Evanston Animal Shelter is a top-notch animal shelter that truly cares about rescues. They're…read moreprofessional and conscientious. If something were to happen to me, and with no other options, I have confidence that my beloved dog would be taken care of conscientiously by Evanston Animal Shelter.

I would like to give them one star for ghosting people on phone calls and emails, as I and others…read morehave had happen, but since they do take care of some animals, and I do like animals, I will show them some mercy . Considering that they got over 6 million dollars from the City of Evanston, I am very unhappy with their poor communications and the fact that they are only open to the public for about 2 hours a day. One of the two cats I adopted turned out to have obstructive airway disease and since they were in charge of my two cats for months, one would have thought that would have been disclosed. The medication cost over $2,000 that first year because what was prescribed was not off patent and the cat was too obese to take prednisolone safely. Why was my cat obese? Ask them. Further when I asked if I could donate the huge cat carriers back to them and some food bowls they gave me (since I already had those items) they refused them as if they have all the money in the world to buy new supplies, other shelters would have jumped at the opportunity, a donation in kind of about $100. I applied to volunteer and heard nothing from them for over 2 months after emailing and messaging them following up on my status, to no avail, until I had to actually go in there to find out what was happening. I could go on but in my opinion this is an organization that is not managed well and they could do much more with the funds that they have been given. I'm pretty sure, imho, that they will ask some pals or cronies to add some high star reviews to try to balance out the negative ones, of which there are quite a few, but all I can do is try to get them to get their act together there by posting this. Finally, as to others here saying that some people there are rude, I completely agree. It is not a pleasant experience. If they try to get more taxpayer funding without improvement of their management, I intend to go down to City Hall to cite my many reservations about this organization. Update on 2/18/25: I stand by my review in spite of the response from EAS: To EAS I respond as follows: Unfortunately the cats were obese from a medical standpoint so you may want to consult with a veterinarian on animal obesity. I note that you did not post the photo of one of them I emailed to you after he had some cat nip the first night I got them, but chose the "skinny" video :) so I posted my photo of one of the big boys I adopted. Further, it is my understanding that my cats were elsewhere in foster care under your auspices until they were put into my care as fosters. If you take no responsibility for their care when at foster locations, that could be problematic, especially for them, since you foster out many animals. As to communications issues: I sent an email Sept 8, 2021 asking about a vet. No response to that. I found a vet myself and did not contact you again until early Dec this year when I put in a volunteer application. No response to that. On Jan 7, I sent a followup email asking the status. No response to that. After that I wrote a msg to your Facebook page. A day or two later someone answered and said she would follow up with the dog volunteer area. I waited approximately a week and still had no answer. I wrote again to see if anyone heard from the dog volunteer group, but received no reply. Growing quite annoyed with the runaround, a few days ago I decided to walk over to EAS and find out what was going on, which I did. I told The person there, also the person who did not answer my email of Sept 8, 2021 that I had emailed and messaged and gotten no reply so decided to walk in. He told me I must be mistaken as EAS has no email address posted on its website and was rather brusque (rude, in my perception in addition to being uninformed) gave me no apology and then insisted I must have emailed a vet with a similar practice name to EAS. He subsequently agreed to follow up, nevertheless. Moreover, with regard to my claim of poor communication, there was a post on your facebook page not long ago telling the public that people have been rude to EAS staff/volunteers when they don't get back to them and how they shouldn't be because everyone is so busy( too busy to hire volunteers who might answer phones, I guess.) If EAS cannot acknowledge the problem, it certainly will not be fixed. Re: funding: So it didn't go into your pocket, you say, but why spend 6 million dollars so you can be open approximately 2 hours a day to the public? I certainly hope the number of adoptions skyrocket going forward , you train people not to be rude (as mentioned here and elsewhere in reviews) and you answer communications because certainly the Evanston taxpayers should see something for their generous funding of your large facility.

They treat the animals so well here. It's great! A huge selection of kittens and cats of all types…read more They give them shots and fix them. Great place to support!

We adopted a wonderful cat. Staff was patient and knew the cats' personalities so were able to…read moreshare helpful insights. The facility is clean and has a warm, open feel. Would highly recommend!

My experience here was as a volunteer. Every time I came in to help, I was made to do common room…read more(the main rabbit and cat room). It was always filthy, many of the fleeces were covered in so much fur that I was worried about the rabbits getting a blockage, water bowls were often fully empty or had literal soap suds in them. The volunteer coordinator suggests you "spot clean" the litter boxes, though often they are so saturated that the pellets they use as litter are disintegrated. It put a bad taste in my mouth that staff was not following the basic "contact time" instructions on the bottles of Rescue when they claimed they wanted to kill bacteria. They kept a sick cat with giardia in a cage first thing when you walked in. He had a sign that said not to touch him, but not what he had. I saw senior staff repeatedly handle iso animals with no gloves. I saw them put iso laundry right into a pile with the other laundry more than once. I found a wet pile of laundry with feces (or litter, according to the literal president -- not sure that's better) stuck to it sitting on top of the dryer. I was written up for making staff "feel bad" about not knowing how to disinfect stuff when they claim to have vet tech experience, and for not being nice enough about the "litter" on the wet pile of laundry. I saw other volunteers regularly mix in BnB laundry with shelter laundry -- with what I would consider a homeopathic amount of bleach. They were not chastised for doing laundry incorrectly. In fact, they were allowed to train me on laundry. I tried to report a possible historical ringworm infection to the staff just so they knew to be mindful to check themselves and animals for sores, but instead got met with bizarre legalistic stuff about how I might as well be suggesting that I could have gotten it from "invisible space aliens" (that's from the president directly). Look at these photos and tell me if you think it's insane to think someone could catch a fungal infection here. I was then banned -- again, the stated, written reason being that I disagree with their veterinary practices and they've been doing this for 26 years blah blah blah. Ok. I'm really worried about how much else has been swept under the rug in 26 years, then. The president was so cruel to me when banning me that I immediately went to urgent care for medical clearance. The NP was grossed out and suspicious when I told him I got yelled at for trying to let them know about a possible exposure. Staff here does nothing but bully people if they trust you enough to let their true colors show. I have personally heard them do it about sexual orientation, weight, and ethnicity -- they even had rabbits with antisemitic names they got from Seinfeld (they are not Jewish themselves). They stood silently by while a senior volunteer made fun of my sexual orientation the first time I met her, even. They do not have a pride flag hanging anywhere. I wish they would change that, because maybe there would be fewer homophobic and transphobic comments. Though everyone here reflexively "punches down" so much due to their low self esteem that it seems they can't even keep track of what they say. Just know that if you have a certain skin tone, everyone here older than 40 with a sensible haircut has an opinion about your hair being "unprofessional" if you do anything but make it as straight as possible. I grew up in a hoarded house, and I have to be honest. That's what this shelter feels like and part of why I wanted to help. They cannot keep up with the animals at all, especially not while running HareBnB. Over the holidays, for maybe 3 full cumulative weeks of the year, volunteers handle everything in the shelter except paperwork and isos. No one is properly trained -- in fact, I trained several people after doing common room only ONE time. But these photos were taken when BnB wasn't busy. This is what their performance looked like when they had one more staff member than they do currently and very few BnB guests. And I heard the president and VP talk about buying more BnB space as a potential for the future! I don't have a rabbit currently, but if I did, I would not trust BnB. I am telling everyone I know with rabbits not to board at BnB. For a while, they were the only game in town, but now you can do better. I had already stopped finding joy in volunteering, because as soon as I would come in, the volunteer coordinator would sit at a computer and pretend to look at spreadsheets. That would devolve into hours of me hearing her talking and laughing while I did what would've been her assigned work. No thanks. As you can see, there's clearly enough to be done that we both needed to be working at the same time. I would love to see them change ownership and find a crew really dedicated to the mission instead of dedicated to doing a bit less than the bare minimum. It seems like this shelter used to be good, but maybe it was just the quirkiness of a bunny shelter.

I take my bunny here for nail clipping. Recently I learned that there is a spa package. I tried it…read moreand bunny seemed pleased ;) I also enjoyed the bunny yoga, made it for the first time. Great for yoga beginners.

What an impressive rescue shelter. It was the first stop on our journey to find a new cat. The Tree…read moreHouse staff was extremely friendly and helpful. After reviewing all of the adoptable felines, we fell in love with a small 1 year old cat that they called Toaster. She is perfect. Because of Bissell's Clear Out The Shelters" special (May 1- May 17) adoption fees were reduced from $115 to $70.

This cat cafe was awesome! I love how they let you adopt the cats as well. When we went, there…read moreweren't many cats left so we played with one cat. But this cat was so active and played with us the whole hour and we had a blast. The drinks were also really tasty and they come with the entry fee which is 10 dollars per 30 minuets. I would definitely recommend!

I can't say enough about this wonderful animal rescue. Heartbroken after my previous dog died, I…read moreknew I wanted to adopt another. I found a 2 y.o. little black Chihuahua mix here that honestly resembled my late dog, but smaller. Such a cutie! The process went quickly, we were able to meet the pup soon after being approved. A week later, she was on her victory ride home! The facility is spotless. Brightly colored, cheerful and lots of light. We met another dog too - for a li'l playdate to see how my pup is with other dogs. The animals here are all clean and very well cared for. Sure, it's a shelter situation, but they do a really good job of keeping them happy. The staff is utterly great - true dog lovers. They were very detailed with all the info and background they had for my new pup - behavior, quirks, feeding - everything. They love this little dog! Answered all my questions, AND we have a group chat for questions that have come up after she's been home now. The women here were really fantastic, and you can tell they want the pup to go to a home that really works out. Price? Sure, there are adoption fees - this pays for their medical care, microchip, etc. It's a BARGAIN, since these little beasts are priceless for all the happiness they bring to their new owners. We were sent home with food, meds, a leash, tags - everything! Location is GREAT, right next to Sketchbook Brewery in Skokie. Highly recommended - they are just great, and we are so happy with this little pup. We are gonna be great together! She's decompressing nicely and exploring her new neighborhood and home.

Stellar experience at C.A.R.E. Catherine was wonderful to work with. The facility was clean and…read morewell-kept every time I visited. And the animals seemed healthy and well cared for. This is the first time I've brought a shelter animal home without major health issues. After a God-awful experience fostering for a cat shelter on the north side of the city -- which lied to me repeatedly about the foster cat's condition and then heartlessly euthanized her -- C.A.R.E. was 180 degrees different and a breath of fresh air. Often shelter cats are underweight and saddled with at least one type of parasite, despite the shelter's best efforts. That was not the case here; in fact, the cat got a clean bill of health on her first vet trip, which she handled like a pro, leaving a trail of admirers behind her. That said, extra credit to C.A.R.E. for treating the less robust kitties, with cancer and similar illnesses, that other shelters are too cheap to deal with. If you're thinking of adopting or fostering, come meet the animals here.

We traveling from California and they are the nicest people helping to find her…read more I'm a disabled navy veteran and she's my medical alert service dog

Where to start...home where cats are kept is a mess. Owner Janice is a headcase. Many of the cats…read morewere sickly and or filthy. Nonetheless, we found two cats we were willing to rescue from this rescue and we submitted an app. We live comfortably in the NW burbs in a 5 bedroom house with several other pets that are all well cared for. Someone is also always home too. She turned down our application! Feel sorry for all those neglected cats that are stuck there.

Absurd demands. Unreliable. I think she uses this "company" as a sham to get donations, but knows…read moreshe's never giving any away. She makes the demands so out of control on items you must have at your house or she won't give the cat to you, and even then, doesn't keep appt times. Plays with potential owners feelings when she has zero intention of deeming anyone but herself qualified. Wish I could give zero stars, but i had to leave one.

They helped me find my lost dog and were super nice about it. They sent me to the city and some…read moreFacebook page to post, FBI pets or something like that Facebook Illinois (FBI).

Rachel & her staff are amazing! In what was a very stressful time for us, finding a lost dog and…read moreassessing her personality; Rachel was super responsive and supportive. Facility was clean and friendly. Thank you!

We adopted a beautiful cat from the Anti-Cruelty Society through the Lincoln Park…read morePetsmart store. The whole process was quick and easy. I would highly recommend adopting through the Anti-Cruelty Society.

I had to surrender my dog and was able to call in and check on her. Bre who is in admissions was…read morethe best, she took her time to tell me how she was doing and reassuring me it will be ok. Bre thank you for your compassion and kindness.

Melanie,& all the employees, they care & make that shelter shine 4 those Cats, always cleaning,…read morecats always having food,water,& warmth there.

I have been volunteering here nearly five years. Melanee runs the place and she is great with the…read morepeople and of course the cats and kittens. This rescue is run like no other. Thank you Melanee the staff and our volunteers. The adoption fee is manageable and the cats love running all around and also in the patio