Zani’s Furry Friends

I got my 2 Siberian cats from Zani’s in November 2013, and they are amazing. The adoption was a breeze and the cats have been a true blessing. This past June, I started volunteering for Zani’s and they do amazing work. I want to respond to the haters:
— Okay, the people skills are a little lacking. I agree. The thing is, they deal with assholes and flaky peoples ALL DAY, EVERYDAY and it gets to them. Should they be nicer? Totally. Is Gisella prickly and weird sometimes? Yes. However, she is a wonderful person who gives everything she has to saving animals and she 100% wants to do right by them.
— For the person who returned Robin (the schnoodle) the reason they didn’t give you the second dog, was because they knew that it had a similar temperament to Robin and they were trying to make a better match. I was there for the discussions. They should have explained that better, but in no way were they judging you. We have plenty of adopters who aren’t a match with the first pet they take and end up with a better fit.
LET’S ALL FOCUS ON THE ANIMALS!

Shortly after our poodle Moose died of cancer in October, I saw a dog to whom I was drawn on the ZFF Website. She was billed as a «Schnoodle» [schnauzer/​poodle], but she also reminded me of a lovable terrier mix who had lived with us for more than 11 years. I completed an application online, my three references were contacted, and we were approved. My husband and I met our new adoptee at an outdoor adoption event on the Upper East Side, and after some ado, we and ZFF signed an adoption agreement, we paid their fee, and I brought her home. This dog had been found as a stray, most likely abandoned by a family somewhere else in Manhattan. This left her with significant fear and separation anxiety issues that seemed to become more intense, rather than less, as she bonded with us. Her separation anxiety made her destructive, and even though she was eating well, she would chew up whatever she could get hold of, some of which made her nauseous. She was extremely possessive of me — to the extent that she would attack our cat if the cat came too close to me — even though they coexisted peacefully at most other times. I even hired an experienced obedience trainer at my own expense to attempt to help our fearful little friend — to no avail. I realized that our lives together were not going to work out, and informed ZFF that we would have to return her to them. Gisella told me not to consider it a failure on our part — just a bad fit.
But after we returned the dog (she has found an ideal new home, from what I’m told), it became clear to me that some of the ZFF team did consider us to be less than adequate as dog-​parents. There was one dog up for adoption for six weeks, who was described as being good with cats/​dogs, kids and grownups. We hesitated to take further steps right away, because we needed to fix some of the damage Pup #1 had done, and decide who might be best for us. I inquired several times about Pup #2, and was told more than once that she was about to be adopted. I inquired about a young male dog earlier this week, and was told that since we couldn’t handle Pup #1, this one would be wrong for us. Did we want one of the chihuahuas up for adoption? We did not.
I offered to adopt Pup #2 this very weekend — only to be told that two other applicants were coming to see her and one was sure to adopt her. Mind you, my ZFF application had been accepted the first week in November, and I’d been told we didn’t need to file a new one.
I decided to return to the adoption group where I had found my dear departed poodle. Six years after my original application, they still had me on file, and were glad to let me visit a little guy who’d been waiting to be adopted for quite a few weeks. He’s coming home with us in time for the New Year. We are not wealthy people — but I decided it would be worth paying a new adoption fee elsewhere, not to feel as manipulated and judged as I have in the past several weeks.

JUDGMENTAL AND RUDE
I’m going to agree with Jo. L here and say that we had the same experience at the Adopt-​A-​Pooloza event in Union Sq. yesterday.
After having found a set of kittens in my backyard just over a month ago, I had planned on rescuing them once they were weaned to foster myself. I expected to take in one of the kittens as a companion for my two adult cats and home the other two kittens in the litter. But as fate would have it, the kittens are nowhere to be found and so I am still hoping to find my kitties another companion.
Well, we approached a beautiful cat at ZFF’s booth yesterday, explaining our situation about how we already had two cats at home. The foster mother said she was good with other pets but then proceeded to ask immediately — «What do you feed your cats?». Not, «What is your name?», «Where do you live», «What’s your living situation?», or any questions about the two cats we currently have. Then we were given unsolicited advice about the brand of food we use and what we should be feeding them instead. We decided to walk away because of the less than stellar reception and because someone else in the nearby vicinity seemed interested in the cat, too.
When I get home, I decided, the heck with it let me put in an adoption application for this kitty in the event that she has not found a loving home yet. And I get a prompt reply that the cat I inquired about yesterday «turns out, she’s a solo cat». Could you not have told me that at the time we were inquiring about her instead of wasting our time? I can understand being picky about homing your fosters but don’t be judgemental and rude. You don’t know the half of what we’ve been through with our current shelter rescue cats and you never even bothered to asked.

straight up terrible organization! the worst ever!
rude
nasty
don’t do it
poor animals

We love the sweet cat we adopted from Zani’s, but would strongly advise adopters to ask for medical records prior to adoption. Zani’s informed us that our cat had a «clean bill of health». We adopted our cat and the next week received partial medical records from Zani’s. We requested the rest from the last vet our cat had seen. It turned out that our cat had had most of her teeth extracted two days prior to the adoption and was also spayed only two days prior to the adoption.
We took her to our vet who informed us that she was in pain after the teeth extraction. The vet also informed us that our cat suffers from gingivitis, stomatitis, and superficial wounds resulting from her spay stitches not healing properly. Thankfully our vet restitched our cat, prescribed medication, and helped us understand how to cope with our cat’s chronic medical condition. I wish Zani’s had informed us of our cat’s very recent surgeries and special needs.

Hi, I don’t understand the rating because I recently got wonderful advice for my pets from Zani’s Furry Friends volunteers at a recent adoption event. My next pet will definitely be adopted through Zani’s Furry Friends.

I find them to be very efficient, professional and really care about animals. As my dog and I were walking home, on Thursday, we passed an adoption event in front of petco, where we met «Max». «Max» came to give me a kiss, then played with my dog.
I asked them about adoption process and was told to look online and submit application form as they dont do one-​day adoption. (which was reasonable). The next day (Friday), in the afternoon, I submitted my application and got a response within a couple of hours saying that there is another application for him and I should hear more the following day.
On Saturday, my reference person texted me that she got a call from Zani’s for a short interview about me ie. whether I would be a good mum for Max. On the same day, I got an email that I had been approved and could go to meet Max and his foster mum at petco and I could take him home then. After I took him home, I had a few more questions, which I emailed and texted, and always got prompt responses and answers. His foster mum was also very helpful and responsive!
It has been only 4 days from the first day we started communicating with Zani’s and this is only the second day since we adopted. But the experience has been good so far!

I adopted the perfect cat for me. Went to a Petco Sunday fair and got the sweetest five year old cat. Can’t imagine my life without her. My boyfriend and I love her and I’m so happy they found her for me. I mentioned that I never had a cat and that my bf has always had one. They were very accommodating and found the perfect fit! They even took us shopping to make sure we had everything we needed and followed up!

RUDE-​UNPROFESSIONAL-​JUDGMENTAL
Potential adoptees should be encouraged to take a step to adopt a new loving family member. So the reception I got was rudely contradictory. While loving on a sweet cat who I was talking to through bars, I was first hissed at not to touch the cat. I understood and tried to disregard the lack of introduction and welcoming to adoption. Then I was told curtly that the cat would only go to a home with another cat. Lovely, I have a cat whom I dearly love. Then I was bluntly asked what I feed my cat (why is that your business?) and told judgmentally and without solicitation that «that’s not the best food». okay. Thanks. A younger worker came over to engage me with the kitty and discussed potential foster arrangements when the other lady hissed in clear audible range that the cat already had two applications. THANKS! All in all, try to engage people and excite them at the possibility of loving a lost pet instead of possessively holding on and judging everyone that comes in while being especially rude. I left feeling judged and upset. Not the experience to create.

I recently inquired about a «Russian Blue» cat that was listed. I mentioned that the cat listed was probably a good breed for someone who has allergies, the person with whom I corresponded sent a rather nasty series of e-​mails to me regarding my inquiry. Never will I ever recommend this organization looking to adopt a pet. If someone can take the time to e-​mail you at 9:00 p.m. and engage in infantile communication regarding an inquiry about a CAT who would come into a loving environment, and how she’s not available for a «first time owner,» then fine. Keep your cats and dogs. I will talk to someone who appears more friendly at a different rescue agency. I wouldn’t waste my time.

One of the workers took my dog in the hospital and fostered out by the time I got out of the hospital. I have yet to see my baby belvedere a fawn frenchie the age of 5 was born June 2009. You can see his picture at
2 675 809 740
Please if you have seen him I will reward you. Our family me and my pug beans miss him so much. He is also the logo of my business. He is treated like a king. He was last seen with tiziana wise.
Please help

This is an excellent place to buy a pet!

I have found the Zani’s team to be lovely to work with. They truly care about the well being of each and every animal they foster/​adopt out. After meeting with Zani’s team at a number of events I was impressed by how much they sacrifice personally in pursuit of their organizations objectives.

I’m not surprised to see all the negative reviews, because people who don’t understand pet rescue are ALWAYS complaining about foster organizations. A foster is not the same as Animal Care and Control. ACC takes animals in and turns them out like a factory because they HAVE to. A foster org puts a lot more time, effort, and money into each animal so of course they are more selective when picking adopters. Animal Care and Control would do the same thing if they had the resources.
If you want to bring home an animal tomorrow without any questions, you can go to ACC. People do it all the time and I’ve seen it work out. However, it’s a total gamble. It’s very hard for a large shelter organization to get to know any one animal’s personality, and then on top of that, it’s a very chaotic atmosphere for an animal and they may act completely different than they would when they settle into a home.
If you want to find the RIGHT cat that fits with you and your lifestyle, a foster is the best way to go. I knew that when you get a cat, you are committing to them for possibly ten years or more, so I really wanted to find the perfect cats for me. Personally, I had my heart set on lap cats, so I went to Zani’s because they seemed to really know the cats’ personalities.
I will admit they were a little cold in their initial emails, but I’m sure they get dozens of emails a day and the fact that they ALWAYS write me back is awesome (even now, weeks after I adopted). Besides, if you are looking for friendly conversation, call a 976 number. If you want to find the perfect cat for you, go to Zani’s.
It’s been a month since I adopted Cookie (formerly Jane) and Dolores (formerly Dora) and I’m so so happy I went to Zani’s! Cookie and D have the exact personalities Zani’s described. EXACT. And I’ve taken them to the vet, they are both in great health (though I wouldn’t freak out if they had ringworm, it’s really common and not that big a deal). As often happens though, there’s been some growing pains as they adjust to their new home, so I’ve emailed Zani’s literally about twice a week… they’ve been nothing short of awesome! They’ve been so patient and all their advice has really helped. They’ve told me about miracle problem-​solvers like cat attract litter which totally solved Dolores litterbox issues. And then they’ve also told me when I just have to wait a little and things will resolve on their own (there was a lot of crying the first few nights and I was in a sleep deprived panic! Totally fine now).
Please don’t judge any rescue organization on reviews from people who did not like the email correspondence. We are talking about saving animals’ lives! That’s what Zani’s does and they are great at it. Thank you, Zani’s! I love Cookie and Dolores!

While I can’t speak to any of the other reviews I’ve read of ZFF on here, my personal experience with them has been positive.
My family has 2 pets rescued from Zani’s, 1 dog and 1 cat, and they are both great pets. We have also stayed in contact with them and they have been helpful with questions we’ve had long after the adoptions were complete.

Finding and growing your family is never easy. Zani’s team as well as their counterpart NOLA have gone above and beyond to keep our family intact. My husband and I adopted 2 sweet pups at the end of January 2014. We’d been looking for a special needs dog and after other shelters efforts fell through the cracks, our 2 pups were rescued from death row and brought to our attention. Clearly a bonded pair and special case themselves it was love at first sight.
We have kept in contact with Zani’s Gisella and NOLA’s Mike Ripinsky over these past few months as we can’t believe we were as lucky as we were to find the furry friends like Betty & Blondy.
Most recently their efforts and endless kindness towards the well being of all animals was made more than apparent when they teamed up to help find our dog. After arriving at the airport for a family emergency flight — our dog walker called to say «Blondy ran away.»
Our poor sweet dog, lost in New York City on a rainy storm filled night — and we were not even in town. The feeling of helplessness, dispair and sadness was overwhelming. But suffice to say after a team effort of many involved — ESPECIALLY both Mike and Gisella, our pup was found in under 24hrs, treated under Gisella’s and Mike’s close watch… and returned home a few days later…90% unharmed.
Without Zani’s and NOLA, our family would not have grown to what it is now… nor stayed the way it has become.
We are forever grateful for their kindness not just to our animals but to the wellness of all animals alike. Thank you thank you thank you.

While I agree that the tone of the women who organize the adoptions is a bit «off,» my husband and I adopted a wonderful kitty over a year ago with no issues.
After finding a few promising candidates on Petfinder, I emailed Zani’s inquiring about the animals. Indeed, Zani suggested that one or two of the picks might not be suitable as single cats — but plenty of others were. One of the cats was even being fostered right in our neighborhood, and so later that week we went to meet her and instantly fell in love! As another Unilocaler said, I’m so glad that I didn’t read these bad reviews first, otherwise we wouldn’t have found my kitty-​soulmate.
So, tip: when emailing Zani’s, I suggest you have as many animals picked out beforehand so that in case they decide that some of them are not suited for your situation, there are others to check out.

Since my last review I have continued to have a positive experience with this rescue group. Specifically, when Carmen (the cat we adopted from ZFF) and Lexi (the dog we just adopted from ZFF) were having some territorial issues, I was able to get some ideas about how to solve the issues from the group, both by email and in person at their Sunday Petco fair). This type of after adoption support is really crucial especially since this is our first time to have both a cat and a dog.

I am another one who wishes I could give Zani’s ZERO stars. I’ve never reviewed anything, ever. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m sure there have been a few smooth adoptions with these people, but I’d never contact them again.
First of all, the animal listing I found was on craigslist which I suppose should have already raised the red flags, but I was looking for a blue colored pit bull for quite some time to rescue to satisfy my love of the color and also being able to save a dog and not purchase one. It was a picture of the dog on a deck in a backyard in southern New Jersey saying that a divorce was leaving this one year old pit bull homeless and he needed help. Easy enough?
After contacting the email address I was told by Vallie that it was actually a post for a friend and that the dog was in a foster home, but the adoption would be performed through Zani’s Furry Friends, which at the time sounded a whole lot more legitimate and soothed some of my fears of craigslist transactions, so I went ahead and filled out an application, offered a huge donation, and asked what the next steps were.
Needless to say, the application was probably never looked at. All dialogue had to be started by myself, although responses were quick, nothing ever materialized. We were told they would have to do a home inspection, which was fine. That never happened. Finally after repeated inquiries, we were told the foster mother would bring the dog for a meet and greet and do the home inspection. This also never happened. We asked the foster mother if we could come up and meet the dog, which she agreed to so we drove to upstate New York to meet at a dog park. At this point, I didn’t even believe there was a dog but they showed up and he was a darling. After this meeting, we were also told that more than one person was interested in the dog. I emailed and CC’d everyone in the organization we had spoke to at this point and said we were so happy to meet him and just to let us know how to move forward.
All communications were then terminated. Never even a response. A month of my life I dealt with these people. Thank you for nothing.
I went to a local shelter that had a blue and had her two days later, and she’s living the dream. Thanks for nothing Zani’s.

I’m not sure why Zani’s isn’t getting any love from Unilocalers. My boyfriend and I decided to add another kitty to our home last month and looked through several adoption agencies. We ended up choosing Zani’s because we were taken with Frankie’s online profile.
I filled out an application and emailed Zani’s and received a prompt response. Frankie was being fostered by a couple in Harlem and Zani’s cc’d the couple so we could get in touch with them to visit her. The couple was very friendly and accommodating – their apartment was clean and Frankie was clearly well-​cared for.
We decided to go ahead and finalize the adoption that same day and again, Zani’s was quick to respond and gave us clear information about what the final steps would be. After a short visit to one of their weekly adoption events at Petco (where we met several of their volunteers for a short interview), they gave us the green light. It wasn’t expensive at all, a $ 125 donation (suggested) and they provided us with Frankie’s medical history. We picked her up later that week! All in all the process took a week and a half.
I brought Frankie to the vet after I adopted her for a quick check before we introduced her to our existing kitty (Lucille). Other then some dental tartar (totally normal), the vet confirmed that Frankie was in good health for a 3-​year-​old kitty – nothing wrong with her. She is very sweet and clearly has been well-​cared for.
I’m writing this review because I know Zani’s has plenty of more, sweet, adoptable kitties like Frankie. I had an excellent experience with them and would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone!