I left a negative review months ago expressing my experience with this rescue. As most people will do research and look into where they intend to adopt from. My review was nothing but honest about my experience with them. And unfortunately I'm not the only one that's had this experience or left a negative review. I still stand by my review but decided I'd update as today I received a message from one of their volunteers trying to shame me. This volunteer of course has left a glowing review of her own on here. I found it in poor taste on her part to do that. Doesn't look good on them. read more

After meeting two orange tabby kittens at an adoption event over the weekend, my fiancee and I were ready to adopt and provide a happy life for the two kittens. I filled out the very intrusive application, answered the one follow up question, and waited. What I did not expect was the rejection e-mail from Anita because I've never had kittens before. I was told to go to a shelter. I have raised puppies, from birth, since I was a kid. So, I know a thing or two about raising a baby animal. Fancy Cats has always come across to me as questionable. After this, I'm sure of it. The people at the events always come across as rude and do not want to help. The only ones that seem to want to help are some of the fosters. I feel bad for the cats stuck in this agency. Also, after reading all of the positive reviews here, it is obvious many of them come from volunteers trying to counter the negative reviews. Read them carefully and you will see what I mean. read more

We knowingly adopted a cat with FIV that I fell in love with when I met him at Patriot Pawsabilities back in April. This should have been my first clue because he should not have been with all those other cats. Prior to our adopting him he had extensive medical care, including having a growth removed from his mouth. After taking him to our own vet and finding he had a new growth in his mouth, our sweet kitty had to have surgery to have the growth removed as well as one tooth. The growth was sent out to be tested. Luckily it was not cancer, but he does have a condition that will cause him to have additional growths and he will eventually lose all of his teeth. He's already had a second procedure to remove another growth. Our vet was surprised that we did not know about his condition because the original growth that was removed should have been tested. If it was not tested, that would have been very irresponsible because it could have very easily been cancer. If it was tested, they would have known about his condition. Please know that we love our cat and he is getting the care he needs, but I can't help but feel I was duped. read more

Fancy Cats Rescue Team - Just to show that we are taking very good care of our sweet boy. - Animal Shelters Near Me

Rude, biased, and falsely advertise their pets. Wordy review short- don't get your hopes up with this agency. volunteers at the adoption event completely ignored me, and Anita, the adoption coordinator I emailed with, was rude and short with me and honestly didn't even read my emails fully because she asked the same questions (that I had answered in excess detail) several times.. three times she asked why I wouldn't allow a home visit (which I never declined-just said I need to know in advance since I'm an adult with a job..) to which she finally said after reviewing your application I don't think this will be a good fit because the cat wouldn't do well in a home with other cats.. SHE WAS LISTED AS BEING GOOD WOTH OTHER CATS! They literally typed it out in her description! read more

Pretty disappointing trip to Patriot Lounge today, as I went there looking to adopt a cat from Fancy Cats. My son and a cat named Marty really enjoyed each other's company and the cat was even following him around and was looking for him when he walked away. When we left, I was under the impression we would be able to take him home the next day. We wanted to adopt him but wanted two males. They only had one male that was friends with Marty but that cat was not friendly or did not want to be bothered when we were there. They would also not let Marty be adopted, even if I were to adopt another cat from Fancy Cats around the same time... had to be from the lounge. Kathy from Fancy Cats - who is in charge of the adoptions - sits there watching you interact with the cats THE WHOLE TIME and had a lot of negative things to say throughout. She clearly dislikes children. She insinuated while we were there that the cats should not be with a 7 year old - who, by the way, is very gentle with animals and has had a cat his whole life. When I called her out on it, she went to speak with Mo, who then came over and was very friendly and commented on how much the cat and my son were getting along. Waste of precious time and resources. Worse yet, that cat will still be waiting for a forever home for who knows how long until someone who fits her ideal stereotype for a cat owner shows up wanting to adopt him and whoever they decide his BFF of the day is. If they start the conversation with you by saying, we are in no rush to adopt the cats out because they are happy here, it most likely means you will be denied. I should have read between the lines before my child got his hopes up. Hopefully the tip I gave them upon entering will go to buy that sweet boy a toy or treats to make up for letting him be without a family for who knows how much longer when he could have had a loving forever home the very next day. read more

We adopted 2 cats - wonderful bonded brothers - in 2015. The Fancy Cats team was kind and informative throughout the process and overall it was a great experience! read more

Fancy Cats is discriminatory in that it denies good, loving homes and applicants because they are first time pet owners. Previous pet ownership and veterinary records do not mean that you are a nurturing, caring and kind person toward animals. Vet records don't indicate whether you are a good pet owner or will be a good pet owner in the future. While I certainly understand stringent regulations, not having veterinary records or history should not preclude a good home from adopting animals in need of one. Rather, it denies these animals a chance with a good home and with people wanting to love them. I grew up with animals, rescued stray animals, shadowed a veterinarian in high school, pet sit as my first job, and currently pet sit for my parents when they are out of town. Not having a veterinary history should not automatically disqualify someone from adopting. read more

Worst customer service ever when trying to adopt. The woman helping me was giving me a lot of attitude and making noises as if she doesn't want to talk to me. I didn't get her name but she was a white female a little big; she kept saying our policy this and that and when I asked to see the policy she didn't even show it to us. In the end we were hoping to get a cat for our family and we didn't even get one due to her attitude and the way she was treating us, seemed as if she would prefer for the cats to stay in the shelter than get adopted. This was at the fair lakes pet smart for an event they were doing. I feel bad for the cats because a lot of people before me and after me had the same issue with the woman. read more

Six years ago coming up this summer, my husband and I adopted a pair of kittens from Fancy Cats following the passing of my 21 year old tabby. We saw the first of the pair online on the petfinder site. I was (and remain) dead set on adopting a rescue. I found quickly that a lot had changed in 21 years and that rescuing a pet in northern Virginia is a vastly more complicated and inconvenient process than it was two decades ago in the Baltimore area. Fancy Cats was pretty par for this area's course - complicated, overly invasive questionnaires, lots of both overt and implied threats of repossession based on some extremely stringent conditions and the kind of time and patience required in communicating with the rescue groups that was more appropriate in applying for a secure job than in rescuing a pet. Another requirement that seems to be typical of all of the area rescues is that with kittens, you can't have just one. It's two or more or none. Fancy Cats was ADAMANT about that. Which was challenging. After we got pre approved, we went to one of their Petsmart adoption things to meet and ultimately take home our pair of future furry overlords. We arrived as they were setting up and though we found and claimed our kittens within minutes, it took us hours to finalize things and take them home. One of the two had a serious case of ear mites and both had giardia worms that we had to have our own vet treat on our own dime. We also had to have our own vet spay them on our own dime. Neither of them were properly socialized before they got to us and though through extreme care and patience, both have become very affectionate with us they remain fearful of other people. While I continue to support Fancy Cats as one of my chosen charities, I feel that they could use a lot of help and require some management that are more organized and objective as well as a less frazzled and disorganized network of foster homes. Also, while I absolutely hated how messy and overdemanding the adoption process was, I know that this is a regional failure rather than a fault of this one rescue group. Though I must say some people skills might go a long way toward mitigating the natural irritation people are expressing toward this group. read more

Fancy Cats Rescue Team has saved so many lives and found them forever loving homes. This is not a thing anyone can do. And I can truly say working with Fancy Cats Rescue Team as a temporary foster mom was a valuable experience I've had in my life. I helped them to save four adorable kittens lives and they all found a forever loving home. They all try so hard to save as many lives as possible. I have read some negative reviews regarding rejected applications. Even though I didn't work as a volunteer that long, I can tell why they are not able to approve all the applications. So many cats were taken back to the team because of so many unreasonable explanations. (You can't imagine how sad when your foster cat was adopted and taken back in a few weeks with stupid reasons.) And those experiences made them be a bit selective in terms of approval. read more

There should be a rating for "should not be in business", because that's what I would have selected. I am appalled at how this rescue is operated. We are at a point in our life where our family is old enough to look at adopting a pet, and I really wanted a fur baby for our home just as I had grown up with them. Our previous pets have led happy, long, fulfilling lives and I am well within my means to care for one. Since there are so many strays/surrenders out there, we decided to forgo a kitten and look for a cat that needs a home. Enter Fancy Cats Rescue - found a couple I liked and sent them an email with follow up questions since there was not much detail online. Under the assumption that I would get favorable news quickly, went ahead and completed a very lengthy application that was riddled with questions that are not necessary for a pre-qual screen, and asked them to reference my email with questions and feel free to call me. After a couple of email exchanges, FCRT said there would be more questions before the foster would be contacted for a meet and greet. In the meantime, still none of my questions were answered. I asked for a timeline of how much longer this would take and again I was ignored, but rather they responded with their follow up questions, which was anything you can't expand on in the application or wasn't answered (although not mandatory fields). At this point I pushed back over such personal detail on email, refusal to answer any of my questions, or follow up by phone as I requested. So I asked them to stop doing this via email and to call me on the follow up response. They did not call, never did, and immediately rejected my application. Below you will see what kind of questions are asked before you can even arrange to see a cat or get any of your questions answered. Clearly this up front work is done to screen out 90% of individuals interested, and I can only assume that is because this "rescue" is just a front for their own cat hoarding. If they really do have fosters, then be aware that it's not temporary care you're providing. But most of all, I feel sorry for all the cats that are stuck with a rescue that should be shut down. I am seriously considering calling a news station to have them investigate. And I will be informing the website I used of the situation so they're aware of all the postings from them that will probably never get a home. Anita, I understand this is a rescue; perhaps you encounter many ill animals due to improper housing or owners, I can sympathize with that. Having said this, some of the questions asked in the application are invasive and not mandatory, therefore I didn't answer them. You may see response in line below to the items I am answering, however I would like a phone call ASAP to go over the questions that I had asked and still have not received an answer to in my previous email, and how much longer this process will take. If you have any additional questions to the below, please give me a call. You indicated you would return the cat if it bit. Can you elaborate? If the cat intentionally and frequently hurts any family member without provocation or cause, we would not be able to keep it in our home. You indicated you would return the cat if someone developed allergies. Can you elaborate? Our family has been around cats several times and have never had an allergic reaction. I merely answered because it was mandatory. This is N/A. What happens to the cat if you and your spouse separate? This would not occur. Have you ever had any pets? Yes What is your occupation? Irrelevant. I have already shared that I work from home. Do you plan to allow the cat outside? No We need the names of all the adults in the house please. For what purpose? Me and my spouse. On your application, you declined a pre/post-adoption home visit. Why? Invasive. How much do you think it should cost to care for a cat per year? Whatever it would cost for routine vet visits, litter, food, and ODC. What will you do if the costs exceed this amount? That is not an issue for our household. read more

The volunteers are doing a great job but the CEO Ms. Awad is very critical and doesn't hesitate to make her opinion known. She comes off as being short fused and has an attitude that she has to make you feel inferior to her. The volunteer we spoke with agreed and said that Ms. Awad has lost many volunteers because she can be cruel. We moved on to a different rescue. read more

1. As a foster for this organization, they would send me on missions to save "cats" and then refuse applications from military families, families with kids (even though as an approved foster I had kids the same age), and even once the owner said, "I can't give a cat to this family their kid is retarded."!!!! Furthermore they refused to spay and and neuter cats I was fostering -that they knew I was fostering, saying give it more "time" and "just wait". Well the foster cat became in heat (and it was a stray to begin with) ran outside and then was kept by a family around the corner. Eventually through me advertising on sites, I found the cat but they were upset that I advertised telling me "It looks bad for us that we lost a cat." Well maybe they should have spayed her when they had the chance. 2. Cathy personally told me that she has 15 cats in cages OUTSIDE her house permanently and that half the cats they adopt out come back returned. 3. Then they knowingly adopted out cats to families, saying they had a higher adoption fee because "they had been spayed/neutered" when they really weren't, so that they could recoup fees they had from vet bill. Needless to say I ended my "relationship" with them. 4. I adopted two kittens from them when I first started the relationship. The kittens were chipped and spayed NOT BY FANCY CATS, but by Montgomert County. Of course they charge you a fee, but you can bet it's not for microchipping or fixing these cats in MC even though they say it is. 5 This past week (MORE THAN A YEAR LATER) one of the two cats got out and was found near my house, right outside the school where my son goes to school, half a street down from us ( they found her within two hours). They teacher called the vet, who called the Fancy Cats since I had not changd the chip. The teacher called the organization once she received the information from the Vet, and through FC, found out it was me. She figured the cat followed my son to school. "I know this family, I'll let them know. The man on the phone "Ryan" said "Don't do that-it's our job." He got nasty with her. She then notified me right away. They claimed I was in breach of the adoption contract because the cat got out. Are you kidding me? They demanded I return the cats (both of them!) and then had the audacity to say if I don't return them, they would resort to legal action. Then they mentioned some things on my FB ABOUT MY DAUGHTER that I posted to indicate they had been stalking me FOR THE LAST YEAR. When I replied by pressing "reply" to the email -it went returned. The woman who sent this email was "Angela". read more

Earlier this week I lost my furry friend of 7 years. If you have ever lost a pet to sudden illness you know how challenging it can be emotionally to care for your pet the remaining few weeks of their lives. She lost her battle and died from a Upper Respiratory Infection and cancerous obstruction in her digestive tract. Some of my close friends suggested that I search Petfinder.com to see if there were any cats on there that I liked. My friends said I would be helping the rescue organization by adopting the pets and giving them a good home. Those that know me, know how much I love animals. So, to make a long story even longer, I found two cats that 'Fancy Cats' in Herndon had listed on their adoption page. A cute torte maine coon named Cinnamon, and a charcoal and white maine coon named Rufus (who incidentally was marked 'URGENT). I don't know if you have ever tried to apply for a pet using Fancy Cats online application but, their questions are very limited (Yes, No type) and offer no other choices in many cases. Nor, do they allow you to make remarks regarding your application. The term not 'user-friendly' comes to mind. At any rate, I submitted my application to adopt Cinnamon and Rufus. A couple of minutes later I received a blank email from adoption@fancycats.org in my mail box. See the following. To: kelliottjr@hotmail.com Subject: Application Submission Date: Fri, 15 May 2015 02:18:33 +0000 From: adoption@fancycats.org ----- That's it...the note said nothing. I dismissed it thinking that whoever setup the email response failed to create a 'template' outgoing email. They should correct this by saying something to the effect 'Thank you for submitting your application to Fancy Cats. It will be reviewed by our staff in a timely fashion and someone will get back to you shortly'. ----- So, today I received this brief 'denial' letter. See the following. From: fancycatsadoptions@outlook.com To: kelliottjr@hotmail.com Subject: Elliott Application Date: Fri, 15 May 2015 09:54:33 -0400 Hello, We are not able to approve your application. Please visit a local shelter. Thanks for your interest in our Fancy Cats. Anita Fancy Cats Volunteer ----- I'm very disappointed that Fancy Cats rejected my application. I don't think they are reflective of other cat rescue organizations out there...I know, many do good work. But, when someone comes along and wants to adopt two of your pets and one of those pets is marked URGENT, the least they could do is allow for the prospective adoptee to meet the pets in person and see if they are even compatible. Immediately rejecting someone solves nothing. read more

I guess I didn't think to look up Fancy Cats on Yelp and came across their page but here's my two cents. We got 2 kittens from them - 2 brothers who had been neutered, had their current shots and when we went to adopt them, they put the tracking implants in them moments before we took them home. They each came complete with a folder holding all of their medical records. The people at Fancy Cats are all volunteers and are doing the work of angels. When we adopted our two boys, I had recently lost my cat of 15 years and was having some guilt over falling in love with these 2 new kittens, one of the volunteers put her arm on my shoulder and kindly told me "Your little girl is looking down saying, rescue these boys, share the love with them you gave me". I emailed the group to ask some questions and was responded to promptly and even posted pictures of my boys on the Fancy Cats Rescue Team's Facebook page. I guess your experience is what you make of it, animals aren't like appliances, you can't expect them to never "break", they get sick just like humans, if you want to adopt one, you have to be ready to take care of it fully. The application process can be cumbersome but could you imagine if it weren't? Labs would show up at events and round up kittens and cats for experiments and testing. I found them calling my apartment complex and asking if cats were allowed to be prudent, if they didn't care, they wouldn't make the effort. Also, when you adopt with Fancy Cats, if you cannot take care of the cat, they will always take back their cats or kittens if it doesn't work out - they'd rather see them in one of their foster homes than in a shelter facing an uncertain future - that's a huge commitment to stray cats. Try walking a mile in their shoes, they maintain adoption centers, hold events and foster hundreds of animals, its easy to be an armchair quarterback but get involved. If you really want to help, donate to their organization, volunteer at adoption events or offer to help out with office/admin work, maybe they could use the physical help instead of the online criticism. read more

This company takes forever to give you a response for wanting to adopt a cat only to reject you with practically 0 explanation. On top of reading many other reviews I realized that it might've been better to get rejected from this company. Hopefully someone good enough will save these poor animals from having to deal with and be taken care of by such posers. They show their smiley happy ready to help attitude only to reject the most qualified applicants. Sad excuse for a company. I'd highly suggest looking elsewhere unless you're willing to tolerate them. Sad/sorry excuse for an adoption organization. Absolutely the worst adoption agency I ever had the misfortune of dealing with. Had to wait about 2 weeks for a response when they said by the latest it's be 72 hours from filing an application which by the way was unnecessarily long. Adopting with other companies has been a delight. Sad to say these people don't care about their animals and just want to reject almost everyone (from what I'd read). Hopefully you fix your ways and look at reasons as to WHY people are coming to you in the first place, to help animals. Not to give you people money. Thanks for nothing. read more

If I could give them zero stars, I would! Everything was great w/ Fancy Cats until we had to surrender our furbaby. Our son is extremely allergic. We tried for over a year to get his allergy under control, but he wound up in the hospital several times and we were told by several doctors, "You HAVE to get rid of your cats." We were utterly devastated. The woman who we contacted to start the process was very short and cold. I'd write a paragraph, explain how horrible we felt, and she'd write back a maximum of 10-15 words. That's it. When I asked her (quite nicely, I might add) why she was being so cold and short with us, she got rude and sarcastic. Her exact response: "Unfortunately , I work like 18 hours a day (fulltime and FCRT)and get like about 300 emails a day and have my own kids, husband and animals so I apologize". Definitely not a sincere apology at all. From that point on she was rude with me and my husband. My husband called her at one point and she was rude to him from the get-go (which is bad, considering he gets along with EVERYONE). She actually called me and harassed/yelled at me at one point. This was a horrible situation for someone who already has anxiety and depression (me). Because of how horrible she was, and how she basically gave us NO INFORMATION, other than "Come here at this time to surrender", we decided we would rather take our baby to the animal shelter. We have a great repertoire with them, and we knew our baby wouldn't get euthanized because they only do that with very aggressive and very ill animals (our Jules was neither). We called her in advance to ask to be released from our contract. After several emails and that harassing call I mentioned above, Cathy said we could be released. She said we could take her to the shelter and she'd call them to let them know it was ok for them to keep her. Fast forward to today (2 1/2 weeks after we surrendered our baby), and we find out she straight up LIED to us. The shelter informed us that Fancy Cats took possession of our baby, and now we have no idea where she is or what has become of her. We were worried they would stick her in one of those glass cages you see at PetSmart, and we knew she would NOT do well there. She's terrified of strangers! And I'm beyond heartbroken to think that may be where she is right now. This woman made what was already a VERY difficult time for us into a complete nightmare. After dealing with them, my anxiety has spiked, and I had to go on medication. And to top things off, this woman was the executive director!!! So it's not like I could go above her head. I do NOT recommend Fancy Cats. There are plenty of other cat adoption organizations in this area who don't treat heartbroken people like trash. ***UPDATE*** I posted a similar review on their Facebook page, and the woman (executive director, head honcho) personally responded: "Wow, you are the one who was rude if anything- I answered all your questions. What did you want me to do? Then after you were suppose to return her you decided it was better to give her to a county facility who euthanizes and who by the way asked that we take her back immediately. So instead of her going straight out for adoption she is now sick. So who was wrong here Stephanie? By the way she is not in good physical condition either. She is very obese. We will take care of her. We always do." Half of that information wasn't even true, and yet again you see how rude she was. After receiving this response, I went to pick up my son from preschool, and I was shaking and sobbing so hard I had to meet my husband to calm me down. I couldn't drive much further. After all of this, my baby, MY SWEET JULES, is sick?!? This is literally my nightmare. I can't believe this. read more

My family has adopted two wonderful cats from fancy cats. Our second cat that we adopted had herpes of the eye which meant treatment for a lifetime . Fancy cats offered a full refund and we said no , as he we ours . He recently passed at 15 years of age . This team of folks love these cats and will do anything for their safety and a good permanent home . They are dong the work of angles . After our 17 year old passes ( which I pray does not happen for a long time) we will be back to adopt a pair. Most cats enjoy the company of another Thank you for all you do. Holly , Clifton Virginia read more

After Fancy Cats denied my application for not living close enough (I am within 45 minutes of them), they sent an almost hostile followup conversation. Other reviews here that seem to confirm that they eliminate many potentially wonderful adopters, have a habit of being rude, and possibly a habit of adopting out animals with medical and/or behavior issues they don't inform the adopters about. I would strongly recommend that anyone considering them read all the low ratings reviews first. Please also note that 36 reviews, most of which are clearly from people with real experiences with Fancy Cats, got excluded from their rating. read more

Much like the other one star reviews, you are much better off going to an actual local county shelter than trying to adopt one of their animals. Not only will they give you the runaround, they also blatantly mislead. They will try to get you to adopt multiple of their animals even if when you first inquire you are stern on it only being one. They try to lie and say it will help the animal even though the animal is described as not being bonded with any other ones or haven't even been explicably tested with other animals like the local shelters do. It's them basically guessing just to try and make more money. And when you are stern, they will not let you adopt or even foster. By their own comment below, it seems they are in way over their heads with the amount of animals they have and can hardly keep straight on which animal you even inquire about and where they are even located at! There are better rescues out there that will not try to "car salesman" you or upsell you that actually want the pets' wellbeing at the forefront and to be adopted to a good, loving forever home! read more

We are first time pet owners with a younger child. Fancy Cats called the day I put an application in and worked with us to find our newest family member. They didn't turn us away or ask for anything absurd, they just want to make sure the right people and the right animals are brought together to become a family. We put in an application for a different cat, they told us she was not right for us, and in about a week, after learning about us and caring, they suggested the greatest missing piece this family didn't even realize until he was here. It isn't about numbers, it's about finding the best possible matches to ensure that these animals who have already had a rough start don't end up back with no home and no family. We couldn't be happier or more grateful than we thanks to Fancy Cats! read more

While I admire the many loving fosters who give these cats homes, the management and process leaves much to be desired. I visited weekend after weekend at PetsMart Fair Lakes and my application for adoption was poorly handled, disregarded and ultimately declined because "we don't like adopting kittens to families who haven't had cats before". Probably this is why many cats go unadopted week after week after week. My kids and our family offered a loving home to a pair of kittens and were turned away. read more

I had called several rescues to find a home for a stray cat that we have been feeding for a couple months but no one would take her because she was a young kitten and not old or had any medical needs so I sent an email and within the hour I had heard back and was told I could immediately bring the cat the next day to them and they would place her in a foster home and then find her a forever home I am so thankful for them read more

Echoing upon another review posted. They apparently don't let you adopt if you don't have a "verifiable pet history." Should probably be on their list of policies, as that's a pretty major exclusion criteria to potential adopters. read more

Fancy Cat's protocols to screening potential adopters are not conducive to their proposed mission and may actually harm it. I tried to adopt from Fancy Cats twice, and each time I was discouraged by the lack of professionalism in the team that determines the eligibility of adopters and the disrespect that they have towards those that do not fit their cookie cutter vision of a "perfect applicant." As a cat owner and a fellow animal lover, I understand that there are precautions that must be in place to ensure that each cat is placed in a home that will ensure their health and welfare; but FCRT's approach does not ensure that and instead rejects those who can provide these cats with great homes based on emails and misconceptions that they form without knowing the facts. They will only accept answers that they have falsely concluded is best and are very disrespectful towards those who do not fit their mold or agree with them. They do not understand what it truly entails to ensure the welfare of these animals, despite all the literature available, and go along with what THEY deem to be correct. After being denied approval over a misunderstanding, I decided to stop by an adoption event and speak directly with a representative. At the event I was treated with complete disrespect and hostility. As I was speaking to one of the representatives, another jumped in and aggressively asked, "Why would you ever give up your cat? I would never give up my cat under any circumstances." I understand where she is coming from, and of course you don't want to give up your cats, but in life there may be circumstances where the best you can do for an animal is to provide it with a better home to ensure their health and welfare. I politely mentioned again that it is only during the worst case scenario when I would have to be forced to give up my cat, but I will do whatever I can to ensure the best for my cat and have measures against even the worst case scenario. The first representative also jumped in and started insinuating that I should not be allowed to have pets. I was told to fill out another application and once completed, the first representative went over my application and tried to say that the cat I was applying for is a kitten. When I pointed out to her that a cat who is 9 months old is considered a teen, she suddenly had a very important matter to attend to and another representative had to step in. The third representative was considerate and willing to listen and help out. The second (hostile representative) stayed nearby and when requested for help from the considerate representative, refused. My friend had come to the event with me and she was completely surprised at the hostility and antagonism from the staff. And as a fellow pet owner, she was not appreciative of the conditions that some of the cats were in. I came back home only to read an accusatory email from Anita with even more false assumptions than before. After both my online and in-person interactions with FCRT, I would give them a one only because of the considerate representative who was genuinely interested in finding these cats great homes, but would not recommend them to anyone. FCRT could benefit from educating their staff and representatives and keeping up-to-date and current literature to animal health and welfare. read more

My husband and I were interested in adopting a cat from this organization which we had met in person at an adoption event a few weeks earlier. We simply couldn't get him off our minds! The lady we chatted with at the adoption event was friendly and encouraged us to consider adopting. I first went to email Fancy Cats a question that my husband and I had. We were met with a fairly nice and friendly response that requested we fill out the full online application and through that, we would be contacted further by the foster folks who live with that cat. I then completed the fully online application which took about 20 - 25 minutes to complete and was emailed back fairly quickly with a simple two sentence response that thanked us for the application but the kitty we had inquired about was already adopted. The email was rather curt and not friendly at all. I was disappointed more in the short response I received. I would have expected a response more akin to "Oh, I'm so sorry but that kitty was just adopted yesterday. Could I interest you in many of our other wonderful cats which need homes, and which one may be the best fit for your family?" I work in customer service and was quite disappointed by the short "He was adopted yesterday" response after the effort I took to inquire about this cat. Considering there are so many cats in need of good homes, I would have expected more effort. read more

I would not try to adopt from this organization ever again.  In July 2020, we wanted to adopt ONE kitten from them that we saw on their website. Their coordinator suggested why not two kittens! Ok, so we went to the foster home and we all (me, my wife and daughter) fell in love with their kitten. The foster also had a litter from a different rescue organization. We looked at that litter and fell in love with one. We were honest and told the coordinator that we did decide on two kittens but one from a different litter and rescue organization. We were then told by the coordinator that we could not adopt their kitten and a kitten from another litter due to the "Risk" of disease, etc. We have had multiple indoor kittens and cats for a very, very long time, all adopted from different litters, and never heard this line before. Ok then, we told them we will just take their kitten to which we were told oh sorry, we don't trust you as you might still adopt that second kitten so you cannot have our kitten! So, if you want to have your heart broken, go with this organization! read more

I have been a faithful supporter and donor of Fancy Cats for around 15 years and have adopted a few cats from them. I used to swear by them and recommend them strongly as the go to place for pet adoption. The organization however has changed and not for the better. I recently have been trying to adopt another cat from them and have experienced the negative service that many of have complained about on this forum. The complaints made by several are 100% accurate. This organization has severely lost its way and I strongly suggest that do not even try to deal with these people anymore and if you donate to them start sending your donations to other organizations that are much better than this one. The arrogance of self-importance that comes from Queen Anita is an abomination to all of us who are truly experienced animal lovers who provide wonderful homes where pets can flourish. We can all do better than Fancy Cats. This organization is trash and the bottom of the barrel now. read more

I've been volunteering for Fancy Cats for over a year now, and I can confidently say that this rescue team is doing good in this world and making a difference rescuing and helping animals. A majority of these bad reviews are from folks who have been offended or upset that their application got denied or that someone was rude to them. I have seen cats get returned for the most ridiculous reasons. Some who were adopted as cute kittens and then returned as cats with behavioral issues. Who has to deal with it? Fancy Cats rescue team does because they ALWAYS take back their cats no matter what. Not only that, but they take in cats and kittens from kill shelters - each animal with their own stories...heartbreaking stories. Time, money, and mental health are involved in this and it's NOT easy. The main goal is to find these sweet animals a loving, permanent home where they will have a good quality of life for the rest of their lives. Their policies and procedures are there for a reason to avoid any possible situation of a cat or kitten getting returned or placed in a questionable situation. It's simply for the best interest of the cat/kitten. read more

BEWARE OF THE INCONSIDERATE FALLS CHURCH VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR. Her name starts with M and ends in egan. After volunteering for over 30 hours I can safely say that my experience after her supervision was nothing more than uncomfortable and very unprofessional. I did not receive any respect from her and felt unwanted. Here is a list of scenarios: I volunteered at 2 locations for FCRT. I misread my schedule and didn't go to my assigned shift which was at 6pm. At around 9 I received some pretty demanding texts from this woman. I was also recovering from food poisoning. She never bothered to ask why I couldn't go, instead she jumped straight to texting me in all capital letters telling me "YOU HAVE TO GO NOW" So I went and stayed until 11+. I never got a thank you or any form of appreciation whatsoever. Then came the day in which I needed her to sign my volunteering hours. She held my paper for 5 days and refused sign it, let alone write a letter. She finally signed it on the 5th day and upon her giving me my sheet I found out I was 8 hours short. I only had 1 day to complete those hours. She lied continuously about the letter and never gave me one. She was very intrusive about why I needed my paperwork done as though she was my boss. I had to remind her every single day and I was ignored every single time. She is very condescending and snippy. More than one volunteer warned me about her but I gave her a chance and received nothing but mistreatment. She makes the organization look bad. I begged her, and even disclosed certain sensitive information about my situation and health conditions which she never thought to consider. Please, be careful with this woman. I am very certain that every negative review on this website is about her. I am not afraid to EXPOSE HER because I believe the cats COULD BE in much better hands. They keep spamming my personal email. They are in need of volunteers....I WONDER WHY! every other location has a surplus. I hate to do this but I don't feel okay with myself knowing that someone else might experience the same treatment I was given. Please, be careful. read more

Instead of saying the business owner lied, I will say that maybe she did not hear me correctly when she said that here in this review that I surrendered my beloved cat for financial reasons. I never told her or any of the volunteers of FC that I could not afford to keep her. I never told her or any of the volunteers of FC that the cost of my kittie was too much for me. If that were so, I would not have asked to have her returned to me the very next day. When the business owner told me on the phone that I said this, I told her I never said that. And she had the nerve to argue with me. I know the words that came out of my own mouth! I never did utter those words or any others that mean the same thing. The business owner is trying to cover her ass because she doesn't want to be accountable for her role in this situation and make it right. I told her volunteer the very next day that I wanted my cat returned to me, and she has two weeks to make that happen. My friend referred me to FC, and she is filled with regret because of the way that FC has treated me. Someone like this business owner who is so uncaring, uncompassionate, and unsympathetic should not be involved with animals who cannot speak for themselves. My advice is to find another organization who can meet your needs as a pet lover and those of the pet better than this one. read more

I have been looking to adopt a cat or kitten in the NOVA area. Started looking on Petfinder. I noticed that almost all the young kittens were at Fancy Cats. Seemed odd to me. Here's what I have found out/experienced with Fancy Cats: - They hold events and have cats at Petsmart but you can't actually adopt at these events or even from Petsmart without extensive further contact with FC. I was told the event was "for the cats to meet people, not for adoptions to take place that day." Seemed very odd. - They brought several "semi-feral" young cats. I saw these cats lash out with teeth and claws at several people - including children - during the "event." These unsocialized animals should not be out in public or with kids! Additionally, as most 'cat' people know, if a kitten isn't exposed to people before about 10 weeks, you won't be able to really have them be a house cat. It said on the name tags that these "semi-ferals" had been first exposed to people at about 4 months. Just not going to happen. They were terrified and were lashing out at everyone near their cage. So sad. - There is no place to go to actually meet several at once to see which cat's personality actually fits you and your household. You are supposed to just go off "look" in pictures. Look is very unimportant in selecting a pet for a lifelong relationship - personality is much more important! - Once you chose an animal by "look" you have to fill out an extensive form asking extremely invasive and irrelevant questions (what will you do with cat if you become pregnant, where do you work, etc). Only after all that and approval, could you even think about meeting the cat you've only seen in pictures. - Lastly, their profiles mention a lot of "rescued from a rural shelter." Basically what they are doing is going to shelters over 2 hours from DC and "buying" the cute little kittens (why they have so many kittens!!!) and then charging 3x the adoption fee (or more!) for you to adopt them in the DMV. Seems like a business to me.... I ended up adopting from a local shelter (which is where they send you if you're not deemed "good enough" by their volunteers) without even applying to adopt through Fancy Cats. My experience comes from their FB page, website, and local adoption events where I have interacted with their volunteers. The local shelter was happy to have me adopt a little kitten! read more

Do not contact this so called rescue team for anything ! They have zero communication with you. Everything is through email and they don't return emails. They will act like they want to help rescue a kitty but they will string you on for a month and then never help ! That's not a rescue team ! read more

My sister and I tried to adopt a kitty and right away was turned down by Anita. Her excuse is that "our house is too small and that too many people live here" first of all, I don't know how you can come to that conclusion through email especially when you've never seen the house or met us. Never had an interview like I did with another organization, never been turned by either until now. I don't see how your mission is to give these cats a home when all y'all do is treat people nasty and turn down people because y'all wanna be judgmental before even setting up an appointment to meet the cat and the potential people who want to adopt. My sister and I will NEVER do business with this place again. We'll take our business elsewhere to either HART (which is another organization which their staff and mission are clear ) or the animal shelter. I see exactly why the cat we wanted to get is STILL sitting in that cage at the store because y'all turn people down for the most stupidest reasons . read more

We adopted a dog through Fancy Cats (and now Dogs) Rescue Team (FCDRT). We had a great experience! The volunteers are caring and dedicated to the animals in their care. Their main goal is to make sure that each dog or cat gets placed with the best family. And they go the extra mile! The volunteers worked with us to see the dog we were interested in when we missed him at the adoption event. They coordinated with us to get a home visit that was convenient to everyone, especially when we don't live near Herndon. Their volunteers were very responsive via email once we met them at an adoption event. One of the reasons that we looked into this organization was that we needed a dog that had been fostered with (and who got along with) cats. The fact that FCDRT works with both kinds of animals -- and has at least one foster home with both -- was very important to us. The fosters were able to provide us with detailed personality information, including information about the dog's experiences with cats, in much greater detail because of the time they had spent with the dog. It has worked out wonderfully for us. Our new dog is a great fit for our family and we love having him around. Even our cats are starting to like him! It would be great if the organization accepted payment via something other than cashier's check or cash. They might want to look into expanding into PayPal or similar payment methods in the future. Regardless, we would definitely consider adopting with Fancy Cats and Dogs Rescue Team again! read more

I received an email after I sent an in an application for adopting a kitten named Tiger asking me to go over a few questions. "We have reviewed your application and have some questions. What changes in your life might cause you to return the cat? (move, illness, divorce, job loss) What happens to the cat if you become pregnant/have a baby? What happens to the cat if you and your spouse separate? Where do you work? Do you plan to allow the cat outside? Will you be willing to follow the instructions for properly introducing a new cat to current pets, including keeping the new cat confined to a small area, like a bathroom, for at least 10 days? We need the names of all the adults in the house please." This is what I sent back all of my statements were COMPLETELY genuine. "Anita, I don't think I would return the cat under any circumstances. I have a very supportive family and husband so if I wasn't able to take care of the cat say because of an illness I would have them to help me. I don't plan on having children, but if the cat wasn't friendly towards the baby I would just make sure to never leave them alone together. If my spouse and I separated I would most likely keep the animals because he knows how much animals mean to me. I'm a student as of now, but my husband makes considerably more than enough to take care of the animals at our house. The cat would be an indoor cat. I have a guest room that has a walk in closet where I would be placing the cat while he/she is being introduced to the house. Frank is my small maltipoo dog and Henry is my 5 month old cat that I recently purchased from an animal shelter in Arlington. He is a sweet cat, but likes to play a bit more than my dog so I would like to save another kitten/cat and find a play mate for Henry. Frank is very sweet and would never hurt Henry or any other cat. He likes to sleep and lay with me for the most part and go on short walks seeing as he has bad knees. If this has any consolation I'm trying to become a doctor in the future, but my family keeps telling me I should look into being a vet because of my love for animals. I would love any cat or kitten I adopt, but Tiger just really caught my eye and heart. Is there any way that I could meet the cat sometime soon?" This is what I got back: "Thanks for answering those. We are not able to approve your application. Please visit a local shelter. Thanks for your interest in our Fancy Cats! Anita Fancy Cats Volunteer" Are you kidding me??? I'm a complete pet lover and see them more as my children than pets! I had a cat for 14 years that passed away last year from a brain tumor and I spent thousands of dollars on it just to find out that it had an inoperable tumor. Why would you deny cats a great home?? I'm so disappointed. read more

I would like to give Fancy Cat zero stars if that were possible. Their adoption process is discriminatory and their treatment of the animals borders on abuse. I stop in PetValu in Reston once per week and noticed a young cat named Zack has been there for a very long time which made me sad! I figured our existing cat could use a buddy and decided to inquire about adopting Zack. I have owned pets for the past 7 years and have never gone through the incredibly invasive and rude process that this organization has in place. My family completed their application, talked to a volunteer over the phone (who was rude) then headed over to an adoption event only to be interrogated by another rude volunteer who deemed us "unfit". Apparently, she'd rather this poor cat sit in a cage week after week instead of coming into a loving home. She denied us because we couldn't provide a 'vet reference' i.e. she wanted to call a busy vet to ask questions about us REALLY?? I cannot explain how upset we are--that poor cat is in a cage because of their volunteers. read more

AVOID AVOID AVOID. First things first, had I not known this organization actually existed because I had seen them at the Fairlakes PetsMart, I would have thought this organization was a scam. I contacted this organization because I was interested in adopting some kittens. I wanted a more information about their application process because their website is very vague. The response I got from Anita was also very vague. She told me to apply and then I would meet the cats at a foster home or at the event. After submitting my application I received an email for some follow up questions. Anita asked me some very personal questions, that I believed shouldn't have been asked over email, they were questions you should ask in person. Here is what she asked: On Wed, Sep 16, 2015 at 3:22 PM, FCRT Representative fancycatsadoptions@outlook.com wrote: Hello, We have reviewed your application and have some questions. You indicated you would return the cat if it hid during the first week. Can you elaborate? You indicated you would return the cat if you became ill. Can you elaborate? What happens to the cat if you become pregnant/have a baby? What happens to the cat if you enter a new relationship and that person is allergic to, or doesn't like, cats? Have you ever had any pets other than Humphrey? Are you experienced with kittens? Do you plan to allow the cat outside? Will you be willing to follow the instructions for properly introducing a new cat to current pets, including keeping the new cat confined to a small area, like a bathroom, for at least 10 days? We need the names of all the adults in the house please. Thanks for your interest in our Fancy Cats! Anita Fancy Cats Volunteer I ask you Anita, would you ask male applicants these questions? She then told me I was not approved for a pair of kittens WITHOUT calling me, meeting me, coming to my home. Anything. She just based this off my EMAIL responses. How is this professional? Why should people adopt from this organization if you won't even meet the people who apply? This organization is very unprofessional. And you should not give any money to them. It's probably not even used to help the animals. Update: I got a response from the President this morning. I'll post it for you all to see. On Sep 17, 2015, at 11:14 AM, Cathy Awad Hi Caroline, I was sent your application by Anita. I am happy to approve you for kittens if you are still interested. I am sorry there was an issue. Anita explained that she suggested an older cat because of the scratching and noise issues with kittens in apts. & condos. Our goal is a lifetime home for all our cats and frequently we do get returns because of these issues. It is not our intention to insult anyone. Alot of the questions we ask are because we are trying to head off issues and find the best fit. It is your choice ; but I personally like the adults because kittens can be destructive and are alot of work. Let me know if you are still interested. Again our apologies. _______________________________ Cathy Awad President, Fancy Cats Rescue Team http://www.fancycats.org That's right. I was "approved" once I called them out. They make grand assumptions about you before even meeting you. Do yourself a favor and avoid this place. read more

I reached out to Fancy Cats in hopes to adopt a kitten, as we often kitten-sit. We currently have a 13 year old retriever - he's maybe 50 pounds, extremely calm, nurturing, sweet... and GREAT with small kittens. In fact, it was because of our experience kitten-sitting a very small kitten that made us decide perhaps it was time to adopt a kitten mate for our pup. (When I say kitten-sit, we started watching a friend's kitten for days at a time when he was 9 weeks old). I received an email back from Anita telling me that a senior dog wasn't a good playmate for a kitten and she asked if I would adopt two kittens. I told her we did not have any interest in adopting two, to which her response was that a large breed wasn't a good playmate for a small kitten. As an animal lover, I understand putting the kitten's best interest first, however in this case, Anita's quick, generalized opinion was a bad judgement call. I certainly wouldn't bring a small kitten into my home if I thought it wouldn't be safe or if I thought it would be under-stimulated. As I mentioned, my dog is great with kittens. Anita was too quick to write us off. My dog is a great playmate and would be protective of the kitten... him along with the many toys we planned on spoiling the kitten with would have sufficed instead of another kitten. read more

Too bad I even have to give them a star. Three times I tried to adopt a cat from these guys. Twice I was ignored. The third time I was persistent and they refused me for no real reason. Just don't like them and will never donate to them nor endorse them. I got my cats elsewhere and will never again approach them. read more