I've been going to this place for years and when my cat died I decided to enrol for adoption. No one got back to me. I sent numerous emails. If you want to provide this service, at least have the decency to respond! read more

I did not have a positive experience w/ HAL. I did not receive answers to direct questions I asked, which felt like a strange power/control dynamic. I completed the home assessment and did not hear back. When I reached out for an update, excited to adopt, I was talked down to and ultimately denied a kitten because I have plants and an outdoor (enclosed) patio. Unfortunately, it wasn't much of a discussion and presented as a final decision that I wouldn't be able to keep a kitten from munching on my plants or escaping out the door. I'm a responsible pet owner of many years, and I even have a spare room to keep my plants and and would have kept the kitty inside. Very disappointing. I wouldn't work with them again. read more

Our experience with Traude from HAL was devastating. My partner and I met Janis and Traude on 4th St in Berkeley last Saturday at an adoption event. We fell in love with two cats, Marji and Marshall, and had a successful home visit that night. We set up a time to spend time with the cats at Traude's home on Wednesday after my partner was back in town from a work trip. The cats were wonderful, and Traude asked when we'd like to take them home. We said we'd like to sleep on it because we want to be extremely intentional with our adoption process, and would let her know today. When my partner got home from work tonight, after feeling excited all day, we sent Traude a message saying we were so excited about the cats and asked if we could come pick them up tonight or tomorrow. She responded to say since she hadn't heard from us by morning, she had reached out to another adopter and that the two cats we'd fallen in love with were no longer available - in a very cursory message. She had not reached out to us to follow-up, nor had she told us anyone else was interested or there was a rush (Janis had explicitly said we could take our time because there was no one else). I cannot express how devastating this experience was, and how unclear and unkind - bordering on cruel - the communication from Traude was. When we tried to call Traude when we saw her message, she avoided answering 3 calls. To Janis' credit, she did answer our tear-filled call, and said she did not know any of this had happened. **While it pains me to give a 1-star review to any organization that cares for animals, the cats in their care are in foster homes and are safe. Adopt from a high-kill shelter or other situation in which animals are unsafe if you can! read more

It absolutely pains me to give an animal rescue group a one-star rating. However while I believe that this group has the best intentions, their lack of organization and negligence caused absolute disaster for us including the near death of our cat. In November, my fiance and I decided to foster a pit bull through Home at Last. Our intention was to adopt. I have two cats and I made it absolutely clear in my application and verbally that the dog must be known to be good with cats. They brought us Charlie whom they said, in writing, was "very very good with cats". On day 3, Charlie broke off the leash and mauled my cat! My fiance jumped in to try to break the fight up and suffered from 14 dog and cat bites. He and my cat both spent that night in the emergency room. My cat was admitted. My fiance's hands were so torn up, he could not use them for a week. The incident wound up costing over $2,000 in medical bills for my poor Chupi who suffered a massive abdominal hernia from the attack. They would not come get the dog until we finally threatened legal action. Then, they were verbally abusive over email, blaming us and claiming that they never tested the dog with cats and that they never said they did. (Remember, I have it in writing!) OK, I'm going to spare the reader the rest of the ugly details. As you can see, this situation was a mess. It was absolutely traumatic for our entire family, physically, emotionally and financially. Whether they lied by mistake or on purpose, the results were catastrophic for us. And to literally add insult to injury through their angry email correspondence was unprofessional beyond words. The only reason that we have not taken them to court yet, is that my fiance and I just want to put the situation behind us. However, if you are considering fostering an animal, please choose another organization. There are many responsible groups doing very good work. This January, we did adopt a puppy through All Creatures Great and Small and we saw a shining example of how a rescue group *should* function. Puppy rating: two paws DOWN read more

Traude has kept in touch with me. Kit and Minnie, two of the cat sisters, were adopted together by a family who have two older cats. The four felines, are now happily licking, playing and sleeping with each other. Their sister, Biscuit, who was adopted by friends of mine, is a beautiful silky soft girl who loves her dog brother. She us oh so sweet, friendly and affectionate, and is adored by her family. I'm not sure if she remembered us, but when my hubby and I came to visit, she ran up to us and greeted us like family. The mom, Collins, was adopted too She was a very good mom, but as the kittens grew older, she wanted less and less to do with them. She is very sweet and will make a great addition to someone's family. read more

I asked for information on fostering a cat from Home at Last. I received an email in return asking me if I wanted to adopt a pair of cats, but provided no information on the process, like I asked. Anyway, despite my landlord saying pets were allowed, when I asked him about cats he said there was a long-standing building policy of NO CATS. Not my fault, I didn't know. So I replied to HAL and apologised for not being able to foster a cat after all (even though I never actually said I could), but said I would love to volunteer for them. The woman replied and said they don't have a volunteer program(!!) It specifically says on the website that they really need volunteers, etc etc, so I replied and asked if I somehow got it wrong. No reply. Tried emailing the general email address and asking about volunteering, no reply. So I learned that HAL is run by vindictive, spiteful people who get angry when you can't foster their cats and outright lie about the existence of a volunteer program. read more

This is not just a animal shelter. They place animals in foster homes so they get the best care. Most of the dogs and cats have been rescued from the Animal Shelter in Berkeley, California and are now living in temporary foster homes with incredibly caring people. They have all been spayed or neutered, and are up to date on their shots. Others were rescued from various circumstances, abandonment being the most common. You can tell immediately that the people here really care for the animals, unlike most shelters where a lot of the people treat the job as another 9 to 5 drudgery. They do mobile animal adoptions on Saturdays at 1806 4th street in Berkeley 12:30pm-5pm and the first Sunday of every month at 5791 Christie Ave. in Emeryville. Home At Last Animal Recue is a Sponsor of A Day On The Water 2 at Cesar Chavez Park in Berkeley Sept 28 from 12-7pm and a portion of the Beer & Wine sales will be donated to them by Alotoffun Productions. So come have a good time and help support a good cause at the same time. read more

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My experience with this organization was fantastic. Here is what I noticed: 1. I adopted the world's most lovable and wonderful kitten from HALR 2. Traude (the staff member who organized our adoption) went out of her way to follow up with me after we brought Spock (aka "Keeble") home. It was obvious to me that she cares deeply about these animals and she wants to see that they are loved and well matched to the right families. She went above and beyond what other volunteers at other adoption organizations will do to ensure an easy adoption and a smooth transition for both animal and owner. 3. The adoption process itself was convenient, easy and reasonably priced. 4. The animals that I saw that were up for adoption all appeared to be healthy and well cared for; the staff that I met were extremely attentive to the needs of these animals and willing to invest their time and energy in caring for them and placing them in good homes. Cats have always been a part of my life (mostly due to negligent parents who never spayed or neutered any of them) but there are relatively few cats I have owned that I loved and cherished as deeply as this one. I have a hard time leaving the house because I just want to sit and play with him all day. I am deeply grateful to Home At Last for introducing me to my kitty. The good people at HALR are selflessly and tirelessly going the extra mile for these animals. This is a great organization, they are doing a fantastic job and they have some wonderful, wonderful animals who need good homes. Check them out and see for yourself! read more

One of the premier animal rescue groups in the Bay Area. I adopted 2 tiny kittens together and HAL followed up and stayed in touch. Then, 7 years later, I couldn't care for them anymore and had to surrender them to the Oakland shelter. One cat was placed right away, but the other was there for about a month. Then the shelter got in touch with HAL, who pulled the adoption records and reclaimed the cat. I found out about this when HAL called me to let me know that my fur-baby had been rescued by them (again) and placed in foster care while they find him a home. They were calling to see if I could provide his vaccination records, so that they wouldn't give him any unnecessary shots. It broke my heart to have to give up my cats. But I feel so much better knowing that HAL is on the case. Now I know that everything will be alright. read more

I have no doubt that the animals at Home at Last are cared for in the best way possible. The Saturday I came by the cages were located in the direct sunlight and every cat and kitten was PANTING. And EVERY person who walked by commented on this until finally the volunteers moved the cages out of the sun. One actually told me it was normal for a kitten to pant and that it wasn't related to hyperthermia! The application administered by the ladies at this organization was also quite bewildering. I was interested in adopting two kittens and one of the older volunteers reviewed my application and asked what happened to my last pet. I had clearly written that my 22-year-old cat had recently died. She said, "that's not a reason to die... What did she die of? What did the doctor say? I'm 71 years old and that's not a reason for me to die. "Oh boy. I explained to her that my cat died at home, surrounded by friends and family, and died a dignified death. Needless to say I was disqualified, but the ladies at Home at Last never had the consideration to inform me of such but instead just strung me along asking me to wait while they considered others. I never got an answer either way. read more

Matthew 5:44   "I say to you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you".  I pray for Janis Sowden who was disrespectful and rude to me-twice as a prospective volunteer at Home at Last (never replied to my emails or phoned me back as promised). And she struck again at Berkeley Animal Shelter when she slipped me a "wrong" leash & would not let me get a "good" one to walk an 8 lb. surrendered dog. Her controlling actions denied animals of foster care and weekly walks away from their shelter kennel.  I wish that no one in the future gets treated as poorly as me, humans and dogs. read more

I am echoing the controlling feel and poor decision making of the 2 people who run this rescue. I submitted an application to adopt a cat. We had a few emails, I answered questions, and they told me I could go visit the foster home in Berkeley (I live in SF). I go visit and spend 90 minutes there getting to know the cat, and chatting. I express my interest in adopting in email. The response asks me to use Facetime for a home check, but I do not have an iPhone and said I could use any other video chat app. They didn't want to do that so they asked for photos of my apartment. OK, so I send them a bunch of photos of my apartment. The next day, we talk on the phone again to answer more questions, and I only received positive feedback. I told her how big my apartment was, and where I was planning to put things. My apartment is 450+ sq ft and I have so much open space, I have a 40 ft long walkway from the front door to the back balcony (in addition to a big open space in the middle). Plenty of space for me, a human, to run back and forth and dance around and do cardio. I can have several friends over and have a dance party! Anyway, she says she will consult with her colleague to come to a decision. OK. A couple days go by and I am getting anxious and excited preparing myself to adopt, Finally she calls me and tells me my apartment is not an acceptable size for not just that cat but ANY cat, and they supposedly have a policy of not adopting out to people whose homes are less than 600 sq ft. This was nowhere on the website, application, or in any of our conversations, like she just made it up. Mind you this is a small 6 lb cat who may reach 7-8 lbs fully grown. My rabbit is 8 lbs and she has so much space to run around! I wasted so much of my time and energy on this. I am guessing somebody with a bigger home applied so they gave it to them? If that is the case, I wish she has just said that! Telling me my apartment is unacceptable for them to adopt ANY cats to me, but then wishing me luck in finding a cat elsewhere, doesn't make any sense. I am PISSED that I wasted over a week of my life on this rescue jumping through all their hoops as if I were applying for an upper management job, getting excited about the cat, just to be given a BS rejection that doesn't make sense. Stay away from this rescue. read more

Home at Last is the high water mark of pet adoption services I encountered in my search for adoptable pets. Totally professional and, most importantly, totally devoted to the welfare of animals. That they could receive two seemingly bizarre poor reviews is beyond me, but I can only imagine that the "reviewers" have some sort of ax to grind. Sounds like "Kelli B" is an ex-volunteer, based on the writeup, and someone who must have some serious communication problems... My understanding is that HAL has actually received HIGH marks for their kitty adoption rate. I learned that their participation in the adopt-a-thon around June was a smashing success. Furthermore, most importantly, I have adopted two amazing cats through them at different times. Their level of detail (and care) is immediately evident to this first-time foster "parent". Go to their 4th Street mobile adoptions and see for yourself. read more

Figured I should state my piece because of some unfair reviews. My experience working with Home At Last has been really positive. I expressed interest in fostering a cat who was to be euthanized by one of the Berkeley shelters, and it was a Home At Last adoption/foster coordinator who did the actual rescuing, bringing the kitty to my doorstep with a carrier, bed, and toys. The coordinator, Traude, was very helpful, supportive, and responsive to any questions I had, me being a first-time foster. She regularly called in to check on how the kitty was doing, all the while looking for other fosters that didn't already have cats (this particular kitty preferred households where he was the only one getting attention, and I already had two cats of my own...) so that we could help the kitty better adjust. Traude did find such a foster household, and came by to pick him up from my place, letting me know that she would also bring him to the mobile adoptions so that he'd have a good chance of finding a permanent loving home. She was also able to find another potential fosteree for me, a sweet affectionate kitty missing one eye. Many SPCA branches would find a one-eyed cat to be "not cute" and "not adoptable," but Home At Last is giving him the benefit of the doubt and searching for fosters while continuing to bring him (and others like him) to their mobile adoption sites. These actions are commendable. My experience was with this one Home At Last coordinator, but I'm sure they're all trying their best to get these animals rescued. This was a group who has stepped up many times to help adoptable animals who would have otherwise perished. I think we should give them credit for that. I mean, it's not easy running a local not-for-profit group with limited resources and a few workers who must wear multiple hats under big time constraints. I applaud Home At Last for their efforts! read more

I had a great experience with Home at Last Animal rescue. I live in Alameda and I am helping feeding a feral colony of cats. Recently I rescued two kittens that were stacked on a tree. It was a dramatic rescue and I was very excited and ready to foster them, but I needed help to find them a good home. We have a local cat rescue in Alameda, but in a similar situation in the past, when I reached to them the only thing I got was discouragement and a referral to the local shelter. Knowing that the shelters are already overwhelmed I decided to look for help outside of Alameda. Then I run into Traude from Home at Last at the Petco store and she was willing to help me and save the kittens. Traude was extremely warm and attentive and cared a lot about the little babies. The rescue group took care of the surgery to spay and neuter them and very soon we were out on the mobile site on 4th St. in Berkeley. Linda is the main photographer in the group and she was extremely patient and took her time to take the best pictures of the kittens and post them online. This paid off and very soon there was a lot of interest in these darling babies. But what impressed me the most is that Home at Last Animal Rescue were not just eager to adopt the kittens to anyone who applies. They were screening people out and searching for the right fit to ensure the kittens get indeed home at last. During this process they kept me informed about every move they make and treated me with great respect as a foster and I participated in the decision making. That was a very hard work, but in about three weeks they found a perfect family and match for the kittens. Janis from the group made the transition to the new home very smooth and everybody was very happy. Thank you Traude, Linda and Janis for your love for the animals! In my opinion Home at Last Rescue in Berkely is group that all rescuers can learn from! read more

I am so upset by the experience I just had with Home at Last Rescue. I fell in love with a little kitten this Saturday at the mobile adoption center. She was so sweet. I wanted my fiance to meet her! If we adopted her, it would be my first time adopting a cat from a shelter, and I was super excited that it would be this little kitten! My fiance spoke with someone from the center to get details about adoptions. She said we would have to adopt 2 kittens, which didn't make any sense to me, since we were inheriting a young cat from my fiance's parents in about a month. He told the associate that he would talk with me and get back with her soon. When I got in touch with this same associate, she made me feel like some kind of criminal or something... She was so rude to me and kept saying "I told this to your fiance already." At one point she said, "well...he didn't mention you were getting another cat, so I don't know why he wouldn't mention that." When she spoke to my fiance, she didn't ask if we had a cat or were planning to get one. So my fiance didn't think the shelter would consider that. She was questioning me like I was lying or something. In desperation, I tried to explain to her the connection I had formed with the kitten. However, she cut me off to say "well you didn't mention you had any connection in the voicemail" (I had called previously about the kitten). I was flabbergasted; that was a stab in the gut. It was as though she didn't care at all. She made it clear that we would be unable to adopt the kitten that I had so quickly fallen in love with at the mobile adoption center She was extremely unaccommodating, unprofessional, and rude. When we got off of the phone, I literally cried for 20 minutes. Thanks for nothing, Home at Last Rescue. I could never recommend you after this experience. My only hope is that this kitten gets a great home, even if that home is not mine. read more

I would say the adoption process was fairly easy, but after having the dog in our home for months we realized he wasn't a good match for our other pets. I've had animals for years! I love em! But I didn't think it was fair to our first dog to have him be constantly growled at, shoved away from his toys, food etc. The aggressive behavior from our newest dog was getting worse! He even started growling at us. We quickly realized the dog we adopted would be better suited to a home without pets. So I contacted Home At Last as per our contact. They treated us with contemp! It was an extremely hard decision to give back the dog. He was adorable! The woman who was going to foster him, Carol, was extremely rude on the phone and even worse in person!! She called to set up the day for us to surrender him. Basically told me what day it would be! I said I work and couldn't do it during the week. She said well Im trying to be accommodating to YOU since you want gim GONE! I said that's not true!! I told Nicole we would gladly wait until a foster was available! When we got to her house she came outside, never said one word to us! Rudely asked for the surrender documents, grabbed the dog away from us, told us he needed a bath (he had one the night before), when I tried to tell her that I also had his other records she completely ignored me. Told my husband to take is collar and keep it, she didn't want it, then turned around and went inside closed her door leaving us standing on her porch!! We just stood there staring at each other. I know they're in business to get homes for stray animals and that's a wonderful thing, but there's no need to be nasty to people when it doesn't work out! There's no need to treat people like they're scum simply because the adoption didn't work out!! Would I adopt from them again? HELL NO! read more

My husband and I were looking for kittens that reminded us of our late kitty, we contacted Home At Last about a trio they had. They were very responsive on Facebook and let us know when the kittens would be at the weekend event. We met them and wish we could've taken all three! Their foster mom was great in describing their personalities and answering questions. Only a couple days in and we have cuddly well adjusted kittens! read more

I've read the other two reviews and while i would have written those reviews had that happened to me,i had a totally different experience with them. I was bitten by a dog when i was young so had a very intense fear of dogs, i grew up with cats and thought of myself as a cat person.i loathed dogs,i didnt even like people to let their dogs around me,i even asked my neighbors to put their dog somewhere when i came over because i was afraid of being bitten. but when we bought our house,my partner would only agree to getting a cat if i allowed him to get a dog. one week after we got julie from the spca,we had our first house visit with palo. he was a rottweiler mix and he was one year old and full of energy. he ran all ove rth ehouse,scared the shit ou tof julie and made me very anxious. the people who were interviewing us kept looking at me nervously,knowing i wasnt too thrilled to becoming a dog owner. nevertheless,after two supervised house visits,they came to the realization that jovanie would be a great dog owner and i wouldnt impede him in that process. we kept him crated for a month or two but then i started taking him out earlier and earlier and finally the cat began to like him. soon i was getting up at 6 am on the weekends to take him to point isobel and finding all the off leash parks in the bay area.now i love my dog, and i really thank home at last for rescuing palo,who was about to be put to sleep, and also for being careful about who they allow to adopt their dogs and cats. i had a really positive experience and hopefully that balances out some of the negative ones. read more

I went down to the 4th Street mobile adoption center and adopted a 7-month old, gorgeous tabby/Maine Coon mix kitten (at least that's what she appeared to be). Unfortunately, I had her home only one night before my wife realized she's allergic to cats (this was her first experience living with a cat). I contacted Traude the next morning and explained the situation. She was very understanding and gave me no grief for wanting to return the cat. She drove over to pick it up and my money was fully refunded. I really hated to see "Hannah" go because she is an incredibly affectionate and playful cat. Whoever adopts her next is going to be a lucky owner. Keep in mind that if you adopt a cat from Home At Last, you'll get a coupon for 20% off supplies at Pet Food Unlimited (on the corner of San Pablo and University in Berkeley). read more

I adopted a cat from them about two years ago. My cat's foster mother was absolutely wonderful. She had him for at least 6 months and knew his behavior quite well. I don't know what to say about the other reviews - especially the dog attacking the cat and causing severe injuries to everyone - except that animals are still unpredictable and we just never know sometimes what sets them off. I myself have a large dog and two cats but it took a good solid year for me to really trust him with the cats. They are all volunteers and overall do a fabulous job of adopting. read more

We adopted 2 cats from Homa at Last that we truly love. We adopted first Delfina and found that she was a bit lonely. Home at Last worked very closely with us to find us another female cat that would be perfect with Delfina. The volunteers we worked with truly love cats and were extremely helpful in ensuring we knew the food that both cats would eat. Both cats were very well cared for before we adopted them. read more

We had lost our beloved cat to very unfortunate and out of our control causes.. My five year old was very torn up by this and when we saw the cats available through Home At Last, we were really excited to bring another cat in to our life. We were very connected to one of the cats and my son begged me to adopt him. I was hesitant at first but due to the character of the cat, I proceeded to fill out an application for adoption. Some strange small woman questioned me beside my son and passed along our application to traude but we were told that they were going to review other applications.....although they didn't have any at the time. We are a family of four with a great house and proper accommodations for a cat.....probably unlike most of the people they adopt to. I would love if they actually followed up on the home visits they claim to do. Regardless, I have adopted pets through other organizations before and never felt the sort of twisted decision making process as I experienced here. Do yourself a favor, prevent the heartbreak of your kids and the hassle of dealing with very odd cat women and adopt through a more legitimate and professionally run organization. read more