Most of us are familiar with our local county animal shelters, but I had never heard of Cats Haven…read moreuntil volunteering with a group of friends. Cats Haven is Indianapolis' oldest no-kill, free-roaming cat sanctuary. It cares especially for elderly cats or those with special needs (missing limbs/eyes, genetic disorders, etc). I would estimate in this three-story house they have at least 100 cats. {Did my fact checking - on its website, it says 300 cats are in its "network" - meaning living in the shelter or in a foster home or feral cat colony in the community). They do adopt some cats out who are well enough to be adopted out, but for most of the felines, this is the place they will live out their days in comfort, basking in the sunlight or by the fireplace. For awhile, it kept its location a secret in an effort to prevent midnight drop-offs of unwanted cats {they do not take cats from the public}. Now it seems the address is more public, largely because it is in greater need of donations. Its most recent fundraiser was the Purr-Fect Cup Cat Cafe. It looks like it is hoping to introduce more of the community to its work in the coming year. Cats Haven has an open-door policy, and anyone can drop in during business hours. Fair warning: the place VERY much smells like cats {what do you expect - there are cats everywhere} but I am impressed with the quality of the facility and how dedicated its staff is. I hope Cats Haven will see continued success!

We love cats and currently we have 2. We don't need anymore, but we sure like petting and making…read morefriends with other cats. When i first arrived here at cats haven for the open house, I was impressed with the number of cats roaming around the yard and house. These cats are all older and some were injured or crippled. They all seem so friendly and appear to be well taken care of. A caged area out back let's the indoor cats get outside through a clever ramp system. Without this shelter, many of the cats would be euthanized because of their disabilities. It seems like an awfully big responsibility to care for some of these cute little critters, but I understand the passion that makes it all work. This place works mainly from donations and if your a cat lover like me, you need to get in here and see the great things going on and give them a hand.

The process is simple: you arrive and check out the dogs/cats that are available from…read morerescues/shelters around the state; find one and play with them; fill out the paperwork and pay $30; and you're on your way with a new pup. I can see how this can be an issue for those that are cautious about ensuring that the animals are going to a good home, but on the flip side, it's a great event that helps to find permanent houses for most of the animals (just an assumption). This year, I went on both days. The first day I arrived 2ish hours after they had opened and nearly all of the pups were gone that were what I was looking for. I wanted to go back the next day to check it out, thinking that more pups would have been brought in - not the case at all. Cats were still in abundance both days. I got there right on time and they had nearly no new dogs from the last time. Sadly, there were all nearly Pits too. Even worse, my apartment complex doesn't allow Pits. I love the idea but hope that next year, even more dogs are brought in on the 2nd day so they can find their forever homes. The volunteers are great too. They usually didn't know most of the answers to the questions you had because they were simply volunteers, so that might be something to improve on next year. Instead of having the volunteers taking you and your possibly furry friend to the "meet and greet" stations, have one of the staff members from the shelters/rescues there so that you can get your questions answered while you're getting to know them. That was one major flaw I had. Every question I had wasn't able to be answered. Big props to the volunteers though!

THIS IS SUCH A BEAUTIFUL EVENT…read more I cannot stress enough that if you are looking for a cat or dog, GO TO INDY MEGA. I would highly suggest going earlier in the event too because animals get adopted quickly!!! All the adoptable animals are up-to-date on vaccines, spayed/neutered, and microchipped. They cost $30 for adoption and they are ready to go to their furrever homes!! A lot of the shelters too offer vets that give free wellness checks or 30 days of free pet care insurance. (FYI: most vets will give you a free first visit if you adopted from a shelter). DOGS: One thing that I do want to caution about: A lot of the dogs are pitbulls or pit bull mixes. I have NOTHING against Pits; I love them. What I want to specifically bright to light is that a lot of these dogs had to go to an only pet home and were not good with kids. As a cat lady, this doesn't really work with my family. There a lot of other dogs who are not like this but I just want people to know this because there are a lot of dogs who need some love in a single pet/no kid home. I KNOW there are people out there who can do this for these animals. I heard that all the dogs got adopted except one the last time this event was held. AMAZING!!!! CATS: WOW. So many cats at Indy Mega. I think hundreds and maybe thousands of cats. I came at the end of the event and was leaving when I found the MOST perfect kitten who I just knew belonged to me and needed to come home! There was only 20 minutes left in the event but I was not rushed into the decision at all. The volunteers helped me visit with the cat, listened, and helped me through the decision making process without pushing me into adopting. If the volunteers didn't know the answer to my questions, they directed me to someone who could. The adoption process of my new cat was so easy. Took about 10 minutes. The greatest part is all the stuff they sent me home with. I got coupon books for both Petco and PetSmart. I got TONS of toys and treats. They gave me some wet food and a wet food can cover. I even got a bucket for free 10 pound box of litter (so helpful) and the bucket can be reused so I can go back for more discounted litter at Petco (I think). They really set you up for success. They want these pets to go to great homes. I couldn't be more thankful for such an amazing event. Great job Indy!!! and PLEASE check this event out even if you are just considering getting a pet.

the staff here is so friendly and kind . brought my pomeranian here to get her shots updated and to…read morebe microchipped . i was seen as soon as my appointment was set to start. the vet checked to see if i had any follow up questions or concerns . i like they have fenced in areas for animals to roam . as well as a dog trail for walks . on the inside they also had cat/dog treats . this is going to be my go to now for yearly shots

I've had more experience with the downtown clinic as I don't usually find myself on this side of…read moretown, but they were out of the medicine we needed there so I made the journey up. I love that they're able to fill the gap for new adoptions while we waited to establish care at our vet, and provide affordable spay/neuter services to not only Indianapolis but the surrounding counties as well. Very thankful for their services!

This is a small but well run local shelter for mostly strays and owner surrenders. We had great…read morecommunication with them and on our day to visit found it busy but helpful. It doesn't look like much but it was obvious everyone cares for the animals and wants their best. It was clean and smelled of bleach despite being early on a weekend. We were able to spend some time with one dog and decided to adopt her. They didn't have info but shared all they knew, and even several days later were helpful when we called with questions. These dogs and cats are in a much better place and we so appreciated the care they put into even the tougher cases. They also recommended a trainer when we asked who is already helping us greatly!

I got my beloved Mona from here. Amazing staff amazing shelter. He's been my emotional support…read moreanimal through tough times. This is a place the loves and supports animals. Please come adopt one and spread the love. I needed a cat and they gave me my eternal friend. The price and value is very fair. This is a great place to get an animal if that's the service you need.

We are fostering for this rescue and having an awesome experience! Kelsey has been super helpful…read moreand answers all our questions. Lindsey, one of the volunteers who also lives in our neighborhood, put us on to Tipper. She is an absolute gem. She has the best house manners and looks super healthy. You can tell she has been very well cared for. I would definitely foster their dogs again.

Honestly I understand what they are doing, and the idea is great. But they are not the ones who…read moreshould be doing it. First, the location is behind a house, so it feels a little sketchy. Second, once inside the actual building for the animas, it's pretty gross. It truly feels like a few people got together and had an idea and decided to go for it in an old building and some fencing. Also, the lady who "talked" to us was quite rude. Maybe she was having a bad day, but still. All in all, I would much rather see these animals go to an actual shelter, be advertised more, and truly given a fighting chance to get into a good home. I can't see it being here.

We had an absolutely stellar experience here to get our new pup spayed…read more The speed of getting an appointment, how easy it was to book online, the care they took of our baby, the follow up... I really can't put into words how appreciative I am that this is an option. Highly, highly recommend for spay/neuter and vaccine needs!

They were compassionate explaining everything to me because I never adopted Purr Babies before…read more Once they explained, they gave me alone time to choose the perfect pets. I was also impressed they gave me a folder wurh everything I needed to know. Both of the felines health were checked. They were also chipped and the folder contained the company name and phone number.

Tails and Trails Rescue is NOT a shelter. Corporate address is on internet for MAILINGS…read more Unfortunately, Yelp groups rescues and shelters...they are NOT the same. Marion County (Indy) has ONE public shelter, Indianapolis Animal Care Services, 2600 Harding St. Indianapolis.

My wife and I went to the shelter to look at a pup we saw online. Unfortunately we were about 45…read moreminutes too late. So we decided to look around. Halfway through the 2nd kennel we found a pretty girl just waking up from her nap The place was total chaos with barking dogs. She just sat up and wagged her tail. We had her brought outside and we hung with her for about an hour No pressure from the staff at all. We finally decided that we had stumbled on probably the perfect pup. She's home with us now and I do believe she is very happy. She was surrendered by a homeless person who could not care for her anymore. So we will shower her with love and kisses for as long as she is with us.

We were simply looking at the dogs in kennel 3, specifically near Lobo. She comes in and says "Yeah…read morethis is what we're not gonna do" and goes on a rant in a rude manner. Many other people were sticking hands in, getting near, but we were the only ones getting yelled at. I told her she could've said it nicer and she states "Well it's loud in here, so it's the nicest i can say it". This is not the first time service here has been terrible, people here are quite rude and ruin other's days. She also stated she would kick us out, she went over the top. If employee have bad days they should know how to deal with those feelings, not take it out on customers

Full disclosure, I've been volunteering with this group for about a year now, and my review hasn't…read morechanged. I wish I could give them 10 stars! I have volunteered there, adopted animals, and fostered animals. Everything has been a fantastic experience.

From the owner: exotic and farm animal rescue everything except dogs and cats…read moremission statement to be a voice for the animals to educate the public about animal responsibility and ensure that animals are treated humanely and given a chance to make certain that every available resource is used to find adoptive homes for domestic animal

I was looking for a friend for my male cat Pumpernickel and decided to look for another little soul…read morethat needed a loving home. I originally went to the website "adopt a pet" and found a female kitty with the cutest little markings on her nose at Robins nest. I applied and was approved!! I will say they were thorough. Embarrassing to admit this, I forgot her name, but I believe it was Kay. Kay called me and asked many questions about my lifestyle just to be sure I would be the ideal pet owner. Robins nest partners with PetSmarts around Indianapolis area so we arranged the pick up to be at the PetSmart in Carmel off of Greyhound pass on a Saturday afternoon. Picking up (Macie) went smoothly. She is spayed and microchipped. I took her to the vet for her first set of shots and just a general check up and Dr Johnson gave her a good bill of health. Yay!! If you are looking to adopt please consider a rescue or an animal shelter. Also couldn't get out of PetSmart without some essentials for our new baby. Thanks Robins nest for a terrific experience.