I've visited dozens of dog rescue organizations over the last six months. I found this to be one of the best in terms of cleanliness, design, well-funded by community support, kind staffers. Regrettably, it's first come, first serve and I live four hours away. If I ever saw a dog on their website which I wanted to adopt, there was no way they could hold the dog for me while I drove the four hours. But a great organization. read more

I had my 4 lb chi spayed here and could not be happier!!!! What a fantastic experience!!! If I could give 100000 stars I would ... highly recommend read more

This is a very calm, peaceful and resourceful location. I have visited multiple times in order to interact and socialize with the cats. They have a huge catio! They have multiple interior rooms where the cats roam, free and interact with each other. Almost everybody gets along. There are also enclosed rooms and a kitten room! I definitely suggest adopting from this location. Check out this cutie that was just adopted. I think she napped in my lap for a full hour. The most precious green eyed, baby... Other than my cat at home, of course :-) read more

Woods Humane Society - North County - Animal Shelters Near Me - Atascadero, California

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Gals there are wonderful and seem to know about each and every cat! Very clean and tidy too! read more

They are very nice people at Woods very helpful and informative! I saw some great cats and I will keep going until I find my fur baby! read more

This place is INCREDIBLE. I can't articulate what a special shelter this is for cats, and I shudder to use the word shelter - it's more like a sanctuary. As a former RVT and volunteer with LA County shelters this place is paradise. When I moved to the Paso area in Spring, I discovered 4 very pregnant and abandoned Mamma cats who were not feral, but left behind by their former " family ". I contacted god knows how many places - endless waiting lists or flat out rejections based on the volume of rescue help I needed for these poor animals and in so thankful for that because the one who did respond and want to help was Woods - Atascadero. For their sake and my own this is the greatest blessing. Working with Rochelle and Alaina was a dream. They helped me over the last two months responsibly integrate these Moms and their litters into their shelter program - which is spacious, cage free and includes outdoor (screened) sun porches for these cats to free range and enjoy their lives whilst waiting for adoption. It's not over crowded, it's so clean and beautiful and the staff and all volunteers I've met are nothing short of extraordinary. THIS place sets precedent for how shelters should be. Sadly, government resources and cities are so overpopulated with cats most can't be but this place does it right. With the staff to back it up. Any rescued cat would be lucky to be placed at this beautiful sanctuary with such devoted and wise staff who puts them first. Please, if you find yourself in the central coast passing through visit this shelter - see what it can be like in an ideal world where something is done right. My only wish is that every shelter raised to the standard that Woods holds. It's possible, they show how it's possible and you can visit their cat residents awaiting for adoption during business hours anytime. I will be grateful for the rest of my life for the help Woods provided me during a time of extreme strsss I had / and these abandoned cats had and will never be able to thank them enough for their kindness. Woods is the real deal, please support them, visit them, model rescues after their setup. They make a difference and the work they do is unprecedented and so, so important. If we get behind places like this as a community perhaps we can spread the mission and image of what Woods does to other places and give rescue cats / animals what they deserve - a beautiful sanctuary during the transition process where they are safe, with space and care. THANK YOU, WOODS. Thank you Rochelle, Alaina and the stunning team of volunteers who are of service to this community. You're making a true difference. read more

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What a wonderful staff! I was met even before I go to the door! I was donating two large bags of dog food, given to me by Chewy.com from an inadvertent over shipment. The Staff member said they were happy to take to gifts and to just set the second one down and she would come get it! How kind and polite! Wow! From the outside this is sure a big facility with a super clean parking lot and staff scurrying to be helpful. This looks like to place to be, especially if you are an animal. Thank you Woods. You are appreciated. read more

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I was on the waiting list to have a feral cat spayed/neutered. The cat has become a little friendlier, and I can now see a clipped ear indicating the job has been done. The people I spoke with both times were very helpful and friendly. Thank you! read more

I got a shy tiny 6 yr old cat. She was so scared. I don't know what her story was; but it took a long time for her to let me pet her. She is now comfortable letting me touch her. Yes, it took almost a year for her to love me but I've been patient and let her take her time. Don't give up on an abused cat. They have to learn to trust. She's gained weight and likes to sleep on top of her food box. She follows me from room to room and just sits where she can see me sometimes she even cuddles up to me. She's a good friend. I'm so happy the staff guided me to her. read more

Woods Humane Society - North County - Guarding her food box. - Animal Shelters Near Me - Atascadero, California

this rating reflects customer service: I felt very disrespected today. I understand the "first come first serve" basis, so the cat i was hoping to adopt's being adopted literally 20 min before I showed up was saddening, but understandable. I had looked at shelters online and then in person Monday (almost went back but wanted to make sure I had a nice area set up), and had excitedly refreshed the page for the cat that I bonded with and was set to arrive right after my appointment (it ended at 12:30 but I rushed, only to be too late). what was so disappointing and infuriating was the nonchalant, dismissive attitude I received. don't assume there's no thought given to how I come to my decisions. "you wanting a gray cat?". really? asking such a superficial question like that? If someone's clearly heartbroken, surely insensitive, shallow remarks are not the way to go. don't make people feel less than or intrusive. we've had very recent losses and you just never know a person's circumstamces, so the weird "mean girl" insensitivity and condescension needs have no place. I hope not everyone is treated so grossly. empathy is important. read more

You can count on Woods for anything you need to know and for help choosing the pet that fits your family best. Staff and volunteers are wonderful. It's a great charity to donate to, also. We are in the market for another dog pal when we get home in July. read more

They are friendly and take good care of the cats. They are open to letting moms with young kids hang out and play with the cats. Fun on a rainy day even if you dont want to adopt. read more

(Regarding their spaying/ neutering services as this is the only need I've gone to this location for) In October of 2020 my mother had 2 roaming kittens spayed here. The first mistake was that they failed to remind her the kittens should not be fed after midnight the night before the procedure. Any other vet I've gone to for spaying/neutering has always instructed me to do this. After the surgery, the paperwork they gave us seemed like it wasn't filled out properly. Certain spaces were left blank and most importantly they were drastically off when determining the age and weight. Both kittens were the exact same size (about the size of both my palms) and presumably sisters as they were found together and wouldn't separate from each other. One kitten was listed to be one year of age and the other to be one and a half years of age. These kittens could not have been more than four months old. Due to this they were given what I believe to be an excessive amount of anesthesia. I have a particularly strong stomach, but seeing these small beings stumbling around with wobbly eyes and heads, not being able to take a step without falling over, made me sick. Because they were 'feral' we were told they were going to have their ears snipped to indicate their status. Upon picking them up, we realized it was more than just a snip. Half of one of their ears were cut clean off. One of them recovered faster than the other; her anesthesia wore off completely about 5 hours after arriving home, the other finally recovered the next morning. I wrote a brief review on this web page which I'm no longer seeing. Assuming it had been removed. Fast forward to April of this year; my roommate had her cat neutered at this location. I did not realize she was going to the same place that my mother had gone to. She chose this vet because it was the most affordable. This time they instructed her to not feed the cat after midnight. Everything seemed legit until she arrived for pick up. Her cat was completely passed out and remained that way until about 3 hours after being home. Instead of an ear snip, he had a small green dot tattooed on his belly to indicate that he had been neutered. The info on the paperwork seemed correct this time. It took an additional 4 hours after he awoke for him to stop stumbling and falling around from the anesthesia/medication. Also they did not stitch him, which made me realize they had not stitched the other two kittens. I'm not sure if this is standard procedure now, but years ago when I had my own cat neutered at another vet they did in fact stitch him. i've never heard anyone else have an experience like mine and my roommates at this vet. I was reluctant to post a second review as I thought I was just being too sensitive, however I felt it was necessary because I believe the issue lies within who they are hiring for these services. read more

This is a sad story. Call it a series of unfortunate events. Or possibly poor management. Either way, I've been labeled a cat murderer by woods, and asked to never attempt to adopt again. Now, let's give a little background on this killer in me...I have 5 cats on my property that are properly cared for and neutered, spayed and loved. I have been a doggy mommy forever with a long history of caring for them in sickness and in health. I currently have a beautiful golden retriever who just happens to be epileptic and required daily meds. I am diligent with her and love her to the moon! So now, back to my murderous tendencies. My son had wanted a kitty to join him in his new apartment. So we went to north county and found a lovely boy. Here's where it starts. One, the brand new employee at the shelter was mostly alone to help us out. She told us the cat was about a year old. She told us that he had been at the shelter since July (this was Sept). She said he was a good water, etc. She had lots of trouble doing the simple paperwork without getting assistance. We patiently waited and took him home. They said he had been eating Science Diet. So we got a bag along with all the toys etc and set him up in his own little room in my son's apartment. He seemed happy. However, he simply would not eat. We tried other brand food, twice, and finally wet food, which he nibbled. Three or four days later, my son called the shelter about his not eating. They said, and I quote, "some cats ate picky eaters " try different brands. No attempt was made to offer to have him checked out by one of their vets. A few days went by and while he was drinking water it was hard to get him to eat more than a few bites. I talked to my son about the cat losing weight and to call the vet for it's appointment, which he did but it was a week away. We both tried everything to get him to eat. But he was playing and seemed ok. We waited for the appointment to come but at the 2 1/2 week point from adoption day he became agitated and meowing loudly and seemed unable to get up. We rushed him to emergency vets. Here's where the truth unfolds. THIS CAT WAS MIDDLE AGED, NOT A YEAR OLD. THIS CAT WAS SERIOUSLY ILL, NOT JUST MALNUTRITIONED. THIS CAT HAD LITTLE CHANCE TO GET WELL. WE ALSO LEARNED THAT DAY THAT THE CAT WAS ONLY TRANSFERRED FROM ANOTHER SHELTER THE DAY BEFORE WE ADOPTED! Taking him back to North county was the only financial option so we did just that and sadly the cat didn't make it. The next day I talked to the manager at woods and was told that "sometimes due to logistics, we don't find out everything about a cat"....and this little piece of information was vital. It would appear that if a cat can't eat, that it was sick to start, and maybe that is why it was transferred in the first place. To a place with a medical facility. Perhaps that part of the cats history fell through the cracks. So thus poor kitty was UNADOPTABLE. Unless adopting meant spending thousands of dollars to find out the problem and perhaps find no answer? So all of this went down and I was more than understanding and supportive of woods in general. They unfortunately took a different stand. Upon speaking with the Director I was scolded and made to feel awful. It was terribly upsetting as I am writing this to try to process the way I was treated. I was banned from future adoptions and actually basically yelled at as he said "THE CAT DiDNT HAVE TO DIE".. As if we decidedly allowed this to happen. We never would have been that callus and wanted the shelter vet to gave looked at him upon that first call which was an obvious red flag. The moral of thus story is not just about a miscommunication about the cat history. Nor is it about our care for him in the very short time we had him. It is this. Woods. Oh how rhe mighty have fallen. Over the past 8 years there have been atleast 3 directors come and go, and the addition of North County was perhaps spreading things a little thin? I have read other poor reviews of North County and this is not shocking now that we've been put through this and labeled by them. This is extremely important to note...MANAGEMENT IS A LOOSE TERM AND HIRING STAFF ESPECIALLY IN THESE TIMES, IS DIFFICULT. SO WHIKE WE NEED TO BE PATIENT WITH STAFF, WE ALSO NEED TO BE WARY. LEST WE BECOME LABELED A MURDERER! I won't get into it but my relationship with woods has been long, and I have been extremely supportive in many ways. Sadly this has obviously come to a close. And this story could be you. So please think twice and be diligent with all the information wherever you adopt. read more

I just adopted my second cat in 15 years from North County Humane Society. Both experiences could not have been better. The establishment is clean, organized and a healthy environment for the cats. The staff members are friendly, helpful and knowledgeable. read more

They have so many cats that need a furever home. If you can't adopt you can always volunteer your time and play with the cats as long as you can. They have a junior volunteer program for kids age 12-17 and will teach you all you need to know. The staff is very friendly and encourage people to stay as long as you can. read more

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I have adopted two cats from this shelter in the last 15 years. I liked both cats very much. But with each cat, I experienced some issues with the shelter that would make me reluctant to adopt from them again. One issue was that the day after I adopted, the shelter discovered they had an outbreak of ringworm. They quarantined the shelter, but didn't contact any recent adopters to let them know that their cats (and themselves, since it is transmissible to humans) had been exposed. One of my cats needed to be re-homed several years after I had adopted her, due to another of my cats picking on her. I had already found a good home who wanted to take her. I called the shelter to let them know I was giving her away, as required by the adoption contract I had signed with them. Before I could even fully explain why I was calling, the volunteer on the phone started yelling at me about being an irresponsible pet owner and trying to dump my unwanted cat on the shelter. Both episodes left a bad impression on me. But to be fair, they both occurred several years ago. Hopefully the shelter management has improved since then. I love both the cats I got from them, and the one I still have is a happy, healthy 9-year-old now. read more

Absolutely love this place. I use to volunteer here all the time with my brother and cousin and once I started college I still managed to make it over here to help out every once in awhile. I recently did a school project on this place and my class was very impressed and a lot of the other students said they would check it out. So many cats need new homes and I wish I could take them all home! The staff here is very friendly and are willing to answer any questions so please if you are going to adopt a kitten/cat adopt from NCHS :) read more

My husband and I adopted two kittens here last month, and we could not be happier with this place! Everyone we worked with at the North County Humane Society was very nice, and it seems like they care about the cats. Both of our kittens still needed a couple of booster shots, and they were great with calling to follow up and reminding us to keep our appointments. They even helped us out with an unexpected reaction that that one of the kittens had to a shot; went above and beyond to make sure that she was going to be ok. And compliments must also be given to their volunteers and cat foster parents- both of our kittens came to us fully litter-box trained, very friendly and well-socialized. read more

Lots of cats need forever homes and i highly suggest adopting from NCHS. We adopted our "Ralo" from here and have a kitten on hold ( wating for her to get up to weight since love at first sight for us began when we seen her nursing on mama) The staff here is highly knowledgeable and extremely nice. NOT PUSHY! if your looking to adopt i highly suggest seeing what NCHS has or if you have free time you can always volunteer! read more

I did not know this place existed til I went on Craigslist asking people where I can get my cat micro-chipped at a reasonable price. I called and was able to get in within the hour to get him micro chipped. It was only $15. I was happy with the price and the service. I did not give a 5 star review because when she took my cat out of the crate she was complaining that his collar was tight and hurting him... My vet told me as long as you are easily able to stick two fingers between his neck and collar its ok. Now I feel comfortable enough to let my cat outside since if he goes to a vet or shelter after he is lost he will come home. read more

My daughter LOVES cats and instead of a birthday party, wanted to see if she could bring her friends to the shelter to socialize the cats. I called and spoke with Tom, who said that it wouldn't be a problem. I was expecting to bring the girls, let them play with the cats and take them outside for cupcakes on the grass. When we got there, Tom had set up the kitchen as a birthday party, decorated it with balloons, taught the girls how to behave around the animals AND how to make their own cat toys, which they got to take in and use to play with the cats, AND we had a cute giant cat friend come in to visit! My daughter said that this was her favorite birthday ever and one family even went home with a new feline friend. The folks here went above and beyond to make this a great day for my birthday girl, but Tom deserves a special shout out for all of his hard work! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! read more

I love this place! The staff are so helpful and very informative. They are very protective and caring of their special animals. We love our 'Amanda' kitty. Thank you Sherry, Rachelle, Brandi, and everyone else! You are the best!! read more

We adopted a kitten from NCHS 7 years ago and we just adopted 2 cats today. Staff is very knowledgeable and friendly. We had no problems in the process and will use them in the future. read more

Came to the North County Human Society wanting a "therapy" cat. (I am disabled). The staff told me they had no therapy cats, but then the staff went to work finding a cat who might be a good fit for my needs. The staff was incredibly helpful, giving me histories of the cats and getting their files when I asked questions they did not know the answer. They had me sit down and brought cats to me. And then it happened, "Hector" who was sitting next to me, put his head on my chest as I was petting him. Hector came home with me and this will be his forever home. When I called the shelter, to thank them, the gal who answered cried she was so happy! My new friend shared my bed with me, talks to me constantly, has found a favorite spot to "hang out" and loves on me all the time. Thank you all, so much. read more