I've never had heard of anyone getting the run around while trying to adopt like my partner and I have. We found a wonderful cat thru Mew City Cat Cafe and looked to apply. Had issues filling out the form (asked for the names of any old pets). We we told to just put my partners family cat. I guess the shelter gets a vet recommendation, which makes sense. However, the pet we listed passed away years ago and the vet no longer had records. We've been trying to get clarity on how to adopt as first time owners and the buck just keeps getting passed to the next person at the shelter or we're told we'll hear back and never do. Entire shelter seems disorganized. Don't you want to place these pets into loving homes? read more

I am going to start this off with I know halfway home means well, and I am not the type of person to spend my time to write something like this, but I want to save others from the experience we had that is still harrowing our family months later. Besides also having a negative application experience as the other reviewers here have had (in retrospect we should have seen that as a red flag and abandoned the entire idea of adopting from them), we found the rescue does not properly vet their animals beyond a very basic physical exam and spay/neuter prior to being available for adoption, and they do not provide actual medical records when the animals are adopted out. Our family should have spent those first couple of months creating joyful memories with our new companion, not spending thousands at the hospital only to have to say goodbye due to a terminal illness that our vet and the hospital advised would have been caught if the rescue had run proper bloodwork prior to putting the pet up for adoption. We believe the rescue means well, but they clearly do not have the infrastructure, funds, or personnel to properly care for all the animals they are trying to save. read more

BE warned, this rescue does not communicate with applicants, insults applicants for inquiring, and makes personal jabs against the applicant and provided history. I applied for a cat that has been in their care for over 300 days with no applicants just to be ignored and then insulted. They did not like that my cats at home had gaps in care during covid and did not care that I resumed care and got them up to speed with everything. They further insulted me after asking to be reconsidered by saying they will share my name with other cat rescues and told me that I do not take care of my "poor cats that don't see a vet regularly." Extremely unprofessional and should have their license revoked. I put in a complaint with BBB and I'm deeply saddened to now tell my son why we can't bring the kitty home. Shameful practices. read more

I applied to adopt a cat that had arrived at Mew Haven just the day before. Two days later, I visited Mew Haven and was told (after inquiring) that the same cat would be picked up later that day by a "pre-approved" adopter. Interested parties, beware that your cat may become unavailable without your knowledge! The lack of transparency was very unprofessional and disappointing. EDIT: Reposting here because I was publicly shamed by HHR via Google Reviews for being an "immature child". read more

Extremely rude and disrespectful staff. I applied for adoption at Mew Haven, was told it would take 1-2 weeks for them to get back to me. I called 3 different times starting from 2 weeks after my application once a week, leaving a voicemail each time, with no response. Finally a month later I get an email saying that the cat I wanted to adopt was already adopted. They couldn't respond to me sooner or let me know the cat was being adopted. When I asked why it took them so long to respond, they proceeded to blame me! Saying it was my fault because my landlord didn't respond to their call! When no one could respond to any of my 3 calls, or let me know they were calling my landlord or that my landlord didn't respond. Then they wanted me to pay my apartment pet fee before I even knew if my application was accepted to adopt. So I could just lose $200-400 for nothing. I said I would pay the fee if I knew I was accepted to adopt because I didn't want to lose the money for nothing, but that wasn't good enough for them. In fact they called me entitled! These people don't care about actually finding homes for animals. Sad read more

I thought after reading the reviews, that there is no way these people running an animal rescue nonprofit could be as rude as people were saying. Sadly, I was wrong. I had just arrived at PetSmart and missed the adoption event by a half hour, my son and I were both excited to see that the staff was still there. The cat we inquired about earlier that morning was also still there and was not adopted yet. When I asked the staff a few questions they were very rude and short with me. I understand running a rescue is not an easy task but if you act cold to people who just want to give these animals a loving home you are just going to deter people from adopting from your rescue. The shelters and rescues are over overcrowded and pets are in desperate need of homes. Unfortunately, I will not be adopting from this organization and will be spreading the word to others. This saddens me. read more

Someone should call the better business line and have you reported l!, with the amount of evidence that is piled against you! worst place i have ever been to! Value for customers a zero, quality for animals is -1, no compassion very rude and unprofessional over email, in person it's happy go lucky as soon as your not face to face they speak to you how'd they like, seeing other reviews I'm happy others feel the same way, it's a matter of time until something is done and someone losses their job and license read more

I adopted my sweet Muffin (then named Faye) in May 2015 from Halfway Home Rescue (HHR). Muffin is the delight of my life!!! HHR saved her life when she was a baby kitten and provided her with much needed medical care. After adoption, I was provided with Muffin's history (as HHR knew it) so that Muffin's new vet could continue with excellent medical care given a permanent condition. Muffin thrives and loves her fun magnificent life thanks to HHR amazing rescue team, vets, and constant care providers. Their mission is an endless one of saving animal lives, providing the best care, love, and nurturing that they can to make them healthy and happy, and to find each animal in their care loving and safe furr-ever homes. The STELLAR dedication of HHR and everyone involved with this organization is BEYOND AMAZING in grand ways. On a note about why some people may think it is difficult to adopt a pet, please understand that animal rescue organizations are faced with finding FOREVER homes where they think the animal and home are a good to best match. Rescuers take this task very seriously because they are Guardians of the animals in their care. It can be overwhelming given all involved with rescuing animals. Please be kind and understanding to animal rescuers. Their work is exhausting and goes mostly unrewarded. If you see an animal rescue organization struggling, they are in need. The BEST way to respond to this need - if you truly care about the animals - respond in a way that will benefit those animals directly by offering to volunteer and/or by making a monetary donation. Also, you can reach out to the organization and ask questions that concern you ... the answers might surprise you and give you knowledge you did not have to understand what the real situation is. Ask how you can best help - maybe you love walking dogs or cuddling kittens. Maybe you can spare coffee money for a week and make a contribution. Maybe you enjoy social media and can create a great post to let people know that an animal rescue organization needs everyone's help and share the link for that organization where people can signup to volunteer or donate cash. This is an awesome rescue organization, please become educated before lashing out. Negative reviews ultimately hurt the animals being cared for by individuals who love, protect, and care for them when the world does not. Thanks so much Halfway Home Rescue for all you do!! A huge shout out of gratitude for all animal rescuers!!! XOXOXO read more

Halfway Home Rescue - Community Service/Non-Profit Near Me - North Haven, Connecticut

I really wish I could give this place 0 stars. It's appalling how difficult this staff makes adopting an animal and how belittling and rude they are. I moved into my own apartment and started a new job 8 months ago. When I moved, I took my childhood cat with me. I explained to them when I lived with my parents, they always stated that unless the cat seemed in bad health or their was a behavioral change, they didn't need to go to the vet every year. That being said, once I moved out I got my cat set up with an appointment as soon as available with a new vet in May. When my boyfriend and I decided we wanted to adopt, I knew May would be too far away as Jerry (my cat) would need to be updated on vaccines ASAP. Thankfully our vet is a family member and when we told her this, she made an exception and stayed after hours last week to get Jerry in. Again, I explained all this and they still denied my application stating that I "only brought Jerry to the vet to bring another animal home". It's very clear they heard what they wanted to in my previous emails and dismissed the fact that I had already had an appt set up prior to this application. I'm not one to usually write reviews but it makes me sad to think about all the cats that are going to stay in that shelter longer or not get adopted because of their disrespect and holier-than-thou attitude. (p.s our vet even told us that cats don't need to go to the vet every year!!). I really hope they get their act together and gain some customer service skills for the animals sake. read more

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If I could give zero stars, I would. This is an email from this shelter--everything you're reading on yelp (I see they have quite the reputation) is incredibly true. The person I spoke with was extremely rude and belittling. Some background: I was looking for a specific kind of cat with a specific personality, I had been APPROVED FOR ADOPTION ALREADY. I didn't see on this cat's bio that she had been listed as not being good with other cats (on petfinder this was not the case as they claimed she'd do well with others). I'll totally own up to having missed that in her bio--100%. But this is what the shelter said to me. Totally inappropriate and obviously they don't care what happens to the cats as I had already been approved. Can't really believe this even happened--is the goal not to help homeless cats? Very very strange. I don't think I've ever heard of a rescue turning someone away because they misread a cat bio??? I'm confused. read more

Halfway Home Rescue - Community Service/Non-Profit Near Me - North Haven, Connecticut

We had a great experience, with very thorough and timely communication via email regarding the dog we were interested in adopting. Adoption process was easy and informative. All of the staff were patient and helpful every step of the way. This rescue is run by volunteers, and it's impressive how much work they put in (I say this as the president of a volunteer organization and as a healthcare practitioner - it's very challenging to find good help for any cause these days, even for paid positions!) We absolutely love our dog and plan to adopt from HHR again someday. I've recommended them to my friends. Thank you for everything!! read more

I have tried 4 times to adopt 4 separate kittens from this shelter, if you are looking to adopt kittens there are other way better organizations as seen by the reviews. They do not care about placing kittens in the best home, and don't care about professionalism as well. I own my home, have a large backyard, and have been searching for a kitten companion for my older kitten Ozzi. On 4 different cats, they place them in groups on petfinder that specifically says good with dogs, have two calm dogs, and then when I go to enquire about them they aren't good with dogs anymore??? Why are you falsely leading people on with tags like "good with dogs", when you wouldn't consider them in a home with them? Really poor choices by this animal shelter. However, my last interaction with them will be my last straw. I wanted a kitten placed on petfinder, so within the first hour the kitten was up I wrote a whole adoption application. A page more than we had to because we were really attached to the guy we were applying for, I literally wrote an essay on why he'd be perfect for our family within the first hour of him being up. I get no response. So I send it again. Again, no response. I wake up to find him not listed on Petfinder this morning, not even a no from any of your adoption "volunteers". It's really obvious you aren't placing in the best homes objectively and are just doing the first that comes to you guys. They have made adopting another kitten the biggest waste of time I've ever had and one of the most frustrating experiences. I don't care how much good you think you're doing, you're not doing your charity any good by being this unresponsive and poor at communicating with potential adopters. Thank you for shattering hearts with poor communication and poor service. Better yourselves if not for adopter but for the freaking animals, my god. read more

Update 2019: I was at Petsmart shopping and went by the cats. I saw that one in particular was in distress. It was almost closing time and not much I could do to help it. So I posted about it online to see if anyone I know that may know one of the rescue workers to tell them about it. Instead of being appreciative and worrying about the cat, they decided once again to just bash me and talk about how I was denied a cat. Not sure what that had to do with the cat in distress. Anyway, after all of the drama I called PetSmart the next 2 days and the cat did in fact need some type of surgery. I wish these rescue workers weren't so mean. read more

I adopted two kittens from this organization in 2019. One was 3 months old and the other 5 months old. They were crated together at the North Haven PetSmart. During the pre and post adoption process in 2019, there were several problems in dealing with the staff. First of all, the older kitten had a respiratory problem so they had to clear that up before releasing her to me. Once I got both of the kittens home, I noticed that the younger one had the wobbles. I called HHR and spoke with Katie and asked her about this, since they had not disclosed the fact that the kitten has a mild case of Cerebellar hypoplasia which is a birth defect. The response I got was "We forgot to mention this". Luckily, it is a mild case and nothing stops this cat. Unfortunately, the older one passed away quite unexpectedly 12/21 from unkown causes, but she had a seizure. I wonder if she had a pre-existing neurological issue. I contacted HHR to adopt another young cat and was met with a denial. Here is their response: "Given the history you have with our organization regarding the last two cats you adopted, we will not entertain another adoption. We recall your many condescending and abrasive emails both prior to and post adoption we will not subject out volunteers to a repeat. Perhaps you will have luck with another local shelter." This was on 1/16/2022. I only dealt with 1 person during the adoption process. Needless to say, I was quite shocked to receive this unsigned email. It was 3 years after I first adopted the kittens on March 12, 2019 and nothing had been said during the adoption process. Why wait three years to bring up issues which should not play any part in accomplishing the adoption of animals? There were other issues as well with the staff. Considering the fact that they neglected to inform me of the fact that the younger of the two kittens had a birth defect and I called them out on it, leads me to believe that they became defensive and vengeful. I do not recommend adopting any animal from this rescue facility. Judging from the other reviews, there are a lot of people who feel the same. read more

If i could give this place 0 stars I would. The customer service is awful and they make it unnecessarily difficult to actually adopt an animal. I applied to adopt a few times, the first they told me all animals in the house had to be up to date on vaccinations and only after that would they be able to continue on the application, which is completely understandable. However, the second time I had not heard back and the last time I was only able to continue on because I had reached out to THEM. I am now unable to adopt any cats from them because I "don't seem committed enough" even though they're the ones who don't follow up with potential adopters and have absolutely horrible customer service when actually speaking to someone. Guess it's a good thing I can't adopt from them anymore because now I don't have to interact with them every again read more

If I could give this place 0 stars, I would. Do not adopt from this shelter. Long story short, I adopted a 4-month old kitten, which I was told was in good health, from this organization and I took her to the vet the very next day as she was in distress and clearly in pain from issues in her eyes. When I picked her up, I asked the volunteers about her eyes and they blamed it on "stress". Anyone in the right mind could've figured out she wasn't feeling okay. I informed the shelter immediately and they basically came back with "well you signed the adoption papers and you're responsible for her now. She probably got sick within the time you brought her home and to the vet." I literally had her for 12 hours before rushing her to the vet. She has a fever, conjunctivitis, an upper respiratory infection, and tested positive for bartonella. It's not even about the money and time at this point, it's about the clear animal abuse that this shelter put on such a young kitten and telling adopters misinformation. I'm warning any potential adopter; DO NOT ADOPT FROM THIS SHELTER. They don't care about their animals whatsoever. read more

Me and my boyfriend applied to adopt a cat from here and never heard back. When we called and left a few voicemails, this is the response we received (see photo). Based on the other reviews I have read, this place is terrible. Please do not bother with these people, they are unresponsive and presumptuous with a "holier-than-thou"attitude. The whole process is very confusing and convoluted. They are extremely judgmental and impossible to get a hold of. I hate saying this because the animals still need to be adopted, but if you're going to apply, use caution: these people are extremely unprofessional and rude. Good luck even getting a call back. According to their website they're only open 11am-3pm on Sat/Sun. I understand that they are all volunteer-run, but there's no excuse for treating another human being with such disrespect. Also we never heard back after this, and when I checked back on PetFinder, turns out the cat was ADOPTED. They're so shady. They are partners with Mew Haven Cat Cafe which is where we met the cat we wanted to adopt. They were also difficult to get a hold of and extremely vague about. Also they were the ones who TOLD US to contact the rescue, but that they weren't open on the weekends. So we called during the week and left voicemails, and this was the response. And thanks to Mew Haven for omitting the fact that the rescue was closed for two weeks at the time of our application. When we were there we were told a bunch of people get approved for adoption the SAME DAY. Apparently not. Halfway Home is on a power trip or something. Or they're just rude. Maybe it's just one person, idk. I think it's one woman specifically. Such a joke. Hopefully kinder and more respectful person replaces this staff member/s soon, because they are costing these animals good homes. read more

Halfway Home Rescue - Email - Community Service/Non-Profit Near Me - North Haven, Connecticut

These people have no compassion for animals and just want to lock them away feeling afraid and unloved. The woman in charge, Sandy, was cold and unfeeling as she literally dragged a terrified dog through a flurry of dogs trying to attack through their cages and she told us he was the one to blame for being afraid and that if we left the dog with her that would be his every day. I felt that was cruel and inhumane to put a dog through that every day, she had no compassion, no empathy, nothing. She doesn't deserve the shelter at all and maybe should get a mental evaluation to make sure she's not a literal pychopath. read more

Very disappointing experience with this organization last weekend. They had a mobile unit at PetSmart in North Haven. We found the volunteers to be unfriendly, unavailable, not knowledgeable about the dogs, and lacking in basic customer service. There was a sign that a dog we liked, Kris, was unavailable for adoption until the next weekend. We told them we would be back the next weekend. We then got home and saw on their website that Kris was being fostered and there was a phone number. We called with the hope that we could learn more about the dog from the foster parents. One of the volunteers who was at the event we were at that morning picked up and said they were the dog's foster and if we came back tomorrow they could answer our questions. (One of the volunteers had told us when we were there that they would not be there on the Sunday.) We told them we would come by the next day. We did and were told Kris was adopted the day before! Now I can understand why there are so many other negative reviews about this organization. Do yourself a favor and work with a different adoption organization. read more

Many years ago I adopted a cat from them. In previous years I have sent very generous donations to them. Yet when I called them for help with a stray cat I had found in need of placement, they didn't even have the decency to give me a return call back. I had already paid out of pocket for the cat to see the Vet and be treated. I was only looking for help in finding this kitty a home. read more

Professional and dedicated cat adaption non profit agency. Cat we adapted was surrendered with medical conditions. They fully restored her health and kept her up to date with shots and vaccinations. Their pet facilities were clean, pets seemed healthy and lively. Gave us free cat food. Brian Ghilliotti read more

This organization declined my application based on my lack of vet records to a dog I had for 13 years that passed away three years ago the dog I was searching for through them was specifically to be a family dog for my daughter and I they were incredibly late on responding and only seem to find excuses not to adopt the dog to me do yourself A favor and just go to animal control at least there you would actually be saving a dog or new family pet read more

I didn't read the reviews prior to submitting a request to adopt. The response that I received just flabbergasted me. The individual that reviewed my applications and e-mailed back is unknown because she hid behind the agency name & didn't identify herself. I was told that I was rude and she saw red flags in my application but not noting examples which I asked for. This was definitely not a very professional individual and if this is the manager, unfortunately for the animal, I would give this agency a wide berth. read more

I would have kept my 5 star rating but the experience I recently had with them leaves the worst taste in my mouth !!! I rescued my puppy from them she's now 3 I've sent family and friends to stephanie she's the owner of the organization. I have a grip grttng child I already feed stray kitties because I'm a huge cat person well any animal I love but I do love my kitties well I found on my back deck a litter of kittens in the rain shivering and crying in one of the houses I made for my cats in the winter brought them in dried them off all of them except one had eye issues I immediately called the vet couldn't see me for a good week 1/2 tried everywhere so I ran out bought bottles and formula for them and every hour on the hour I was down in my basement feeding them well I contacted this organization never returned my calls called another organization who go right back to me couldn't help me so then I was in pets mart in North haven told me one of the girls was looking for bottle fed baby kitten's to feed and I told the girl about the issues and she still wanted them So I brought them in my cat carrier was so thankful they were going to help me 2 months went by never heard anything from them then i message them on Facebook and the response i received was just appalling saying i abandoned them i need to get a grip getting extremely personal and the insults were just outrageous I later find out that the ignorant person I've been going back and forth with is the owner herself!!! Im embarrassed for her I still can't believe someone running a business is this unprofessional I'm still in shock with how rude !!!! Don't ever try to do something good by bringing stray cats or animals to them because you will be labeled as abandoning them i wouldn't send my enemy here its so sad because I love animals but dealing with someone as rude as her I'll pass :) read more