Homeless Animals Rescue Team-Hart Fairfax Station, Virginia

Wow! Asked to review a site we visited but in this instance it's a site we adopted our beloved dog from over 16 years ago. We've lost him now and are dreaming of our new dog and think HART is a great start!

I want to publicly thank Miss Patricia Kurowski for her great support and understanding in an emergency situation when I had to bring my cat in to the Leesburg Emergency Hospital due to a seizure . She was quick, kind and very supportive during and after this emergency.

I have been a supporter of this wonderful organization for several years. The members act with integrity, compassion and always always with the best interest of the animals. Privileged to know them.

Lovely people helping many animals. We got our two from them and they are the best, best boys and the best thing we ever did.

After losing my first cat of 14 years to cancer, I started to look for new cats to welcome into my life. HART was an immense help and really are looking out for the best interests of the animals they help. I now have a bonded pair of cats with me and I absolutely adore them. I cannot thank HART enough for what they do and for bringing me together with these amazing fur babies. I cannot recommend HART enough for anyone looking to welcome a new pet into their lives and homes.

Pico has been such a wonderful new addition to our family! Without the support and efforts from the entire HART network, we never would have met him. Thank you to the entire team of caring volunteers (from intake to transporters to interviews to scheduling to fosters and everyone in between and beyond), you all do such amazing work!

We adopted our dog from them. Had a great experience. Highly recommend.

We have had a wonderful experience as both fosters and adopters with HART. They are a tribe of animal lovers that are well-connected, committed, and knowledgable about animal rescue. The fosters we have had get their medical needs met right away, and our adopted dog Sophie is such a wonderful addition to our family. Highly recommend working with HART to find your next family member!!

Don’t know how it’s a animal rescue team if they are charging $100 just to get your own cat back

I love my cat so much! I am so lucky to have her. Honestly, great fit and she has improved my life so much. I get to wake up to such a sweet, affectionate weirdo every day. ♡ There is a pretty hardcore vetting process with this organization, but I love that it was all super, serious cat ladies who called me to make sure it was a good fit. They assured me if I ever had questions, I could call them. I believe them too! Just passionate and caring volunteers. It is beautiful.

They know about dogs they have been fostering Habits, house, crate broken. Likes and dislikes

I have been volunteering for HART for over a year now and I love doing it! I have been doing rescue for over 27 years and HART is one of the best rescues I have ever worked with. Thank you Linda and Kim for your love and dedication!

I have had the privilege of adopting two wonderful dogs from HART. Having been associated with them over the past 18 years, and active in several aspects of rescue with other groups, I can state unequivocally that HART is a class act in every way. Their volunteers (like Board member Charlene) are incredibly caring, dedicated and knowledgeable. Their highly responsible adoption procedures ensure that each precious animal in their care is set up for success and placed only in the very best furrever home. Thank you, HART, for all the wonderful work you do every day—you are true life savers! There is a good reason that HART has been so successful for more than 30 years—it is one of the very best rescue organizations there is!!

We just got our newest furbaby from HART. Everyone was very helpful and supportive and answered all of my questions. I appreciate all of the background research they do (first when I fostered for them and now when I adopted from them) Right now has been super crazy for them because of the covid puppy boom, but even as volunteers, they've all stepped up and done an amazing job. I highly recommend adopting from them.

Me and my partner were looking to fill our home with a little kitty love and stumbled upon HART's organization from a google search. We were hoping to find two younger cats that were already bonded but ended up falling absolutely in love with a single kitty. HART helped us find a great pair to bring in the mix to make our vision come true. The application itself is a little long but was totally worth it! After being approved the entire process was quick and everyone was very responsive and helpful in matching up our two kitties. Our entire transition was very easy thanks to HART! :)

We adopted our dog Maisie from HART and had a wonderful experience. Their team of committed volunteers is laser-focused on finding the right permanent home for animals. They'll spend a lot of time learning about you and your home to make sure the animal you adopt has a low chance of being returned down the line. For instance, if you have a kid (or are planning to have a kid), they'll make sure to match you with a good fit and not one who is going to cause problems if a baby tries to take its toy. But part of this process is to make sure you get the right pet. For us, they nailed it.

ITS BAD IT SUCK AND ITS HORRIBLE

They turned me down because my cat is only a year and a half and they said he wouldn’t have enough vet records to prove that I was a good owner. I rescued this kitten off the street and paid nearly $500 getting him back to good health plus all the necessary testing and neutering. Of course they don’t ask those questions they just turned me down flat and told me to go to a shelter. They didn’t even ask about previous animals I’ve owned or even what I do for a living. I have owned cats and dogs my whole life and at 42 years old I have always treated them like my little babies along with my son. They have always been well fed, provided with endless toys and attention as well as food and treats not to mention vet costs!! This is the most ridiculous place I’ve ever encountered!!!

I went through the application process, which is a long application, and then did 2 hour long phone interviews and a virtual home tour. It took a couple of weeks. Then over a week went by with no further communication. Eventually I got a generic email saying that due to Covid and the volume of applicants, they couldn’t work with me. Sounded generic and strange since they had already put in the time to interview me. I emailed back with questions. No response for 2 weeks. Then a simple “I’m just the messenger but there can be many reasons for a rejection.” I work from home, have a fully fenced yard and single family home, and go on daily jogs and walks that the dog could join me on. I can afford the best food and emergency medical treatment. What are these people looking for? Why do they want to deny dogs a loving home, just to try and place them with whatever they think the “perfect” home is? They must be looking for only expert dog owners with no kids and acres of property who work from home, but I’m not sure because they never came out and told me directly why I was rejected. Most people who actively search for a dog and go through the trouble of going through the application process are good people with good intentions and would provide a good home for the many dogs out there in kill shelters. If you really want to save animals, let’s not be so cynical and unnecessarily picky.

As a volunteer and adopter, I can highly recommend HART!

I'm surprised by the negative reviews. My process has been amazing and volunteers are super responsive and informative.

Very disappointed trying to work with HART. I went through the process for 3 dogs and never really got the sense they were interested in helping me find the right dog.

We adopted the very best family member from them 7 years ago, and he just passed away. We’re so heartbroken; he was the very best friend we ever had.

Received an email that stated to come to their event this past Saturday and complete two interviews that should take 20 minutes a piece. When I arrived they initially told me the dog I applied for was not there. I waited for 15 minutes before they “found” the dog and I was able to meet her and her foster. I went through one interview which was fine and was told to wait for my second. I waited an hour before I went to their table to inquire about my second interview. I was then told that I was skipped and they apologized for “not looking for me”... my application was moved to the bottom of the pile. I waited an additional 30 minutes for a volunteer to become available. My total time at this preliminary adoption event was 3 HOURS. I was called yesterday and told that both of the dogs I had applied for had friends of the fosters apply and they were given priority over myself and my family who were apparently “loved” by both of the interviewers. You are told at the event and online what the adoption process is but friends of fosters clearly don’t follow the same process. They were awarded the dog in LESS THAN 24 HOURS OF THE EVENT. I didn’t know they could make vet calls AND home visits in that VERY short time frame. They say they want the best fit for the dog but thats clearly not the case. My advice find the foster parent(s) and make friends with them. This event and rescue is unorganized and unprofessional to say the least.

This place is wonderful and they care about these animals. Many nice folks

Wonder group with which to adopt and foster! They really care about the dogs and finding them the perfect home. So, "Karen"s, get over it when you are not deemed not worthy! Your reactions to being passed over validate the decision and tell me the right choice was made.

The interview process is a bit much but we are pretty happy with our little addition and our older boy was happy to have a new sister.

It will take you couples just to fill up an application just to adopt their pet ! It’s so intimidating. I feel I’m going to job interview and high paying job or something. We just honestly wanted to help and adopt this pets but they had to make it so difficult that’s why they have so many animals on them.

This place is awful in its communications. We had our in house inspection after which we were told we would be sent a list of dogs they find us eligible to adopt. Instead the next day we were sent a link of ALL the dogs on HART website from which we were told to choose from. After this there was no line of communication maintained. 1 week later we were told for all the dogs we had chosen from the list, we were either ineligible for, or are already up for meeting someone else. There were no apologies, just outright denial stating it’s not “first come first serve basis” which was already pretty well understood but If a channel of communication would have been kept open, it would have gone a long way in maintaining transparency in the process. I would never recommend anyone to go back to this organization. This is just broken.

I recently adopted a wonderful dog from HART. The rescue fought hard to put my new boy in the best home for him, mine. They were only looking out for the best interest of the dog, even if it meant unintentionally hurting people’s feelings along the way. I wish all rescues handled their adoptions this way. If the rescues don’t look out for the little fur babies, then who will? Obviously not the humans that have given them up.