I've been supporting Paws "fur" several years. I've donated tens of thousands of dollars. I've…read morecontacted them several times, the most recent, to adopt beagle who was rescued from WI. I wrote to Paula, the founder, the only email address I had, long story short, rude, rude, rude the second time I've had contact with her always rude! I adopted a beagle, who was a "beauty" pageant girl, who lived in a cage her whole life. She got to come out when she was "preforming". I've had her 4 years now, and, she's just beginning to know love and trust! So, I know I know how to adopt a baby, and my baby would also help. But, I guess they don't care about people who donate, and walk the walk

Just wanted to come back and say it's now been 8 months since Charlie has joined our family and he…read moreis doing so well!! I'll add a few updated pics of him looking so healthy now.

They treat the animals so well here. It's great! A huge selection of kittens and cats of all types…read more They give them shots and fix them. Great place to support!

Felines and Canines is the most wonderful shelter! I had to put down one of my cats recently and…read morewhen I began looking to adopt a new friend, I stumbled upon Felines and Canines. They were so helpful from the start and made the adoption process so easy. After filling out the application, they were very prompt with responses (even during a holiday week!), I was able to schedule an appointment to meet the available cats. I absolutely loved that they are a "cage less" shelter and I was able to really see all the different personalities of the cats. I met this sweet little Tuxedo cat and knew he had to come home with me! The staff were so helpful in answering all my questions and made the paperwork process very smooth and easy. I've now had Joey (formerly Darth Vader) for two weeks and couldn't be happier!!

A lot of the reviews on here seem to be fake. One says they pushed her to sign papers before she…read moreeven saw a dog. Another says they denied them adoption and then put it down later because it was too anxious. Sounds pretty ridiculous to me. And, those are quite the opposite of our experience. We had the best experience here with our new little kitten! She's so precious and the process was very smooth. We filled out the application online. Yes, it's long but it's the same anywhere. They're a responsible organization and want to make sure the animal will be going to a good home. We found the kitten on their website. She had more photos than a lot of other adoption facilities. Her foster mom got back to us within 24 hours, and we set up a time for the kitten to visit us in our home. After our visit, her foster mom said they would give us 24 hours to think about it. We got back to her the next morning. We told her that we wanted her. And, we set up a time to pick her up. This was the first time we ever worked with a rescue. We were used to going to places where you view the animals in cages or rooms. Our foster mom was terrific! (Brandy) She had multiple other cats. Our kitten was very socialized and she was never trapped in a cage. We picked our little kitten up at their facility. It's a small place but there were a lot of people helping out there. The owner went through the adoption papers with us. We were finished pretty quickly. I've been to other places where I felt I was being questioned in a police station. When we brought our kitten home, she adapted so quickly. She was very nervous right away. But it was like magic that five minutes later she was bumping heads with me and acting like she owned the place. I'd have to say this happened because of Alive and their great care team. If you're thinking of adopting, you must contact them first!

Adoption process from Alive in 2020 was seamless. Two adorable cats that we loved and cared for…read moredeeply. Fast forward to 2025- we added a medically complex baby with allergies. One cat became more skittish, the other batting at the toddler. And then they started marking the house. Literally everywhere. Thousands in damage. We weren't able to be attentive pet owners. I knew we needed to relinquish them and our family of 6 was heartbroken. We also knew it was OUR environment causing the behaviors and acknowledged that. When I reached out to Alive (to their credit, they did respond to my emails) they suggested I separate our toddler and the cat. A toddler? A cat? Mmmmkay. After going back and forth while, they're asking me for medical records, giving more useless suggestions and switching from empathy to being completely dismissive and rude (we also reached out to multiple other shelters that were full), we ended up surrendering to CACC. They had the cats fully vetted, staying together and up on their page in a day ready for adoption. They were so kind and understanding. Guess who now has a "firm hold" on them from CACC? Yep. Alive. Listen, we're eternally grateful that they're going somewhere safe, but did we really have to deal with all the trauma? Go elsewhere to adopt. Seriously.

Great staff. I had researched cats on line and knew the one I wanted to meet. The staff were great,…read moremeet went well and the adoption process was easy. The huge problem was my cat was starving. When I looked at the records this small cat lost 20% of her body weight in about 3 months. When I got her home and fed her the same food she couldn't keep it down. If I continued with feeding her that food, and I added a good quality canned food, same issue, she wouldn't have last 6 weeks. Luckily a friend gave me a bag of food which I tried. 3 months later she is healthy, great weight and happy. I know they are a huge number of animals to watch but even their vets commented on how skinny she was and how she was losing weight. There is some lack.

Have been trying to adopt a surrender. We've talked to several people about this and each one…read morepromised to call back. We know the person that surrendered him and this is where he took him. First we were told he had been neutered and it would be a couple of days. They knew we were going to take the dog! Called today, got the run-around, put in hold and then disconnected. Called back and was told the dog was "transferred" but they would not divulge where he was taken. We were told a manager would call back ... didn't happen. Sent an e-mail to Darlene, the president, again no response. How sad. I used to donate a lot of money to this shelter, but stopped because of poor practices. I'll send my money to Felines and Canines. They genuinely care about the animals. Please don't take your dogs there!

I want to give more than 5 stars for NLOL. Our adoption counselor Jackie is just amazing in terms…read moreof support she provides! She checks in with me about the dog almost everyday provide appropriate support and guidance every time when I was faced with difficulties because the dog was not fully house trained. NLOL offers two week foster period before adoption, which is a wonderful mechanism to get to know the dog before the big commitment. I am still in the middle of the foster period but I am just beyond impressed by the support I was given. It has been an wonderful experience so far. I would recommend NLOL to everyone who is considering adopting a dog!

If you read nothing else - fostering with New Leash on Life is the best, no-regrets decision I ever…read moremade. If you want more details about how and why I reached this conclusion, read on. I wanted to volunteer with animals, and I was frustrated by the larger organizations extremely limited opportunities and complicated process to volunteer. No, I didn't want to read a 50 page manual and take a test just to clean cages. I wanted to make a big difference in the lives of dogs and help Chicago become a no-kill city. Surely, it couldn't be that hard to find an organization with no red tape and an easy process to volunteer. Enter: New Leash on Life. I found them about 2.5 years ago on this Yelp page with their address listed downtown. I later realized this downtown address was only a PO Box which means NLOL does not have a physical location/adoption center. The implication of this is that all dogs go straight from rescue into foster homes until they find their forever families. This process can take weeks or sometimes months - depending on the dog. Don't let the uncertainty of a timeline deter you - fostering for New Leash is an absolute dream and here are my top three reasons why: 1. Unparalleled people - the nicest and most sincere adoption counselors. They constantly check up on the pups, their progress, and making sure you as a foster have everything you need. Not just via email- typically by text messages which means a quick response time. 2. Super flexible - a. Vacation or trip? No problem! New Leash will work with you and your schedule b. Work long hours? No problem! New Leash can schedule a walker to come during the day 3. And last but not least, THE DOGS. They really know how to pick them. Every dog that I've fostered has been kind hearted, adorable, and an A++ cuddler. Every dog deserves the right to a loving, safe home. Yes fostering is a short term arrangement, but it's a critical piece to helping these pups find their long term forever. Nothing makes me happier than seeing every dog I've fostered thriving in their forever homes. If you're on the fence about fostering, just try it. Anyone who loves dogs can do it and do it successfully. It is an extremely rewarding process and this organization makes it SO easy.

Found Harmony House on Instagram as my toddler loves cats and unfortunately we are not able to get…read moreone at the moment. So I wanted to take her to a place where she can visit and play with cats and Harmony House was perfect for that. They had a Holiday Bazaar event which was a free event and they had raffles, a bake sale, etc. All proceeds went to helping the cats. What we loved about Harmony house was that it's a cage free shelter for cats. They had several rooms filled with different cats that you can go into and play with them for however long you wanted. It's a great way to get acquainted especially if you're thinking about adopting! There were several cats available, different breeds and all different temperaments. Such an awesome cast shelter to visit! All of the people that worked there were so friendly and informative too! They all knew the names of each kitty and some names were very clever. If you're looking to adopt a cat or thinking about it, I highly suggest checking out Harmony House For Cats!

What brought me to Harmony House were the humane traps they "rent" out (as long as you bring the…read moretrap back, they never charge you a dime). So I can't comment on the adoption process, but I can speak to the friendliness of the staff/volunteers and the cleanliness of the facility. I was trying to help out a stray cat who'd been coming by and meowing loudly at the door. I was not in a position to adopt another cat, and never once did anyone pressure me to take one of their very cute residents home. Fast-forward to two weeks after picking the trap up, and I'd caught all manner of local wildlife but not the cat. I called to see if I could get a weeklong extension and they cheerfully gave me two more weeks. The building is very clean and modern. Everyone there was very nice when I was picking up and dropping off the trap, if a little harried. I got the impression that they work hard to care for the cats they have and that they sometimes get unscheduled drop-offs (when I showed up to get the trap, the woman who met me at the door looked relieved and said that when the doorbell rang, she was afraid it was "another dump") -- which is sort of heartbreaking. I hope people who have the room and the resources to adopt will check out Harmony House, because their residents certainly deserve a second chance.

I visited this rescue recently and left absolutely heartbroken by what I saw…read more The smell inside hit immediately upon entering and the conditions were deeply concerning. I work with shelters and rescues throughout the city and have never experienced anything like this. The litter boxes were filthy, cages and kennels appeared far too small and poorly maintained, and several animals looked visibly unhealthy. The air quality alone made it difficult to stay inside for more than a few minutes, and I can only imagine what prolonged exposure is doing to the animals living there daily. What disturbed me most was that the environment did not feel like a safe, organized rescue focused on rehabilitation and adoption. It felt chaotic, overcrowded, and neglected. There was clutter and obstacles throughout the space, making it feel more like a hoarding situation than a proper animal rescue facility. These animals deserve clean living conditions, proper care, medical attention, and a real chance at finding loving forever homes.

This business needs to be shut down. It's like a filthy horror show with poor helpless dogs. The…read moresmell is overwhelming and the place is squalor. I was so shaken when we left with the poor dog they had not yet fed by late afternoon. They did not bathe or groom the dog prior to our adoption. Poor thing had burrs and crusty stuff in his fur. He was clearly afraid of them as he would bark and squirm and fight against them trying to shove him in our crate. It was all so upsetting we ran out. Once we were out of there the dog was completely normal. Looking out the car window, snuggling, happy as can be. I cannot stress enough how horrible this place is. I was horrified.

What an impressive rescue shelter. It was the first stop on our journey to find a new cat. The Tree…read moreHouse staff was extremely friendly and helpful. After reviewing all of the adoptable felines, we fell in love with a small 1 year old cat that they called Toaster. She is perfect. Because of Bissell's Clear Out The Shelters" special (May 1- May 17) adoption fees were reduced from $115 to $70.

This cat cafe was awesome! I love how they let you adopt the cats as well. When we went, there…read moreweren't many cats left so we played with one cat. But this cat was so active and played with us the whole hour and we had a blast. The drinks were also really tasty and they come with the entry fee which is 10 dollars per 30 minuets. I would definitely recommend!