R.E.S.C.U.E.

I wish I had read the reviews on «Yelp» before I contacted them! First of all, in no way I want to discourage anyone from adopting through this organization because they are still doing a wonderful thing!!! I haven’t actually even talked to any of the volunteers there but even my limited experience left an unpleasant taste in my mouth and a feeling like I’ve wasted my time. So, my husband and I decided to adopt the 4^th cat for our 1 y.o. recently adopted kitty as a playmate so she would leave the other two older cats alone. We were looking for a very particular type of cat (both looks and personality-​wise) and somehow I found their website and one kitten there looked and sounded like an absolutely perfect fit, another one was close. That same night I filled out the application on their website which took over an hour, actually closer to 2, sent it off and then waited 3 long days for a promised phone call. As you may guess, nobody ever called. I did send them an e-​mail the next day after I’d sent the application, letting them know about my application and 2 kittens we were interested in. No reply. My husband called them and left a message. I was so puzzled. My thinking was: «Their goal is to find a good permanent home for a pet, so the sooner they get someone adopted out, the sooner they can go and save another life from the e-​list, so it only makes sense that they will try and get in touch with potential adopters sooner». On the 3d day, I sent them another e-​mail asking if they ever received my application and inquiring whether that kitten was still available or not (the other one had already been adopted and they posted it on facebook). They did respond to my e-​mail promptly that time saying they didn’t have a record of my application and that the kitty had already been adopted, they also suggested filling out the application (again?). My problem with them is not that we didn’t get the kitten (there are way too many unwanted cats looking for love and permanent homes, we knew we would very soon find the one we were looking for) but poorly designed website and poor communication. Maybe it was just my experience and maybe there was a glitch on the website, but after I sent the application I never got any confirmation e-​mail like some other organizations send which left me wondering if it ever made it there. After reading some other reviews it’s apparent that there’s a problem with it and even sounds like they know about it but it hasn’t been fixed yet. There was no response after my first e-​mail. The phone call was never returned. And then I turned to «Yelp» and unfortunately I saw a few negative reviews with even worse experiences… We had other options, I mean other cats we could have gone to look at but we didn’t want to create any confusion and give hope to anyone else, so we were waiting for them just to let us know whether that one was still available. It takes maybe 1 minute to write «no, he’s been adopted». Maybe I’ve been kind of spoiled by my experience with a few other organizations where people would always reply promptly to any e-​mail and were always there to help you find your new family member and they are volunteers as well (as an example, I had very pleasant experiences with «Lost our home» foundation and «All about animals rescue»).
What would have I done differently if I had read the reviews here first? Well, we wouldn’t have got our hopes up when we saw that particular kitty. I would have E-​MAILED them a copy of my application, just to make sure it got there or, maybe even, instead of spending 2 hours on the application that may never get there, I would have only e-​mailed them and called to find out about the availability of the kitten. I would have called them every day leaving a message. I wouldn’t have spent 3 days anxiously waiting to hear from them. But knowing my husband, after reading the negative reviews, he wouldn’t have wanted to deal with them. I do love the idea behind their work, I do think it’s extremely important to make sure that you adopt animals into a loving suitable home where they will stay forever, but sounds like they at times get carried away with it. In retrospect, I’m very glad we didn’t get involved with them. We ended up adopting our little girl through «HALO» and couldn’t be happier! So, if you do decide to adopt from them, just keep in mind that you may not get the animal you have your heart set on. I do hope that your experience with them will be a positive one though, and you’ll be left wondering if I was writing about the same organization.

I volunteer here and really love the mission of RESCUE. All of the animals are cute in their own way. I encourage everyone to support rescue in their mission. Adopt * Donate * Volunteer at

The concept that this rescue is truly «no-​kill» is a joke. I volunteered with them for years and they DO euthanize, even for dogs with treatable issues. The director of the rescue is one of the rudest people I have ever met and their numbers of dogs they advertise is completely misleading, nowhere near the number they actually place. There are lots of great rescues out there. Please consider giving your time and money to one that really cares about the animals.

I adopted my cat from RESCUE a year and half ago. The process was simple and easy. After filling out the lengthy app I got a call the next day from a very knowledgable person to discuss the cat I wanted, my home life, my experience with cats, etc. I felt that she truly had the best interest of the cat in mind. There are a lot of quacks out there who adopt animals then decide they don’t want them after all, I think it’s wonderful that all applicants are screened before they are approved to adopt. It’s a wonderful organization and I highly recommend checking out their website
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After filling out a lengthy application online, I was called by a rep who wanted to go over some things regarding dog ownership. The dog we chose to meet based on the photos on the website was not a good match for us, in her opinion, because he wouldn’t be able to run long distances with me. I’m not a long-​distance runner by any means but I do occasionally like to go for a run and bringing a dog is always fun for them, but I could see where she was coming from so I backed off.
However, she then began to tell me (or teach me?) how dogs need a routine, make sure you take them for walks, and feed them at the same time every day, and explained to me about their bowel movements and how they need to be walked after digesting… I guess she missed the part on my application where I stated that I’ve had two dogs already. Then she tells me about a different dog she thinks is a good match for me and a volunteer will bring the pup over to meet us (and check out our living conditions, presumably). But when I ran this by my fiancée he pointed out a different dog and wanted me to inquire on that one. When I called the rep back to discuss it, she shot me down IMMEDIATELY. «No, that dog won’t be good for you.» Didn’t even want to discuss it. So I found that kind of unusual.
I think it’s interesting that a former dog owner such as myself would have difficulty adopting an animal from a rescue organization such as this one. After all, this isn’t a shelter — this is one step past a shelter, where the animals may have been on the «kill» list at another facility but this wonderful group steps in and saves them, and continues the search to find homes for them. I felt like the rep was almost judgemental in the way that she asked me questions and a few times didn’t let me speak and talked over me.
So I went to the Humane Society. And guess what — we adopted from them instead, and I can bet you a million dollars the RESCUE rep would have NEVER paired me up with the one we chose, who stands, jumps, runs and plays on three perfect legs.
I believe that RESCUE does wonderful work and their intentions are commendable, but geez… lighten up a bit, will ya? Because your overzealousness definetly scared off a family who provides an excellent home.

Sorry Mark, I have to mostly disagree with you on this one.
I do agree that they have great dogs, so maybe that’s why they don’t actually want to adopt them and I hate to be down on an organization who is trying to do a good thing, but…
A couple a weeks ago, a friend who volunteers for the rescue had taken one of the dogs out of the kennel he is staying in and brought him to the Fat Tire Festival at Tempe Town Lake. I fell in love with the little guy, his name is Jalen, and called my fiancé to see if he’d come meet him too. He did, he loved him, so we decided to see if we could adopt him.
After filling out the online application (the only way to put in an application), which took over an hour, we waited the three business days they gave as the time frame that it could take to get back to us. Three days passed, nothing, so I called and emailed them to see if they even received the application, no response. So I asked my friend to find out next time he went to volunteer, if they had gotten it. They told him that the website must be broken, because they did not receive it, so I asked him to see if they got the email or voicemail. NO? Okaaaay, what the hell?
Well, my volunteer friend brought over Jalen to our house to meet our other dogs and cat, to see if he would even fit in here. They all got along just fine. Seriously, they all got along, even with the cat.
Robert calls me later when he gets back to the rescue, and says, they found my application, but they still didn’t call me back. So, we emailed them and called AGAIN. Finally, one and a half weeks after we filled out the online application, a woman calls me with a list of excuses of why Jalen would not be a good fit. She told me that the cat is a concern, that the dog is terrified of cats (even though it says on his description on their website «We haven’t found anyone Jalen doesn’t get along with — cats, dogs, humans — he’s just so mild-​mannered.»), I told her he met my cat and they were indifferent to each-​other, there were other excuses she had, it was like she was reading them off a list. Finally after being on the phone with her for a half an hour, and it was obvious she didn’t want to actually adopt the dog to anyone, I told her I had to get back to work. She then calls back ten minutes later saying that if we were okay with potty-​training Jalen (apparently all of the other excuses she gave me were going to be disregarded now), that a volunteer could come over on Saturday morning to asses the situation. We said absolutely, see you then!
A senior volunteer (with the adopting powers) came over this morning, everyone got along great. Our pets are very loved and cared for. But she had a problem with us keeping our dogs outside, when it’s nice out, like today, when we leave the house. We don’t think they should be crated up when it’s so nice out, our dogs like to be outside in our big backyard able to run around and lay in the grass/​sun, not in a little crate inside. So she told us to keep the dogs inside when we leave the house for 30 days and see how that goes, and then call them back and they would come back over to reassess and she took Jalen back to the kennel where he has been staying, waiting for a good home.
Needless to say we were pretty disappointed that they didn’t adopt to us, and completely disenchanted with the organization. We’ve adopted through a rescue before and didn’t have any problems, I’d try
or
of you’re looking for another rescue.

Looking for a new four-​legged family member? Try these guys. They’re one of the few animal rescue organizations with a true «no-​kill» policy — they keep their animals until they can find a forever family. They’ve saved more than 9,000 dogs and cats from Maricopa County’s euthanasia lists since 1995.
I’ve adopted two wonderful dogs from them over the years. And now, to thank them for matching me with such great critters, I volunteer my time walking dogs for them, since they have no central facility. Most of their animals reside in volunteer foster homes and leased boarding facilities.
Their matchmaking process is superb — they are truly committed to finding the perfect home for each animal.