Before we walked in this building, the lady at the front gave us the biggest scowl through the window. She refused to talk to us or make eye contact, answering a phone call as soon as we walked in. We were trying to see if we could drop off two stray kittens here, and if not, if we could be pointed in the right direction. Someone else steps in and asks the people behind the desk why they weren't helping, they just shrugged and pointed to the woman making a phone call. This person gave us advice, thankfully, but told us that since we took the kitties in, we've "assumed care of them" and need to pay a fee to surrender them. These aren't our cats, so we didn't do that. They told us to go to Seattle Animal Shelter. This was a frustrating experience since we really would love for these kitties to go to a loving home. We thought a place called BurienCARES would be a lot more helpful, but instead we were met with discrimination. I talked to somebody else who had a similar experience trying to drop off a stray kitten, but was treated with sharpness and judgement. ALSO -- I recommend giving the article about this place on B-Town Blog a read. It's called "Claws come out over Burien CARES as city council debate deepens" written by Mellow Detray. read more

I'm not sure what to say about this place. Our first impressions of this place was not good due to the absolutely overwhelming smell of excrement. It was so incredibly bad. I tend to believe that people who animals are wonderful and I'm sure these people are. We adopted a young cat. They said it was a year old. It turned out to be much younger. We took her to the vet 2 days later. She was infested with tapeworms. Soooo.. We love our new cat. I choose to believe that these people are doing the best they can. Maybe they need more help or a marketing person. If they could get a handle on the smell. I'd be game to help. Thank you for all you do. Miz Kilmousky read more

Burien CARES - Animal Shelters Near Me - Burien, Washington

I'm honestly surprised this place doesn't have worse reviews. I'm curious what other adopters here have experience or if it's just us. My family has adopted from here a few times over the years, but recently the experience has been really disappointing. Customer service has gone downhill. When you walk in, staff don't greet you--they're usually in the middle of long, non-work-related conversations with coworkers and only acknowledge you afterward. It's awkward and frustrating. Some of the volunteers, on the other hand, were helpful--honestly, it feels like they're paying the wrong people. The website promotes "don't shop, adopt," but there's very little actual support for adopting. Most info about the animals comes from the photo binder, and the staff weren't helpful in matching us with a good fit or answering basic questions. Still, we tried to look past that because they're caring for the animals, which is what really matters... until something more serious happened. My sister, who's a high school student, had been volunteering there. She took a dog out for a walk, and when she returned--just five minutes before closing--they had locked her out. Her stuff was still inside, and no one was answering the shelter phone. We had to call the police, who finally got in contact with the owner. When the owner called back, she was rude, blamed my sister, and claimed we hadn't waited long enough--even after multiple calls and involving the police. After that, we're just done. My mom's been wanting to adopt again since our last dog passed away a year ago, but every visit here has been exhausting. I hate to say it, but I think this place really needs new management. It's sad because we want to support adoption--but this kind of experience might actually drive people away. read more

Ps: I think it's hilarious that they didn't acknowledge my review at all. Yet they'll respond to everybody else's. Harley deserves answers and so do I Literally months ago, I was begging to surrender my dog, as time went on. He bit my son two more times (correction biting), and then he got in a fight with my other dog. Literally picked him up by his throat and shook him. I got desperate. So I pretended that I found the dog. I don't condone my behavior, but I was desperate, and I wanted my dog to get the help He deserved and a better environment away from children. NOBODY helped me. No rescues nothing. Instead of helping me, OR EVEN OFFERING RESOURCES, this establishment made a mockery of me. The worker named Stephanie in particular. They treated me crap. They even looked at my Facebook which I feel is wildly inappropriate, even if you have a suspicion someone is lying like why do you have so much time to go look up their Facebook on the clock? Shouldn't you be doing your job? So instead of my dog getting the help he needed, we were used as a form of entertainment and now my dog is being euthanized tomorrow and I am holding these guys accountable if that actually helped him instead of just making a mockery of us, this would not have been the situation for my dog and he didn't deserve this I'm glad y'all thought it was so funny that I was so desperate to get my dog help that I was willing to lie and act like I just found him outside. I'm glad that was hilarious to you and now a dog gets to die because you had to have a little laugh. Rip harley you deserve better . I tried to get your help and they were too busy making fun of us to care. The person on the phone who did this was Stephanie. The one who looked at my Facebook and refused to help my dog. Update: after calling the Humane Society to euthanize my dog, I ended up rehoming him to a family. He got very lucky at the last minute, and there's no thanks to this company for that. They need to be held accountable for what they did to me and my dog. Like I said, I don't condone my behavior of trying to lie, but I was literally desperate and trying to save my dogs life and instead of seeing the urgency of the situation, this facility has zero compassion and literally laughed at me over the phone as I'm trying to save my dog. I don't think that's very kind and I don't think these people should work there and I really want Stephanie held accountable. Notice this establishment has responded to everybody else's reviews except for mine. Because they have nothing to say for themselves. read more

Burien CARES - Animal Shelters Near Me - Burien, Washington

nice people working and volunteering with the animals! lovely to see a small family, especially a young boy, find the kitten of their dreams! They all, including kitty, were lucky. read more

Being that our dog is allergic to everything (not an exaggeration), we sometimes end up with dog food that we can't use - unopened, a lot of the time - and we like to drop it off here for them to use as they need for their doggie charges. We also sometimes drop off other dog items such as clothes. The staff is very welcoming and attentive. The parking lot is a bit of a squeeze but that's the price we pay sometimes to be and to support a business that cares. read more

Peanut a rescue bunny He is a teenager probably why he was dumped He going to the rabbit vet Saturday Soon to be neutered. The shelter took good care of him While he stayed . read more

Thank you STEPHANIE!! If you decide to adopt here, ask for Stephanie. I trust her 100% and was not disappointed. The process was so easy and she made sure I got the pet that was right for me and gave me enough time to get over there to meet him. She really truly cares about these animals and it shows. I have so many questions as a first time pet owner and Stephanie is so patient, knowledgeable and helpful. read more

Burien CARES - Animal Shelters Near Me - Burien, Washington

Like the title.. they do actually care! Great place to support!.. they were awesome in supporting the animals during Lahaina Maui fire!

Gave the cat we had on hold to another person fifteen minutes before we arrived. We'd received an email 30 minutes before confirming the cat was available for us and that we could pick him up -- on top of calling twice earlier that day. Burien CARES is run by incompetent volunteers who don't communicate with one another. Don't get too attached if you want to adopt here. read more

My girlfriends dog, Chillon, came up missing 2 weeks ago now from the U District and shows up 2 weeks later at this facility. They r calling him "Charlie." She was so excited to have found him and when she went down to get him, they refused to give him back to her. Since when is it not enough to call out ur pets name and have them come run over to u to prove that it's ur dog. Or the fact that, u know something about the dog that's specific to ur dog. And so what if the phone number on the chip is no longer valid what about the name on the chip. And so what if she don't have an ID with her pic ande name on it, who else is gonna walk up in somewhere knowing all those things just to pick up someone else's lost pet. NO, it's absurd ! read more

I love this place and all they offer..but they need to listen more carefully when someone tells them that their dog can jump out of the kennel.The young man that checked in our dog Sky to be spayed ignored the warning and as a result sky spent almost 2 days running around burien and across the freeway..we cried alot and drove around looking for her and putting up signs etc.Happy ending she made her way to grandmas house and is now home safe.. read more

Burien CARES - sky - Animal Shelters Near Me - Burien, Washington

We really loved how they took care of Angel, poor ol'Gal of 14 needed to find her forever home after being left intentionally at her age. Burien Care and help of a friend brought her to our atte attention and now Angel lives with 2 other rescues and we love them all, will so tell they gain their wings. read more

Burien CARES - We got our new family Member from Burien Care. We love her!!! - Animal Shelters Near Me - Burien, Washington

A very disappointing visit today. I opened the front door to one person sitting behind the desk, female, and another worker of the establishment standing on the same side of the desk as my friend and I. We both want a dog and we have a huge yard of .56 acres and this was not our first visit to CARES. We ask to enter the area where the kennels are and they started with their interrogation of us: "Do you know the dogs name? Do you know the breed of the dog? Was it a Pit Bull? Is the dog for you or someone else? We are not letting back there because it is an echo chamber, and it get the dogs all excited. And we are just getting ready to go to lunch." We mentioned that we had been there before and that we were allowed to go to the kennel area in the past, Worker on our side of the desk, "Well this is a new policy that we have had in effect for four years now. You can call and make an appointment." We were very surprised with the very cool reception and left. Anyone that knows anything about dogs understands that there is a special chemistry between a dog and its potential human parent owner and to have the door to the kennel closed and to be turned away is not good for dogs trying to be adopted. We found the exchange to be very weird and will not return. Instead we will go to the county animal shelters to adopt our dog, or to a breeder. Shame on CARES. read more

Burien CARES - Animal Shelters Near Me - Burien, Washington

This place is amazing! We adopted our dog from them. He couldn't be kept in a confined area because he would smash his nose into the door until his nose bled. They told us all his negative behaviors. Max was previously returned by other families. He even came with a nickname of Max the destroyer or Max the terrible terrier. We were allowed to foster him to see how he fit in with our family. He's still a too smart brat but he focuses his skills on Night time counter sniffing, In hopes someone left the peanut butter, butter or bread out up on the counter. Never happens anymore. Haha When we would say where is the butter? He runs to hug you if he stole it. He always greets people he likes with something in his mouth like a toy, sock. Thanks to Burien C.A.R.E.S we have a huge amount of love & laughter in our home. read more

I adopted a 6 month old puppy from here about a month ago. I really love that they are a no kill shelter and provide great care for the animals they have there. They have a wonderful take home "foster period" . We got to take him home for a few days and if we decided not to keep him we got the option of bringing him back with no charge. However, we decided to adopt him. They provided us with a leash, collar, a bag of dog food (puppy chow which I don't reccommend) but they also gave us a ton of tips about how to care for him and what he likes/dislikes. read more

Burien CARES - Our amazing, healthy new puppy *HENRY* - Animal Shelters Near Me - Burien, Washington

These people are running the best business located in Burien. They respond to issues quickly, and kindly. Keep up the good works, Burien Cares! Adopt before breeding, save special lives. I am so glad you are still here, some on the Burien City Council, for some reason tried to switch animal services back to the county, which would have been a sad, bad mistake. Animal lovers are special people. Thanks for all you do, and doing it with kindness. Irresponsible people are the cause for needing shelters, so glad we have you, Burien Cares! read more

We were looking for a dog since our beloved dog died (she was 14 and a shelter dog) As we live locally, we like to do business locally whenever possible so CARES was a good place to look for a new dog. The staff was polite, professional and very helpful. We would recommend this shelter to anyone. We did decide to keep the dog we took on trial and although she does need to go to school, she is a sweet, lively dog. When I took her with me to let them know we wanted to keep her, she was excited to go back which I take as a very good sign for the quality of care this shelter gives their charges. The people are very kind and caring. read more

We are sad to say that this non profit is not a reputable one. I will post more on this later but please do your research on a company before you invest your heart and money in a pet or in an agency. This agency is the worst non profit pet agency I have ever dealt with. read more

Burien CARES has a fantastic team working hard to match animals to loving owners. They're extremely kind and hard working. We have 2 cats and really wanted to adopt a dog. We were very wary of what dog since we didn't want the dog to attack our cats. We really liked how CARES allowed us to foster the dog before making a huge commitment just in case. Everything went well and we were able to adopt the awesome dog we always dreamed of. The facility itself is a little rough around the edges, but it's not CARES fault. They need more funding and possibly more volunteers. The awesome part of them being a nonprofit is that you can go online and see how much money they're getting and how they're spending it. Since they only have 1 location, it's extremely easy to see how they spend their money. I researched them a lot beforehand to make sure everything was legit, everything I saw looks fantastic! One of the places I looked at to see their finances is here: https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/451680913. But I also looked at many other sites where you can see information on non profits. I'm not sure what issue Becky H. had. It looks like she's from Port Orchard, and Burien CARES (to my knowledge) is an animal shelter specifically for Burien/King County cities. I don't think she's trying to leave a bad review for no reason, but she might have had a poor experience since Burien CARES is only for local residents. I wish she expanded on her experience because right now it's very vague. Again, Since Burien CARES is a 501 c3, it has a lot of oversight and you can take a look at it online. I've done my research and really trust this place. read more

When a lost [dropped off we think] gray cat came to my home daily for 6 or 7 weeks for food, I took him to Burien Animal Rescue. My cats were not going for another kitty... He was scared, and he had gotten into a fight that had gotten infected... He just needed help and we found it at this great No Kill shelter. The people could not have been kinder or more helpful. YAY, I'm A FAN. Thank you for all you do ! P.S They have some beautiful animals there for adoption ...Just sayin' read more

This agency out right lied to me about a puppy that was recently rescued. I took him home with the understanding that I would be able to adopt him after his medical needs were completed. On my way home I get a call from the shelter that the DIRECTOR informed them that I was fostering the puppy only and that the DIRECTOR only could approve adoption. After I got the puppy home I found out he had kennel cough, and passed it on to my two dogs, I paid the vet bill got treatment for all three animals, and life went on. In less than two weeks we had the puppy almost potty trained, he learned sit, fetch and how to play like a puppy and gained weight and strength. We were able to change his aggressive behaviors and he was calmer and more lovey. Then I got the call...I was told that I had to bring him back to the shelter because the vet wanted to see him and that he would have to stay overnight but I could pick him up first thing in the morning. So I dropped him off, again was told I could pick him up first thing in the morning, I let them know I had a 10 am meeting but could come get him after. I called later to check on him, and was concerned about him being alone, he is scared of being alone and was I informed that the DIRECTOR had taken him home and would bring him back in the morning. Called at 10 the next morning, no puppy still at home with DIRECTOR, called at 11 same answer, called at 1pm and was told that I needed to talk to DEBORAH and she was waiting for my call. I called the number they gave me and DEBORAH informed me that they would not return the puppy to me, that he was in the system and she was going to set up a Go Fund me Page for his surgery, but I was welcome to submit an application for adoption. Very cold and uncaring. By the way as of today still no Go Fund me Page. I am heart broken, and when we went to their website it says there is a $50 reservation fee, but when we called we were told we could not put money down on this particular puppy and that DEBORAH the DIRECTOR can pick and chose who gets animals. We also offered to pay the entire adoption fee up front and we were flat out refused and that it was out of their hands and up to DEBORAH. Obviously DEBORAH THE DIRECTOR does not have the animals best interest at heart, as she took an abused puppy out of a home where he was thriving to take him home with her. I am concerned she is selling the animals or is exploiting them for financial gains. Interesting that not all animals from the shelter end up at the directors home...only the cute ones. Read their adoption FAQ's and questions on line they are going against everything they have published. I may not get my little puppy back, but I am going to tell everyone I know to not do any business at all with this agency, andif I can find a Board of Directors for this agency I would petition them to terminate Deborah's employment. read more

CARES is a wonderful, no-kill shelter. They actively seek owners to found animals. They also work hard to find good homes for animals that need to be re-homed. CARES takes excellent care of their animals. They have a large community based volunteer staff. CARES is an important part of the NP Burien community. read more