The Buddy Foundation

Unfortunately, we can here looking to adopt, interested in one of the dogs posted on the website. Upon arrival, we were greeted by a very cold volunteer who showed us dogs that we had stated we were not interested in. It would not have been a one star interaction if the adoption criteria of NOT adopting out dogs larger than 45 pounds to individuals living in housing with no fenced yards would have been posted somewhere on the website. I felt as if it was a weird gray area subject that could be used to the discretion of the volunteer staff.
Remember, unless you are exclusively looking for a Chihuahua and you live in an apartment, I encourage you to look at alternative shelters like Wright Way. The volunteer we had interacted with did not ask us many questions about our living situation or our lifestyle before canceling out about 90% of the dogs in the shelter.

Went in looking for a car to adopt. It is free shelter adoption day. Greeted by a warden of whom was not friendly. WOW! Take younger volunteers. The smell was SO overpowering I was in shock. Totally disappointed by the unfriendly seevice. Too bad. I could offer a safe, happy home to 2 cats. Bad vibes all the way around.

Two years ago, we adopted a cat from the Buddy Foundation, and it couldn’t have gone smoother. They were friendly, helpful, and were even so impressed with our love for cats that two weeks later, they called us because they had just gotten in another kitten they thought we would love. We had to turn them down at that time, but it all ended very graciously. (All interactions were with the same single volunteer btw.)
Flash forward to present time. We had gotten a second cat from another shelter and loved him just as much as our Buddy cat. Unfortunately he escaped the house and was killed. Our Buddy cat was used to having a friend so about a month later we started looking. We stopped at the shelter we had gotten the cat who died from, told them the story, they couldn’t have been more sympathetic, and showed us some cats.
I also wanted to see what the Buddy Foundation had to offer. Big mistake. I’ve never been so upset in my life. We go there and tell them our story and the Kitten Nazi (same lady who offered me the second kitten from before) determines we are not fit for a kitten because they are too fast and could get out. Did she think I’m some serial cat killer? Just open the door when you get tired of them? I really gave that woman a piece of my mind. So disappointing. Needless to say we went back to the original place and picked up an adorable kitten, who, so far, has been unable to escape our clutches.
Moral of the story: if you have a tragic pet tale, don’t tell them. Lie to save yourself the judgement.

I stopped by here today to look at kittens. I have an older cat who I’m looking to give him a little female companion. My top favorites were 2 kittens, Jill and Leia. (I ended up adopting Jill!)
The shelter is very nice, and it is well taken care of. The dog and cat play rooms are great for the animals. The facility was clean and well taken care of. I noticed they actually take the dogs outside for walks around the place which I thought was great. The people who helped us were nice, and showed us all the younger female kittens. They gave us some great options without trying to make us to look at other animals. I will be adopting a kitten in the next week or so. The adoption fee for a kitten is $ 150, but one of the workers said there are promotions in the paper from time to time. The cost includes flea treatment, spay/​neuter, and various other things. It’s practically a steal. The best thing about this shelter is they are really hands on with the animals so they are incredibly social. This is a shelter I would donate to, and bring friends to.
I would like to send a message out to the people who wrote negative reviews about this place. Yes, some of the people are not the most friendly (none of which I dealt with) but when you work in a job that you see the cruelty of humans everyday of your life, you become a little disgusted and hopeless with humanity. You should want to volunteer because it makes you feel fulfilled as a person, not because you want praise. That’s not what it’s about. A lot of the people who work here are volunteers not professionals. Just because those people have a big heart doesn’t mean they have verbal filters. (Which is ok, since they are still helping the community)

I had recently started to volunteer. The people that we had met so far are nice, pleasant, but the most important part of volunteering or adopting is to provide the best, comfortable and healthy place for the pets. We all need to be patients with each other and understand that people are taking time out of their day to help the cats and dogs. That is the priority at the animal shelter to help those cute homeless pets feel cozy and love. If there is something that you might not like in the shelter than you can perhaps volunteer too in order to improve the service so more dogs and cats would find their home soon, or just take what you got, but I don’t really see what people are complaining about because it is a very nice shelter, where is clean and dogs are well taken care for. If you want to volunteer or even adopt a dog or a cat than just do it. You would not regret but they will bring lot of joy to you and your family. Come, check out the dogs and cats, and ADOPT :)

I had a great experience here. We adopted our little kitten, Lizzie, in November 2013 and everything went wonderfully. The facility is clean and comfortable and the pets seem happy and well kept. The staff was friendly, giving us time to choose our kitty once they showed us where the kittens were, kinda and helpful while checking out and taking her home. My kitten is such a social little lovey, they said the foster mom who raised her litter was the best and it is evident that she really is. Thanks Buddy!

I agree with others who have commented on the lack of gratitude and cold responses from this place. I emailed them to see if I could donate some crates, collars, dog seat belt and other items. In a day or so I got a curt reply that I could bring things over if I wanted. The way this was communicated gave the impression that they were doing me a favor. BTW, there was no name on the email. When I responded mentioning a location would help I again got only the most cursory reply. No thanks was offered for my willingness to donate. My plan was to take things over and if I liked what I saw I was going to make a cash donation as well. Forget it. I want to help the animals but those people seem to need some social skills training. I have contacted another shelter who are grateful for my donations.

This is a mixed review.
We had a stray cat that had been hanging around our house. When we noticed she was pregnant I started looking for a shelter to take her in. They were very willing to take her in even made sure all volunteers would know she was approved to be dropped off. But then when my husband went to drop her off the woman basically accused him of ditching our own cat mostly based on the fact that our 2 yr old cried to see cat left behind. Does she not realize little kids would cry when you drag them away from a cute animal. She does the same thing at a pet store.
He had to go back in and heard them talking about him.
So again mixed. Nice to take the animal but we left feeling judged when we were just trying to do something nice.

I adopted two cats from The Buddy Foundation on Friday and could not be happier. Not only was my experience at The Buddy Foundation wonderful but my two babies have been an absolute joy! I would highly recommend adopting from this facility. They are amazing!

Excellent facility, helpful staff. Best to go in & not email or call as adoptions go quickly!

This place is wonderful to adopt a new friend from… Me and my wife adopted our 1^st cat, Moxie from here. They really care that u get a good relationship with your new friend 1^st. There was absolutetly no pressure… Good bunch of people… Animals are well cared for… I even got a phone call from my cat’s former foster mom… Very sweet !!!

This is how a pet shelter should be. My husband and I adopted our dog, Cammy, from here. The shelter is very clean and pleasant looking. The dog kennels had more simple «luxuries» (like dog beds) than other shelters we’d seen. There is even a common living room area with couches where the dogs can come out to play and lounge for a while. Although it is always sad to see animals in a shelter, Buddy Foundation doesn’t make you feel as «bad» as so many other shelters do. You can tell everyone really cares about the animals. The adoption process was responsible and straightforward. Additionally, when months later our dog wound up with a weird medical condition (she went into heat even though she was spayed), rather than leaving us high and dry Buddy Foundation referred us to the vet who did the spaying and the issue was addressed at no charge. This place is the BEST and I always refer anyone looking to adopt a pet here.

First things first regarding the one-​star review of Buddy Foundation: read the very last sentence of Rachel’s review. Sounds to me like the one-​star review was written by a bitter rejected volunteer. Why that review is allowed to stay, I’ll never know.
My girlfriend and I visited The Buddy Foundation a number of times and have always found it clean and worthwhile. There’s a lot of pet adoption agencies that could learn a few things from establishments like this.
The staff was welcoming and accommodating. We were briefly interviewed as to what kind of pet we were looking for. They offered us a few options they thought would fit our criteria.
Similarly, they steered us away from dogs that would NOT fit our criteria and explained the reasoning behind each dog. We were okay with that: we’d rather know they were doing their best to find us a fitting dog than trying to get us to adopt just anything!
The staff we worked with offered goodwill attempts at answering whatever questions we had. The shelter does an impressive job of working on animals’ medical evaluations and history.
When we saw a dog, we never felt rushed. We were allowed as much time as we wanted with each dog to «feel them out.»
Eventually, we fell in love with a little black mix! We were given a packet full of information, including copies of our new puppy’s medical history and vet visits. She had not been microchipped, but the Foundation took her in back and microchipped her right then and there. They added the microchip information to the packet of information they were sending us home with.
She’s laying down next to me right now, relaxing on the couch.
The Foundation charged us $ 300 for the adoption fee. The volunteer told us all of that money goes right back into The Buddy Foundation. It seemed a little high, but they also gave us a number of free services for our new puppy, including a large grooming package and a vet visit.
My only minor gripe is the number of volunteers that ended up in a room with us. At one point, three volunteers were in the room playing with the puppies! We know they mean well, but we really wanted to spend time with the puppy by ourselves.
In general, the facilities are clean and well-​kept. Volunteers are kept on a strict schedule, making sure animals are fed, their quarters cleaned, and they’re walked often.

I first contacted the Buddy Foundation via email, offering my services as a volunteer. The volunteer coordinator replied very quickly and asked that I go in to the center and fill out an application.
That very night, I did just that.
The property is really, really nice and I was certainly impressed by the exterior.
There is a great big sign on the door «We’re full — no new animals please» or something to that effect. I was sad to see such a sign (so many strays/​relinquished pets), but glad that I chose a busy shelter to offer my help to.
We were sort-​of greeted by a woman at the front desk. She handed over the application, and asked that it be filled out in full.
No problem.
During my application «process» two girls pulled up out front. They had a dog with them, and Ms. Front Desk said «Oh my GHOOOD I hope they aren’t trying to bring that dog HERE! In a very snotty tone. I was shocked and very put off.
Turns out, the girls left the dog in the car, and were just stopping in to say hello to Ms. Front Desk. Ha. Ugg.
The three of them were talking, taaaaaalking talking, and IGNORING me while I tried to hand in my application.
Another «employee» saw me standing there, and offered to take the application for me. She asked me a few normal questions, (hours available, health problems/​allergies) and then she asked if I had a preference to dogs or cats. I responded that I was there to help, but I did prefer dogs as a personal pet.
She laughed and said: «It doesn’t matter anyway, cause you are still going to be cleaning up s — .»
Whoa! (I was aware of that fact, but you don’t need to be crass)
On our way out, we stopped to stare at this cute pup in the front viewing room. He was playing «ball» with himself using the wall. I was pretty funny. During the 3^rd round of «dogball», a family walks in, asking to look at dogs for adoption.
Ms. Front Desk says they have no dogs, and offers them a cat. HEH? Granted, I didn’t hear the rest of the exchange, but that was a helluva opener.
As far as my volunteering goes: I never heard back from anyone at the Buddy Foundation. It’s been a few weeks.

The actual address of the new shelter facility is 65 West Seegers Road, Arlington Heights, Il, right of Arlington Heights Road between Golf and Algonquin. With that said, Buddy is a wonderful no-​kill shelter run by an all volunteer staff. It’s roomy, and spacious and has seperate rooms for dogs, and cats of all breeds and temperaments. There are cageless rooms, and rooms for animals who don’t socialize well with others. Out back is the area for dogs to roam and play outdoors with volunteers and hopefully new family members. They even have a clinic on site and a vet who checks in twice weekly. The staff is a delight, and will work well with you to find your perfect new companion. People think that they can just go in and adopt, and thankfully they can’t because the screening process is intensive. That can put a lot of people of but I say thank goodness for that, because that’s how the shelter’s know their animals are not going to be taken by monster idiot animal abusers. The facility is open every day for browsing, checking
for hours and directions. Also check out their amazing gift shop which has the best gifts for the animal lover in all of us. This is a new facility, I adopted my two boys from the organization when they only had foster homes, and I can assure anyone whose looking for pets that these animals are the best. They were trained from the start, and are so lovable. They also neuter and spay their pets, as any good shelter should, so give them a shot. Any questions, let me know.