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    RISPCA

    3.6 (33 reviews)
    Open 11:00 am - 4:00 pm
    Updated 2 months ago

    Services - RISPCA

    Animal shelters

    Pet adoption

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    Marie M.

    This is an excellent place to adopt your pet!! The people who work here are compassionate, knowledgeable, and dedicated. The animals are well cared for and the place is clean and well kept. We're now fostering a 7 week old beautiful gray kitten (now available for adoption). When fostering, RISPCA will provide all the supplies (food, grooming, toys, litter, accessories). Very generous! If your foster pet doesn't like the foods, they have other alternatives available. RISPCA is also a wonderful place to work or volunteer if you love working with animals.

    Kelly F.

    The RISPCA is a wonderful shelter that truly cares about the dogs and their potential adopters. They want to make sure it is a successful adoption and provide all the tools you need. I adopted Mischa almost two years ago after my sweet senior died suddenly. I was originally interested in another dog but we put it off because we decided to remodel our bathroom and wanted to make sure our new pup could have time to decompress without stress. A few months when it was completed we reached out again and the dogs we were interested in had a daughter that was being fostered at that time. We met her and fell in love (even though she lunged and barked and was trying to be scary) after she gave me her little paw. Rihanna is a shelter worker there and is dedicated to helping rehome these animals. I honestly can't say enough about them. The review that says shelter is dirty and dogs euthanized rather than adopted out are liars. It's very clean, animals are well cared for and are adopted out to the right fit so they are not returned.

    Tamra F.

    I've never adopted from here, but I have fostered some kittens here and the staff that I dealt with were all great. I mostly interacted with Lisa who is the foster coordinator and she was always very quick to respond to any inquiries I had at any time of the day. RISPCA provided me with all the supplies including litter and food needed to care for the kittens I was fostering. The place itself also looks clean. I especially like the little room they have near the main entrance for some cats to roam around. You can see the cats through the glass. I can't speak on the adoption process as I've never adopted from here before so this review is just based on my fostering experience alone.

    RIP Marshy 5/5/2017-6/3/2021

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    4 years ago

    I will no longer be adopting any animals from them. Horrible! Makes promises and a lot is questions like we are idiots!

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    Ask the Community - RISPCA

    How long should you wait after online application before you have can assume you have been denied?

    The best thing to do is check the website. If the pet you applied for is off the website and you have not been contacted, it's safe to assume you were not the best fit for the pet.

    Don’t See Your Question? Ask Away!

    Review Highlights - RISPCA

    When fostering, RISPCA will provide all the supplies (food, grooming, toys, litter, accessories).

    Mentioned in 2 reviews

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    Warwick Animal shelter - Gorgeous

    Warwick Animal shelter

    (20 reviews)

    This shelter has an unreasonable set of standards for adoption, unfortunately resulting in the…read moreabusive retention of animals. I believe their standards make it less likely for any animals their to be adopted. If you want to adopt from this shelter make sure to have vet records that comport with AAHA standards for animal treatment, or take the easy option and obscure any ownership history and save an animal from this abusive shelter.

    They took my bengal cat and her kittens because they were illegal they cold not release them to me…read more The lady told me that a situation like this had happened before, in that case they had to release the bengal cat to someone in Connecticut because bengal cats are legal there. I told them I have a friend willing to take my cats in Connecticut. She said the cats will have to go through adoption. I went to check on my cats today and she told me she already adopted them. I told her the cats means everything to me. I expressed that I bought the cat right after a hard time in my life and my cat was there to comfort me and gave me emotional support. I asked the lady "I thought you was going to help me get my cat adopted to a friend so I can at least visit her in Connecticut ".The lady then started being a "Karen" and told me "well I don't really care, all you need to know is that there are in a good home. And just because ur friend put an application in that doesn't mean they were goin to get pick for adoption." She then preceded to tell me I don't seem fit to care for a cat anyways. I had done nothing but gave my cat the best life she could possible have. Now I can never see my cat who I had raised since she was 4 weeks, she is now 9months. She is not just a cat to me, her name is Malu, she's a sweet bengal cat and very shy. I treat her like she's my daughter, she is very spoiled and well cared for. The lady is pure evil and has no heart or compassion. Fooled me in thinking I would see my cats again then goes and get them adopted behind my back. To the people that adopted my cat please reach out to me. I am Malu's father, I have no way in contacting you this is my desperate attempt to see my cat again. Please reach out my email is goldmindkeo@gmail.com. Thank you for reading my story I will not be silenced exposing you guys and ur evils

    West Warwick Animal Shelter

    West Warwick Animal Shelter

    (7 reviews)

    I just visited with west Warwick animal shelter with a friend who has Down syndrome. We were…read morelooking for a cat for his family. We didn't have an appointment but when we arrived the girl working the desk (Abby) said there were no bookings so we could come in. She showed us the animals and explained the details of each one, age, temperament, cost etc, and answered some of my friends additional questions which had nothing to do with the animals. We got an application and Abby went over all the costs with us so we could write them down. She couldn't have been friendlier or more helpful. As sad of a place as an animal shelter can be, she brightened it up and made our visit enjoyable and informative. Hopefully my fiends family will adopt a cat from this location and I know when I'm looking for a an animal this will be one of my first stops. Thanks Abby and all the cats and dogs in west Warwick.

    I give West Warwick animal shelter a five star review. My little Shih Tzu named Penny got out of…read moreour fenced in yard this morning, and I was an absolute wreck trying to find her. I saw a police officer on E. Greenwich Ave. and stop to ask if he had seen a white dog in the area. The police officer was extremely kind and caring. He informed me that she had already been picked up and was at West Warwick animal shelter. I immediately drove over there and when I walked in, I met a young man named Paul. Paul was absolutely AMAZING! I can't thank him enough for the concern and kindness he showed me. The shelter was clean and the few fur babies that were under their care looked comfortable and well taken care of. I gladly give this 5 STARS!!!!!!!!! Thank you for taking such good care of my baby. I am very grateful and especially, to Paul.

    EGAPL Heart of RI

    EGAPL Heart of RI

    (37 reviews)

    I've seen several 1-star reviews for this shelter and I don't agree with them. They are very…read moreprofessional and very committed to finding a good home for the animals. This place cares very much for where the dogs and cats are placed. They provide several training guides, do's and don'ts, a week of the food they're currently eating so you can slowly acclimate them to your chosen brand, vaccination records, place and date of birth, chipping and registration information, etc. They have strict policies for one very specific and good reason: It's for the pets, not the humans. Young children (regardless of their upbringing) can pose a threat to the animal. Your child might be a puller or tugger and the animal may not be prepared for those interactions yet; especially for puppies. This place is great and after a two-week approval process, we took home an adorable hound puppy. They were also very accommodating, and came in on one of their CLOSED days for us to adopt him even sooner. Be honest with them and their questions and you will not be disappointed. With a handshake and a hug for each of us and several kisses goodbye for our new puppy (they clearly gave him good care and a lot of love), we took him home. My advice is to give them a chance to give YOU a chance.

    Everything about his place feels like a scam. I felt weird the moment I walked in and it just got…read moreprogressively worse. Lack of communication, herding people in like cattle for meet and greets that seem to totally freak out the animals... all in all, I hope all the sweet pets find good homes, but would absolutely never return to this place. It was all so uncomfortable and the volunteers were very judgy and rude. Potential adopters seemed to be treated very poorly in all instances and the entire process was demoralizing. I feel bad for the pups etc that are stuck there, poor things. My heart breaks for them.

    Scruffy Paws Animal Rescue

    Scruffy Paws Animal Rescue

    (5 reviews)

    A Lifesaver for Cats and Their Humans! I can't say enough good things about Scruffy Paws! Their…read moreaffordable spay and neuter services are a true gift to the community, benefiting both owned and community cats alike. The staff are compassionate, knowledgeable, and incredibly committed to helping as many cats as possible by making responsible cat care accessible. In doing so they help to keep cats healthy and reduce overpopulation which is so incredibly important. If you're looking for a trustworthy, low-cost option for spaying and neutering, or a new best friend to adopt, this is the place to go! Thank you Scruffy Paws for the invaluable work you do!

    very disorganized. applied to adopt a cat at the beginning of the month, and the processing time is…read more7-10 days (there is conflicting information on the application and the website) and heard nothing after 2 weeks. I followed up with an email-they strongly discourage following up with them for some reason, because not only did no one respond, but even after talking to one of the owners in person to move my application up, i still had nothing after a month. the cat I applied for was removed off their site now-what is the process meant to do for applicants if you're not even guaranteed to be merely CONSIDERED for a cat before it gets adopted? nevermind that you would jump through all these hoops, they might as well ask for your credit history as well. you could meet the cat and it could go terribly, and waste about a month of your time or more-because you dont get to meet the cat until youre ready to sign the contract. out of all local shelters, i can't even be surprised to why this rescue has a completely full house and has to depend on pet stores to provide space for their extra cats. picking up more work than you can handle is the best way to keep cats out of loving homes. apparently they only care about money, as they spend more time asking for money/donations/people to bring in pets to spay or neuter. while i can understand money and donations help keep these places running-it is completely avoidable if they werent nitpicking who gets to adopt. understandably it is incredibly hard financially to support 30 cats or more, but a choice they are making. most of the local shelters have less than 15 cats and aren't drowning in work the way these people are. they have a similar adoption process but arent choosing based of who's first name they like best or who has the most money to offer them. I applied to another adoption place, they ended up declining my application because i was under 25 (im as confused as everyone else on that one) but notice i received a response within 3 days of submitting. over a month later, still nothing from Scruffy Paws. sitting in a cage all day must be so stressful, especially when no one is there to play with you. the volunteers seem somewhat bored with the cats, and with so many mouths to feed it's less volunteer work and more like an office job you hate(and arent paid to do lol). i couldnt provide a catio in my apartment, and was considering leash training if cat was young enough. i understand some of these cats came from the streets, but she blatantly turned me down and said it's "glamorized" and cats cant walk on a leash. i expected so much better from this shelter, and I hope things turn up good for their cats and any future cats that end up in their care. anyone who's checking reviews, rescind your application. they will leave you with no response for months. go adopt from PARL or other local rescues. they will not expect you to donate a months worth of food money to adopt because that's what Scruffy's adoption targets seem to be. and if they reject you, you wont have wasted weeks to months of your life waiting for a response. better yet, go to a cat cafe-there's a fantastic place in coventry.

    Help save one

    Help save one

    (11 reviews)

    My experience with Help Save One was wonderful, and I simply could not be happier!…read more Within one week of submitting my application (and the required $25 deposit which goes toward your total adoption fee if you are approved), I picked up my black lab/collie mix, Mazie! Although communication was slow at first, with a little persistence and patience I was able to get all of the information I needed from Pam and Marissa and overall it was a great experience. It also seems that Mazie was fostered in a really great home. Although only 8 weeks, she sleeps through the night and is completely comfortable in her kennel. She has an absolutely wonderful temperament and is a great addition to our family! I was a little worried about the lack of communication in the beginning, especially after doing a little research and reading a few Yelp reviews, but in the end I was very pleasantly surprised and would highly recommend Help Save One. Like a few others have said, these women work very hard to save and protect these dogs...hang in there and they will get you a great pup!

    Boy, I don't even know where to begin, with this group. Like R.G. said, if I could give them less…read morethan 1 star, I would. I, too, was a foster for Help Save One. I, too, was promised paperwork to show to the vet when she needed to go for her checkups. I, too, never saw any such paperwork even though I'd written several times and was promised they'd be emailed. I'd offered to foster because I used to be an animal control offer and missed it terribly. I wanted to help animals, in some way, and thought this would be perfect. I should have done my homework. ALL the complaints on ALL the sites are completely true, in my experience. Marissa doesn't care what animal she places, with who, as long as she gets her money and has a home she can put them in. It's appalling, really. All you have to do is say the right things on your application. They meet you somewhere in their transit, to pick up the dogs. They never actually see where the dogs are going. I met them, at 4am, on a Friday night about 45 minutes from my house because they'd called to tell me a transit was coming around 10pm. Okay, that was fine. I'd been warning it might be spur of the moment. The transit was late, but they kept in touch over the phone. When they finally showed, they had crates of dogs stacked into a U-Haul van and dragged this scared, feces and urine covered puppy out and handed her, to me, then left before I could even ask about paper work. My husband and I got the terrified puppy home, bathed and sleeping in my lap after 5am. I forgot to mention...I was told I'd be getting a 10 week old pug mix. I got a 16 week old Shepard/Rotti mix. No huge deal, for me, but I can see how it would be fore someone who wasn't keen on either of those breeds. I waited a week without hearing one word as to how the puppy was, so I called my local contact. I asked, what now? She asked, what do you mean? I mean, what now? What do I do? Take her to the vet? I'll need paperwork. The woman had no clue. She said she'd get back to me. A few more weeks past with no word, even though I'd been sending email updates along with pictures. This went on from June until August. My puppy was still not posted to the site, so I called to inquire as to why. I was told that transit was a fiasco and they had no clue which puppy went to whom. I gave her the collar ID number of mine. She seemed so surprised I'd kept it. I managed an entire shelter, so 1 collar was no big deal. Now, they knew which dog it was, or so I thought. I again, sent updates, with pics and again, nothing on the site. One day, I was looking around and I saw, my puppy, listed as an entirely different dog! My update with some small breeds picture. Right then, I knew. These people just send out dogs. Now, I was mad, so I made some phone calls to see about the legalities of what they were doing. What I found curled my hair. They are NOT allowed to transport out of state without paperwork, in hand, and transfer that paperwork to the foster. I called the county in North Carolina where they say they get the dogs, on their site. I spoke to a lovely woman for about an hour, about them. She has a stack of complaints. They are trying to get them shut down but they stay just outside of radar to really do anything that can be proven. She said that they have several friends working in the 2 shelters that pluck dogs off the gassing line and fill out the paper work that they have been gassed. These dogs are then housed in several places until the transit picks them up. THAT'S what they're calling the dog's quarantine period. They've had no vet care, or shots, because they're not technically alive. NONE of the dogs are temperament tested before they get placed in homes. How can they be? They go from one kennel to another cage then thrown in another cage, to a truck, then driven for hundreds of miles and dumped off for someone else to worry about. I could go on and on and none positive. No, I lied. One thing positive did come out of this. I am now the proud owner of a beautiful dog. She's probably the most well mannered dog I've ever owned. But, I think, she and I were very lucky I had the background to handle her. These people are very good in throwing up contracts when WE complain about something to do with the dogs, but try to turn the tables and you'll be blatantly ignore, or screamed to, in email. All animals are in shelters for a reason. Yes, it could simply be the previous owner wasn't aware of the responsibility, but it can also be because the animal has some underlying agression issues. Do we really want to find out at our family's safety? If you'd like to file a complaint with North Carolina please feel free to message me, and I will give you the email address of the woman I spoke to. Every complaint helps. Yes, it's wonderful to save an animals life. It is NOT okay to put human safety about that.

    Rhode Island Parrot Rescue

    Rhode Island Parrot Rescue

    (12 reviews)

    I volunteer at RIPR and would like to address some of the negative comments below. First off the…read moreadoption process HAS to be stringent! Many of these birds have come from deplorable conditions, some are struggling with the loss of their owners, along with a variety of other situations that wouldn't even fit here. They are very complex, sensitive, intelligent creatures, and are completely different than other "pets." We work countless hours to rehabilitate and socialize them. So yes, not every applicant is accepted. We watch the required bonding visits to see how the interactions go, and we do a home visit. Thousands of dollars are spent keeping them healthy and properly fed. If we see things we are not comfortable with, that bird is not leaving the rescue. We work too hard and love these birds far to much to take any chances on sending them into a situation where they may be unhappy or potentially in danger. That's not to say the applicant would mean to do these things, but having a parrot is a HUGE responsibility and you DO have to adjust your lifestyle to own one. No Teflon pans, candles, ceiling fans, adjusting to new environment, other animals, family members, out of cage time... I could go on. Personally I tried to adopt a Cockatoo and was rejected. And I work there!! They need someone who is around more than I am or they could physically harm themselves!! So no we do not demand that you quit your job, but different birds have different needs. I adopted a parrot that can cope with me working full time. We do not require that you have a garden, or any of the other ridiculous things listed below. We do teach you to feed them what they need to keep them healthy. And it's different than other pets! And we go over a lot of things because there is a lot to know. If you don't want to bother with learning and adhering to safety, behavioral, and health advice for owning a parrot, then you shouldn't own one, period. This is not like adopting a cat or dog, this is adopting a permanent toddler with very specific and unique needs, who will live a very long time in many cases. It's not for everyone and we make sure we explain that to everyone who comes through the door. I have personally seen what happens when someone adopts who didn't take these things seriously. The bird is returned and traumatized, and we have to start from square one again. Our job is to get these birds into the RIGHT home. And sometimes people who come in don't get what they want. But many many people do. They take their time and wait to bond with the bird who wants to be with them. The birds choose who they want to be with, and we make sure that person is the right person. Lastly, when you adopt you sign a contract. And if we see on social media you have broken that contract, yes we will say something. I know someone at a cat rescue who does the same. You think once they leave we just don't care anymore?? Wrong. We love them always. The Parronts page is not meant to spy on people, it's because we love these birds and always want to know how they are doing. When they are happy it fills our hearts with joy. It's also a place to get advice from other Parronts. But if you post yourself doing something inherently dangerous with your bird yes we are going to address it. Come spend a week at the rescue and see how much blood sweat and tears are poured into it by everyone who works/volunteers there, and maybe you will have a better understanding of why we take this so very seriously.

    One star based on what they do. Anybody that wants to rescue a bird has a big heart. But these…read morepeople don't return calls- Emails, texts-nothing.And I see reviews that they're not the most friendly people but buyer beware-People that live in Rhode Island are not usually very friendly especially Warwick.

    RISPCA - animalshelters - Updated June 2026

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