I recently attended one of the free spay and neuter clinics hosted by Austin Animal Free Spay and…read moreNeuter Clinic and greater good charities for my puppy, and overall, I had a great experience with just a few things to keep in mind if you're planning to attend. The clinic was scheduled from 7:30 AM to 10:00 AM. I arrived around 8:30, and as expected for a free event, the lines were long--but honestly, that's understandable when such valuable services are offered at no cost. One of the great things was that there was no limit to the number of animals you could bring. Once I got there, I was greeted by friendly staff who gave me paperwork to complete. A staff member kindly informed me that the process could take a while, which I appreciated. I ended up waiting in line for about four hours. If I had known ahead of time, I definitely would have brought snacks and water to help pass the time--but I was fine overall. Before they took my puppy back, they thoroughly explained the procedure and all the services included: the spay/neuter surgery, vaccines, microchipping, and preventative medications. Talk about saving money! They promised to take great care of him, and I felt reassured as they carried him back. Around 4:30 PM, I received a call to pick him up. He looked good at first, but as I drove down the highway, I noticed some bleeding. I turned around and rushed back to the clinic. The staff explained that male dogs can be a little more sensitive due to the number of blood vessels involved, and it wasn't unusual. They immediately took him back, cleaned him up, and made sure he was okay. One of the amazing volunteers even helped me clean the blood off my car and blankets--who knew peroxide worked so well? Once home, I noticed his microchip had started to migrate out. I texted the number they provided, and they told me to bring him back in for a check-up. I did just that two days later, and he was given a clean bill of health. They were quick, responsive, and made sure everything was taken care of. They also mentioned that they host these events frequently. If you're considering getting your pets spayed or neutered, I absolutely recommend bringing them here. The wait can be long, but the care and services are worth it. They treat your fur babies with love and compassion, and you leave knowing your pet got the attention they needed. Thank you to the entire team for your patience, hard work, and dedication. Look out for more free spay and neuter clinics it will save you tons

I adopted my kitty on Clear the Shelter Day, 8/29/25…read more I love her very much and is now a part of my family but... 1) they led me to believe by answers to some questions that she had been there for a couple months when in reality she was a stray that had been picked up 8/20, just 9 days earlier. 2) there is NO way to call them post adoption. I had to drive there to talk to them because she has had diarrhea since I took her home. 3) even though the diarrhea was obviously pre-existing, I was told I would have to take her to MY vet, paying a significant fee. I have adopted before from the shelter in Georgetown and this was NOT how they handled things at all. I was constantly in touch with them for 3 months after I brought him home, went back to them for his 2nd round of shots at no charge, and he was in exceptional health when he came home. If he had not been, I would have been able to bring him in if illness arose within 7 days. They cared about the animal, not just about getting it out of their shelter. So sad. I will never adopt from them again.

it helps animals in need of adoption and humans can come to see animals and pet and buy themread more

This rescue is amazing! It is 100% Foster-based, which means all of the animals in their care are…read morein homes with families to look after and care for them until they are adopted. Everyone associated with the rescue is a volunteer and they give their heart and soul to provide opportunities for dogs to find forever families. Most of the dogs are coming from shelters and other rescues in areas of Texas where the support services for animal welfare are lacking. Full disclosure, I am a foster with AjK Family Rescue, and have the upmost respect for everyone involved in the organization. My family has personally adopted two dogs from AjK.

I believe this "rescue" is a scam. I have not been able to find any indication that they have…read moreadopted any dogs out. The amount of money they claim to have spent getting one of their dogs back from it's owner is inconsistently varies quite a bit. They have quite a few fundraising pages and are quick to pepper the internet with requests for donations. Their interaction with me was extremely suspect. I saw their dog, Nolan, on petfinder. When I emailed to ask about his availability, heartworm status and age, I was told he has to be adopted with their dog named, Lulu and I did not receive an answer about his current HW status. I asked for more information about Lulu. I found out that both dogs had been heartworm +, but Cindy Marabito wouldn't tell me if they had their vaccinations or had been cleared by a vet after their "holistic heartworm treatment." There was or is some kind of messy legal/custody battle over Lulu. Cindy wouldn't tell me if it had been sorted out. I had to ask: 4 times if they were fixed. I never got an answer, but Lulu's petfinder page now says she is spayed. 4 times if the legal problems with Lulu's custody were resolved. I still haven't gotten an answer. 3 times if they were now heartworm free. Finally Cindy claimed that Nolan was healed with raw and herbal diet/treatments. So I asked if she had verified with a vet that the treatments were successful. She refused to answer that too. 2 times if they were vaccinated, I never got an answer, but Lulu's petfinder page now says she is UTD on vaccines. Cindy sent this: "Both are raw fed and homeopathically treated, so would need to continue that lifestyle. Nolan was hw positive when we got him and totally cured with herbal..a raw fed dog treated with herbal will not become infected with hw or other parasites or disease..take a look at our website .... Health Page. It's amazing..none of our dogs go to conventional vets or ever get sick, get fleas, cancer, etc." I'm certainly not against raw or herbal, but this all just sounds like a scam or wingnut on the loose.

I've only known about Reunion Rescue for a short time, about 3 years now. I haven't been this…read moreimpressed in such a long time of the dedication and extra mile that Reunion goes to help educate and provide care for animals. Besides advocating for Pit Bulls, they are a Menagerie & melting pot of all kinds of dogs, cats, & birds that take it to the next level by feeding a raw & holistic diet. The knowledge and expertise is hard to find. I would highly recommend this group

I just recently adopted my new dog through GRR and it was an incredible experience start to finish…read more Yes, it's thorough and yes it takes time, but I definitely feel like that is by design and ultimately matched me with a pretty incredible pup - you shouldn't be in a hurry to find your next family member! The care and passion for each dog is apparent, and I had a whole support team throughout the process to ensure I had all the information and resources I needed to bring my Cooper home.

short version: most of the people in the org are nice but it all depends on who you get as your…read more"matchmaker". if you get Jennie Lou then I wouldn't waste your time and just start looking for another place to get your golden. don't waste almost a year like we did. just be careful on facebook a lot of the group posts are scams. i had high hopes for GRR, i've been following them for a couple years and they were the first people i reached out to about donating stuff when i lost my last golden of 15 years. After going through the intense interview process we were assigned a matchmaker. I thought this process would be exciting but it was not. JL didn't have the best communication, not hearing from her 1+ months at a time and even getting us confused with other couples. She was usually abrasive and condescending over the phone. I felt like I had to keep reminding her that we've had goldens before. We tried to suggest dogs that popped up on the website or facebook page and were reprimanded for doing so. We said that a main requirement was making sure the new dog got along with our current one but that never seemed like a concern to them. JL would call us about a dog that just came in that they didn't know anything about and give us a couple to hours to decide and we'd have to go pick them up in 2 days from the Vet right after being spayed. I felt like they just wanted to throw something at the wall and see what sticks. She kept telling us to trust the process (over and over again) so we did with one of these last minute dogs and it did not work out. In fact she wound up having giardia and gave it to our older dog. Then we got gaslighted for saying it was a bad match and I once again had to remind her that we've had young goldens before. This is when I started asking around and it seemed like everyone I talked to that had a positive experience adopting from GRR had a different matchmaker than us. Before giving up i sent an email to the GRR President and VP pleading to try one more time with a different matchmaker and instead of responding they forwarded it to ours and she proceeded to chew me out over the phone like i was a child. I was never mean or ugly or anything in that email. if there was room i'd paste the email in here. As I'm writing this it's been 3 months since we've heard from JL. No check in or anything. In that 3 months we've found another golden rescue (based in dallas), got approved and already have had the new dog a couple months now. We've also met several other people that used to get their dogs from GRR that are working with this new rescue now. They were assigned JL as well and just gave up and left like we had to. Hopefully you'll have better luck than we did with GRR.

Start to finish, a clear and transparent process to adopt our 2nd dog from Heart of Texas Lab…read moreRescue. All volunteers were communicative and responsive. Overall a great experience working with them.

We've adopted 2 dogs from HoTLR over the years (and have had 10 Labradors over the years - most…read morerescues) the latest was in Jan 2024. Our second Lab from HoTLR was used as a puppy mill prior to being rescued...like our last Lab She has a number of concerning health issues... Broken teeth, tumor adjacent to one of her anal glands, and She has such a severe limp, massive swelling in her elbows and has such a difficult time negotiating steps we had her limbs radiographed. The results? Severe bilateral degenerative osteoarthritis of the elbows - this girl is in pain ALL of the time. We have a 1 story house, with steps down to the back yard; we walk her around to the backyard now to relieve herself. Walks in the "neighborhood" are very short and only to "lubricate" her elbows. She does love to retrieve, but becomes disinterested quickly because of the pain she's in (our Vet prescribed an anti-inflamitory, 2 different types of pain meds, & glucosamine. We also give her turmeric, hoping it would help). We have had this sweetest of Labs for a little over 9 weeks - this week will be our last. We won't let her suffer any longer. SHAME ON YOU HEART Of TEXAS LAB "RESCUE?" for NOT DOING the right thing by not having our sweet dog euthanized when you obtained her. It's not about the adoption fee, or the Vet costs, it's about the DOG, and her quality of life. These folks search shelters and more all over Texas to get their dogs. That's where we'll go in the future.

We adopted our first dog from Austin Dog Rescue in 2011. She was the best dog we could have ever…read moreasked for. She passed in 2023. In 2024, we started looking at the ADR site again for our next dog. We have since adopted another pup from this group. Everyone we have met is lovely; they genuinely want the best for the dogs. If we ever have an issue, they have been a great resource. I highly recommend them if you are looking for a paw family member. They are tiny but are doing great work.

Doing a great service to so many who can not speak for themselves. Saving dogs every day…read more Volunteer to help if you can. Or if you can, take a loving, desperate abandoned soul home. Dogs and cats are angels who walk among us. Please call ahead and make an appointment to visit. See for yourself and share your life with a special friend or two. You will never get a more committed and loving four-legged friend than one you give a 2nd chance at life to.

This shelter is oes not appreciate foster parents. I volunteered to foster a dog. The dog destroyed…read moremy house in less than an hour it was left alone in the house. $4000 we worth of damages. I called the shelter to inform them if this and that the dog had ran away as soon as I opened the door. I was extremely stressed and in shock. Nevertheless, I made it vlyto the adoption coordinator that I was not mad at the dog and that I was not seeking financial compensation. Instead of having any sympathy she blamesd me and accused me of being a bad person and to old me I was not allowed to return there. She got upset because I toyher that the dog needs training and they have to inform fuerte adopters of bad behaviors. Do not donate to these people. Volunteer at a shelter where they have sympathy for you and volunteers.

This happened in Dripping Springs but they deleted my post…read more For decades, my wife and I have been dedicated caretakers for snow breeds. Such is our affection that our friends jokingly suggest they'd prefer to return in their next life as one of our cherished dogs. Recently, we felt the profound pain of losing our beloved den mother 12-year-old Husky. Seeking to fill a void we found a young husky listed on the PAWS website. What happened at PAWS will forever live on as one of the most cruel, confusing experiences of our lives and we worked and lived in Hollywood. We were judged and convicted for being abusive dog owners due to bringing our flight risk, escape artist, three-year-old German shepard, husky mix into their facility wearing training collars. The PAWS representative disregarded our decades of experience and hastily deemed us unsuitable for the adoption. With the passing of our elder husky our three-year-old female is in a state of despair. A puppy at PAWS appeared to be a perfect fit, however they required us to bring our old crippled dog along with the three-year-old. It was 109 in the shade and putting him in a vehicle was not exactly humane, however if this was their policy, so be it. I co-founded the Bill Hicks Foundation for Wildlife Rescue in Austin and on our ranch we feed hundreds of animals, but never hunt. From the snow-covered mountains of California -Colorado and back to our Texas ranch we travel extensively with our pack of snow dogs. One time I was taking our large malamute to the Vet in Studio city, she broke her collar and I chased her almost a mile through fast on-coming traffic. Long story short - I have learned with experience that when transporting dogs that fear strangers, vet offices & La Quinta lobbies, I do everything in my power to make sure my babies don't get hit by a car. When I first arrived at PAWS, I brought my crippled dog in and placed him in a room. I wasn't sure who was in charge or what the agenda was, but we had been promised a private space for my dog to acclimate before the initial puppy meeting. The foster mom for the puppy asked if I wanted to see him. I walked into another room and played with him. Then the PAWS "animal expert" entered the room. Visibly annoyed she said - "Whoa! What is happening? This is not how we do things! I'm so confused" She grabbed the leash. Next my wife brought our scared to death three-year-old into the lobby with people coming & going. The puppy stuck his nose up her crotch as to be expected. Everyone including the foster mom thought the encounter was great. The PAWS expert said "nope - your dog growled this isn't going to work" I thought she was kidding. She was not. She said "the puppy wants to play, but your dog doesn't" I said "my dog is scared to death" Visibly trembling the woman proceeded to lecture me as if I was 5 years old about how using corrective collars has made my dog fearful. I have had my three-year-old since she was eight weeks, she is my shadow, sleeps in our bed, we are inseparable. She lives care free on a ranch with deer, horses, cows and other dogs. As a last-ditch effort, I took the collars off and suggested we walk the 109 parking lot to get my dog away from the confusion. When we went outside my dog attempted to back out of the collar and I was forced to grab her before she ran into traffic. Instead of admitting she misjudged the situation she said "WE ARE DONE" and stormed into the building. After carrying my crippled dog who was now sitting in his own filth and served no purpose by being there back to the car, I pleaded with her. She said "my decision is final, but your welcome to come back and try again" Next day we adopted a young Husky from another shelter, who ironically growled at my 3-year-old during the initial meeting. Back at our ranch they played until passing out, sleeping side by side. At the end of the day, my wife and I hope & pray that the PAWS puppy will find a great forever home and his life can be a wonderful love filled adventure.

I brought home my sweet Yorkie in 2021 and she continues to bring so much joy to our family,…read morefriends and neighbors. Jackie did a wonderful job breeding her and I get asked all the time where we got our sweet girl. I hope Jackie continues on so we can continue to purchase our future yorkies from her again

Watch out for this one. She advertised a registered male Yorkie puppy for sale, and I took the…read morebait because she had high reviews and I needed a stud for my registered female Yorkie. I handed her a large amount of cash and she handed me the puppy. I asked for his registration papers and she said she left them at home and would mail them to me. A week later, no papers, so I called her. She had been real busy and didn't have time but would get right on it. Two weeks later, no papers, so I called again only to get another lame excuse. After a year of back and forth texts she never produced the papers, so I filed a suit against her. She has been hiding from the Constable who is trying to serve papers on her, but he swears he will eventually find her. There are others she has promised papers and did not provide them. If any would like to testify in my case, my email is mmartin79@austin.rr.com.