decide rationally about her adoption, this added a stressful and emotional element to our decision making. We ended up committing to a dog with some issues we initially felt were deal breakers. We weren't sure what would happen to her if we returned her to the rescue. This felt shitty. One of the reasons we chose rescue over shelter was to avoid feeling pressure like that... Since adopting our dog I've followed DWB on social media and noticed that on an almost constant basis, they pull dogs from rescues and only then do they search for foster homes. I even noticed a post recruiting for volunteers to go to LAX for dogs on a soon-to-be-landing flight. This is certainly an aggressive style of animal rescue--it maximizes the number of animals saved--but you may be rescuing dogs with no where stable to put them... read more

I love dogs without borders! I volunteer for them regularly and adopted my 2nd dog from then when I fell in love with her after fostering her. I am forever grateful to them for giving me my amazing baby! I've been volunteering with them for almost 8 months now and I know how severely under staffed they are and how hard every staff and volunteers work. It saddens me to see all these nasty reviews about the organisation especially when some of the reviews are based on a particular volunteers interaction with the reviewer. I just wish people would understand that their interactions with volunteers are not a reflection of the organisation. DWB welcomes new volunteers weekly and some may not be as well trained as others and during the fair weekends when it is very busy the wait time for staff or more senior volunteers could be longer. You may end up interacting with a fairly new volunteer who doesn't really know the ins and outs of everything. All staffs and volunteers are always trying their best to help as quickly and efficiently as they can but please also understand that DWB are rescuing weekly and there's a lot more that goes on behind the scene of running a rescue then what most people are aware of. In respond to people saying that this is a 'greedy' organisation, well again you have no idea how much it takes to run a rescue. Some dogs that are rescued ends up being in foster care for 6 months to a year without being adopted, this all cost money to feed them and medicate them as needed. As any dog owner would know vets are NOT CHEAP! Staffs that work for DWB are constantly over worked and trust me they ARE NOT ROLLING IN YOUR ADOPTION MONEY. They are in fact answering phone calls, writing emails even at 10 pm at night which is not they paid hours! And in respond to DWB rescuing before they find a foster home for the dog and being too critical for applicants. Well these are all things that are done to ensure the dogs can get out of the shelter as soon as possible and that they will find a good home forever! So if these are all signs of a bad rescue to you then perhaps DWB is not a good rescue group for you. read more

Awful. They really have no interest in interacting with human beings. I filled out their online form. Spent a lot of time on it, making sure I answered all their questions. But I heard nothing for weeks on end. So I emailed them to follow up. Have you seen the Contact Us page on their website? The one that says, "The best way to reach us is by email." That's the one! Well, it might be the best way to contact them -- just don't expect a response. I got nada. Followed up again a week later. Told them I filled out the online form and was hoping to talk with someone. Got a quick email back. Their response? "Fill out the online form." Bwwwaaa? If they're too busy or are unable to help, you'd think they would do people the common courtesy of letting them know. Instead you get attitude if you even hear from them at all. It's all the more disappointing when you consider what they do at DWB. People count on them. Families, including animals, depend on their help. And this is how they treat people? Sad. read more