This “rescue” is the most unprofessional and haphazardly ran excuse for an organization we have ever had the misfortune to deal with. Apologize in advance for my anger and lengthy rant but we’ve I’ve been “dealing” with this Karen for over a week and she’s tested my last nerve calling into question how we care for our own animals.
From the moment we sent an inquiry about adopting a kitten we were immediately rebuffed. The email we received from Karen was so dismissive. She immediately attacked the fact that we fed our cats primarily wet food and occasionally let them go outside supervised in our enclosed backyard. We were lectured about proper diet and the dangers of outdoors. All information we knew and considered when making decisions for our animals.
Karen treats all cats and potential adopters like there’s a one size fits all approach when that not realistic. All cats have different play and dietary needs as well as different attitudes and reactions to stimuli.
We contacted her after seeing a kitten we absolutely fell in love with, our aim was to find a playmate for our 1 year old ragdoll. We explained that we only let him go outside, supervised, to give him a more enriched and full life and mental exercise. But from the get go Karen deemed us unfit because of this.
Her first email told us to go adopt a kitten from a city shelter as if they would be less discerning.
Through numerous emails, photos and information provided to her about our home life, finances, how we treat our animals (like royalty btw) and countless assurances that our cats are in fact indoor cats who occasionally are let out completely supervised in a very secure and structured manner, nothing would appease her.
One would think that if a potential adopter had shown that they were responsible, financially stable, owned their own home, and fed their animals premium food, had regular vet visits and all the amenities they could ever want, fountains, litter robot, cat trees, scratchers and oh so many toys, that they would not have to jump through the hoops Karen put us through. But no, nothing we ever said was good enough for her. She insisted that for us to even be considered we’d have to buy a catio. Which we reluctantly agreed to, I say reluctantly because at this point we had never met the kitten and had no idea of her temperament or how she’d act in any given situation. It wasn’t even a certainty that we’d even let her outside at all. We also told Karen that this might make it so our other young cat wouldn’t go out because he’d finally have a playmate inside to satisfy his play needs.
But no, even offering to buy a $200 catio wasn’t good enough because the ones I showed her weren’t to her standards. She wanted us to build a permanent structure onto our house. I told her that was a possibility in the future when we had saved up enough to build the larger type of catio we’d want. But I felt it wasn’t fair to spend a couple hundred on a temporary structure we weren’t even sure we’d need as it wasn’t a for sure that this new kitten would ever go outside.
Every email we got from Karen was dismissive, accusatory and downright insulting. As if no one but her could possibly know anything about cats and their proper care and safety. I’ve own cats for over 30 years, I have seen them through strokes, cancer and chronic kidney disease. My last cat Angel I had for nearly 20 years, and the last couple years of his life I spent giving him subcutaneous fluids every night, a ever changing diet of prescription food, meds and supplements as recommended by our vet and at the very end changing his diapers and carrying him everywhere as he could no longer walk. Every bit of this done out of love, concern and always assured by the. Vet that he wasn’t suffering and he’d let us know when it was time, which he did.
I explained all of this to Karen, reliving all that heartache in hopes she would see how devoted we are to our animals and that their well being was first and foremost in our hearts. Hoping she’d see through her bias against us that we weren’t clueless pet owners who carelessly let our animals run free, but instead took the time to get to know the needs of our animals and give them everything we could to ensure they lived a long and happy life.
Still it wasn’t enough. I honestly don’t even think she read half of what I wrote to her, she just focused on one issue never responding to all my assurances to ALL her concerns, questions and requests. We bent over backward to be honest and accommodating and all she did was give us the run around, allowing us to finally fill out an application and offer to donate on top of the adoption fee, only to immediately jump on any inconsistencies she felt she found. The main one being we said our cats were indoors which they are. But when I spoke to her on the phone she brought it up like “but they aren’t really…” as if to say we were lying and just saying whatever to get what we wanted.
We were totally transparent with Karen and she was nothing but negative, rude and judgmental.
We told her, we understood that as a rescue she wants to find the best home for these animals, but in all her judgment she forgot the entire point of her organization, to find forever homes for animals in need. Not be so damn nit picky that you deny perfectly good applicants because you have a personal, unfounded and uneducated bias against people you’ve never met.
We’ve seen photos of Karen’s home, nearly every room is filled with cages stacked on top of each other, surrounded by trash and mess everywhere. It honestly looks like a cross between hoarders and a puppy mill. I’m not going to assume her job taking care of these animals is an easy one and one would expect there to be a bit of chaos in her home but damn, compared to our four bedroom where one is actually a full on cat room, filtered water fountains, premium wet food and treats, every toy under the sun and an automatic self cleaning litter box, as well as regular vet visits, constant love and attention, after all that and her cage factory of a home was deemed the preferable option? Seriously!? Maybe someone should look into her non profit status as she seems to care more about donations, the tax write offs and the social media clout of being a “Animal Rescuer” than actually finding these animals a good home.
We bent over backwards to show Karen how badly we wanted to adopt this kitten, jumping through hoop after hoop trying to win her approval, hoping that even if she had a negative first impression that through our correspondence she’d see how much we were willing to do to be accommodating and reassuring against all her misconceptions.
And even if we had different philosophies on raising pets that she see parts that and recognize how well this kitten would be cared for, wanted and loved. She frankly, I feel, never gave us a chance. And her choice to cut off communication with us so abruptly after we were nothing but accommodating was completely unprofessional and rude.
This non-profit is exceptional! The work they do for the neediest animals in the community is exceptional. The goal to save cats and kittens who are left to fend for themselves on the streets has been successful, but there is much work to do. I admire this organization's dedication to this important work.
Run by one of the kindest compassionate ladies I know. She works tireless hours to make sure each fur baby is treated as her own, until she finds a forever home for each and every one. Clean enviroment and she gives each one on one personal contact and love. She is consumed by her love for these animals, and diligently works for the goal to provide each and every one with a chance for a new start with a new family that is anxious to welcome them into their home and become a part of their family. They vet and food bills must be a strain, but she puts them first regardless, and continues her quest to re-home every single one. An amazing lady. What would the animals do without people like her. She gives them the chance they never would have had. Any donations here would be to a very good cause.
Karen is awesome I'm so very grateful to have a nonprofit that I can take my rescues to. Not only are they safe, bathed and, medicated (if needed) I know that she will find them a great home!
This is an awesome rescue, they do everything possible to place healthy, we’ll socialized kitties into loving caring homes. If a pet is returned she doesn’t belittle or make the person feel bad but rather understands that SOMETIMES life events come into play. If you are seeking to adopt a wonderful kitty come to her first. Most of these kitties, if not all come from the streets where they were abandoned and In need of human intervention. Thank you Karen Hansen for all you do
I've followed the work of Catz and Dogz of the North State for a few years. The volunteers in this group work hard at rescuing and providing care and adoptive homes for the animals in their care. They really do care about their wards. I would like to endorse them as one of the hardest working rescue groups in the north state. Thank you for what you do!!
I adopted two feral cats from them several years ago. Without their assistance and unconditional love and care these kitties would have been killed. I can never thank them enough for the work they do saving animals. The dedication and devotion they show these animals is an inspiration and i wish there were more people like them in tge world
Karen - Catz and Dogz - took in three little baby kitties that my friend and I found, seemingly abandoned by their mother (or we didn't know if she was even alive!). They were just barely 4 weeks old. One of the three did not survive and Karen's heart was broken, though she'd only had them for a few days. The two survivors are beautiful, happy, wonderful youngsters looking for their forever home! Karen and her foster helpers have such big hearts and give their all for these sweet animals who have all had a very hard beginning to life - she gives them all hope and happiness and love!
Catz and Dogz of the North State Inc goes above and beyond helping animals that need to be cared for. Not only abandoned ones but also the ones whose owners can no longer keep them. They love these animals as if they are their own, feeding, cleaning, medical care if needed, and just giving them a good safe life. They work tirelessly on finding them forever homes but the animals never go without while waiting.
Run by the most caring and kind lady ever! Every cat taken in is given expert care and adopted out to a new loving home!
Catz and Dogz do a great job sharing information about animals that need homes. They are a great resource in our community to help animals!
Catz and Dogz is dedicated to helping the needy and helpless four legged creatures! We are so blessed to have such dedicated and compassionate folks to help our feral and abandoned cats and dogs! They work around the clock 24/7 to feed, nurse, medicate, and care for the sick, abandoned, weak, starving souls so they can be saved and adopted out to new forever homes!
I am the director of a cat rescue in Eureka, CA called Sierra Pacific Furbabies NorCal. Catz and Dogz of the North State is a rescue partner of our organization. As a partner organization, we require a number of conditions related to vetting and care, as well as placement procedures. We coordinate sharing adoptable animals across communities to enhance their chances to find a great adoptive home. We have worked with Catz and Dogz for three years now and are confident they hold to the highest standards of care. The director is very caring and competent.
Catz And Dogz of the North State has a well-earned excellent reputation. They take in cats and dogs from all sorts of sad situations and find them homes or care for them themselves. They help where others will not and they do it with love and care.