A stray cat was hanging around our house and playing with our dogs. I call SICSA for an appt to have him checked out. They were friendly, helpful, and incredibly kind to both the cat and the humans. Cat now has happy spot in our home playing with our dogs whenever he isnt napping! Ps they did shots, ear mites, and educated us on his total lack of teeth which i admit we missed. They even removed an that was damaged beyond repair. One eyed Willie was very grateful for their help. read more

In January 2026, SICSA accepted 10 pit-bull puppies my neighbor couldn't manage. For a reasonable price, they accepted, examined, neutered, and vaccinated all 10. Quick, practiced, and loving team. They also vaccinated the mother dog, so this won't happen again. read more

SICSA Animal Adoption Center - The blond puppy (1 of 10) - Animal Shelters Near Me - Dayton, Ohio

I would laugh at some of these reviews if they didn't highlight a more serious underlying mentality. This is an animal shelter. It's not a car dealership or retail store. You don't get to reserve animals, they need to adopt out animals as quickly as possible as soon as they're ready to make room for more. You are not shopping, you are saving a life. Negative reviews about things like wait times are also hilarious. This is a non-profit. Are you expecting 5-star service catered to your every whim? The number of paid employees are kept to a minimum at non-profits to reduce operating costs and therefore adoption fees. I adopted two cats from this shelter. One of my cats was spayed and had all her teeth removed prior to adoption. This would've costed a LOT of money, but they did it anyway because every individual is worth it. She was an extremely scared cat for the first few months I had her but now she's the most affectionate cat ever. The review about "discriminating against black strays" was ludicrous. This is a no-kill shelter and cannot take in cats when they don't have room. The alternative is killing someone to make room for your surrender. People who treat animals as props, objects, and commodities should not have companion animals. read more

SICSA Animal Adoption Center - Bella the cat - Animal Shelters Near Me - Dayton, Ohio

We have had completely positive experiences and gained wonderful companions through SICSA and highly recommend them.

Please consider adopting from here instead of buying a pet. They have there pet gala coming up and will have an amazing speaker. You can go to their Facebook page to meet some of the beautiful fur babies that need homes. In my opinion this rescue is one of the best. read more

I found this beautiful abandoned young kitty who desparately needs a home and reached out to them for help, and got this email in response from SICSA: Thank you for reaching out to SICSA for help with your animal. SICSA is a limited admission facility and animal surrenders are accepted by appointment only. We are here to help! We receive hundreds of requests each week, particularly for cats, so this process can take several months, depending on the number of applications in front of you. The basic process is outlined below. 1. A member of the Help Center will call the phone number on your application to have a conversation about whether your pet is a good fit for the adoption program. 2. If your pet is a possible fit for the adoption program, we will add you to our waitlist. 3. During your time on the waitlist, we ask that you attempt to privately rehome your pet through home-home. You must post your pet on home-home for staff to be able to schedule you for an intake evaluation. 4. If you are unable to privately rehome your pet, once we have kennel space we will call to schedule you an appointment for an intake assessment evaluation at SICSA. Due to the number of surrender requests for cats, SICSA uses a hierarchy of needs model to help prioritize cats coming into SICSA. This sometimes means we are unable to take community cats who have been living outside. You can read more about this model here: www.sicsa.org/community-cats. Home-home is a free service that allows you to privately rehome your pet. SICSA can be the sponsoring shelter so that your pet can be listed on SICSA's home-home page, where potential adopters can view animals that are being privately rehomed. home-home.org/shelter/sicsa/ Re-home by Adopt-a-Pet is also a good option for re-homing your pet privately. The service is free and walks you through how to create the best profile for your pet and will be there to support you through the adoption process. rehome.adoptapet.com/r/74172 Thank you, The SICSA Help Center You earned yourself a 1-star for discriminating against black stray kitties. read more

This is where the one and only Yogi rescued me. THE best employees so caring - The day is marked on my calendar each year when I got my best friend. We go in to say thank you and everyone comes to see us with great big smiles. We are so very grateful. SICSA - Pet adoption and wellness center has relocated to : 8172 Washington Church Rd. Washington Township, OH 45458 The new facility is amazing. Don't forget whilst you are there to check out the sale room - Great bargains for both dogs and cats. Plus grab yourself a cute mug and a bag of Boston Stoker coffee made specifically for SICSA. Take a tour and you might just find your best friend too. . read more

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Do not get your animal from this "business". They will not tell you of any underlying conditions or potential shots due. They will then treat you like a bad owner when you bring back an animal with needs you can't support. You'll hear this info from an employee because the manager refuses to manage and would rather delegate their responsibilities. read more

Had my cat neutered today. They charged me for two vaccines. one was a rabies shot that was 15.00. they didn't give it for some odd reason and won't refund my $15.00, but they gave me a tag so I'm thinking they forgot it! . then to do the booster for the FVRCP they want a $45.00 office visit fee. and another 15 to give it! I went there be I'm poor and just wanted to take care of a kitten found in my yard. won't be back. ever. read more

Like others, if possible I too would have given this disaster of a business less than one star. I believe it must be the management (I found this name in an older post. Not sure if this individual remains but the title suggests where the problems begins and ends. Jessie Sullivan, Director of Adoption and Alternative Services, 937-294-6505, ext. 20). My 12y/o daughter and I went to SICSA in search of a cat to adopt. First, I must concur with the horrendous wait times others have mentioned. We were told it could be an hour wait and it ended up over twice that. If they were busy I could understand, but they were not. There were 2 on the front desk and others in the back, most were just sitting or chatting about non-work related issues (again we were there for hours so I got to hear it all). I'm not even upset about the wait though it was uncalled for. The pre adoption screening (what we had to wait for) consisted of answering a couple dozen questions (if that). I had already answered most of them anyway in the pre pre adoption? Online. Any one of the 7 or 8 people that I saw working (hanging out) could have given the pre adoption screening. Instead we waited hours for the one person that was working to help us. I'm not here to fix your business but getting rid of the Director would be a good first start. Anyone there could have asked us the prescreening questions and we would have been on our way. The real problem is the lifeless draconian rules, bureaucracy, and incompetence. For an organization in the business of fulfilling happy adoptions you failed miserably in my experience. There was zero interest in ensuring that once a family selected an animal and were approved for adoption that the animal they selected would be the one they received. For those of you reading this wondering how could that be? Is it a bait and switch? Is it incompetence or something worse? It is ALL OF ABOVE. If for whatever reason you are not able to take the animal home with you the day you are approved (in our case, the cat my daughter chose was recently spayed and could not be released to us until Monday, 15 March 2021) you cannot adopt it. To make matters worse, they said I would have to be the first walk-in on Monday morning or risk losing the cat. Think about that a minute. You provide an adoption service and are presented with a family that desperately wants to adopt a specific animal. YOU tell them unfortunately they can't take the animal home that night due to her surgery but can pick her up Monday morning if they are AGAIN FIRST IN LINE. "It's our policy" we were told. They said they cannot hold animals to which we replied, you are holding her from us right now. We understood their wanting to keep her there until Monday but did not understand why they would not let us adopt her right then (and leave her there until they released her to us on Monday) instead of waiting until Monday and risk not being the first in line when they open. No matter, such is life I guess. I promised my daughter I would be in their parking lot before dawn waiting Monday morning. She hung the pictures she took of her soon to be new cat in her room, bought her toys and other things and sent videos she took of she and "Link" to all of her friends. On Sunday, the day before we were to pick Link up from SICSA I received a phone call advising me that they had other cats available but the cat I was supposed to pick up had been adopted. It was a bad bad call. So many questions but my first was why would you call me to tell me the cat I was supposed to pick the next day was just adopted but not call me to tell me she was released by the veterinarian and I could come pick her up a day early? It was policy, she said. They asked if I wanted a different cat. I wouldn't trust these people with a spider. The leadership at SICSA has zero respect or consideration for those seeking to adopt an animal into their family. read more

I recently adopted a handsome pup today, the ladies were COMPLETELY helpful esp with everything going on with COVID. I wanted to go in a little early, Mrs. Ashley told me it was fine. The only negative(semi negative) is the "meet and take home" didn't give me any time to make sure he had what he needed but they still had the basics to help with him. Would be nice to see if you click with the animal and then put a "hold" on him/her. That's why I said SEMI negative because I get why they don't do that, just sucks haha. Thanks ladies! You will see Willie in a few months when he needs his shots! read more

SICSA Animal Adoption Center - Willie! - Animal Shelters Near Me - Dayton, Ohio

Would give them a 0 if I could. I called to get advice on a dog we found over the weekend who was malnourished and dehydrated. The advice I was given was to just drop him back off on the country road where he was found. read more

I am so taken aback by these reviews. I disagree with most of them. Here is my wonderful experience. Let's start off with the fact that I've been donating and visiting SICSA for maybe 15 years. I have never once had a negative experience there. It's clean and the volunteers and staff are very passionate about their animals! And if you can't afford an animal, you shouldn't have one; vet bills are expensive, too, you know. I adopted "Martha," now Lucy, in 2012. She was my very first cat EVER. The process was easy and they gave me the advice I needed. I also didn't expect them to know exactly what her personality was like considering there are many animals that they have to work with and process. I knew going into it that Lucy was an affectionate mystery. I also fostered a kitten and adopted him. Simon was about 6 weeks old when a woman brought him in as a stray living under a porch with his litter. They didn't have room so I offered to be a temporary foster until they found a permanent one. Again, it was a very easy process. The veterinarian was wonderful (Simon was a bit mischievous so he got hurt a couple of times while I was fostering). I adore and support this wonderful no-kill shelter. read more

They do very good services for animals It's a really good place for animal care I love it read more

Like others, if possible I too would have given this disaster of a business less than one star. I believe it must be the management (I found this name in an older post. Not sure if this individual remains but the title suggests where the problems begins and ends. Jessie Sullivan, Director of Adoption and Alternative Services, 937-294-6505, ext. 20). My 12y/o daughter and I went to SICSA in search of a cat to adopt. First, I must concur with the horrendous wait times others have mentioned. We were told it could be an hour wait and it ended up over twice that. If they were busy I could understand, but they were not. There were 2 on the front desk and others in the back, most were just sitting or chatting about non-work related issues (again we were there for hours so I got to hear it all). I'm not even upset about the wait though it was uncalled for. The pre adoption screening (what we had to wait for) consisted of answering a couple dozen questions (if that). I had already answered most of them anyway in the pre pre adoption? Online. Any one of the 7 or 8 people that I saw working (hanging out) could have given the pre adoption screening. Instead we waited hours for the one person that was working to help us. I'm not here to fix your business but getting rid of the Director would be a good first start. Anyone there could have asked us the prescreening questions and we would have been on our way. The real problem is the lifeless draconian rules, bureaucracy, and incompetence. For an organization in the business of fulfilling happy adoptions you failed miserably in my experience. There was zero interest in ensuring that once a family selected an animal and were approved for adoption that the animal they selected would be the one they received. For those of you reading this wondering how could that be? Is it a bait and switch? Is it incompetence or something worse? It is ALL OF ABOVE. If for whatever reason you are not able to take the animal home with you the day you are approved (in our case, the cat my daughter chose was recently spayed and could not be released to us until Monday, 15 March 2021) you cannot adopt it. To make matters worse, they said I would have to be the first walk-in on Monday morning or risk losing the cat. Think about that a minute. You provide an adoption service and are presented with a family that desperately wants to adopt a specific animal. YOU tell them unfortunately they can't take the animal home that night due to her surgery but can pick her up Monday morning if they are AGAIN FIRST IN LINE. "It's our policy" we were told. They said they cannot hold animals to which we replied, you are holding her from us right now. We understood their wanting to keep her there until Monday but did not understand why they would not let us adopt her right then (and leave her there until they released her to us on Monday) instead of waiting until Monday and risk not being the first in line when they open. No matter, such is life I guess. I promised my daughter I would be in their parking lot before dawn waiting Monday morning. She hung the pictures she took of her soon to be new cat in her room, bought her toys and other things and sent videos she took of she and "Link" to all of her friends. On Sunday, the day before we were to pick Link up from SICSA I received a phone call advising me that they had other cats available but the cat I was supposed to pick up had been adopted. It was a bad bad call. So many questions but my first was why would you call me to tell me the cat I was supposed to pick the next day was just adopted but not call me to tell me she was released by the veterinarian and I could come pick her up a day early? It was policy, she said. They asked if I wanted a different cat. I wouldn't trust these people with a spider. The leadership at SICSA has zero respect or consideration for those seeking to adopt an animal into their family. read more

ABSOLUTELY NOT! All dealings that I'v ever had over the years with SICSA have all been disasters. However, the one this week is the worst. My neighbor found a dog and breed that he liked there, filled out the application, and was getting emotionally prepared to adopt. It was only when he returned today that he was told the adoption cost for this animal would be 415.00!!!!! I called them to see if that was true.The person I spoke with ascertained that it was. She told me that this particular dog was a cute purebred, and that they always got adopted first; they used those funds to look after the less desirable animals.She matter-of-factly said that this was the only way they could stay open as a non-profit. I keep hoping that some little kid who has finally cajoled his parents into letting him have a dog does not go back to get the one that they thought they adopted. Most likely, this family could not or would not pay the adoption fee that outrageous. PLEASE ask BEFORE you fall in love at SICSA what the cost will be, including the cute dog surcharge. An adoption fee is a certainty. Everyone realizes that they can't go to a shelter and get any animal they choose. My neighbor said that he would have paid 250.00. PLEASE LOOK ELSEWHERE. DON'T ADOPT FROM SICSA. read more

BE WARNED, our cat caught a virus and an infection at SICSA's new location. We took two of our cats to SICSA. Gizmo was a catch and release rescue cat from Kettering, and we needed the paperwork documenting his rabies vaccine. They lost the documentation of his vaccine, so they offered to provide a free rabies shot. We decided to take our other cat, Princess Belinda, to get a microchip for $25 while we were there. We kept Princess Belinda in her cat carrier the whole time, until they took her to the back to put the microchip in. She was gone for five minutes at most, and we placed her directly in the cat carrier immediately after. Over the next five days she started to develop symptoms and was not acting like her usual self. After taking her to our local vet, they diagnosed her with a viral upper respiratory infection, as well as an eye infection. Both of our cats are strictly indoor cats, and do not have contact with other cats. Our vet confirmed that she certainly caught the virus and infection while she was at SICSA. We are now handling an expensive vet bill and giving Princess Belinda two different medications. I absolutely recommend taking your pets elsewhere, as this is unacceptable and dangerous. We are waiting on a response from SICSA. read more

Great organization and a great cause! Staff is friendly and helpful through pet adoption process. If you're looking for volunteer opportunities, the Paw Partners program at SICSA is a great way to give back. I donate my lunch hour 1-2 days per week to come over and walk/jog with a shelter dog. Nice to get out of the cube and it makes me feel good to spend my time with an animal that needs it. read more

Place is clean and they seem to take care of their animals. BUT they only had 1 "counselor" and the "counselor" is apparently the ONLY person who can take the animals out of the kennel and only person you work with if you want to adopt. I find it ridiculous that we had to spend 40 minutes waiting for this counselor and ended up walking out without a furry friend due to "lack of counselors" which is completely inconsiderate. Heads up: if you want to adopt an animal, go there two hours before close. read more

I do not recommend wasting your time with this place. I guess next time I should just shell out the big bucks and buy a high dollar pet from a breeder. I took my three kids in to adopt a cat on 04/18/19 and do the right thing to help find a new pet that needed a loving home. My kids played with all of the cats for about 45 minutes and found one that was perfect and they fell in love with. It had a very good personality and was very friendly with them, my kids bonded with it and were very excited. I spoke to them about proceeding with the adoption. I had to wait about 30 additional minutes until I was "interviewed" by a counselor. I filled out their questionnaire honestly about the three additional pets we currently have, (2 French Bulldogs 2&3 years old, and another cat, 2 years old that we previously adopted from the Humane Society last year). In the questionnaire they asked if my pets were spayed or neutered. I answered honestly that my french bulldogs were not spayed or neutered and that we were potentially considering breeding. My cat that we adopted last year is neutered. The counselor then began to push me to bring my frenchies in for the procedure which I told them I wasn't interested in at this time. My dogs are a very expensive breed and it's not like they are out running the streets humping everything in sight. After spending 30 minutes being interviewed they came back and told me they wouldn't qualify me for adoption because my dogs were not spayed or neutered. This makes a lot of sense!! They have over 100 cats in this place that they are supposedly trying to find loving homes for and turning more than well qualified adopters away because of their personal beliefs. I asked for a better explanation as to what that has to do with me being qualified to adopt this cat and they said "spaying and neutering was something they feel strongly about". Needless to say I had to leave with my three crying, devastated kids who couldn't understand why we were not allowed to have a new pet! All this proves to me is that they clearly don't care about finding these animals that desperately need quality homes a "forever home". Their top priority appears to be their personal beliefs. I definitely wouldn't donate to SICSA if it's their normal policy to turn down adoptions based on this nonsense! Sorry cat, I tried to save you! I guess they would prefer to keep you locked up in a 2x2 cage the rest of your life. Guess what SICSA? If I want a new pet for our family I will get one with or without your help...sorry for trying to do the right thing. read more

Went to Sicsa in Kettering Ohio,got a cat they told me it had a history of being nice but the people before me brought it back for biting and it was probably there kids fault. Within 2 hrs of being home with the cat I had about 40 marks on me from being bit and scratched . They also sent me home with a sick animal sneezing and had bowl issues. So I took it back in 12 hrs there is supposed to be a (14 day money back policy ). They refused to refund me gave me a line of lies why they couldn't. I hate to say this but I will never go to them again,they didn't tell the truth about anything......... read more

I wouldn't adopt from anywhere else. I love my sweet noelle so much and they made sure we our lifestyles matched.

My husband and I had grown up with pets and were interested in getting a dog. We went to SICSA to see what they might have available. We knew we wanted a large breed, but one that was still a puppy. We ended up adopting what they said was a mastiff/cane corso mix (her vet paperwork said she was mastiff/Labrador and we later found out she was actually a pit mix). They spoke highly of her saying she was a bit mouthy and needed work on walking. What an understatement. We ended up returning her, much to our dismay, a week later. While waiting for someone to help us with paperwork, we overheard an employee call her a "basket case." We also have family members who volunteer there tell us that SICSA was afraid she'd be returned. Long story short, they completely misrepresented an animal who had known behavioral issues and had been adopted/returned multiple times. It was an expensive lesson to learn and we will not be back. read more

I recently visited SICSA for the first time in hopes of adopting a puppy I saw on petfinder.com. The staff was friendly and helpful and stayed past closing time to allow us to visit with other dogs. SICSA offers very affordable dog obedience classes and holds a number of fund raising events throughout the year. They not only serve to protect stray animals, but they educate the public on animal welfare issues. I recommend them to anyone looking for a family pet. read more

I adopted my Husky Neela here last year. Couldn't be happier with the service and price. It was somewhere around $215 and they said that was the average price for all dogs there. I happily able to get her very quickly (over the course of 24 hours) as I have been a previous pet owner with my own home. I went thru a nice 30 minute interview before they let me adopt her as Husky's are high maintenance breeds and they wanted to make sure she would be taken care of. She is well behaved and the services they offer have always been top notch for me. read more

I've been calling about a dog for a couple months now and have been following her since before anybody even knew she was there. I followed her through her sickness, through her foot surgery along with a lot of other stuff. Calling multiple times a week about her. The day she was available for adoption I happened to be out of town for a couple days and they didn't allow me to put a hold on her for those 2 days. By the time I was able to get her she was adopted. If calling for a couple months doesn't show dedication and love for a dog I'm not sure what else does. Very disappointed. I pray you guys found a better home for her. read more

Great place to get your next pet! Sicsa uses a personality profile to match you up with the best pet for you. We adopted a dog from them and could not be happier. We regularly say we won the 'doggie jackpot'. We also took their training class, the price was very reasonable and the instructor was great! read more

Have gotten both of my dogs from SICSA. First one in 1994 and the second one in 2009. Both were great fits for me.

My cat was neutered two days ago. When I got him home, I thought for a second that they had given me the wrong cat. His face was swollen and marked up, and I saw after that that they tipped his ear. I called as soon as I was home, and of course, no one answered the phone, as they never do. The next day, I realized how swollen his face still was, and I attempted to call again. I left a message, but true to form, no one returned my call, so I called the after hours number. I began calling at 5PM, and called three more times, every twenty minutes,until at 6:30, I finally got a response. The response was that we could bring him in the next day at 3:30. I asked if there was any earlier times and I was told to come in at 12:30 instead. After not reaching anyone at the after hours number, I called my normal vet, who said I could come in by 6, but I was unable to get there by that time, so I waited. I was not comfortable with waiting that long, so I took my cat in to my normal vet and got him taken care of. However, I went into SICSA to talk to them about the issue. Rather than anything constructive, the clinic manager made excuses. The reason they cut his ear off was because they're busy and understaffed. The reason no one answered my call was because they get too many calls and not enough people. And last, she told me that I was mistaken, and didn't actually start to call until 6:00, and I imagined the three other calls I had made before she returned it. I'm furious, I'm disgusted, and it's shameful that they care that little about animals to make excuses, rather than admit there was an issue, and wto actually fix it. I'm disgusted that I didn't just go to my normal vet, even if he was a stray at the time, and this was cheaper. I'm disgusted that there are people who will take money and treat animals like crap, because they're "just a TNR". I don't care what they are, feral or house pet.... They all deserve to be treated with respect and dignity. They won't get it from SICSA read more

Well hello everyone. After the situation I had with sicsa the other day. I receives a phone call from nora. She promised me she would get to the end of the situation. Well she has met with numerous supervisors. They all had the meeting and it was concluded that it was a mistake on sicsa part. So I am a happy customer again. I will continue to go thru sicsa for spay neuter. THANK YOU ZANDRA AND NORA read more

We have gotten three cats and one dog from SICSA. Our two cats lived to be nearly 18 and nearly 19 and were littermates many years ago. We still have the third cat, age 16. We adopted our dog Bunker last August at the age of 9. He had several families, one who gave him up after 6 years when they had a baby and one who tethered him outside for the entire day, where he apparently barked endlessly (who can blame him)? He is our loveable guy now and we are grateful to have him! The SICSA staff works hard to help strays in our community and they rely heavily on donations and volunteers. I am surprised at the negative comments regarding waits for an adoption counselor. It is unfortunate that someone willing to give a shelter pet a home has to wait until someone is available to help them. But it is so important that the pet goes to the right home where it is a good match for both the pet and the new person/family. I know they are doing the best they can and that the counselors are specially trained to do just that. I'm sure they can always use more volunteers! Also regarding another review, I can see where purebreds would cost more to adopt, if that's true. If people are willing to pay more for a particular breed, then I agree that those people should help subsidize the other pets who would be less likely to be adopted. Millions of unwanted beautiful souls are euthanized in shelters every year just because there aren't enough homes for them. Personally in our family we now look for the "one(s) nobody wants" as those pets are always grateful and seem to know that you did something special for them by taking them to a really great forever home! If you must have a specific breed, please adopt don't shop--there are plenty of purebreds in shelters! And my husband, kids and I think that mutts and rescues in general are awesome . . . read more

We drove 45 minutes to visit their new facility in Washington Twnship Oh. The receptionist let us in as there was only 1 single person and one couple looking at the cats. We visited with all the cats and had a few we were interested in. We waited for a staff member to approach us to see if we needed any help. That never happened. They walked by like we were not even there. After about 45 minutes, I went back to the front desk to ask for help. I was then notified that I could not adopt today as we had not scheduled an appointment. I was never told this was required to adopt, even when I had called the day before and specifically asked if I needed an appointment. I can not believe I was standing there with money in hand, ready to take a cat home that day and was turned away with over an hour before they closed! I thought the whole idea was to get these animals out of the shelters? I will never adopt from this place and will tell anyone I know looking for a pet. read more