Animal Rescue Foundation Tony Larussa's

Although some view the adoption process at ARF as needlessly complicated - the whole purpose is to use the information about the animal that has been gathered by the trained behaviorists so that the animal will fit into your home situation with a minimum of adjustment on both sides. Bringing in all household members is an attempt to prevent the situation of an animal being brought home and promptly displaying dislike of another household member. It is a small price to pay for a compatible match. more

The adoption process may seem a bit complex, they require the whole family be present at the adoption interview, but it does allow them to find the best home for individual pets. This is one of the best shelters in the area. This interview process is also used to educate the whole family about the pet. Many breeders are using similar screening processes to find the best homes. more

They do offer a variety of services from dog training classes to spaying/nutering as well as dog adoption. But they make it very, very difficult for a person to adopt a dog with their stringent rules and having one's entire family take off to come along for the dog adoption interview, which occurs on Thursday afternoons (they also have them on weekends but all the "good" dogs are gone by then), and the wait time along with interviews will take up 3-4 hours. I ended up getting my dog from a different source since after checking back with ARF for months, it wasn't working out. I ended up bringing my dog in for a spaying, and did not have a good experience. I asked an assistant a question regarding my puppy's medication, and she didn't have the answer for me, nor was willing to ask the vet for information. She told me that once I left the reception area, they were done, and not to call them with questions. The reception area was also filthy with dog poop. I have also read about how ARF regularly drives hours into the central valley on the search for smaller sized cuter and "more adoptable" dogs, prettier cats, etc. rather than visiting local shelters like Martinez and saving animals that are in line to be euthanized. A very sketchy way to keep their adoption rates so high. more

This is a really neat and very well organized animal shelter. They rescue animals from all over, and they bring them in and care for them an provide them with everything they need to be happy until someone picks a pet to go home with them. ARF has a volunteer program, in which young kids an teens are able to interact with cats and dogs and learn how to properly feed and care for them. They (ARF) accept donations. more

they also provide good prices for spay and neutering your pets. Good care and service. more