I adopted a dog from Stars during Covid after losing my beloved dog at age 19, also during Covid. Georgia (formerly Trixie) was older than represented and came with some baggage (bad teeth, allergies, etc.) but she is the sweetest, most loving dog I could have ever wished as a companion. It does not matter if the operator is brusque or rude; I would be too if I spent all day dealing with owners who suddenly find their four-footed companions to be an inconvenience. Don't get an animal if you are not prepared to take them on for life. They are not disposable, they are a real commitment. Admire them from afar if you cannot make that commitment or cannot make responsible arrangements for them if and when a major upheaval occurs such as loss of a home, illness or financial ruin. Don't just open your door and kick them out or, alternatively, close your door with them inside and move away. We are better than that and they deserve better. read more

I called for a friend that is heartbroken and in a very unforeseen situation. She is in need of rehoming her 9 year old dog. The lady was very rude and said " Why would you want to give up a dog so close to dying?" Go elsewhere with your animals. That is horrible! read more

Had a great experience. Fostered a dog for this lady until it was well, then found a perfect fit/home for Dexter. Otherwise I would not have let someone adopt him. She cares more about dogs than you do.She goes above and beyond for dogs, wish more people would. Thank You ! stars rescue !! read more

This so called rescue is far from a rescue. This lady is so rude and shouldn't be allowed to continue to mislead people into believing she is even qualified to be such. This place is a fraud. She called me names all because I asked a question. Please do not be mislead. read more

If I had the option I would have taken the stray I found somewhere else. I have never had to deal with someone so rude in my entire life, she all but called me names for not being able to care for the dog myself! The stars given are for being a rescue only. read more

Stars is a wonderful organization run by a woman that has devoted her life to rescuing abandoned and unwanted dogs. This woman has many volunteers that work with her and foster the dogs until they find forever homes. She works with many local vets and makes sure that each dog is healthy. She is very careful to make sure that the adopting family will be able to provide a loving home. read more

I have read the reviews here and would like to shed some light on the other side of the story. My credentials are pre-vet degree USC Columbia,SC and experience as an Animal Control Officer and a foster for 5+years. The few rescues we have in the south struggle to save these animals everyday. Most dogs come in emaciated and ate up with mange,fleas,worms and too often heartworms. We do not have the luxury or time to play with or train dogs that come through because the quicker one leaves the more we can save. Dogs are often crated for quarantine during intake and before transport,also ones that are prone to escaping or digging will often be crated. Eventhough we might clean,feed and water promply, puppies and some dogs can be swimming in what I like to call "playtime liquid" in less then 10 minutes after cleaning. Especially puppies will dump their food,stand in their water and pee and poop enough to make it seem like they have been like that for hours. If they are being wormed the fecal matter is often increased 10 fold. Before transports you dont always have the time or energy to bath the 20 dogs that might be going. Rescues are often under funded and under staffed. Transport is rough on the care takers too.Animals receive a health certificate from the vet before transport and are often not fed until they reach their destination,feeding can lead to messing on selves and getting car sick.Also puppies do better when they are all in tight quarters,they tend to feel more comfortable and stay warm when they have eachother for comfort and are less likely to deficate on themselves.Puppies are spay and neutered early as 3 months because adoption events usually require the dog to be sterilized to be presented for adoption. The south does not have the luxury to raise every puppy to 8-10 months before sterilizing. While some of these conditions seem cruel,these animals are lucky to be off the streets,vetted and off to a home. I often had 60 plus animals in my care and the boss putting pressure on me to "kill them faster".As I didnt believe in that I rarely had time to bathe or sleep and often had puppies that had to be bottle fed and cleaned through the night. I never had time to leash train or help them from being shy.Some of the dogs I saved were pulled from ditches,dumpsters,woods and horrifying neighbor hoods. Almost always they were missing hair,covered in fleas,infested with cocidea and stomach viruses. Daily treating,worming and medicating was exhausting and the smells of bloody stool all the time filled with worms and viruses is not a smell you will ever forget! While I may not agree with every rescue's attitude or politics the end game is really all about the animals being saved! Sometimes no one stops to think about the rescuers who havn't eaten,or had a bathroom break,or drink or had a day to themselves in years. Vacations are only taken when you have no fosters and that is rare. So please have your opinions but please think about what you would be like with 50 or so pooping wormy puppies. As for the fees,I had a rescue dog that had a vet bill totaling $800,not counting shots,food,worming and foster care for 3 months.While a few may only need shots and sterilizing most need much much more and the adoption fee hardly refunds the cost.And all animals are always sterilized by a veterinarian! If some adopters could see what condition the dog was in before rescue and adoption the outcome would be more dramatic,but then again some may not adopt a puppy that had been bald and pooping blood a few weeks prior. I do not wish to offend anyone and I am not biest toward any rescue,they all annoy me at some point too! I wanted to simply give our side of the story and thank everyone for all their hard work and especially The Adopters,because without you,all the animals would be put to sleep. And cut us some slack if we seem grumpy or tired,we probably are!lol Thank you again and God Bless. read more

I fostered one of their dogs in Rhode Island in July 2015. The arrogant woman never called me once to see how the puppy was doing. Never cared if the puppy I was fostering had dog food. As a matter of fact she didn't even supply me dog food for him. His vaccines were out dated and didn't even supply me with a name of a veterinarian to take him to. I took him to my veterinary clinic and after a large bill, they refused to pay for his medical care. Over $175.00 later and the cost for puppy food, crate they didn't supply me with my time and shelter for the rescues animal exceeds $237.00. Again they refused to pay for their vetting and food bills. This woman I believe is named Milena, Wilema or something to that effect. I wouldn't know because she didn't even leave a business card with me to contact her. She charges an adoption fee and pockets the money but doesn't compensate her fosters for taking care of her rescues she leaves when she travels back to Georgia. My poor foster boy was then placed with a family I know of without a home check or veterinarian check. They don't care about their dogs. They just leave sick dogs in foster homes and the conditions of STARS dogs are beyond terrible. They smell like feces and need a bath to rid them of the smell. This woman leaves no flea and tick medication which I also purchased. No monthly heart guard treatment even though the paperwork reflects it will be past due until she returns to the state. Stay clear of this so called rescuer. She doesn't even know the dogs and if they get along with other dogs or cats or a gold fish for that matter. If they had a negative star rating I'd give her -5 stars. Stay far away from this Georgia rescue they treat their fosters bad. I can only imagine how they treat the animals in their rescue back in Georgia. read more

Two months ago my sister and I decided to volunteer and help clean crates, give water and walk the dogs. The month before my sister had decided to adopt her black lab from them, who we love dearly! But we had no idea what we were getting into by helping them. The two women are very rude to the animals and seem to only be in it for the money. They pack multiple dogs in one crate and have them in there for hours. When my sister saw how there "organization" worked she was horrified to see where her puppy came from, how neglected he was by people who "rescued" him, she now feels as if she was rescuing him from them. Please try to adopt these puppies and get them away from these women! read more

My husband and I met Wilene back in 2013. We began fostering animals for different rescues. The first thing someone said was...she can come across as harsh. Let me tell you, this lady has been deeply involved in Stars for the animals, and it is principles before personality. She may seem harsh, but she is one of the sweetest, caring persons I have met in rescue. I have seen where she has turned down folks because of the animals environmental security Hence, a fenced yard. Wilene will not release her rescues to anyone. They must be a fit for the new owners. She will not allow anyone to adopt a dog to folks with small children. For the animals protection. If she were into it for the money, anyone would get to adopt a dog. Totally false. Wilene has the utmost respect from the animal community, and has been presented to the Augusta Commissioners about animal rights. My husband and I became fosters for Stars Rescue. When we received the furbabies, they were wounded, stressed, and we knew nothing about them because people that abandoned them never spent time with them, or even fed them. We made a commitment as fosters to give these animals a loving home until they were adopted, fed them, and made sure we worked with the animals to develop social skills. We delivered them to the vet (and not our cost), for whatever treatment they needed. Wilene provided us with food until we decided to buy our own to help out the cause. To see someone complain about Stars breaks my heart. She is up early in the morning, and tirelessly spends time having these animals vetted, treated for whatever illnesses they have, and treat them in a nurturing way. Many dogs have been dropped off to her in deplorable condition. People do not realize that she really knows nothing of these dogs whether they do well with kids, other dogs, or goldfish. She has driven many miles to go get momma dogs and puppies from under houses, She personally removed four adult dogs, and many puppies only to have them die because the person that had them did not feed them. Wilene even took food to this person and we watched her dump it directly on the ground, and guess who ate it? The larger dogs, therefore the others would have had no food. I have photos of this rescue. Every bone in their body was exposed. We witnessed this ourselves. We have been to her location many times, and have not seen anything that would make us believe the animals are not taken care of. Believe me, if there were, I would be the first one to comment and complain. Yes, she gets upset, and frankly so do I when someone calls her to take a dog the owners had for a while. They are like kids, and so many people just give them up because they are not convenient for them anymore, or they are moving and can't take them. And lets not forget, that foster calls or rescue calls are made to place their dog usually on a Friday, knowing they are moving the next day. Rescues want to take any dog to help, however, work with them. Give them time to find a foster after they take the dog to the vets because the owner never had them tested for heartworm or even had their vaccinations. We all have seen her cry at some point because some of the dogs did not survive the neglect they endured. My husband and I helped her at the Petco locations on Saturdays as volunteers. We made ourselves aware of the care the animals received. When the animals wet their beds the volunteers were right there and changed potty pads, walked the dogs and lets not forget if it was hot out, these dogs had either fans on them, or she would cancel the event. We had a mother dog and four puppies. The mother was heartworm positive and we helped volunteer by taking the dog to Evans Animal Hospital which cares for all her rescues. We kept the momma dog and gave her the treatment required by the vet. That is what fosters do. Some folks should not be fosters. And Wilene came to our home and inspected it to a T. If you are interested in dealing with Stars.. you will find out this info I am posting is true. Just go ahead and contact Evans Animal Hospital, or even the Dept. of Agriculture in Georgia that oversees rescue groups, that make sure they adhere to their requirements to run a rescue. Let's talk about the many dogs that have found awesome homes that came from Stars. As for momma dog and her four puppies....they were found in the woods where someone dumped them to fend for themselves. Because of Stars Rescue, the four puppies have found their furever homes, and I know how much they are loved. All because Wilene made sure they were loved, safe, and cared for. By the way, we became foster "failures" to Momma Dog. Allie is now our dog and she is the best. The animals deserve a chance, and they get that from Stars. Feel free to contact me through facebook, I stand behind my review. read more

It's unfortunate how condescending and full of contempt the lady in charge was. I was really excited to rescue a dog, and as I am a dog-lover, I was immediately attached to one of the young pups. However, once she looked over the forms she turned extremely rude, ultimately saying that she would not allow me to have the dog because I do not have a fenced-in yard, despite all of the other things I have to offer this puppy. I understand that a lot of rescue places prefer fenced yards for the dog's benefit, but the way this lady rudely responded to me was extremely offensive. She could have treated me like a fellow person, not some dumb nuisance. I mean seriously? Ask my vet--we take amazing care of our current dogs. She obviously would rather the dogs she "rescues" sit in crates all day with her than have a loving family who is constantly caring for its animals. I don't know if she's really concerned about the dogs' wellbeing or if she has some power complex/issue. I feel bad for the dogs who have been rescued and, despite the people (like me) trying to do the right thing, are kept in small cages and denied homes. It's a shame. They get one star for being a dog shelter. read more