Don't waste your time with these people. I went through a long application process for three dogs we were looking at only to be spoken down to about my living situation and how it wasn't right for the dogs I was looking at. I've owned the same breed in a similar living situation before and have years of experience volunteering in shelters. The vibe I got from them the whole time was "you're not good enough; you're under investigation." I couldn't be more committed to the work of animal shelters, but I have to say, this kind of behavior is one reason why people go and buy dogs. I will never do that, but it saddens me that they treat so many potential adopters so poorly. read more

Im facing a tough situation right now with a bite history dog and I reached out to this rescue for advice and resources. They're responses were short, clipped, and cold. They offered no information no leads on who to contact nothing. Any other rescue worth their salt would have said SOMETHING of note even if they couldn't help themselves and I would know as I used to run a Feline rescue. These people were mean, and didnt offer up any kind of knowledge or information until I told them they were mean. At which point they did give me some information about how certain training certifications can reverse a dangerous dog lable legally that WILL SAVE MY DOGS LIFE that the Animal Shelters here withheld from me. If they had led with that information instead of just being mean put of the gate, this would be a different review. read more

I genuinely reached out because I wanted to help dogs in need and foster for this rescue, but after my experience, the negative reviews honestly make complete sense. The communication was rude, dismissive, and unnecessarily condescending from the start. Instead of having a normal conversation or working with someone willing to help, the attitude immediately felt hostile and judgmental. After reading more reviews, there seems to be a very clear pattern of poor communication, disorganization, aggressive responses to applicants, and treating potential fosters/adopters like they're a problem instead of support. The official violations notice tied to this rescue only made the experience even more concerning. (AWS-WL-2025-5 for review) At the end of the day, the saddest part is that the dogs are the ones paying for poor management and the inability to treat people with basic respect. read more

The director is very rude and mean in my application I had to fill out that my dog passed and they emailed me and referred to her as that and said what happened to that I didn't get them a video of my apartment fast enough, and they start an emailing me constantly, and they were very rude and told me to find another place to get a dog which I would absolutely love to since they are horrible and not good to work with I would never recommend this place to anyone read more

These people may actually be insane. You can tell by reading the replies they leave on other reviews. I saw a dog that matched all my criteria on petfinder. Petfinder profile distinctly states multiple times dog is great with cats. Their application process is CRAZY extensive for just a meet & greet, but I did everything they asked immediately. Crickets for a week, and then they get back and say I need to send in all this info... which I had already done. Forwarded the same email I'd already sent. In the midst of emailing back and forth, they suddenly ask if I have cats. Yes. My application explicitly stated I have 2, their ages, all their info and vet records included. They say the dog isn't good with cats and they would've told me that right away but my application didn't say I had them. ??? I sent back a screenshot of the my application with the info on my cats - even though they already have this info, and ask if his Petfinder profile is incorrect. They outright state his Petfinder doesn't say that he's good with cats. I send them screenshots of the profile with the multiple mentions circled and ask if there's been a mistake. Instead they just say they're going to withdraw my application. They send back two different links to other online profiles with the same info copy-pasted and obviously just recently edited to remove the mention of cats. Email correspondence was super rude even though I repeatedly was friendly, as helpful as possible, and tried to give them the benefit of the doubt a million times. Then saw their reviews here and the way they reply. These people either don't really want anyone to adopt these dogs, they're running some kind of racket, or they're mentally unsound. Who's to say. But I feel bad for the dogs in their care. Animals are my whole life and my pets are healthy, happy, and adored, but that's not good enough. read more

I am fully aware that Rusty's works very specifically with dogs that are troubled, have anxiety, training needs, or have a bite history. I knew that we were potentially signing up for a serious project dog. However, lying to people does the humans and dogs involved a massive disservice. We submitted our application, EXPLICITLY stating that we were looking for a companion dog to our 4 month old puppy. She has a lot of energy, is extremely intelligent, and is significantly happier with other dogs around. We submitted our home tour, gave over our vet records/reference etc. The dog we were interested in adopting was listed as; house, crate, and leash trained, knowing basic commands, great with dogs, kids and tolerant of cats. And completing a "board and train course". After we were approved, we asked for more information about him through text, and asked specifically was he was working on and were told "nothing specific, just a big brain that needs to be filled with stuff". We roll up to the foster's house and he has literally zero of the attributes he was described with. Not leash trained, threw his body around like a wrecking ball, and displayed an unbelievable amount of prey drive when he was introduced to our puppy, and barely responded to his name let alone commands. I had to continuously insert myself between them to break his gaze, and he still attempted to get around me to her. The foster (zero fault with her btw) proceeds to give us a detailed breakdown on exactly what he needs work on and that she has only had him for 3 days. I'm a pretty good hand with training, but this dog was going to be an 80lb nightmare to manage with a smart puppy. She also said that she had "no idea why Kathleen would have approved you for him if you were looking for a companion for your puppy." Completing a board and train... right. Kathleen wasted literally everyone's time (almost 6 hours round trip for us), and energy. We'll probably get our second from a shelter again, because seriously what in the hell is going on with this rescue? Had this woman even met or spent time with this dog? It's not just morally bankrupt, it's downright evil to set these dogs (and people) up for failure. Your ignorance is astounding, but no excuse for your behavior. Shame on you. read more

Rusty's Rescue Ranch - Lies. - Animal Shelters Near Me

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BEWARE OF THIS RESCUE !!!!!! I went to meet Delilah a beautiful Alaskan malamute who I was told was good with other dogs but was surrendered because she was getting bullied by another dog in the home. I specifically verified - through an email - whether it was Delilah or the other dog that was snappy... I was told it was not Delilah. The information I saw when I was considering Delilah was that Rusty's Rescue Ranch was in Garner, NC but Delilah was in Statesville with a foster who was a dog trainer. So I scheduled a meet and greet with my dog who is a male and is 13 years old... his mate died 2 years ago and he has grieved ever since... I had hoped to get a female companion for him. Just before getting to the meet and greet Kathleen ( the foster person) called and asked to meet at Lowe's... I was good with this because it was raining and we would have shelter. Upon arrival I saw Delilah and who I assumed to be Kathleen. We walked toward Kathleen and Delilah and as soon as Delilah got close to my dog Gunner she viciously attacked him and he now has a puncture wound for which he has to go to the vet. Gunner could not even protect himself - he just stood there because he is old. She pulled Delilah off and I pulled Gunner back of course. Immediately after getting Gunner back to the car so I could look at his wounds I get an email from Kathleen that she tried to recall unsuccessfully. She was emailing another potential adopter and said the "meet and greet did not go well. The potential adopters dog needs to be an only dog. Can you - your dog and family meet Delilah this afternoon?" I immediately emailed her and told her that was incredibly irresponsible. After further research I found numerous listings of Delilah indicating she was in several different locations: Granville Co - Nashville,NC - and of course Garner Kathleen has blocked me from the rescues fb page and will not answer my calls. I am continuing my research on this "rescue". Please BEWARE!!!!!! I would give it a 0 star rating if I could! read more

We adopted a precious girl over two weeks ago, advertised as good with people and animals, house, leash, and crate trained, and with a very easy going temperament. When I picked her up, the fosters said she was definitely not house or leash trained and that she was "dog reactive". I figured this was something we could work on. During our time with her, she destroyed our house breaking out of her crate and bent the frames on 2 metal crates (supposedly "crate trained"), had 0 positive interactions with other dogs, barked/hackles raised at strangers and even people she came to see regularly, and ended up attempting to attack my spouse and child for no reason. When I contacted Rusty's to return her, I inquired about a refund as I was being asked to drive 1.5 hours to return her to the fosters as a favor. The fosters were lovely and said she would meet me halfway if they could get the dog back. they genuinely care and love her which gave me peace about returning her. Whoever responded to me from Rusty's accused me of trying to get the dog euthanized, claimed my drive was 50 minutes and not 1.5 hours, and said I was just trying to get my money back instead of caring for the dog. They said no refund (I purchased her medication from them) would be discussed until she was returned and a medical exam was performed. They intentionally didn't respond until they could tell me my local shelter was closed (even though they were wrong), which is very manipulative. No consideration for the fact that we lost a loved member of our family, albeit for a short amount of time, and that I was willing to return her to the fosters. She's an amazing dog but clearly wasn't a fit for our situation given that we needed a dog that was well socialized with people and dogs. Extremely rude, inconsiderate of the loss, and straight up lied/withheld information to get this pup adopted. I work with children and made it very clear what we needed in a pet and they were not honest, then treated me horribly when we had to return her. She has been returned several times to my knowledge and I think the fault for this lies squarely on the employees at Rusty's. TLDR: Don't adopt from these rude, inconsiderate people who seem to only want money for animals adopted and aren't actually trying to help animals at all by placing them in stable, long-term success homes. read more

I have to say, I resent the innuendo that we are bad and irresponsible dog parents and the need for me to defend myself from this attack. I have been nothing but forthcoming. All I wanted to do is have a meet up with Roo to see if she and Izzy were compatible, because as you state, Roo is not for everyone, and we understood that, as we have our own Carolina dog and understand their quirks. I didn't want to waste anyone's time if they weren't compatible. But you all insisted on us filling out the application and call our vet and then I have had to explain and defend myself over and over. I get that you are trying to protect a dog, possibly from dog fighting rings or other nefarious things, but if someone is in it for those reasons, I'm sure with the unfortunate situation in Western Carolina right now, that is where they would be focusing their attention. We respectfully remove our application from your rescue. I should have read your yelp reviews, I see this is your M.O. You really did Roo a disservice, he would have hit the jackpot with us. read more

So found this place on petfinder. Found a few dogs I really wanted for my kids, sent them a message and was sent a application for adoption which was 6 pages with repeated questions and questions that had nothing to do with pets. Upon completion of the application I received email that stated exactly "We cannot adopt to anyone that has rehomed a pet  Visit your local shelter to adopt". This really upset because why does it matter if I had to give up a pet do to moving or unforseen circumstances. It's a difference in just letting a pet go and rehoming to better homes. That email just seemed rude and unprofessional. I did come to read the reviews but thought I'd give them a try anyways. Everyone experience with this has been the same. read more

Extremely rude and disrespectful even in 1 short email exchange. Super condescending and dismissive of a home video and readiness and capability to adopt and care for a dog. Don't waste your time with this rescue. read more

I would not recommend adopting a dog from Rusty's. Communication is terrible and by the end I was in tears and beyond frustrated due to the way they say one thing and then in 5 seconds later its something else. Thy are not above lying to adopters. I started the process in July. After a phone interview I was told I would not need to send in a video as I was moving the next week and would only have dog in new place. However I then did not hear anything back I eventually send an email in asking when I would hear back. I get told I do have to send in a video of my current apartment. no biggie I send it in. then nothing for over 5 days. Finally I resend an email. get told they texted me and I need to response via text. no text was ever sent. (they have the correct number they literally called me on it) no response upon me telling them I never received a text. I finally just text back the volunteer who gives me the number of the foster. This goes smoothly once I finally can get in touch. after meeting the new dog. The meeting goes great and I am told that it was a done deal and I would be eventually taking this dog home after training that the foster requested I complete. it all goes down hill from here. the foster ghosts. I text the foster once a week to ask if she was free to do the training to no response. I finally just call after 3 weeks. It goes straight to voicemail shes blocked my number. I email the rescue to ask what was going on and get a rude email back saying they never could get in touch with me to schedule the meeting ( I literally met the dog) and they were rejecting my application ( I have the email that says the application was accepted) and anyway someone else adopted him and they had no intentions of letting me know. so now 2 months wasted so much frustration especially when for 3 weeks I had mentally thought this dog was coming home and was super excited, just to find out this was not the case. I would go anywhere else to adopt unless you want a headache, run around and nothing but disappointment. read more

We adopted our dog from Rusty's 3 weeks ago. He was listed/advertised as a "young dog who was housetrained, OK with cats, and LITERALLY PERFECT." Now I don't believe that ANY animal is perfect, but this dog is not the age they said. He is only 4 months old, and NOT HOUSETRAINED, and NOT OK WITH CATS. He was constantly chasing and barking at our cats, until we trained him not to. He also walks with a limp due to an old injury which can never be corrected! This was obvious the moment we saw him, but they didn't mention that his paw was injured at all! We drove 2.5 hours each way to pick him up, which they were aware of. When we got him home and realized we had been lied to, I emailed the person I was communicating with, and they insisted that his paw was not injured and that he was house, crate, and leash trained!!! The dog has absolutely no idea where to use the bathroom and has no idea how to walk on a leash. Even the foster family said they had never had him on a leash. They are liars and will say anything to get dogs adopted. I would have never adopted a puppy because I don't have the time needed to train him, but my kids are in love with him, so we will have to make do. read more

If you are looking to adopt a dog I would highly recommend you find one at another rescue. I applied for a dog, they called my vet who told them my cats that I no longer have had not had shots since 2016. I tried to explain this to them and what I got back was that they do not care. Could not get anyone to call me to discuss this. Not really sure they actually want to get their dogs adopted. read more

I thought I could trust Rusty's as it is where I adopted my dog, however, after offering to foster one of their dogs it is unclear to me whether Rusty's is even a licensed adoption agency. Rusty's has farmed their dogs out to fosters far too distant for any kind of efficiency. They skip steps; I was never given a fostering contract. I was lied to about the location of a dog and had to drive an extra 4 hours round trip to pick up the foster. Though Rusty's assured me the dog had been tested with other dogs, it immediately attacked mine when we got home. The dog proceeded to chew a hole through my garage door and destroy more of my property. When I told Rusty's they needed to come pick the dog up as it was a danger to my own they said they couldn't and told me I would either need to drive 8 hours round trip (on 3 hours of sleep after their dog kept me up until 4 am) to bring the dog back OR I would have to come out of pocket to board the dog until they could pick the dog up. So much for covering all expenses. When I contacted them about paying for the property damage, they blocked me on their socials and never responded to my emails. I ended up coming out of pocket to repair the garage ($1,700). Thats not to mention the cash I spent on gas to pick the dog up and the $65 crate the dog bit through. I would think twice before fostering for or adopting from Rusty's. You can't trust what they say about their dogs and you can't trust they will take care of their fosters. read more

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would not recommend this rescue. Told us the dog was good with cats and small pets but that was not this case. the dog was very sweet but killed one of our animals and attacked a cat. When this was brought to their attention, they claimed they tested him but he lived with cats in a large house with a fenced in yard so who knows what kind of interaction he actually had. They denied any accountability and didn't even care about the trauma to me or my children. I got injured in the process of saving our pets and when I brought this up to them they stated that they thought everyone was fine. Highly recommend seeking another shelter read more

I rescued a dog from Rustys Rescue Ranch. I drove 2 hours each way to get her and was informed ONCE I GOT THERE with my excited 2 year old that there was a $175 rehoming fee. We paid it because our daughter would've been so disappointed , but it was definitely unexpected. The application nor the woman we spoke with did not mention the fee. Anyway, I thought everything was great. I got her home and she was clearly aggressive with children and other animals, even though I was told she was great with both. I am aware that it's a possibility with a rescue so this is not why I'm writing a bad review, but she bit my dog. The rescue picked her up from my home. We only had her 2 days and requested a refund. We messaged several people. We were told to send an email and we've yet to hear back and it's been 3 days since we sent the email. Everyone has been dodging the question, but the application nor the person we spoke with regarding adopting Maggie said anything about the fee being non refundable. Our daughters birthday is Monday and we made it clear we wanted the money back for her birthday but of course.. no response. I held off on writing this review because I was hoping someone would be honest and compassionate and reach back out. I have screenshots of everything, including the application. I never signed a contract. I definitely don't recommend this rescue to ANYONE. Please do not trust these people! read more

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I think people forget when you're fostering is not the same as adopting from a rescue or a breeder. If you're volunteering, YOU are the one vetting the dog, and there are certain risks with that. Dogs coming from bad situations need time to decompress (even the good stories, imagine if you just lost the only family you ever knew, I'd be stressed). Rusty's will tell you what they know and what they think HOWEVER not all dogs feel the same with all dogs or cats, think people dont like all people so why should we hold the dogs to the same standard. I did not have the "best" experience fostering but your experience fostering is usually more based on the dog than the rescue so I don't think it's fair to blame the rescue. They were quick to cover anything and more needed and when I said after a week that it's not the best fit with our dog,, they presented me with options. They offered to take the dog back which I said no to avoid another transition so they pushed to get her adopted and she had a home a week later. So Rusty's does work to take the dog back quickly or do what they can to get it adopted, which is grateful. NC is one of the top for dog euthanasia rates and I really condemn how many dogs they save and that they do welcome behavioral cases. Even though, I cant open my home/ other dogs to behavioral cases, I still believe those dogs deserve to be saved/ safe which I think is what this all boils down to. I wished there was more communication/ support but I think that's because this rescue is run by a small amount of INCREDIBLE people with unconditionally loving hearts for these dogs and the work they do is LARGE compare to how many people are there. So who am I to demand more when these people are busy doing so many things for so many dogs. It's so hard to review a rescue because there are so many variables. As a business people forget it is VOLUNTEER RUN, and about getting the dog to a safe place. My guess base on these stories and my experience is not all of their dogs are 'just-add-water' instant family dogs, but if you have a true heart for dog rescue and patience to allow a dog to adjust and train, than this is a rescue with a true heart to help. read more

This rescue seemed to be so great at the beginning of our adoption process. We did a virtual walk through/interview where they talked us out of getting the dog we wanted and repeatedly told us our young children (1&3) were red flags due to their age, but they were going to allow us to adopt anyway. Insulting, but making sure we knew they were going to treat us special just this one time. The dog they suggested that we did adopt was so sweet and seemed so great. He is sweet and great, but did snap at my children multiple times and jumped our 5 ft fence and ran away 3 times in 4 days. When asked about medical records they sent FAKE rabies info and tried to make false claims about the vet. They didn't send us the information we were supposed to receive after adoption and made sure we paid them before they would send a contract which I think is backwards. They seemed to rush every part of this and a week later when I contacted about vet records the woman we spoke to "is no longer associated with this rescue". They just seem very untrustworthy and sketchy. Glad we saved this dog and got him out of there. The dog is safe and with people who love him, but I would not recommend adopting from people who seem to care more about making money then the pets. read more