The staff here are so wonderful and accommodating. Went out of their way to let my husband and I…read moremeet a dog we had seen online just an hour before. The facility itself was clean and seemed pretty well- organized. There was a kitten adoption event going on the day my husband went to pick up our dog too. Easy to find on Google and Waze, and the adoption process was simple and straightforward. They have a TV in the lobby and a screen that shows in what order you will be served. I also noticed that not even 15 mins after we adopted our dog they removed him from their website's available dogs, which is good to know that they keep their sites well-maintained! A little about the adoption process: I went in and met the dog that we were interested in in a room with one of their staff, they told me all the info they had about him and let me interact with him. Then I agreed to move forward with the next step which was a meet and greet with our resident dog, which we did outside with some parallel walking and then nose to nose as they got more comfortable. After that point. Point it's up to you to decide next steps. Obviously, ours ended with a happy ending and a new four-legged family member.

There are amazing people my puppy loves them and they love him always a good time ... they…read moredefinitely have helped us save money on vet bills

What these people do to help these dogs is wonderful. They are very picky to whom they…read moreadopt and for good reasons. They try and find the best fit for each dog so they will live out their life in their forever home . I have adopted two dogs from them and love them dearly and thank AARF for saving my dogs and adopting to me

Sitting in the parking lot today 12/29/20 while family went inside to look for a kitten I noticed a…read moreGentleman who works here go out to a caged area out front to retrieve a dog. This dog was so happy to see the gentleman but it was obviously very nervous and reluctant to be brought back inside the building. The gentleman was extremely patient and gentle with the nervous dog, letting the dog move at his own pace and when it needed to stop the man stopped with it and knelt down to comfort it with some soft and reassuring petting. Being an animal lover, it really means a lot to see these animals treated with kindness and dignity in what has to be an extremely confusing and scary time in their lives. The grounds look very clean and peaceful as well. Great job.

PLEASE LISTEN TO THE OTHER 1 STAR REVIEW. I had the same experience…read more I went to this shelter earlier this week and fell in love with a beautiful cat. I was told I was the third applicant and that I would be contacted if the first 2 applicants were no longer interested. I received an email that the cat was available and asked me if I was still interested. I sent 4 emails and left 1 voice message the same day. 2 days later I sent a fifth email and received a short reply that the cat was given to someone else. Should you apply for a cat or dog, sure, but expect the shelter to play some games with you. I was a longtime foster with NACC and have donated for years. I'll be taking my business elsewhere since they can't be decent enough to respect my time.

This place is very clean and the dogs are taken care of. The staff is very knowledgeable and…read morehelpful. Ollie was super kind nice. They are organized in their adoption and foster programs and do a thorough check to make sure they family and pets are right for each other

Cups and Claws was such an amazing experience! Can't say enough good things about this place. It is…read moresuch a beautiful space with roaming cats throughout the café. Our favorite spot was the affectionately named Catio adorned with all of the cat toys, games and books one could dream of. We had a lovely time playing with the cats and kittens. Our favorite was Sal and Morgan however all of the cats were very sweet. Loved that they had options for drinks and snacks in the front and the workers were all super sweet, knowledgeable and kind. You can tell they truly care about the wellbeing of the kitties in their care. All of the cats are adoptable and it took all my strength to not sign up to bring one home. You will need to sign a waiver and make sure you have socks as you will have to take your shoes off at the front. If you forget they do have super cute cat cafe socks for sale though so its a win/win! Excited to return to play with the cats and hopefully one day return to adopt!

Amazing environment! We came in possibly wanting to adopt a kitty! We had criteria, and were told…read moreabout Bruce and he checked off every box! We filled out an application for Bruce and got a call the same day saying we were approved! He's been in his new forever home for about a few hours now and he's glued to us!! He found his new favorite blanket and is making biscuits! 100000% would recommend coming here even if it's to give kitties some love

Did you know that the SPCA accepts old bedding, blankets and towels for their animals?…read more They have bin in the front of the building to drop off any donated food, toys, crates and cages.

We came here to visit the petting zoo which I feel is a hidden gem. It's so cheap (think it was $3…read morea person?) and then $1 for little tubs of food. I would def recommend grabbing a few tubs. We grabbed one per person and it was not enough . The animals are hungry and love to eat! The goats were so gentle with my three year old son. They had bunnies, a turtle, donkeys, chickens, alpaca (I think?) and goats. I may have forgotten an animal or two haha. But it was so fun. We walked around and visited the adoptable animals too. I used to volunteer here when I was younger and it changed a lot! There's a dog area, cat area and smaller critters (hamster, birds, Guinea pigs). The shelter is kept clean and the cages were so clean as well.

My family has adopted 2 dogs from there and were blessed immensely both times. They sent someone…read moreout to our house and checked it out prior to allowing us to adopt them. I would highly recommend this facility to anyone looking to adopt a new fur baby. They were very friendly and helpful.

I would give this place a zero-star rating if possible. The volunteer staff are friendly and…read morehelpful, but the administrators do not follow their own criteria for adoption. My family tried on 3 different occasions to adopt a dog and each time we were turned down without their ever checking our references, visiting our home/viewing photos, or asking questions about our application. On the third try in our attempt to adopt a poodle, Stephanie, who apparently makes the decisions (not a committee as claimed) called and gave some very lame excuses about why someone else was chosen. I'm sorry to say I lost my temper because that just helped her to assuage any guilt she might have had about not following procedure. I believe they let the best dogs go to people they know. She said the person who got the poodle had experience with the breed. My family has had nearly 25 years' experience with poodles, which she would have known had she followed the procedure they claim to use. Our 10-year-old was very disappointed, and we will not put her through that again!

Compassionate rescue that goes above and beyond for some of the hardest cases....including a dog…read morethat gave birth this morning and had adopted three orphaned puppies as well! I work to organize transport to them for some of our NC dogs who are out of options, and it's wonderful to see them get prompt vet care and move on to happy homes!

My husband & I have adopted two cats & a pup for HFL in the last year, but unfortunately we will…read morenever go back. Not because I think they're cruel to the animals but because i literally never have a pleasant experience. last week was our first puppy experience & was a tad stressful. I know I overthink pretty much everything when it comes to our fur babies but HFL was extremely unresponsive about any questions I emailed/texted prior to adoption when we had her as a quarantine and honestly, this experience with them sucked. The last few days prior to adoption I just didn't reach out at all because they didn't answer me ever.. Took me like four days to even find out if she was on heartworm preventative (i literally emailed/texted 20 times or something crazy about little different things like bumps on her ears, shots.. without any type of acknowledgment).. i know these things could be nothing but just a " hey that seems fine" or " those bumps are new keep an eye on them and let us know " or " how is she doing" super frustrating. I acknowledge, respect and appreciate what they do at HFL & I know they're a small shelter.. just think there is a disconnect amongst staff concerning foster/adopters & organization/communication. My experience was topped off by some of the staff members that are consistently unpleasant. I've had very few experiences where I actually walk away and think "what an enjoyable visit". When I went in to sign foster paperwork, one of their staff members raised her voice at an adopter about a shot. Wasn't necessary the adopter was asking questions not arguing. There was some sort of disconnected~aka information not relayed till day of adoption. I just think some of them need a reminder that you can talk to people calmly & respectfully. Not every adopter is looking to argue with you or call you/the shelter incompetent. I commend any facility that aims to protect/save animals. It's brave and beautiful.. However, the adoption day of our pup was ruined because someone made us feel significantly uncomfortable. A staff member, Nicole, went to give our puppy a shot & was pretty aggressive w/ my husband. Very big ego when he gave her literally no logical explanation to get triggered. Flip a coin on what the reason was either she's had one to many negative experiences with people being rude to her & got defensive OR she truly was deeply offended and took my husbands asking if a table was clean as a personal attack on her character/the shelter. Pretty much ruined the adoption experience for us tho. We followed the shelter on social media and we noticed that one of their dogs had parvo the day prior and since our puppy isn't fully vaccinated we originally didn't even want to bring her in but she was due for a shot and we wanted her protected as soon as possible, so we took her in a stroller. Even if we did not see the shelter had a Parvo case, we would still be overly cautious about our 3 month old PUPPY whom is at risk.. . My husband thought she'd get her shot in her stroller but she said no for that (w/a attitude btw) but also fine she wouldn't do it, we weren't about to fight over it. Then my husband said " Oh okay, is everything wiped down back there " in a very calm tone.. just being a scared/worried dog owner. She SNAPS at him and goes " don't talk to me like that I do this for a living" ... big attitude & tone shift... talk to you like what?? asking if our unvaccinated pup will be in a clean/safe environment? sorry but shouldn't you be happy that we care so much about our puppy to even ask? He wasn't deeming you/the shelter incapable.. he was just worried for our dog. He not once gave you an attitude. There are a few staff members who need a professionalism & customer service course ASAP because they are reactive & scaring good people off. I cannot stand unjustified mean/nasty behavior. There is literally zero place when it's okay to talk to another human poorly unprovoked.. just kinda ruined my adoption experience & made me super sad. Her coworker, Tracy, the one who was actually helping us complete the adoption was incredible. She is extremely sweet & kind. When Nicole was snappy with my husband, she stepped in and informed us that everything was cleaned before/after an animal is cared for. And that the shelter cleanliness very seriously. So thank you to her for calming our worries and understanding we were just scared!! The same goes for Noriko & Courtney. Both always extremely kind with a warm disposition whenever we go in.