I have 3 animals from these guys. After this last adoption there are just too many red flags and irresponsible practices going on. Animals are not properly vetted, they use Atlas clinic for Vancouver and they almost killed my first dog from B&S. Now my latest is supposed to have vaccines covered but nope, hasn't been checked for heart worm and has had multiple heat cycles with a risk for mammary cancer. When I reach out I'm met with attitude. Avoid. read more

Very questionably run. Suspected puppy flipping business. Rescues puppies and marks them up to make a profit. My experience and red flags that others should look for: 1) Website & Facebook page have no information as to who's responsible for the rescue. Who's behind the scene? No team names. No accountability 2) The audit on the website is from some random place in California (pretty sure it's the same place they get the dogs from) The link is broken so you can't verify. 3) Dogs all seem to be imported from California. Also she primarily only saves puppies to flip the costs. The owner complains about the third party transportation costs. But why can I adopt a dog from Taiwan that includes a flight & more health vetting included for less? There are also PLENTY of dogs right across the border in Seattle. 4) The quote Larissa gave me for a pup was 1000$. Mixed breed, not spayed/neutered, or fully vaccinated, despite their claim to spay and neuter all dogs on their website. Meaning we'd still have to pay another 500-700$ out-of-pocket to cover the rest of the initial costs. 5) After doing more research on other similar rescues, we thought the fee was too high. I offered to pay 800 and that we'd cover the remaining vet costs ourselves (which was still way too high, but I fell in love with the pup we met). Next I received a very aggressive text, email, and phone call from her telling me numerous times it was unacceptable and "not okay" that I questioned the fee or compared Big & Small to other rescues. There are reviews elsewhere about of her flipping a personality switch, so I was a bit prepared but same time I wasn't. I didn't mean to upset her by just asking a simple, innocent question. I had so much anxiety writing that email because I was terrified of the response I was going to get. There are so many ways she could have professionally handled it but she sadly chose to be aggressive and mean about it. 6) Larissa will only tell you about the adoption fee in a private email. I later found out that a lady and I were being quoted two different prices - 50$ difference for the same pup. 7) A quick google of Big & Small will have two top hits, the second is a Facebook page dedicated to outing this rescue. 8) There's a video on YouTube of the husband acting horribly towards a family who also questioned the adoption fees. Can be found with a little internet digging. 9) There is a CBC article about this business that's also worth a read. 10) If you look at Instagram and Facebook you'll notice Big & Small has zero outreach. I'm guessing because they aren't reputable and no other rescues or business will work with them. 11) The comments on their Facebook page are heavily censored. I have watched comments get deleted if people question a breed type listed as incorrect. Or Facebook will say there are a large number of comments, e.g. 40, but only 16 show up. 12) Initially I tried to give Larissa the benefit of the doubt. I emailed advice to help her rescue. I offered to do dog portraits as a fundraiser. I also asked for the Google form I filled out so I could reuse the text to quicker fill out adoption applications. I received no return communication, I'm guessing because I told Larissa we wouldn't be paying the 1k and so she crossed us off. So here I am. Bottom line is there are better and more friendly rescues in the area that don't treat rescue dogs as a profitable business or take advantage of people for money. Save yourself the stress by supporting a rescue elsewhere. To Larissa: People genuinely want to support rescue animals. Don't treat these people like the enemy just because they can't afford your insanely high and unfair adoption fees. If you're really a non-profit, your rescue needs more transparency. And just be nice to people. It's really not that difficult! Update: Larissa has blocked my Facebook for reviewing. read more

We had a terrible experience with them. They gave false info on a dog describing him as gentle and calm... had him for afew hours and he was nuts and was rough with the kids, not at all as described. So we gave him back and they said they would refund the $900 fee because of the false advertising. Never saw my refund and ghosted our calls. When I emailed them asking for the refund and saying I would leave a bad review the owner sent an aggressive email back threatening lawyers etc...completely unhinged lady that owns it. And she's giving the dog to other people collecting $900 each time. Such a scam! and I see through other reviews they've done this more than once. AVOID AVOID AVOID!!! read more

The owners who operate this organization do not care about the well-being of the dogs that they "rescue." Instead, they care about earning money from dogs that they "rescue." It's a shame, because I have read and heard stories from many people who have adopted from these people as well as people who were turned away due to the fact that they simply asked questions about getting the medical history of the dog, or why prices suddenly go up after the owners give them a quote. If you were able to see their previous google reviews, you could see that the owners of this business often attack the people who leave them 1-star ratings, calling them trolls or personally attacking them. If you are looking to adopt a dog, please look elsewhere, because these people are not "rescuers," they are simply owners who pose as a rescue but inflate the adoption fee so that they can profit from something that shouldn't be made profitable. read more

We fostered a dog through B&S on sept 9th. I submitted a foster application 3 days prior to picking him up. No home visit, no interview, no reference check, nothing. We ended up falling in love with him and considered adopting him. My mom had emailed B&S three days after taking the dog home with questions about the adoption process. No reply. Yet I had been receiving text messages daily from B&S. The organization wanted a "yes or no" answer, no questions. 4 days after taking him home, I text B&S asking about the adoption process. No reply, again. 5 days after, I received a text asking if we were going to adopt him. I replied with some basic concerns about the dogs health in hopes that their vet would have any answers as they saw him a few days prior as well as back in California (wondering if they've ever taken blood/urinalysis as his pee was darkish yellow even though he drank tons of water, and his hips for dysplasia). ** In addition to that, the dog had visited Atlas (who I'm personally not very fond of) prior to us picking him up, and they didn't even clip his nails or clean his extremely dirty ears?? ** All I was told was "our vet has said he doesn't require any immediate (key word) attention." They just weren't being transparent. She responded with: " Ok so we will be bringing other adopters forward. If you think you are a conditional adopter or he has to be in perfect condition as a rescue then we would prefer to move ahead with someone who love and accept him lumps bumps and all. I'll be emailing you for some times to meet and greet with him" I, by no means, meant we didn't want him if he wasn't "perfect". Unfortunately, I was not in a place to knowingly take on a $10,000+ vet bill for dysplasia surgery. So, yes, that would have made a difference, only because I know someone out there has that money to help him and I wouldn't deprive him of that medical attention. I get a call from B&S shortly after saying he's made an appointment for him to get neutered (and to get his ears cleaned and nails clipped). He came and picked the dog up, and never returned. We called Atlas later that day to see if he came in, and he hadn't, nor was he even booked for a neuter. It was an extremely emotional, heartbreaking experience and I'm appalled by the fact that they just took him away with no further contact or anything. All I can do is hope he's found the loving forever home he truly deserved. read more

Horrible people who are only in it for the money. They wouldn't allow me to adopt a dog because the responsibility of the dog would be shared. After doing more research, I wouldn't want to adopt from them anyways. They over charge and their dogs are not given proper vet care. read more

BEWARE. The story that is circulating about the family who had their newly fostered dog taken from them just before Christmas is sickening. I had almost the exact same thing happen to me two years ago. I knew something was up from the moment I read things such as, "I will not slander Big and Small on the internet..." when signing the foster agreement. I was charged an alarmingly large adoption fee for a beautiful puppy that, in all honesty, I would've paid anything for - it's just the way it was dealt with from the very beginning that continues to leave a bad taste in my mouth. The day we met our puppy we were told she was too sick to even be let out of her crate that she was brought in from California. She was in the vet for four days with different ailments and we were told she might not make it. Thankfully she pulled through. We were sent a text message a week later asking for the $700 adoption fee. I was told the fee would be around $4-500, which we were planning for - but it was 100%, a complete blindside. We were threatened until one of the owners showed up to do a "home check" and allowed us to pay and sign the adoption papers. At this point we had fallen in love with our puppy and there was no way we weren't going to keep her, which is why I CANNOT IMAGINE how this poor family is feeling when they only ASKED for things like an explanation into the high adoption fee and their dog's medical records. It's a shame what the two owners are doing, it's nothing more than mirroring the rental market here in Vancouver; all they want is to turn a quick buck and move on without realizing that at the end of the day, the dog is the one who suffers. Here is the story circulating on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/133504853648041 and here is an article written on them by the CBC: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-animal-rescue-big-and-small-concerns-1.4422426 I'll end with this: seek a loving, kind and gentle animal from any other rescue agency in the city. This is not worth your time and effort. read more

I had a great experience and will adopt from B&S again. I love my dog and the society is based on that fact, love for animals. Skip the petty BS folks and stop reviewing companies you've never actually dealt with. read more