Community Animal Rescue Effort – C.A.R.E.™

Adopted my wonderful cat, Lucky, here back in February. The process was easy, volunteers were there to give me information on all the cats. They seemed genuinely concerned about well being of all animals and all cats were well taken care of.

CARE is a terrific organization with a strong commitment to the well-​being of the animals in their care.

We adopted our first dog from CARE in 1996. We appreciated their effort to match us to a dog. It was a perfect match that lasted 16 years. Over the years, we have learned that CARE is an all volunteer, not for profit group that really cares (no pun intended) about its dogs and cats. Because they are a small shelter, they need to raise funds during the year (walks, dog washes, bakery sales) in order to stay in business. Food and medical treatment is expensive!
We recently adopted our new dog from CARE. They had taken care of all medical exams, shots and neutering. They had evaluated the dog to make sure we would not inherit a social or medical problem. They then allowed us a trial period to make sure that our new dog was good for us, and us for him. They even loaned us a crate and gave us dog food during the trial period so we didn’t have to go out of pocket.
We love our dog and love the fact that there is a caring shelter in the northern suburbs. We will continue to support them; wonderful people caring for wonderful animals.

I had an emergency situation and called every no-​kill shelter in the city. None of them were able to take my deceased father’s cat. I called this shelter and was told they only take cats from Evanston. This surprised me because I know other suburban shelters will take any pets, no matter what town they are from. I’m sure this place does great work and I understand it’s hard to take in every pet, but it was disappointing that no one could help me. I ended up having to go to Anti-​Cruelty. =/

They love animals here, but I don’t think they like humans very much.
I came here after my old cat had died of cancer. I wanted to adopt a new kitten to keep my other cat company. From the moment I walked through the door, I was treated like a criminal who wanted to steal one of their cats. From the multi-​page application form to suspicious and invasive questions from the staff member, the entire process seemed to be designed to prevent people from adopting cats. I finally left, disgusted, and adopted a perfectly wonderful cat that I found from a newspaper ad for free kittens.
Now, I’m all for shelters being cautious about who adopts their pets, and it’s their responsibility to make sure the animals go to a good, safe home. But this shelter made me feel like I wasn’t good enough to own a cat. Frankly, there are a lot better places to adopt a pet from that won’t treat you like a monster.

The process may seem a bit involved but it is well worth the time spent by potential adopters and the volunteers that assist you in finding the perfect pet for your home. I realize most of us go in knowing we ARE the perfect adopters and are doing the animal a great favor so the volunteers should gratefully give us the pet we choose, but the truth is that not every animal is right for every home. At CARE they work tirelessly to the best of their ability to place the pet in their forever homes.
The Evanston Shelter building was not designed as an adoption center but has been adapted to this function to the best of the volunteers’ abilities with the approval of the City of Evanston. All City of Evanston rules and regs must be followed for the volunteers to continue to be able to use the City Shelter for adoptions. There are plans to expand and donations are always welcome!

I wasn’t too impressed by this shelter. All the cats locked up is depressing-​they all seemed bored and lonely. When we wanted to meet a cat, they closed us in this small utility room with the cat to play with them. i felt it was hard to get to know the cats we met because once in that little room, they were bouncing off the walls-​after being cooped up in cages all day.
Then there was this weird period when they had us sitting in this little locked area by the front doors while they got someone to help us-​I guess it’s a security measure, but no one explained it to us and the place had no warmth or friendliness.
On the plus, it was clean and the animals seemed healthy.
We didn’t end up adopting from them-​we went to a great cageless shelter in Roger’s Park.

I recently adopted 2 kittens from CARE after several visits, and everyone I encountered was friendly and knowledgeable. They even called to follow up a few days after bringing them home to see how everything was going. The biggest issue is they are strapped for space and are sometimes forced to have patrons meet the kitties in one of the bathrooms. They are raising money for an expansion and it is much-​needed, but staff are great and I would definitely return.