AARCS Safe Haven — Alberta Animal Rescue Crew Society

This is more of a response to a post made in this page by Tiffany H. I have been looking to adopt a cat for a while and was referred to AARCS and Brandy specifically by a couple who have dealt with Brandy in the past. The review they gave me of both AARCS and Brandy was golden and this has solidified my decision to use AARCS and to deal with Brandy. Then tonight I look up google reviews and see a rather mean spirited and targeted review of a person when a negative complaint should go through other channels. This review of both AARCS and Brandy seemed odd to me.1: Public shaming like this is horrible2: I looked at the person's profile and they have at least one cat but they say that they just found out they are allergic?3: Most reviews of cats out of the Calgary program are excellent and are in line with what I have been told.5: Going by the review AARCS is horrible and names an individual as particularly off putting...but she left 3 of 5 stars? That's a passing grade.This doesn't make sense and is an example of why online reviews are problematic. I'll find out for myself not from an outlier review based on someone who has clear credibility issues.

I could not have asked for a better experience when it comes to adopting a pet. I have been looking for about 2 years for a dog and when I finally found the one, it was a seamless process. The foster family that had the dog we adopted were amazing and trained our new dog so well. They answered all and many questions we had and we very accommodating when we wanted to meet our future dog.I received all our dogs medical records and any other information as soon as my fees were paid. I can not recommend AARCS enough!!!

We decided to foster a dog since there are so many dogs looking for home and care. I just went to pick up a little dog. Tami was very kind she explained all the details and she provided me all the supplies needed. Thanks Tami and all the AARCS team for making such an incredible efforts for the little dogs, cats and other creatures in need. I highly recommend AARCS and I invite everyone to help, specially this season due to wildfires there are many dogs in need of foster homes, please help.

My experience yesterday at AARCS left me with a sour first impression of the organization. Myself and the 5 other volunteers arrived on-time for our group training tour/orientation (Part 2) only to be left standing outside in the rain for nearly 15 minutes without not one person acknowledging us or inviting us inside the big orange door.The session was to start at 2:30pm and we were left outside waiting until finally someone came and explained that the staff who was supposed to tour us was in Montana. My first impression of the place was that of disorganization, poor communication, and staff that wouldn't look at any of us, say hello, or make us feel accepted and welcome on our first visit to the facility. This left me very unimpressed!For this reason I decided to leave and will not be devoting my time to AARCS. Perhaps the animals are treated very well, but the humans who are volunteering their time should be too. On top of this I have noted numerous negative reviews on Google from very unhappy people in the adoption and fostering areas. My first impression, which I always trust, has helped me decide that I would like my name taken out of their system as I will be considering other volunteer options moving forward.

We adopted a 5 month old puppy from AARCS in March. She is a fantastic dog, and a huge round of applause, in fact a standing ovation, goes to the foster mom, Leslie. Shilo was potty trained and already knew not to jump up on us, or chew on our shoes, or steal my daughter’s stuffies. She is a wonderful addition to our family, and is amazing with our 4 year old daughter. They enjoy playing fetch and hide and seek. Shilo (formerly Bojan) is learning to walk on the leash, has amazing recall, and is a pleasure in the off leash parks. She gets along with all types of dogs and is great with humans too. We couldn’t be happier with our new love. The adoption process was easy! Thank you!

We just adopted a cat, and everything went so well. She is so happy and we love her so much! The staff are amazing and so helpful!

It's a great place to volunteer and find your new best friend! They rescue animals of all kinds; critters, bunnies, doggies and kitties too! This is Lucy who came from Aarcs!

We were thinking about adopting another dog for a while and we came across a puppy who had ringworm with her brothers and sisters after being rescued and immediately fell in love with her. The process did take longer than when we rescued our other two dogs but we felt like they really cared where she was going and wanted to make sure that she was going to a good home. It look about three weeks total after our meet to bring our baby girl home but I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. They were quick to answer emails with any questions we had, the foster home was absolutely lovely and we did receive a month of free pet insurance which was super helpful and comforting to know we had if we needed.If and when we do decide to adopt again, we will absolutely be going back to them. Thank you AARCS for everything you did for our family!

My cat passed away on Sunday. We adopted him as an adult from AARCS in 2018. He was the best cat we could have ever asked for. To honour his memory, we donated all of his things back to AARCS. if we ever get another pet, we will adopt from them. Thank you AARCS for rescuing and giving me my best friend.