Animal Welfare Society

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I just visited this Animal Welfare Society on John R. Road in Madison and I WISH I had read these reviews earlier before going there and getting my heart set on the cutest kitten for adoption,..if I had I would not have stepped foot in there. I received a similar bad experience as a few of the reviewers I’ve seen here. There was a short chubby Brunette woman at the counter. I didn’t catch her name but I could tell that I was not going to get the pet I wanted. I filled out a form and everything was in a place with no reason to not adopt to me, YET she started giving me hoops to jump through and basically was trying to deter me from adopting this cat. I was told that I needed to be approved by their board before hand, so I wouldn’t be able to take the cat that day and also that they would need for the entire family who is living in my home to come in before I could adopt because they want to see who will be living with the cat, which was myself, my husband, my two boys ages 6 and 10 and their Grand mother! I’ve never heard of anything like that! Well it was a Sunday and they were closing at three so not much time. I drove home picked up my other son and I was able to bring in both my boys but their Dad and Grand mother was unable to be present so I just made a video recording. When I returned the brunette lady’s attitude was very standoffish, rude and unprofessional. She was ready to close up and was rushing us out and did not want to elaborate and explain to me about any follow up call concerning the adoption and did not render any more information. So in my gut I knew this lady was not going to be helpful and I was not going to get the cat we wanted so I went to the Rochester Hills Humane society, which is closer to where we live and found the perfect cat for our home. I was very pleased and happy with the Humane society. I was able to adopt the same day and we are so happy with our new cat. He is perfect!! I guess everything happens for a reason because if it had not been for the horrible experience at the AWS, who by the way I haven’t even heard from yet concerning the adoption smh, I would have not come across Midnight! We love him, his temperament, his playfulness and lovable personality is the right fit for our family!!

So with that said, if you are looking to adopt right away without any hassle, stir clear of this place they are UNPROFESSIONAL, LAZY, and very SELECTIVE in who they will adopt to. I only gave them 1 star because you must give them a rating but they don’t deserve 1 star in my opinion...

My wife and I have been adopting and raising large dogs for nearly forty years. We typically have four dogs at any given time and provide them with large fenced and open spaces, excellent nutrition and health care. So, when we filled out the application at AWS of Southeastern Michigan for a large dog, after one of ours recently died, we had no idea that we would run into problems.
We found the staff to be dishonest and manipulative about the process of adoption and were treated very unprofessionally. I would recommend that you steer clear of this shelter if you want to adopt a pet.

Get ready to fall in love with a campionion and then see him/her adopted to someone else without any notification otherwise. I frequent plenty of shelters, just because they pride themselves on "no kill" doesn't mean they behave better then then other shelters, which I frequent often. They are still a business, and an extremely poorly run one at that. Here's how it works. You'll visit and find an animal you love. You'll fill out an app for the animal. You can call everyday about an update on the animal and your application and they'll feed you something to simply lie to you while they're adopting him or her to someone else. They will not notify you that they have adopted the animal to someone else and you'll get the pleasure of finding out by seeing the animal you loved posted on their Facebook page adopted to someone else. This has happened to me THREE times. When you question their business practices, they will tell you "our board decides whatever they want." Their "board" doesn't have to follow any procedures like other shelters. They are self created, make their own bias rules and no, it's not really "for the best interest of the animal." They are a underfunded operation, with horrible training for staff who are extreamly hostile, rude, and assumptive about individuals. The Human Society is the complete opposite. They do same day adoptions, don't have a board your controlling your outcome on adopting the camponion you discovered. The staff at the Humane Society are so wonderful and happy. They take extremely good care of the all guests who visit. Trust me, I have given this place three tries, save yourself the heart ache.

Very thorough for the adoption process but they are wanting to ensure a good home.very pleasant and helpful and I could not of had a better experience. This group is doing what they can to help save animals at the fault of irresponsible owners, and people forget the animals end up paying the price. Support this shelter and help if you can and stop the negative reviews. Keep up the good work.

The negative reviews are spot on, unfortunately. We were not denied, we just unable to get any communication whatsoever. This is not sour grapes. The puppy we were hoping to have join our family went to a much less qualified girl who we know lied on her application because we were there when she filled it out. The worker coached her to change her answer. So I would suggest people work with one of the more ethical pet rescues. There are a lot of pets that need homes. We will find our new furry family member elsewhere.

The other reviews I've read about this place are right on the money. I wish I had read them before I went there to try and adopt a kitten. If you think you will be able to select and bring home a pet that same day, think again. Before you can even open the cages to interact with the animals, you have to fill out an application, which makes no sense to me because maybe I haven't decided yet at that point if any of their animals are right for my family. So you fall in love with a kitten, but you can't take it home. They claim there is a 24-48 hour process by which the "board" has to review your application to be approved for adoption, but finding loving homes for their animals must not be a top priority because they did not call me back. I had to call them several times to get an answer on my application. After I hounded them to finally get my approval, the kitten I chose was no longer available. Seems there were other applications in front of mine for this particular kitten. Would have been nice to know that up front before I became invested. Also the staff was not super friendly. You would expect people who run a haven for animals to be warm and welcoming. Seems like I was more of a bother to them with any questions that I had. Overall, I would not suggest this place as I have had more positive experiences at other shelters and I definitely will not ever go back there.

ADOPTERS BEWARE! I adopted a puppy from AWS earlier this year. The night we brought her home she was vomiting, had diarrhea and would not eat. After a couple trips to my own vet in Holly, I finally got through to AWS and they told me to bring her to their vet at Center Line. Just 3 days had passed since we adopted this puppy and I thought she was going to die. The vet kept her overnight, but when I got home that night, my current dog began having the same symptoms, the next morning I was instructed by Center Line to bring her in. My dog was there for two days and the puppy was there for four days undergoing the same treatment. I was told by the vet that the puppy's littermates had also come in for treatment (clearly this was something contagious). When I picked them up I was instructed to keep them separated for a while and was given the same medicine for both. AWS accepted the responsibility for the puppy's expenses at their vet, but refuse to pay her expenses for the previous days at my vet or the $700 I spent for treatment for my dog. I was told after 3 weeks of unreturned phone calls that, according to the vet, my dog's symptoms were unrelated and caused by stress. This is not what he told me, so I called the vet and he told me he had not discussed my dogs illness with them at all, that he suspected they were related and doubted it was caused by stressed. After AWS once again did not return my call, I emailed the board asking them to reconsider taking financial responsibility for adopting out sick puppies. I was quickly emailed back that their decision was final and I was lucky to have gotten the puppies expenses paid for because their adoption contract states they do not warrant the health of the animal.

Unless you're willing to adopt a sick animal and accept the hundreds or thousands of dollars in vet bills while also putting your current pets at risk, I would avoid them at all cost!

I was present for the previously mentioned incident. The staff WERE in fact busy--filing vet records, answering phones, and MY questions. Running a no-kill shelter is a LOT of work. Not only are the staff responsible for the care of the animals, they must also deal with people looking to adopt pets AND people who want to surrender pets, many of whom acquired these animals with a strong dose of ignorance. That said, my experience here in adopting my wonderful dog was and continues to be exceptional. All staff I have encountered are both personable and highly knowledgeable. I find that in interpersonal matters, business or otherwise, others will often reflect the attitude that YOU choose to present.