Animal Welfare League

THIS IS MY SUGGESTION TO YOU. PLEASE ADOPT FROM AWL!!! THERE ARE SO MANY DOGS THAT NEED TO BE RESCUED FROM THAT PLACE!!!! They deserve a chance in a loving home!!!! BUT DO NOT let their vets TREAT your animal!!! You have to let them spay or neuter but otherwise do not take your pet their....or at least don't let them out of your sight!!!\r We got my dog PeeWee who is now 11 from AWL in Chicago Ridge. We told the lady who was showing animals that we were looking for a dog. She immediately pulled PeeWee from the CAT cages and put her in my husbands arms saying, he is such a beautiful, loving sweet little thing and i hate to see him in this cage. For some reason no one pays attention to him. It was love at first sight for my husband and for PeeWee who immediately licked his face and settled into his arms.\r We had recently had our dog of 14 die and were heartbroken. Mu husband's heart just wasn't into getting a new dog, but he did love PeeWee. He said we should still look at the more

One review (the long one) states that the Animal Welfare League is a no kill shelter. If this is true, they must have recently changed their policy and not put that information on their website. (I still remember the huskies they put down and lied about until public pressure became too much.) more

AWL is overwhelmed and need money, effective volunteers and donations. The reason some shelters are overwhelmed is because they are trying to help every animal in need that they come across. Other shelters are more ""picky"" about what animals they will accomodate and therefore seem more orderly. The fact is, the people at AWL are animal lovers and dealing around the clock with the consequences of ignorant animal neglecters and abusers. We have 2 precious, perfect, healthy, beautiful cats from AWL that are the center of our lives. We also had one horrible experience, adopting a kitten from AWL that had been scheduled to have all her vaccinations but never received her vaccinations and died a week after we got her, devasting us to the core. DO ADOPT FROM AWL. The animals need homes and AWL needs your support. Before adopting make sure the animal's papers are in order and make sense to you. Have a vet appointment made at the get-go, and after the vet at AWL is finished take your new pet to your own vet as quickly as you can, ideally straight from there. I am an occassional volunteer at AWL and if anyone wants any help in adopting or advice, I am happy to try to help. Email me at cloudninesterling@hotm.... more

i also volunteer there, i have been there everyday for about 2 weeks straight now besides weekends. i can personally tell you i walk around there and clean out cages along with numerous volunteers and employees of the awl, they do the best they can with what they have, keep in mind that are a non profit shelter. they take very good care of the animals i have seen,they are fed,always have water,taken out for walks and generally socialized daily! i can tell you i cleaned out the same dogs cage today about 5 times in 3 hours, we do what we can to stay on top of it and they are never sitting in their own feces and urine for more than a few minutes if we are busy cleaning out other cages, as another volunteer below stated, their are 500+ animals at that shelter and there can NEVER be enough help and donations. instead of criticizing the AWL maybe some of you should step up and volunteer so you can help us give these loving, beautiful animals the chance at the best life we can give them in t more

Me and my daughter was told to go here to find a dog the first visit was a slow process staff not to friendly.did not want to explain procedure on how the program went but we got threw that.we found a dog she like so they told her she needed a least she gave them the least we call just about every other day checking on the dog they told us one person was a head of us waiting on the dog.then we call back they say now two people ahead,so we decide to go down there the following week to see if dog was still there.the staff very unprofessional with a bad attitude,also talk to supervisor about a staff member who ran up to my daughter and call her stupid,because they did not want to explain the procedure how the adoption go.bottom line they told my daughter she fell the inspection because she did not have a fence up but they went to the wrong address which was my address and they lied because I do have a fence.and we tried to explain the address on my daughter license was not where she live more

Understaffed and underfunded is no excuse for poor care, or for unnprofessional behavior. And I take exception with the people who comment about me not doing anything to help the situation because I care enough about my pet to write a negative review. My financial situation has only recently changed; up until then I regularly donated money, food, litter and toys to my local shelter. I also have adopted or rescued all of my pets and have been a responsible pet owner for nearly 35 years. Unfortunately I could lose my beloved 3 year old cat due to the conditions of this clinic. This is the first time I have ever asked for any kind of financial help for any of my pets, and the last. I have learned that discounted care means marginal care and that you have no say in the kind of medical treatment your pet recieves. Getting discounted or donated services in no way gives any facility the right to provide marginal health care. If they cannot provide adequate services they need to refuse new pat more

I understand that this place is overcrowded and understaffed, however that is an issue that they should address. It is not fair to the animals to be left in such conditions. I found two dogs I wanted to adopt from a shelter in Niles, however, before I could adopt them they were shipped off to AWL. I drove well over an hour to this shelter to adopt the two dogs. When I arrived and started viewing all of the dogs I wanted to cry. It is a sad scene. I finally found the two dogs from the shelter in Niles which I was thrilled about. We brought them into a room to visit with them once again. While there both dogs were dirty, their fur was matted and sticky - however just two days earlier at the other shelter they were clean as could be. \r Being compasionate that this shelter is attempting to help animals and that they lack funds is understandable - however, the woman at the front desks attitude is not. This woman was a complete nightmare. I witnessed her being rude to the famil more

I don't know much about the Veterinary clinic, but I know as a volunteer and from personal experience, the staff here is VERY overwhelmed, and they are on a stretched budget. People complain about the smell and how dirty it is, but people have to understand that there are almost 500 animals (maybe more) that they have to take care of. If more people donated,fixed their animals, and didn't buy they wouldn't have as many animals and they would have quality care for all of them. Next time someone complains about the smell, they should do something about it, like donate some money or volunteer. more

I adopted a german shepherd/lab mix puppy from AWL last year. The adoption process went smoothly and he is a joy to have and the best companion I've ever had. I decided to take my dog there earlier this year for his yearly vaccination because of the low cost and I could not afford vaccinations from other clinics at the time. The vet who was to give his shots wanted to take him into the back of the clinic alone whilst (after watching others that went before me) other patients' owners went in with them. Because of this, I demanded that I go with my dog. The vet insisted that I stay in the waiting room and wait but I wouldn't let her go with my dog, especially if he was only there for a shot and not being left for surgery. (What was up with that, anyway?) She stopped arguing with me when I brought up that I have never let my dog go alone at other vets and that it's unprofessional of them to take the animals alone without the owners' consent (after all, some animals behave better w more

i took my cat in to get his shots and nuetered he caught parvo(feline distemper) and the poor guy got really sick and had to have him put down. i gave them 2 stars because on the budget they have the staff really try and mean well but too many animals in and out but if u have a fixed income its better then nothing just make sure ur feline is up to date on theirshot s before u take it anywhere near this place!!!!! RIP MAX more

I recently bought a new Fox Terrier for my family. We took him home and he immediately started coughing. We brought him back and he was diagnosed with Kennel cough. He spent the next few days there and we finally brought him home, but little had changed. When we went to bring him to get his stitches out, he was still running a temperature and Dr. Barnes said he should stay. Over the next week and a half we would visit him almost everyday and he never seemed to get better. We noticed that a dog in a cage below him had died of Parvo. I finally asked to take the dog home to take him to a real vet. When we got home, he was lethargic and had uncontrollable bowel movement. I took him to the vet the next morning and he had a temperature of 105.9 and had to be put to sleep. I appreciate the hard work the volunteers do there, but if Dr. Barnes gets paid for what she does, she should get her license revoked, because she seriously neglected my dog and this whole situation could be avoided and my more

I found an animal at this shelter 6 years ago, a Newfoundland mix, that is still a loyal companion. I recommend them, or any animal shelter, when searching for a pet. With an open mind, and a strong dose of reality, these animals are best friends waiting to happen. It has been my experience that this shelter does a fine job in spite of funding and staffing issues. If you do choose to select a pet at full-price pet stores or breeders, you can still buy pet supplies and food at the shelter, and give their animals a monetary boost for food and care while they wait their turn for a loving home. more

At the end of a long day at the shelter and after signing papers and paying an adoption fee, our new puppy was to go to be microchipped (there on the premises) before we could take him home. The personnel could not find him, and at last told us the dog must have been stolen. What are they doing about it? They gave me a refund, but I'd really prefer they be committed to search vigorously for MY dog. Heartbroken. more

We adopted the best little Shih Tzu in the world from the Animal Welfare League. He was a stray that they had to treat and was in pretty bad shape. But I knew he was to be our dog. He is fully recovered from his illness and totally bonded to us. He's my shadow! I couldn't have asked for a better dog.\r \r The Animal Welfare League is in the front lines of trying to help animals who have been rejected or mistreated by people. Instead of maligning them, volunteer or donate to help out. They are the ones picking up the pieces as a result of people who view animals as unfeeling objects that can be thrown away or mistreated.\r \r Don't buy a puppy mill dog from a pet store. Adopt a friend for life from a caring shelter like the Animal Welfare League. more

I adopted a stray terrier mix from them. She is a wonderful dog. I have taken her to the clinic three times and have had nothing but good experiences there. I have called on the phone to ask questions and found the staff to be very helpful. To the people that are complaining why don't you donate some money or some of your time to help out the shelter. more

I had a female Beagle/Pekineses mix who is 15 yrs. old. A few days ago Cookie, my dog, was yelping and crying out in pain, I had no idea what was wrong with her, or what I should do to help relieve her pain. My mother told me to call the Animal Welfare League in Chicago Ridge and ask them what I should do, so I did.\r \r A woman answered the phone and I told her about my dog, explaining that she had been showing signs of weakness, pain and that she was hardly able to walk. The woman then asked me how old Cookie was, I answered 15, maybe 16 years old, she told me that because of the dogs age that it would be in Cookies best interest to be put down. The woman explained that a dog that age was probably going to die soon anyhow, and spending any kind of money on her would be a waist. She then proceeded to give me the hours that the shelter would be open that night and the price to have Cookie euthanized. I took Cookie in, paid the fee of $69.50 to have her put down, and said my goodbyes. Abo more

This place was once a shining star for unwanted animals... now I would steer so far from here it's not funny. In my opinion, this shelter is underfunded, poorly managed and a germ bed! There is no guarantee that your animal is disease-free, despite the fact that they claim to run a battery of tests. This is not to say that the volunteers at this facility are not dedicated - I think this place is so overwhelmed that it can no longer send animals out the door where a new pet owner can feel fairly sure that the animal will not die on them. We adopted two kittens from here and one died yesterday of a bacterial infection that had been present at the time of the adoption. The other kitten is losing fur and will be taken to a different clinic to make sure she gets acceptable care.\r \r We have yet to tell our eight-year-old daughter that the kitten she bought for her grandmother's Christmas present is dead.\r \r As far as volunteering there, I'd be afraid of what I may transmit to my own pets! more

I am a volunteer at the shelter and I am disgusted by the people on here that are so fast to criticize but put no effort out to help. I have adopted a pure breed Miniature Pincer and a Chocolate Lab that are wonderful dogs. Before I got these dogs they had been turned over by owners who abandoned them. Needless to say they we not well groomed and needed much training to get them where they are now.\r \r The shelter runs on such a stretched budget. They provide services to owners at a very reduced price. If you have problems with the shelter then get in there like I do and volunteer 1 or 2 hours (even each month) a week and see how things work and make it better. Other things you can do is to discourage needless breeding of these animals and have your pets spayed and nutured. Above all don't buy pets from pet stores and realize that a pet is a lifetime commitment. more

This place is sooooooooo overwhelmed, under funded, disorganized & under staffed it was truly one of the saddest things I've ever seen. After adopting 2 kits from this place, I've spent over $1000.00 getting them healthy. There are so many sick diseased animals in there, I'm sure it's impossible to keep the majority of them remotely healthy w/o the funds & help needed. If you're looking for a pet, there are soooooo many here to be adopted and although I had to put out a chunk of change to get them healthy, it was well worth it. I now have 2 of the cutest little guys in the world and hope what I paid for the adoption (& then some) goes to making this place a more suitable environment for all parties involved. If you can....donate. THEY NEED IT! more

So of course ALL shelters are great. They do try their best to take care of the unwanted animals. BUT I spent 3 hrs there w/ my 4 children trying to find a dog. After meeting the BEST DOG EVER that was so gentle with ALL my children, comes to find out, after waiting and asking and waiting and searching for papers and searching for the dogs I.D. that it was ALREADY ADOPTED! My kids heart sank so fast I wanted to cry. The dog was perfect. So we asked a volunteer to show us a few more dogs, well - the "kid" must have been afraid of dogs, cuz once we got into the room to view the dog(s) he'd unleash them and let them jump all over my and the kids. The kid basically backed himself into the corner and knew nothing about the dogs and wouldn't talk.\r THE ONLY GOOD THING HERE IS A GIRL NAMED ALLI (may be spelled wrong) that was extremely patient and extremely helpful. When a family wants a dog, it is tough to view each dog, have them taken out of the cage, etc etc etc. But that girl was very ni more