Francisvale Home For Smaller Animals

In early 2014, my husband and I were looking to adopt a cat after we had to put one of our two cats down when she became sick with cancer. Upon recommendation from a friend, we decided to look into Francisvale and found a cat we were interested in right away.
We submitted a thorough application (free from any outstanding issues) and inquired with the staff of Francisvale quickly regarding the cat. Once I was able to actually reach a staff member by phone (who was not very nice might I add), I was surprised to find that we had not even been considered for an «interview» with the cat, on the grounds that our living cat was declawed (and was declawed when we adopted him) and the one we were applying for had claws. They would not consider adopting their clawed cat out to a household with a declawed cat, no questions asked.
We were frustrated and tried to explain that the cat we had to put down had claws and was in no way an issue for our very sociable declawed cat. We got nowhere with Francisvale, and went on to adopt a clawed cat shortly thereafter from Morris Animal Refuge in Philadelphia (who are beyond excellent, by the way). Our two cats have gotten along swimmingly and are now the best of buds. I would like to add, that 1.5 years later, that cat that we showed interest in is still in the shelter waiting for a home.
We are two experienced and capable pet owners who offered to adopt a cat from you to a loving home, which is your purpose. And we were turned down. We are disappointed that a cat that we offered to adopt is still in search of a home 18 months later. I hope she gets it someday.

I applied to adopt a lovely dog from Francisvale. I waited to hear back and provided all of my information to them. It took a week to hear back which I understand but when I called to just check in to see if they needed more information, the RUDEST person named Heather. All I asked was if they needed more information from me and she snapped back «we have everything. The dog you want is being adopted.» That is fine, but she could have been nicer about it or contacted me before OI had to call. Then, I asked if there were other dogs that I could meet. She got very quiet and said that they would be in touch. I asked if there was a problem and she said no, they were very busy. Being that I am a very good pet owner who takes my animal to the vet two times per year for check-​ups, gets regular grooming for my dog, has a fully fenced yard and feeds a premium diet as well as regular exercise and proper training, I was perplexed and frankly, getting annoyed. If I was a bad pet owner, I might understand the hesitation and defensiveness but the blatant rudeness was irritating. I asked to speak to the manager and she explained that she was and there was no one else for me to talk to. I just wanted to adopt one of their dogs and give him a great home! She explained that they had an upcoming fundraiser and had no time to speak to me. I am still confused as to why she was so angry and rude and short with me. I never heard back from them. They then had the nerve to add me to their list requesting donations. I will never send them one penny and will never try to adopt from them again. My advice to Francisvale, get a new manager to be the face and voice of your organization for the benefit of your animals.

Francisvale goes above and beyond to make sure their animals are as comfortable as possible! The cats are not kept in crates like so many other shelters — they are free to roam around the room, interact with their roommates, and sleep in window sills. The dog get tucked in every night with a blanket and a kong filled with peanut butter. I could go on but the bottom line is that everyone working/​volunteering at Francisvale love animals and it shows.

Though we didn’t end up adopting from Francisvale, I can say from our experience with them that they are an awesome rescue.
The application can be filled out online, which is super convenient. A volunteer got in touch with our references right away, and then contacted us pretty quickly after we submitted the application.
Everyone we met during our visit to Francisvale (by appointment only, after your application is reviewed) was very friendly, and completely honest about the animals we were interested in. We were able to meet a few that we asked about, and they recommended others to us based on what we were looking for in a pet. Ultimately, I think their judgment was very sound. The dog that they recommended to us was not one we would have noticed or asked to meet, but I think it was definitely the right one and the one we would have ended up going home with, if we hadn’t ultimately decided to adopt a dog from a different rescue.
That’s the only reason we didn’t move forward with the process, but it sounds somewhat extensive, involving at least one more visit at Francisvale with any current dogs, and possibly a home visit after that. So, if that sounds like too much for you, you may want to focus on other shelters, but this was a very positive experience for us and I’d highly recommend this rescue to anyone who isn’t daunted by the long adoption process.