Oregon Friends of Shelter Animals

I adopted my baby Jester (now 85lbs!) a year ago and could not be happier. I will say they could probably be a little more organized, but at the end of the day, they saved a dog that would have otherwise been put to sleep, and that means a lot. For all those writing bad reviews, at the end of the day, you are rescuing an animal from a shelter, they are not all perfect, they are neglected dogs that need a home. As an adopter, you should be prepared for this.
My experience was professional and courteous. Would definitely consider adopting another pup from OFoSA.

I wish I could give less to this unprofessional company. I had adopted a cat in 2014, and he was actually raised in a foster home outside the shelter. So in 2015, about a year later I decided to adopt another kitten, I got her and AFTER signing the papers they inform me that the kitten was infected with URI and had been surrendered, stills needs her original microchip and had not received her rabies shot. Now my older cat which has had no previous health issues is showing symptoms of URI. This is infuriating, these incompetent, unprofessional, useless people are parading themselves as informed and helpful to their community. This is ANYTHING but. I’ve written them a strongly worded email. You should NOT come here for an animal, if anything inform others not to use them and stop this unprofessional business from adopting out kittens. These people are scum.

I got my dog here, a real sweet heart, and I volunteer. When you adopt you are provided with a ton on FREE medical, such as spay/​neuter, vaccines, a free vet apt, discounts at Petsmart and a short trial of pet insurance. There are always a great variety of animals, including kittens/​puppies. They take care of their animals with kindness and provide them quality attention as they deserve. They obviously do a great job at what they do because every time I return, all the previous dogs are gone and replaced with new ones, needing homes (no kill shelter). Why write OFOSA a bad review? These pets need help finding loving homes! The pets are what really matter.

Well– if you want a short response, I will never go through ofosa again.
Long story is this:
I went to look at a few dogs a few weeks ago during the adoption at petsmart events– I went to two petsmarts where I was told to just head over to the clinic itself. When I got to the clinic, I called and they told me to go to a different petsmart. After going to the 3^rd petsmart, I then decided I was just going to go to the clinic. I was rudely greeted and told I needed to pick a specific dog out and they would bring it to me. (While I waited to see a dog I picked 2 other people walked in wanting to see some dogs and were sent elsewhere unless they picked a specific dog). I ended up falling in love with the dog they brought me, and agreed to adopt her. I noticed a runny nose, but didn’t think much. My mother came to visit our dog on Monday (she was under «quarantine» until Wednesday). Again, we were rudely greeted almost as if we were a complete inconvenience to the staff member. After she brought our dog up I noticed a crusty green nose, and a cough so bad she was vomiting up white foam. I mentioned it and they said they would take care of it.
Wednesday rolls around and I take my dog home, she’s miserable. So I take advantage of my free vet visit, and at my visit they diagnosed pneumonia and recommended immediate hospitalization. I did just that. I called ofosa to tell them and they refused to pay for anything.
I took care of the costs myself. I’ve now had her for a month, and her pneumonia hasn’t gotten better (after two more rounds of antibiotics) and we find out that she has roundworms.
Finally, I have been treating her by myself for mange. The results of a skin scrape came back with demodex mites, which is a form of mange.
Needless to say, I got an amazing dog. Yes, she has costed me more money than I would like to have spent, but I find it very frustrating how sketchy and unwelcoming ofosa was throughout my whole time with them. I will never do business with them again.

I worked with OFASA, in trying to find a good match for my existing pets. I specifically worked with Tiffani, and she was so patient, and really worked with me about proper introductions and even provided amazing support after placement. I could tell OFASA is only in rescue to help unwanted, homeless pets. So supportive. They are Saints. Cathy is a true wealth of knowledge!

We actually adopted from Luvables pet rescue, but our puppy had been neutered here. He is now in the freezer of OSU’s necropsy lab due to the illness/​illnessES he contracted after being neutered here. Honestly for everyone’s safety, this place should be shut down. Too many puppies have been infected, sometimes fatally, from this place and their medieval cleanliness methods.

Would LOVE to give a half star if I could. This is the most unprofessional company I have ever dealt with in my life! Nobody knew what they were talking about when I talked to them, seven different people gave me false information, bought a puppy that had parvo then pneumonia was told we could take him home so we drove an hour to the Foster’s house to get him then come to find out we couldn’t pick him up that night but could in two days. Then I receive a phone call once again saying we couldn’t pick him up that day because they couldn’t get him in to get neutered and microchiped. We have gotten nothing but the run around from everyone who works for that company, hopefully they will get their stuff straightened out sooner rather than later.

We adopted a puppy last week from OFOSA. They are amazing. I love to see how they are helping animals find forever homes. The people there are nice, caring and so informative. My puppy ate some cat poop 4 days after we took her home. Without having time to research vets, OFOSA told me to bring her in, gave her some medicine and were amazing. They give out their phone numbers if you need help, and never try and sell u anything. They gave me information on vets and insurance and even types of chew toys. Not sure where the negative reviews are coming from, I found them fabulous., and have already referred people there. Also, my puppy was spayed and microchipped, of which they gave me all the info to transfer the account to my name. I recommend them as a wonderful shelter, trying to help animals, one placement at a time!!!

I am really happy that I decided to adopt through OFOSA. They have been amazing with assisting and providing for my kitty Cocoa. There is so much love coming from Cathy and she is one of a kind! She helped me in my time of need when my kitty needed to have surgery and I was unable to provide the finances for it. She took it upon herself to help Cocoa when she needed it, and I will never forget it! This woman is an angel to these fur babies. There is so much love that she pours into this shelter, the animals, and the families that foster and adopt. I also want to speak highly of Jennifer Shaver who fostered my kitty before I brought her home. She has so much love for these animals! She opens her home to animals in need whether they’re sick or just needing a home until they are adopted. She pours so much love into these kitties and puppies, it warms my heart to see this. She is one of a kind too! These animals are so fortunate as is OFOSA to have her as a foster mom for these wonderful fur babies :-) I will always stand behind this shelter and if I ever want to adopt other animals or I know people that want to, I would definitely refer them to OFOSA first thing. This place is gold!!!

It is very disheartening to read these negative reviews abt OFOSA. This is a grass roots organization that has a heart of gold ever since I began adopting from them over 10 yrs ago. Sure, there have been some mis-​steps along the way, but what business or non-​profit hasn’t? This year was full of changes for OFOSA trying to meet all the demands of staff changes, rescuing many more at risk pets and dealing with budgetary constraints from a difficult economy. I have adopted 3 cats from OFOSA with no problems! Yes, I brought in all my cats for scheduled surgeries and shots. When they were sick, which can be the case coming from a dirty animal control shelter, we waited while on meds until they were fit for altering. They have never been sick again. Why would this even be an issue with folks? Many times they don’t even know they are sick until they are brought into OFOSA and develop symptoms. Many adopters like myself took the animal and meds and was perfectly happy with our new member of our family while awaiting their surgery.
The implication that animals are being altered in a back room operating room is absurd! There is a fully equipped portable hospital parked in back of the house. And if the house is not up to people’s standards, OFOSA began in the presidents garage out of pure kindness. This wracked havoc and stress on her life for years, but she never complained. She has lived and breathed saving animals until there was enough money for OFOSA to move into a facility they could afford. Yes an old house, so what?
If you really want to see OFOSA for who they really are, come and volunteer. Meet the folks that tirelessly nurse, travel far and give countless unpaid hours to save your new pet from euthanasia. Because without OFOSA, your new family member wouldn’t be alive. And although communication seems difficult at the moment, before you judge, they are volunteers manning the phones, the kennels etc. They do their best with the volunteers that at least step up to the plate imperfect and all.
K Primrose

If I post this here, will OFOSA find out how to post business owner replies on Unilocal where they will actually be seen by potential adopters instead of preaching to their existing fans on Facebook? And hey, while I’m at it, I’ll review.
We’ve adopted twice in the past 8 years from these guys. OFOSA’s great and they don’t deserve the low rating they’re currently sitting at. However, they don’t deserve a high rating either until they fix one HUGE flaw — their post-​adoption follow up care and support.
IF YOU CONSISTENTLY RECEIVE THE SAME BAD REVIEW, IT’S NOT EVERYONE ELSE’S PROBLEM: IT’S YOURS. Stop acting victimized and just fix it.
Plain and simple, you need to get your shit together coordinating the follow up care. It sucks to be called and told (not asked, *told*) your spay date got moved up and… it’s in less than 24hr. I called back and left a message about how that was way too short of notice and I need to reschedule, and then I received another voicemail saying «Yep, you’re all set for tomorrow.» Did they even listen to my message? Clearly not. My friends did this dance multiple times with their pooch, only they were happy to get her in earlier. They just couldn’t. They kept getting canceled on. Come on. Your adoption prices are higher than most anyone else we’ve come across, the service level should match. Today’s (since deleted) FB rant ended with «what could we have done differently?» I don’t know the specifics of each story, but I can almost guarantee you the answer is: have a follow up plan in place before adopting, or within the same day you adopt them out, and communicate better if that plan falls through.
Also, stop insisting on calling dogs by the names you give them when the owner has made it clear they changed the name. Not your dog anymore, and it’s not your place to interfere with my trying to teach my dog her new name. And it was definitely not a matter of them not hearing me.
However, they did mention in their rant they’ve made some staff changes to address these issues. Check back in a few months to see if it worked I guess.
Like I said, overall, they’re great. We had such a tough time finding a rescue that didn’t automatically disqualify us for really silly reasons, like not having a fence yard and opting to take my dog to the dog park every single day instead. These guys don’t pull that crap on you, they just want to match loving families and awesome dogs. They vaccinate and deworm your dog on follow up visits (once they actually happen…). They got a thumbs up in terms of care from our highly respected vet. They have a good foster network so your pup didn’t spend their time locked in a kennel. All around, good people doing good work aside from the one issue.
Too long; didn’t read version: Great organization with one major flaw. Do not let bad reviews stop you from adopting a pet you really want, but go in expecting a rough transition if your new pet was not fixed prior to adoption.

I can’t believe some of these poor reviews. I toured OFOSA’s facility over the summer. I didn’t see any filth, or otherwise poor conditions that other reviewers referred to and the volunteers were courteous and helpful. I adopted my fur-​baby from OFOSA and she was in great condition when I got her. This organization does a lot to help doomed animals. I highly recommend them! Diane

OFOSA is a great group of people who VOLUNTEER their time and love to help rescue dogs and cats who would otherwise be euthanized.

Keep it in perspective. Shelter people trying to do good in difficult circumstances. Its the nature of rescue that animals have variable health conditions and hurried volunteers don’t always handle customer service at an Amazon-​like level. Our dog was from the Devore high kill shelter in California. OFOSA bought her to Oregon. She weighed 6 lbs at full grown. When we received her from OFOSA she was spayed by them, healthy, and socialized. Could not be happier with her. The volunteers that helped us there were fine. The high kill shelters are the enemy, not the rescues that attempt to make things better. Pull together not apart.

I just wanted to put the word out that we adopted a puppy at Petsmart through the agency OFOSA (Oregon Friends of Shelter Animals) and on the 3^rd day of having him he became very sick. We took him to the vet and he was diagnosed with Parvovirus (highly contagious and potentially deadly) and Giardiasis (contagious to humans and cats and dogs), After spending several hundred dollars in vet bills, OFOSA told us to bring the puppy to them and they would treat him in the same way the vet would to hopefully get him through the Parvo. They did NOT do what they told us. He got sicker, then better, then sicker again. The whole time we struggled with communication with them. After days of this they told us they wanted to cancel the adoption and if he recovered we could readopt him. After a week they told us he could be picked up. We asked that they reduce the adoption fee of $ 295 considering we were out several hundred dollars already and they were very rude in their response and said they would put him up for adoption with another family. He is listed on their website for adoption with no mention of how sick he has been, that he still is contagious, that he still is on meds for Giardiasis. They adopted out his mother last week, as well as other dogs from the same foster home who were all exposed to these same diseases. If you don’t want your heart broken, and you don’t want to spend hundreds of dollars, have your whole house exposed to illness, please beware of this organization. Someone is adopting the puppy we thought was ours today. They are getting an adorable puppy, who is still not done with treatment, who has the benefit of all the money we invested, who has a bed, collar and unused toys that we sterilized with bleach in our home. The vet told us we can’t have another puppy for 7 years unless we dig up our yard. They told me I should’ve expected when adopting a baby that it would have health issues, funny they never said that when I was filling out the adoption forms. They were bashing the Hannah Society saying they rip people off with their health guarantees. PLEASE BEWARE!

I wish I had read these negative reviews before adopting a cat from OFOSA at their adoption event at Petsmart.
I don’t regret adopting my sweet cat with a crooked tail tip, but I do not trust this shelter to provide healthy cats if I were to ever adopt from them again.
I brought my cat, Az, to the vet for a check-​up as soon as I adopted him. I was told that he has ringworm, as it was clearly evident from the small bald patches of skin on his head, ears, and behind his leg. I then had to spend money on medication to treat him, as well as paying for a follow up check-​up a few weeks later. OFOSA should treat ringworm infected cats before putting them up for adoption. I only hope that their other cats don’t all have ringworm, as it is easily contagious.
Az is a Lynx point Siamese and was about ten months old when I adopted him. I was surprised that he was not fixed yet even though their other cats were, but I didn’t ask about it. The lady helping me said that Az was already the father of a litter of kittens, and she showed me one of his tiny kittens up for adoption as well. This made me wonder if OFOSA had purposely not neutered him to make money off of his litter, since Siamese cats are popular and likely to be adopted. Even after they knew he got another cat pregnant months ago, they had not gotten him fixed.
OFOSA stressed that it was *mandatory* that I make sure Az gets neutered, and it would be free if I brought him to their clinic. I live far from their clinic in Beaverton, I don’t have a car, and the bus would not take me there directly. They also assigned me a date and time for the surgery instead of allowing me to choose based on my work schedule. I opted to bring Az to my own vet instead and pay hundreds for the surgery myself. He was 12 months old when he got neutered but it would have been nice if OFOSA had already taken care of it months before, even at least after they knew he got another cat pregnant.
OFOSA asked me to mail proof that I had Az neutered, but I did not get around to mailing them and over six months later, they still have not asked me for verification.
Overall, I would have saved myself a lot of time, money, and troubles if my cat was healthy and neutered BEFORE I adopted him.

BACKGROUND — I was aware of the bad reviews on Unilocal concerning this rescue shelter. However, they uploaded the cutest Siamese kitten on their Facebook debuting at the NW Companion Pet Fair and I knew I had to get her. And got her I did…
PROS — Because of them, I’m able to rescue a Siamese kitten. She is not my first rescue, I have rescued another great cat of mine from another shelter, so I’m not a complete «noob» when it comes to rescuing cats.
CONS — As I was signing the papers and handing over $ 95 for Siren’s (previously named Abbie by them) adoption fee, the woman was telling how much they care about their rescue animals, and that they may do mandatory drive-​by-​your-​home-​checks and if your home wasn’t up to their «standard» they way take their rescue furball back. Hearing this made me relieved that a shelter cared so much about their furry friends. WRONG!!!
Siren came home with the sniffles, an ear infection and flu-​like symptoms. Concerned, I called to take her in so they can see what’s wrong and clean her ears. The boyfriend took Siren in for these procedures to take place. They told him her flu symptoms will «go away» and after their «ear cleaning», there was more yeast growing in Siren’s ears! WTF! So we took Siren to Cornell Road Veterinary Clinic and the vet (I believe her name was Dr. Smith) did a more thorough job of cleaning Siren’s infected ears (thank you, Dr. Smith), give us ear ointment for Siren and told us if her sniffles came back, we need to either call OFOSA or call them back.
Siren’s cold never went away. It’s been nearly a month and we have tried to call OFOSA on several occasions but NO ONE has returned our calls. When we signed the papers to take Siren home, the papers PROMISED to restore Siren’s health if needed along with vaccines and eventually spaying her. After spaying her, we understand that Siren FULLY becomes OUR concern and responsibility.
OFOSA, your words of «routine check-​ups» at the home of the new owner went from sounding protective to petty. Promises of calling to get Siren completely vaccinated are but empty. Petty fronts and empty promises along with never returning calls from concerned parents DO NOT MAKE A RESCUE SHELTER. You should be ashamed.
Now I understand why you have such a low rating. You don’t have what it takes to be called a rescue shelter.
POINTERS — Do not support OFOSA!