First, you need to know there are TWO S.a.f.e locations in St. Augustine. I wanted to donate blankets, kitty litter, and food. The first location (6101 a1a), in my opinion, is truly doing their best. They are limited on funding and help. And perhaps a little unorthodox, but they seem to care about the doggies (didn't drop off kitty litter here as they only have dogs at this location) and they will talk to you happily about any dog you look at. Be patient with them and they will be helpful with you. The second location(1250 a1a) , however, .... where to start. It has a thrift store in the front but there are animals there to adopt. Many in fact. When I walked in with my donations I was ignored. I followed a woman and asked her where to put my animal donations (not thrift store donations) she seemed annoyed. She waved her hand in a general direction and said "that way" I went "that way" and ended up outside where another unhappy woman asked me what I wanted. I said I had cat litter and blankets. She said "put it on the stairs, doubt we will use the blankets" .... I was a little stunned at this point. But still wanted to see the dogs. My group and I were once again waved to a general direction, ended up around back, had to find the dogs on our own, and no one was there to talk about the dogs to us. Also, it was at this point that when we entered we quickly discovered a dog to be VERY aggressive. Now, who knows what this poor baby has been through, but his aggression was working up most of the other dogs. Very much. Everyone else quickly left the room. I refused to. (I always try to get pics of pups to send to people I think might give them a good home or post on FB with my fingers crossed) By staying I discovered 4 dogs immediately that were so loving that even with all of the barking and chaos they were just sweet and lovey. Which no one else got to see. One dog picked up her toy as soon as she saw me and got excited. I knew she was sick but was curious about her temperament with other dogs to help me find her a foster mom. A woman walked in and told me Mater (a different but SUPER LOVING dog) was a sweetie. I agreed. Then asked about the other sweetheart, her reply: oh, she has cancer. *shrugs shoulders and leaves the room* ..... WTF??? I know shes sick I wanted to know more to try to find her a loving home at least for the rest of her days. But NO ONE WOULD TALK TO ME!!! I left very upset. But this is where I tell anyone and everyone, please PLEASE don't let bad attitudes and loud barking keep you from meeting a wonderful potential new part of your life. These dogs need love. One of them held his head to the cage so I could pet him!! But no one else was walking in there. Also, I believe this place represents a very good cause. I still believe in donating to them and helping fur babies. But I'm warning you, this location is unpleasant, move past that to the animals and just love something that can't wait to love you. Should the owner read this, I thank you for your cause, but bad attitudes and being ignored does not get dogs adopted. Talk to your employees and volunteers. Please!! ?? read more

SAFE Pet Rescue - This is just one of many beautiful sweethearts that needs love. - Pet Adoption Near Me - St. Augustine, Florida

we are so grateful too Safe for keeping our dog Chance safe for one whole year until we adopted him. Sometimes it takes a while to find the right family. Not sure how anybody could criticize a voluntary organization that works so hard at rescuing and placing wayward Dogs and does such wonderful things for animals. They have a thrift store where you can find wonderful treasures and a great place to give back to. Chancey has been living with us now for three years and he is thriving! There is not a day that goes by where I am not grateful to Safe for giving chance a chance at the pursuit of happiness. Thank you SAFE you are doing an outstanding job! The founder is looking down from heaven and most Proud of you all. God bless Safe and keep up the great work! read more

See all

While vacationing, we wanted to take out a shelter pup for a day. We ended up there about noon on a Sunday and after accidentally walking into the cattery looking for an employee, we back tracked to where the pups were and ran into Shelby, whom was happy to let us walk though to choose a pup! Shelby helped us choose Hero/Edelman and got him outfitted for an adventure! We were able to keep him out a bit past their posted hours and chat with Shelby upon his return. We sent her photos and a quick bio - within a day, he was posted on their FB! We returned twice more within the week - taking out sweet Bacon for an adventure and Hero again right before he got adopted! The employees very clearly care so much about their animals and know their personalities very well! Both Hero and Bacon were very clean and very soft (seriously what do they give these pups to make their coats so lovely! Haha) and happy for a day out. The pup yard was clean. This is a wonderful place and I wanted to come to share our experience. We will be back to walk a dog next time in town. Thank you SAFE! read more

SAFE Pet Rescue - Hero settling in for a snug - Pet Adoption Near Me - St. Augustine, Florida

See all

The ladies here are very friendly and helpful! I was buying a bunch of things for my new adopted puppy and remembered I needed muffin tins. One of the ladies searched around and we couldn't find any but I ended up buying a brand new mini crockpot! Thanks for doing such a wonderful job ladies!!! read more

This is the most poorly run adoption center I have ever encountered. I would call their practices toward their prospective adopters downright cruel. After phone calls to the administration with desperate pleas to adopt, I was given false hope on multiple occasions - was told certain dogs were available, made it clear I was coming the following day to see the dog and after travelling 45 minutes to reach the location was told the dog was no longer available. This has happened innumerable times. How can there be such confusion. Once, maybe. But, multiple times is outrageous. There was never any apology for the errors in communication, my dashed hopes or interest in helping me find a little companion. I left in tears several times with a broken heart. read more

They had two adorable older dogs up for adoption In the store. Workers inside were very friendly. We enjoyed chatting a little. One lady outside was a little rude, but that's ok. The prices are amazing. My friend bought a skirt that was name brand for $4. They even have men's clothes. Lots of cheap used pet stuff, right down to huge pet beds that look new. I love that it goes to such a great cause. Definitely worth checking out. They have house stuff like linens and decor and appliances, clothes, purses, jewelry and shoes and even swimsuits! read more

SAFE Pet Rescue - Pet Adoption Near Me - St. Augustine, Florida

See all

Stopped in on the A1A location, smelled horrid. Started to look around , and my son (who is an adult), asked to use the restroom. Well..... ANY business who doesn't allow patrons to use their restroom is a place I will not shop at or support!!! The woman in charge told us to go up the road to McDonalds! How would she like to hold it and then get in a car and have to ride up the street???!!! I immediately said "Lets go ". They don't deserve my business. Shame on you!!! read more

First off the place smelled horrific. The dog in the front was clearly struggling to even breathe and no one was showing any sign of concern. Whether it's normal for the dog or not you should at least bat an eye. Terrible experience. The staff was so unwelcoming I walked right back out. They require masks. No problem BUT in order for them to give you one you have to pay. Don't require something you cannot provide. The requirements to get a dog or cat at this facility is exactly why they aren't getting adopted. No matter how old you are or how you look on the outside you can't determine if someone could provide the animal with the best home possible based off of that. Don't call yourself an animal rescue when you have standards that are exactly why these animals aren't getting homes. Disgusted by how the staff spoke to me and even more disgusted at that smell!!! read more

Me and my parents stopped in yesterday to see the dogs. The place is in a strip mall. It smelled of piss. The dogs looked in need of medical care. A loud boom box was blasting in the second room. My heart broke over the condition of these babies. The staff was unwelcoming. It's a cash only business which I found strange. And the door is locked during business hours. I adopted my dog from a humane society 2 years ago. She was healthy and the staff knew all about her. I did see a pup at SAFE, that I was interested in. But felt uneasy about the whole set up. read more

I adopted a very nice sweet dog from safe. I was told ahead of time she had heartworm but that they would treat her. They gave me heartworm preventative to do a long kill of the heartworm which they said had a life span of 3-6 months. I had no reason to suspect the information I was given by their Vet was wrong. When I took her to a vet for a check up is when I found out that heartworms live for 3-6 years not months. To long to take a chance with her heart. Also I was told she has erlichia canis. A chronic disease caused by ticks. No treatment just watch for flare ups. Cost me a lot to have her treated. Wish they had been truthful about treatment and her health issues. read more

Im very happy and gratefull to safe pet rescue I received Rockey known to you as Siran about 3 1/2 yrs ago he was such a good dog. we had to lay him to rest a couple of weeks ago. It left a great void in my heart. I returned to you all the other day and again got a great dog Bailey Known to you as Mocha. She has filled that void and I already have fell in love with her. Thank You so much for all the great work you do for all these very special animals read more

I'd rate ZERO if it were available. I'm reviewing S.A.F.E. rescue in St Augustine and Palatka.... I've had very bad experiences. First I adopted a dog several years ago and was told I could bring it back within a day or two if she was not a good fit for our family. I returned her the next day as I realized she was more than I could handle as she was extremely energetic. Let me say it was hard to tell the day that I adopted her as she had been spayed and was sedated. The intake gal was really rude to me when I brought her back even though I was told that was their policy when I adopted. The next time I went to the Palatka shelter looking to adopt a cat. I found one that I fell in love with but one of the girls said she had been surrendered because she urinated on the furniture all of the time. The others working there had no knowledge of this but I was told they would try to find out more information and would call me and let me know. After two days had passed and i had not heard anything I went back in. They have no phone. It was late afternoon when I went in. I was told that she was being taken to an adoption event the next day so I asked if they would hold her for me until closing as I wanted to purchase a cage/carrier for her to transport her home and introduce her to my small dog. They agreed to do so. I went back in an hour and a half after spending quite a bit of money on food, toys, litter etc. and she had been adopted out while I was gone!!!! I asked why they didn't hold her as promised the woman said they weren't supposed to hold them. When I asked "well then why would you have told me you would hold her if you weren't going to?" she became very aggressive and told me to "get your ass out of here"!!! Obviously she knew she had messed up and did not want to be responsible for her mistake. I understand this can be a stressful job but they should hire people that have a little more class and respect. She should have told me that she could not hold her and I would've gone ahead and paid the adoption fee and come back to pick her up. I had already been approved. Unfortunately, the animals are the ones that suffer when the employees run off potential adoptions because they are so unbelievably ugly and rude. Not to mention there were drooling cats in the cattery that I was told had respiratory infections! Why aren't they in a separate area until well so as not to spread it to the others???? My recommendation is to go elsewhere and adopt. Perhaps some of the other employees would be more polite but who wants to be subjected to that type of behavior???? read more

Very rude people in facilty. We attempted to donate items. After moving from a large home and downsizing, we had many things we could not use, but that were very nice. The woman looked in our truck and told us to just take it to the dump. She should have looked closer because there were some expensive items. Very offended. Would not recommend donating, buying or supporting this organization! read more

So I came in to the location near Treasure Beach to look at dogs with a little 7 year old. I was not ready to get a dog that day, but wanted to see what SAFE was about. We have always used non-kill shelters for our pets. Would love to get a dog one day if we found the right dog for our family. When we were walking through the area, a lady who worked there asked which dog we were interested in (mind you, we just walked into the kennel area). I told her none at this moment. We were just looking at the dogs and the facility. She then replied very rudely, "this is not a shoe store." Wow. So me and the 7 year old girl I was with left immediately. Not welcoming at all, especially with a child there! We will go to Wags and Whiskers instead. read more

We are on vacation here. We work with dog rescue organizations in Ohio, so we stopped by the Treasure Island location. Impressive. The dogs appeared very well cared for, and I have never seen such calm and relaxed dogs in a shelter/rescue setting. Some people don't adopt because they don't realize the high quality of dogs available for adoption or they think it will be depressing to visit a shelter/rescue. Please don't hesitate to check this place out if you are looking for a new family member; you will find beautiful, calm, and well-cared for animals. read more

I am extremely disappointed in SAFE Pet Rescue of St. Augsutine, while searching for the right fur baby to enter into our family we decided to go to SAFE and help a pet find a home instead of going to a dog breeder. We went in on Sunday Feb 12 and found the perfect pet a beautiful black and white Shih Tzu she had just been brought in and hadn't been groomed or seen by the Vet, we didn't care we filed the paperwork and paid the adoption fee and told we would receive our new family member Thursday 2/16. Our children were so excited, well that quickly went south, I was called by 1 of the women in the center Wednesday 2/15 stating the dog was starting to act aggressive and that I would not be able to pick up our pet, I found that odd as we had spent time with this animal and she even eaten snacks right out of our hands and never growled or barked. Then called again on Thursday 2/16 by a different member of their staff being told I would able to pick her up I explained the phone call from the previous day and she was taken by surprise and stated none of this had taken place, I went to SAFE and spoke with the other women in the facility that were working and explained the situation they stated this never took place they stated the dog was never aggressive however was adopted out to another family the day before, that I had been lied to. After many attempts to speak with the owner Robin she has not returned my call and only texted stating she WILL NOT be attempting to get MY pet that I adopted 1st by contract from the other family however would look for me a different pet. I do not want a different pet I want what the contract stated I want the Shih Tzu we liked and adopted. I just wonder how many other people have been lied to and swindled by what is supposed to be an "honest" pet adoption center. read more