We couldn't be more thankful for Animal Rescue Recon and our foster mom Barbie! We have always been passionate about adopting. In November, 2021, we decided to add another fur baby to our family. We already had two senior rescues but we noticed how fast they were aging. One faster than the other, and we didn't want the younger one to be left alone when we lose the older one. We adopted Leo, an energetic poodle, chihuahua mix and he has brought us immeasurable joy! Barbie genuinely cares about her fosters! She vets adopters very thoroughly! We had a meet and greet in a park to allow all of us to be comfortable with the match. We really appreciate that because we know that when Barbie gives a family the thumbs up, she knows that rescue will be going to a loving, forever home! Leo is the sweetest puppy and all he wants to do is play. That has been challenging for us because our senior dogs don't want to play with a puppy who can be a little too strong and a little too rough for aging dogs. We spend hours a day, playing with Leo, taking him on walks and throwing a ball but it just never feels like enough. He goes to doggie day care once a week to play with other younger dogs and is so happy there. That's when we decided that Leo needs a playmate, a younger pack member who can match his energy. We reached out to Barbie and she matched us with our newest family member, Love, a Chihuhua, Shihtzu mix. Barbie assured us that she wants to play and is fearless! We worried that Leo might be too rough for her tiny size, but let me tell you, she is small but mighty! If he gets a little too rough, she tells him off and remarkably, he listens! He is a lot more gentle on Love than he has ever been with his other fur siblings or us! Since adding Love to our pack, we notice the older dogs hanging around us again, when before Love, they spent a lot of time away from wherever we were with Leo. They watch with amusement as Leo and Love play all day. Sometimes one will jump in and play for a minute and then continue to let them wear eachother out. Animal Rescue Recon is an organization that changes lives! They bring endless joy into the lives of so many! I made sure to change my Amazon smile donations to Animal Rescue Recon of Oakley so they can benefit in the tiniest way, that will never be equal to the way they've filled our hearts! Thank you so much! read more

Animal Rescue Recon - Leo, adopted from Animal Rescue Recon, Nov. 2021. Love, adopted from Animal Rescue Recon, June, 2022 - Animal Shelters Near Me

Love Animal Rescue Recon. We adopted an American Bully from them and it's been wonderful working with them. With so many great dogs and cats crowding the local shelters, it's nice knowing there's non profits like ARR that are helping solve the problem and uniting wonderful animals with their forever home. We worked with Barbie adopting our American Bully Toby. He has been a wonderful addition to our family and it was a delight working with Barbie. I hope more people think about adopting their next dog or cat from rescues like these because there are so many animals that need our help. Lastly, the next time you want to add a furry buddy to your family think about an American Bully (aka Pitbull). They're by far the best family dogs you could ever ask for. They're smart, great with kids and other animals, and easy to train. read more

Animal Rescue Recon - Total couch potato, until it comes time to work. - Animal Shelters Near Me

We recently adopted a dog from this rescue, and the process was smooth and painless. The foster family was great and put some nice basic training on our dog before we adopted him, and he was well cared for while he was waiting for adoption. I don't understand the negative reviews - we almost overlooked the dog of our dreams because of the bad reviews. Please don't make this mistake! This is a reputable rescue doing great work to protect animals that may go to the kill shelters otherwise. They want it to be a great fit, and they also generously offer to refund your adoption fee and take the dog back if it doesn't work out. Definitely give them a chance to match you with the pet of your dreams. We are so happy they helped us find the perfect match! read more

I had a great experience working with Norma, my dogs foster mom. She clearly loved my dog and was very careful when choosing who to place her with. She is the most amazing dog and I couldn't think of a better fit for my little family. Norma was pleasant to work with, very kind, and very understanding. I'm not sure why there are as many negative reviews as there are, I can say that if a dog was taken from your care or you were denied for adoption, there was a valid reason. Some dogs need specific environments or people to thrive. I have confidence that ARR puts the dogs first, and I think that any good rescue should! If I ever have a friend looking to adopt I'll definitely be referring them to Norma, and ARR. read more

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I highly suggest you not adopt a pet from this outfit. Completely unprofessional not friendly don't respond after you've done applications. And misrepresent petfood express in Brentwood California. They have more bad reviews than they do good they should not be handling animals they are not kind people at all. read more

We have had a great experience with this organization. We originally saw a puppy we wanted to meet on adoptapet.com. She was being cared for by Natalie with ARR. Natalie called us back within a day, we sort of interviewed each other and set a date for us to meet. Natalie is warm, caring, energetic, informative and very responsive. The meeting went well and we adopted our little puppy and waited until she was old enough to be away from mom. Natalie took such loving care of mom and the puppies in her care. All 9 puppies survived despite mom having minimal care before Natalie got her. The puppies were raised in a warm, loving home with other friendly dogs to play with and humans to cuddle with. We later had an opportunity to adopt our puppy's sister end of January - so we now have 2 sweet, loving puppies in our family!! Both came with clear instructions for their care which was included in the adoption fee - all their shots, a microchip and spay surgery. There was also a coupon for a local vet visit which I used just to get them looked over. The puppies are now 6 months old and doing really well!! The puppies have an Instagram if anyone wants to see them - perdita_and_her_pups. read more

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I had a wonderful experience adopting our puppy through the animal rescue recon. First of all, our foster mom Natalie Haufler is amazing. Not only did she socialize and get it our puppy prepared for a new family but she was very informative and detailed about the entire process of becoming a new owner. She genuinely loves dogs and went above and beyond to assist us providing information and tips about having a new puppy in Our life. She is like having a veterinary technician at your finger tips. Our little guy was very socialized and has been a joy to have. Another reason they deserve five stars is for their follow up and support. Our puppy had to return for a 2nd surgery due to an abscess from her spay. We fully expected to pay for this. Animal Rescue Recon paid for the procedure. The veterinary services they use at Central Boulevard Veterinary Services are outstanding (1280 Central Blvd/ Brentwood, CA 94513) Thank you Natalie, Animal Rescue Recon and Central Boulevard Veterinary Services. You all were wonderful read more

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This organization is very disappointing. While they may serve a good purpose with animals, they lack organization and management skills. My daughter had a school project where she needed to volunteer and she went through their specified process. She was phone interviewed and told she would be put on the schedule. Several follow up went unanswered by the company and the school project is now at a point she could not complete the hours required. I understand organizing volunteers can be a challenge, but if you are an organization supported by volunteers, I would think you would have a better system and would welcome kids to take part in this important cause. Again not a review on their purpose, only on their management and coordination of the business. read more

I see that some people feel the foster parents for this organization are good and check out adoption parents carefully. Well, Barbie, the foster mom put my best friend through an extensive background check, meet and greet, she sent pictures of herself, her yard, her other dogs. Barbie decided to let my friend adopt 10week old Daisy. Daisy was a 60th birthday gift for my best friend. My friend had 2 chihuahua's that lived to 15 & 16 years old and passed away within a month of each other about 6 months ago. There is NO better dog owner than my friend. And yet, after a week of having Daisy, this so called foster mom Barbie STOLE the dog back from my friend when she showed to get Daisy her immunizations. There was not one reason stated in contract that my friend didn't comply with or did ANYTHING wrong! Barbie mentioned more than once that her kids we're having a hard time! Your a foster mom!! She broke my friends heart and soul when she stole back this pup. They took all paperwork from my friend and sent her back only a copy of her application and wrote RETURNED!!!! Daisy was STOLEN!!! This organization sent a letter to her by president of board. This letter had several grammatical mistakes and was rude. This organization should be shut down. My son who is a Doctor of Veterinary medicine was other person with me to pay for this adoption. My son, myself and daughter-in-law are retaining an attorney. DO NOT USE THIS ORGANIZATION! No pet or human should be subjected to this cruel and insane way they play GOD!!!! Shame on you Tamara and Barbie!!!! This isn't definitely not over. Lynette read more

We found a puppy at the ARR booth at the Bay Area Pet Fair. She was so terrified by the crowds and noise that she jumped over the fencing right into our arms to try to escape. We asked permission to take her outside to a quiet area, where she calmed and allowed us to bond with her. She was adorable and we wanted to take her home. We certainly did not want to take her back inside to endure more stress. Although many ARR adoption guidelines are overly strict and unreasonable, we met all of them, only to be told we could not take the puppy because her foster mom was not there that day and no one else had the authority to adopt the puppy out. Disappointed, we filled out an application, and were told that we were first in line for this puppy and we would get a phone call. The call did not come so we followed up the next day only to be told via text from the foster mom that the puppy could not be adopted because she (the foster mom) was not available and had not had time to review the applications. And she would not delegate the responsibility to those at the ARR booth who had witnessed our interaction with the puppy at the fair. We never received a response to our application. It is unclear why ARR offered pets for adoption at the largest bay area pet adoption event if their pets were not really available. ARR should not have subjected their pets to the stress of that environment; instead, they could have offered photos. We question whether ARR really has the best interests of their pets in mind. We have adopted many rescues but never from such an unreasonable and unresponsive organization. read more

Our experience with Treasure and Animal Rescue Recon was very positive. We filled out the application and inquired about the terrier mix we had seen online. It took a couple of days, but we got a response. We confirmed that they would be at their adoption site on Saturday and went out to meet the pup. Treasure answered all our questions and encouraged us to take Pup around the block. Since our biggest concern and desire was that the dog get along with our cat, Treasure brought Pup to our house the next week to meet Cat and do a home check. Pup barked at Cat, which disturbed and concerned us. Treasure assured us Pup had probably never seen a cat, and he was a soft boy who hadn't shown prey drive. This turned out to be the case, as Pup playbowed to the cat the next week. Everyone's experience is different, but I will note that we had a concern that might eliminate us from adopting. Treasure worked with us, and it was not a barrier to adoption. I have respect for anyone who takes on the heartbreaking and financially draining work of a rescue. We got a loving and gentle dog who really was rescued. read more

I was disheartened. My fiancé and I went to adopt a little girl pup and then found out they were brother and sister and felt like we should keep them together as encouraged by the people that work here. They were not potty trained as we had been told and had a parasite that we took them to the vet to get them healthy. We sent the vet bill to try and let them know the added fee before paying the other half of adoption fee and their response was that we should have let them know and they have a vet that they use and that we should still pay the rest of our money to them. So, $250 for each dog and a $360 vet bill + $45 for their medication. Also- we drove 1.5 hours to meet the dogs and we can't get to the vet that they work with easily as two professional working people. (We were never told that we should take them to the animal recon vet. Nowhere in the paper work and dialogue or with the foster mother when we met her or the Rep from this charity ). We were talked to harshly and tried to communicate our concerns. They seemed to want the money above all and threatened to come and take our dogs. That devastated us. What place would want to take dogs out of their forever home? We were merely asking for things to be fair. We fell in love with these dogs and are committed to giving them a great life and to be told someone might come and take them from us seems dramatic and uncalled for. Just our experience. read more

I agree with the other reviewers that I don't understand this rescue and have no desire to do business with them in the future. I fell in love with a Boarder Collie/Aussie mix puppy that I found online, that they had rescued. I adopted the dog in the beginning of November. The adoption was fast and easy. The dog had mange and was not yet spayed. They told me that once the mange was cleared I should have her spayed. I set a date with my vet for her to be spayed in mid January. I dropped her off and received a call from my vet saying that her vulva was enlarged and we should postpone the procedure. I informed Animal Rescue Recon of the delay. It ended up that she was not in heat but had a skin infection due to the mange. The spay was rescheduled and right before that date she went into full heat. Once again we postponed. This time my Animal Rescue Recon contact called me in a rage and said that I had to schedule her to be spayed within 48 hours or they would come and take her back and keep her until all of her medical needs had been met. She would not listen to a word I said. At this time my dog had been living with me for almost 5 months and we had bonded. They, also, harassed my vet and were telling her how she should be taking care of my dog. The contract that I signed with Animal Rescue Recon did not state anything about spaying or give a time frame for when it had to be completed. I wrote an e-mail to Animal Rescue Recon explaining that I wanted to get her spayed but due to her medical issues and going into heat we had to postpone. The response to this was an e-mail which attacked and threatened me. I was told that waiting to have my dog spayed was totally unacceptable and that they have no choice but to come and take her back and keep her until all of her medical needs have been completed and then will decide whether she can come back into my care. They said if I do not comply they will have no choice but to call animal control and the authorities. A day later I received a friendly phone message and e-mail stating that their vet was happy to spay my dog while she was in heat and could do it on Saturday. They asked if I wanted to bring her myself or should they come and pick her up. I did not respond to this e-mail. My vet told me that there can be excessive bleeding and complications if you spay a dog when they are in heat and that we should wait 9 weeks after her heat before spaying her so that she would not have a false pregnancy. Next they decided that my dog was pregnant and that was why my vet and I decided to wait until June for her to be spay because the puppies would be weened by then. I finally wrote them a letter telling them that my dog was not pregnant but was in full heat and that this was my final direct communication with their rescue. I told them that I was in the process of acquiring a lawyer. They finally backed down and told me to have my vet send a letter to put in my dog's folder. Now my dog has been spayed and I am done with Animal Rescue Recon. It is clear that this rescue does not have the animals best interest at heart. I should have been thanked for adopting a sick dog and instead was threatened and attacked. I have given my dog excellent medical care and a warm and loving home. read more

I am a well-established, mature adult. I own a home, and have had animals all of my life. Today I tried to give a rescued animal a perfect home. I spent hours preparing for my "home evaluation", rushed home to meet the woman in charge to introduce the new dog to my very well-behaved adult dogs. I was crushed to be told that according to their "gut" feeling, my home was not a "good fit". I was treated like a child, given the 3rd degree about my home, and told that they usually require a 6-ft fence. With all the lonely and homeless animals in the world I am amazed at how this group can make an arbitrary judgement about my worthiness as an animal owner. I would NOT recommend this group to anyone, unless you want your heart broken and your confidence shattered. They also charge an outrageous fee of $300 to adopt! Again, are we REALLY acting in the best interest of the animal?! read more

First and foremost I would like to say that I never post on Yelp. Second of all I noticed that the only 5 star review that was written has been taken down. It was written from Treasure Carlson who is the person that is in charge of Animal Rescue Recon. Notice that all of Animal Rescue Recon's reviews are one star. My Fiancé and I wanted to adopt two puppies from an adoption agency or non-profit. We found two puppies that were from the same litter.The hard part was that we live in Napa and the dogs were in Oakley. We signed a contract stating that we would get the puppies spayed and neutered. We asked if it was possible to get our dogs spayed and neutered from our vet. They said no and we must use their vet. At first we were comfortable with that. Unfortunately my Fiancé had to go on a trip out of the country and I had jury duty. So we were unable to take the puppies in to get spayed or neutered on the scheduled date. Stated in the contract "if we are unable to make our appointment we must pay $100.00." So I payed the $100.00 for each dog. I had spoken with Tammy on the phone asking her that we will have proof that we will get our dogs spayed and neutered from our vet. Sense we are here in Napa. She said absolutely not. I let her know that we had taken our dogs in for a regular check up our male dogs testicles haven't dropped yet. Our vet recommended that we wait 5 months. I told this to Tammy and she said "no we must have their vet do the procedure and we are going to go in their and dig them out!" Once she said that I did not trust this organization at all. Animal Rescue Recon said that they must do the procedure for the dogs. They said that they would be at risk of getting audited. This sprung a red light for me. I did some research and Treasure Carlson her self even said "We are not allowed to give puppies up for adoption that have not been spayed or neutered." I looked in to it and in the state of California your are not allowed to adopt a puppy in a county that has 100,000 people or more without spaying or neutering the dog/cat/rabbit. Please see this sight for future reference. http://dcn.org/~pamgreen/cal_law_rescue_spayneut.html I had to get my attorney involved because Treasure was threatening of taking our dogs away because we wanted to use our vet. She was worried about getting caught. This in not the first Yelp review that she has threatened to take away peoples dogs who they have already bonded with. In the end we were allowed to spay and neuter our dogs with our vet. It was not easy and Treasure Carlson does not know the law. What Animal Rescue Recon is doing is illegal and hurts other non profits. DO NOT SUPPORT OR ADOPT HERE. If this has happened to you please turn them in to the Contra County Environmental health dept. so that they can start following the law. read more

Despite all the other reviewers, I had the most pleasant time with the Animal Rescue Recon organization. I first was interested in one of their puppies that I had seen on adopapet.com, & I emailed the rescue regarding the puppy I was interested in. In hours, the foster mom of the puppy quickly reached out to me, & after a few exchanges we had already scheduled a meet-&-greet. Lori, the foster mother, was extremely nice & welcoming when we came to visit, & she had helped my family & I every step of the way, since we had never owned a dog before. She was very helpful & very nice & informative, & in no time, we were able to adopt the puppy. She was very loving, & I had the most pleasant experience. I definitely will keep in touch with this organization! read more

I had such a positive experience with ARR! I saw the littler of pups I was interested in on social media and knew one of them needed to join our family! I contacted the rescue and was told to contact their foster mom directly. Natalie is amazing and really cares so much about the dogs in her care. We set up an appointment and I met and chose the puppy that was going to be mine. The hardest part was waiting until she was old enough to leave her mama! During that time Natalie would text me pictures of her since I lived an hour away and couldn't just pop over for visits. My sweet little pup is 6 months old now and an amazing addition to our family! She still gets to visit 2 of her sisters and I have made 2 new friends! The rescue adoption process is a bit different and maybe more involved than the SPCA. Everyone needs to try to keep in mind that what the people caring for these pups want is for them to go home 1 time and stay there forever. We as the adopters need to leave our egos at the door and realize it's not about us...it's about the dogs and what is best for them! read more

Animal Rescue Recon - My little bug! - Animal Shelters Near Me

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This five star review is above all because foster mom Natalie has been just *amazing* from day 1. Fast response, thorough knowledge of the animals in her care, willingness to talk details and make it work, checking in after the adoption - and above all, having the dog's best interest at heart. Any agency that can count her among their ranks is obviously doing something right! Reading these negative reviews, I certainly understand the frustration being expressed - you just want to give a dog a great home and now you're being vetted and scrutinized. I occasionally felt the same way dealing with other folks in the organization. I needed them to let me bump up my adopted pup's rabies shot so we could travel. I was asked to write an email detailing the request so the board directors could review it and make a decision (they eventually agreed). They also insisted I send copies of certificates verifying this and other shots by mail. It was a little frustrating at the time (total overkill, I thought - he's my dog, and I'm taking care of him!), but looking back, I know they were doing it because they want to be absolutely sure every animal is getting the best care possible. I feel good knowing I supported an agency that puts the dog's well-being above a few inconveniences on my end. That's the way it should be! Yes, there are a lot of dogs out there in need of homes, but I for one am glad to know that this need doesn't mean dogs are being handed out to just anyone. If you want a fast, no questions adoption, this isn't the place for you (go check out an SPCA). If you want to know that you're getting a pup people are invested in finding a good home for, even if it means more time and energy from you, then ARR is the way to go. read more

We found a dog that we were interested in adopting at one of their events locally. The dog was shy but we spent a good amount of time with her and setup an in home meeting so she could meet our other dog and feel out the home. Things went well but the dog was shy and would not leave the foster parents side for more than a moment. Despite this, we were willing to move forward knowing the dog would need time to trust us. We set up a second interview and when my child leaned down to offer the dog a chew toy it bit him on cheek causing several deep punctures that required medical attention. My 4 year old son was hysterical, and the foster did not nothing to help while I attended to his injuries and tried to reach my wife by phone to let her know we would be going to hospital. Fast forward a month and the rescue is trying to blame it on my son. After reviewing his medical bills for the emergency room visit and offering to put a check in the mail just hours later no questions asked, they forwarded us their fosters side of the story and want to pay half of his medical bill instead, citing a fair outcome for both parties. What a joke! I'd stay clear of these unprofessional and remorseless individuals. After requesting the animals records following the incident, it had gone by three different names in the span of a year. What are they hiding? My guess is they've got more than a few dogs with questionable histories and aggressive behavior. They give animal rescues a bad name, and I hope that the animal in question never gets the opportunity to bite another person. They should be ashamed of themselves for the manner in which they've handled this situation, and for failing to take responsibility for knowingly putting a dangerous animal around small children. Animal control informed us they now have to disclose that this animal has bitten someone, if they continue to try to get it adopted. So make sure you ask if the dog you're adopting has bitten anyone!!! read more

Like the other reviewers, I don't understand this rescue, and have no interest in ever working with them again. They seem to do most things backwards. While we did end up getting dog through this rescue, it was only due to the Maddies Fund days and desired requirements for a second dog. We wanted a small second dog for our apartment and we really wanted a Min Pin breed. This rescue made my boyfriend and I feel as if we are bad owners and pet owners, yet in fact we love our dogs and treat them as our children. We are very dedicated to training them and raising well behaved animals. When we told the rescue we were not interested in their weird requirements for adoption, the rescue seemed to ease up as long as we made one adjustment on our patio. In the end, we decided to make the change, and we did adopt, but only due to the Maddies Fund. We were not in the position to put forth hundreds of dollars for a couple more months, yet wanted a second dog for our family. While this rescue serves a purpose, we don't like them and don't feel them worth the hassle, and don't appreciate being shamed. read more

We had a very good experience with animal rescue recon great follow up people responded instead of a machine a very personable experience they truly care about the animals read more

Cannot express how grateful and happy I am to have adopted my son Opie from Natalie of ARR. She was a joyful, caring, and loving foster mom. Natalie truely cares about the well-being of all her foster children and who will be taking them home. I originally fell in love with Opie on adoptapet.com, sent in my application, and Natalie got back to me the next day. We set up a date to meet at the Pet Food Express. We both already knew that Opie was going home with me the day of the meet just based on the phone conversation and the 2 hour meeting closed the deal. I was very willing to put in the work to get Opie to be my first dog, even though I had to make two trips back to Oakley from San Francisco, I knew it was going to be worth it. The reason for the trips were the neutering and last couple of shots, which the ARR adoption fee covered. 6 months later I cannot be more happier with the whole experience. Opie is the perfect dog for me. I cannot imagine my life without him. Thank you Natalie for being so patient, caring, loving, and for answering all my questions even after the adoption was completed! I will definitely adopt from ARR again for Opie's future sibling. read more

We adopted a dog from Animal Rescue Recon last week, and after stumbling upon the Yelp reviews for them I wanted to put in my own. We could not be more pleased and satisfied with the rescue, and Tamara was a complete joy to work with. I was driving from Sacramento to Antioch to see (who became) our dog, and she and the foster parent graciously waited around for an extra 30 minutes until I could get there. We received much support and information and could not have been treated better. Would absolutely do another adoption with this organization - so very happy. Don't let the negative reviews steer you away. Tamara, and her organization, is the BEST ! read more

I am not sure how this organization calls themselves a rescue. Like the previous reviewer, we were a family looking for a new pet and only believe in rescuing animals. We went and visited a sweet puppy at a foster home and thought the interaction with the puppy and our family went quite well. When we left, we discussed our home visit and evaluation and followed up a few days later with an e-mail to schedule it. We received a return e-mail stating that the foster family did not see a connection between the dog and our family. Mind you, the foster had the puppy was confined to a "bonus" room with cement floor and spent a great deal of time in an albeit adequate crate. The foster had to sleep in the room with the dog because she (the dog) had developed separation anxiety and couldn't be brought into main living quarters with three other adult dogs. When I followed up a month later because the puppy was still available, I was told to take this as a "final decision" that our family was not a fit for the puppy. Four months later the dog (no longer a puppy) is still in a foster home waiting for a forever family. We have now worked with real rescue organization and found the perfect dog for our family. The rescue we used was so great we added $100 to our adoption fee as a donation. I feel bad for the animals that end up with Animal Rescue Recon as they will likely have to wait months to get into a loving home. This is NOT in the best interest of the animals. read more