The Pixie Project

I adopted a cat in November from the Pixie Project. My cat experienced a couple minor medical issues after I adopted her, and the Pixie Project took care of everything for me in a most gracious and helpful way. The staff is caring and wonderful. I would recommend the Pixie Project to anyone who is looking to adopt a cat or dog. They are sincerely concerned about the well-​being of the pets, and they do everything they can to make the adoption process as stress-​free for you as possible. Special thanks to Sheena and Amy, the Vet Technician!

This is a wonderful rescue with a fabulous and caring staff. They are very invested in the animals welfare and make the adoption process as stress free and smooth as possible. We got our pup from them and they give you 2 weeks to see if it’s a good fit, providing food and everything! We love Pixie project!

Well, we were thoroughly impressed at first, but then after our returning experience, I’m finding myself having to change the review drastically. Having been and currently still am, a small business owner, I am appalled at how we were treated upon return of the dog we initially wished to adopt. Once we got the little guy home, who we adored by the way, he wouldn’t stop attacking our cat, and we’ve had that cat for 8 years now. He’s good with every dog I’ve ever seen him interact with. This dog, just didn’t mesh well with him, and I’m not risking the welfare of our beloved pet that’s been with us for 8 YEARS. We figured let’s get him back before something bad happens, which is the safest thing to do. AMY, the woman who seems to run the place (possibly the owner, not 100% sure) was incredibly rude and disrespectful to my fiancé, even raising her voice and demanding us to donate $ 100 for her «wasting her time». We were 100% interested in adopting from there, just a better fit for our current living situation (which is easy by the way, fenced yard, house, and a cat). Now there is NO WAY we will ever go back here again, and we will be sure to let everyone we know not to go there either. You DO NOT speak to customers like that, and if I ever caught wind of one of my employees speaking to someone like that, I would terminate them immediately. We were not rude, and genuinely felt bad about having to bring him back so quickly. Isn’t about the pets, and not us??? If we felt the dog wasn’t safe or our cat wasn’t safe, isn’t the responsible thing to do is remedy the situation and get the dog back to them safely as soon as possible? I don’t know if she was just having a bad day or not, but my goodness, I’ve NEVER been talked to like that by ANYONE, and I was in the military for god’s sake. Perhaps she needs to go to obedience school more than the pets she is sheltering. The animals seemed happy, healthy, and the location is clean, but WE WILL NEVER RECOMMEND THIS PLACE TO ANYONE, EVER.
***THIS WAS MY REVIEW PRIOR TO OUR LAST EXPERIENCE*** WAS 5 STARS, AND NOW 2 AT BEST. Great experience thus far. Super friendly staff. Well taken care of animals, kind people all around and a really good thing they’re doing. Hope things work out with our new little family member, but regardless this place gets a strong thumbs up for their depth, integrity, and loving nature.

I am pretty much obsessed with this place. I adopted the most wonderful doggy from the Pixie Project. On top of that, they helped me with everything including referrals, crate, food, toys, tips, meds. I couldn’t believe how helpful and full service they are … and how much they care about their animals and take care of them. Not only do I have the best pet, but I know he was treated with such loving kindness while in their hands including vaccines, flea upkeep, chip, and more. I’m so grateful to have found the Pixie Project and my awesome dog. Special shout out to Amy for holding my hand through the adoption and taking such good care of the animals as well as us ‘soon-​to-​be’ owners! Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

I don’t understand why this place has a few bad reviews but everyone’s experience is different I guess. Mine was FABULOUS and thanks to pixie I have one of the best most social and well behaved cats you could ask for. I got her in November and she is the light of my life! I bought Susu when she was a kitten and got food and lots of after adoption support from them. Also why go to purringtons and pay a fee to pet cats when there is a free to pet kitten and a adult cat room. Love pixie project and recommend them to anyone searching for a cat or dog!

I love this organization! The services they provide are excellent. I enjoy volunteering there, interacting with the passionate staff and the general environment. They allow anyone to come in and interact with the animals and after a little training you can walk the dogs. They take animals from high kill shelters and give them a chance to find their forever homes. The cat I adopted had been there for over six months. It’s amazing that they value the lives of these animals. Any time someone talks about adopting I send them to the Pixie Project without a second thought. They are my go to.

I wish passionate people would be a little more level headed. I read a little about Amy after receiving a nasty email after a meet and greet that went a little awkward for me. You see, we have a situation at home where MY older dog was going to go home with my mother in a few weeks. She is visiting from L.A.My mother used to care for him and stay with her everyday when i dropped my daughter off on the way to work. I would pick them up every day after work. We moved to Oregon and I feel he may miss those quiet days suntanning in the sun on her patio where he is showered with love and affection from my mother. SO, on my application, I did not list my other dog because he was going to be leaving with my mother anyway. My husband saw the picture of the dog I was dying to adopt and disliked it for its appearance (it’s a Xolo). I am in love with the breed. Their personality, their sturdiness, and the fact that it is hairless and also, after buying all our dogs from breeders, i finally realized the importance of rescuing a dog. When I saw this dog on Pixie’s website, I knew it was perfect. My husband commented on how ugly it was and why I couldn’t resuce a Yorkie or something cuter. I told him that wasn’t my priority. Finally I convinced him to go with me to a meet and greet before he left for his trip. Someone from Pixie called me and told me every member of the family had to go and see the dog so if I wanted to have a chance, we would have to do it that day. The foster mom was very nice and let us pet her goats and let my kids play in her backyard while getting to know the pups. I really wanted to take one home to do the two week trial but my husband did not want the pup. I told him before we left to go see the dogs that I left our dog out of the application because he was going to be leaving in a few weeks with my mom anyway. When he saw that I wanted to take the «ugly» dog home, he used that to sabotage the meet and greet and said that the pup would not get along with the other dog we had at home. The foster mom immediately asked me if we put that on our application and I said yes. I did not feel like arguing or bringing up the fact that our dog was going to be leaving with my mom yet. I was going to get a puppy first and then let them know he was going to spend his good old retirement in peace. I told the foster mom that I did not feel comfortable leaving with a puppy if my husband was not 100% on board. So we left. I cried all the way home because i knew we were missing such a great opportunity to have this great dog and companion for our girls and family. You see, my older daughter had an incident where she was assaulted at school and has been going to therapy. Her therapist said she is in nurturing mode where she wants to be the nurturer. She is a rescue owner and thought it was a great idea. Anyway, getting back to the rude email… I got home and checked my phone since i left it charging on the kitchen counter. My friends were already at the house with my mom ready to barbecue so when i saw there were no missed calls, i was a little sad and anxious because i felt the uncomfortableness coming from the foster mom about the unlisted dog on the application. He later told me he opened it and that made the missed call disappear. :(My husband and I talked about the dog some more and he finally changed his mind! I couldn’t believe it, but had an uneasy feeling because I knew Pixie did not know what the situation was, and that because I did not hear from them, that my chances were slim. I called the foster mom anyway and told her i could bring my other dog by and to please give us another chance. Well, later that night, I got a nasty email from Amy saying I was a liar and that she didn’t believe me that my husband changed his mind and that I was trying to get the dog while he was away on a trip! She also told me I was not concerned about my older dog and that I did not care about the hard work they do and that the foster mom had a death in the family and I wasted their time! I have never been so offended. I did not demand to see the dog that day, nor did I lie about my husband changing his mind, nor did I lie about my dog on the application! My husband threw me under the bus because he did not want an «ugly» dog and because I did not want to cause a commotion or reveal to my kids that my dog was going to retire peacefully at my mothers house… I get called a liar and an uncaring dog owner! Amy claims to want to give people a pleasant adopting experience. This was faaaar from that. It was extremely unpleasant and I feel personally attacked. My husband was appalled at the email she sent me. He said he would talk to her and I have emailed her about it but have not heard from her. Rude, offensive, unprofessional, and unpleasant.

Pixie Project staff is rude. Their website lists specific hours but then they say it’s appointment only once you get there and you also have to fill out an application online. So basically a waste of gas and time. Adoption fees are also way more expensive than the Humane Society. Definitely not going back.

My first experience with Pixie Project was back in 2012 when I had to re-​home a Bengal cat within a very short amount of time. There was no vacancy at the time because of a full-​blown building remodel that was underway but the person on the phone had the kindest voice and demeanor in the entire galaxy and gave me a lot of operational info with regards to calling no-​kill shelters and other resources that eventually led to me knowing more about how many legitimate animal lovers are in this town.
Two years later turns out a friend of mine was hired here (I know, my «bias» is showing, but please allow me to proceed with some objective validity claims) and so, now, I had a reason to check the place out in full life-​sized 3D space!
Entrance through the front door puts you inside a clean and inviting handicap-​accessible room with high ceilings which seems illuminated completely by natural light that comes from outside through any one of the outer glass windows that make up the entire front end, including visual access to the room where they let a handful of cats play during open hours. Front desk staff will always smile and greet you and this lobby usually has clients, friends and volunteers with an animal or two just hanging out. This place has good «energy». They are definitely a very busy place full of people that are passionate about helping animals stay healthy and about linking them up with other humans capable of giving them the kind of homes they need. Simultaneously working with people and animals that require a litany of normally very costly services requires extremely high levels of coordination… This group can pull it off; I’ve seen it. They keep all areas of the building clean and keep detailed schedules of every animal and its needs daily. Every animal is known by their name and they engage them always with loving kindness.
I come in one or more days during the week to hang out with a particular little chihuahua who goes to work with ‘mom’ every day (he was rescued by Pixie, initially, of course) and also to walk dogs or play with puppies if the staff needs help at the end of the day when there weren’t enough volunteers that day to make it all happen.
I see this place being a huge part of the community for many years to come. It is young and full of potential to build a stellar reputation as a non-​profit that not only provides some veterinary and adoption services, but as something that will bring a lot of much needed positivity to people’s lives. They’re open to small groups of kids to arrange field trip type activities and are happy to simply inform anyone that walks through the door about how adoption works and about alternatives to the normally quite expensive veterinary solutions. They’re more than a place to ‘get the service you want’ for cheaper than a corporate structured vet clinic or large bureaucratic style charity. Pixie has clearly been staffed with good human beings dedicated to being the best at what they do. Their veterinary technician alone is an absolute master and knows SO much and will openly share the finer details with you whereas someone else may assume you aren’t smart enough or worth the effort of more than a pat answer. All volunteers are interviewed and screened to meet the standard of care and awareness needed to treat the animals as they are treated by the professionals.
The Pixie Project is the result of genuine Portlandian altruism… an aspect of the city that I hope remains constant and evolves as things like population and cost of living continue to grow here.

My spouse and I have two dogs and wanted to adopt another. We were very excited after reading their website! Both of our current dogs are rescues with unique quirks and we wanted a dog that would fit our family. The website made it sound like they spend time getting to know you and the adoptable pets to make sure they make the best possible match.
We stopped in on a sunny Saturday, there were far more volunteers/​employees than clients. The girls who helped us was joking around in the office and was totally bothered to help us. We told her we were interested in adopting a dog and she said nothing more than ‘fill this out’ and handed me an application. She went back to the office to talk to her friend some more and seemed very annoyed that I planned to fill it out on site, she said I should just drop it off later. I told her it was easier to do it there and filled it out. She then picked it up without a word and said we’d get a call if we were ‘approved’. A few days later I got an email saying our application was great and asked how big my dogs are. WTF?
We’re working with another agency now, this place is just an animal shelter with slightly better graphic design.

If i could give this place zero stars I would. My 11 year old son found a kitten that was barely 2 weeks old. We contacted the Pixie stealers to see if they had an idea of someone who could care for our kitten until it was old enough to be home with us. They gave us the name of a lady to take him to. We took him to Mesha. After about two weeks of Mesha sending several pictures and updating us on the status of our kitten she stopped responding and told us we needed to contact Pixie. Upon contacting Pixie we were told by Amy that we now had to adopt our kitten back or he would go to another family. We were never told that we wouldn’t get OUR kitten back.
This situation has devastated my three children and has caused them immense stress. They had spent days feeding our kitten with a bottle and nurturing him for this horrible organization to assume ownership of our kitten and steal him. I will be filing a claim against this organization for the stress they have caused my children.

I bought both my dogs here to get Spayed and Neuter. I recently adopted a male Japanese chin Gizmo and I already have a German Shephard mix Roxy.
From the point of contact throughout the whole process it was very smooth. Sydney the spay and neuter coordinator was very nice.
I had very little history in regard to Gizmo I had only had him for a approx. 2 weeks. I had brought him in to Banfield prior and they only told me he needed a teeth cleaning.
When I came to pick up both dogs Sydney informed me she had some bad news in regards to Gizmo. He had a very bad case of whip worms, a fractured jaw and is very anemic. I was utterly stunned that Banfield never looked in to that. Sydney told me she made he decsion for me to get every under control and fix on Gizmo. I saw all the different prescription bottles and was worried about what it all would cost. Sydney told me, they had taken care of everything and not to worry. I am very thankful that they did all work on Gizmo and happy that they had such good staff.
I could tell Sydney was a animal lover from the moment i walked in. She had offer to take Roxy to the back in the dog run. All the things they offer to insure your pet is taken care of. I am very happy to donate towards this organization and will defiantly donate more in the future. They went above and beyond to care for my pets. Gizmo has a follow up appt. in 1 month and I will purchase more food from them at that time.
In regards to Roxy. We had had her since she was a puppy and she had no problems with her at all. She was in excellent health. They only meds she needed was antibiotics and de wormer in case she got worms from Gizmo.
The Pixie Project has wonderful staff and is for a great cause.

I love the Pixie Project!
After my beloved cat died suddenly, I realized that I needed another animal in my home. I was not ready to adopt because I was still grieving, but I just hated coming home to an empty house. I contact the Pixie Project about being a foster parent. Unlike many rescues, which place animals in foster home until a forever home is found, Pixie prefers to keep the cats onsite in their cattery. They do sometimes need short term fosters though, and that is what I became. I fostered several cats with them over the last year. Each cat was unique and memorable in his/​her own way, but a few months ago I found one that I could not part with. She is sweet and affectionate and exactly the right fit. I recently adopted her and she is curled up on my feet as I write this!
But back to the Pixie Project: they love animals! They really want you to find an animal that will fit into your family and to make sure you are a good fit for the animal too. They put in the work to make sure each match is a success. I am impressed with the amount of work they put into socializing and training the dogs in their care. This is an amazing organization– whether you want to foster, volunteer to walk dogs or are looking for a new pet. I can not say enough good things about them.

I cannot speak highly enough of the staff at Pixie. My husband and I found ourselves faced with the incredibly tough decision to find a new home for our little fur baby due to changes within our family. We struggled and knew that we just couldn’t put him on Craigslist or hand him over to the humane society. A friend had adopted from Pixie before and had nothing but good things to say so we gave them a call. From the first moment in explaining our situation, Shannon was incredibly compassionate and reassuring that we were making a good decision for our pup. She arranged an intake appointment for us and from walking in the door until we left with tears on our faces, we knew that we were handing him over to the best group of people. Due to his younger age and good manners we were reassured that they would find him a loving and happy home quickly and not to worry. Amy (Executive Director) also gave us her card so that we could call or email any time to check on him.
We will not be in a place where we can have a dog for a while (obviously!) but we were so moved by Pixie’s staff that when the time comes again we will definitely be back to adopt from them. In the meantime, we cannot say thank you enough for helping our family out with this difficult decision and for showing compassion for us and for our little one. You guys rock!

Full disclosure… if you come in on Wednesday evening between 5 – 7 you will find me cleaning Kongs or potty walking the dogs. That said– I have been involved with Pixie almost since the get go and can give you the low down. Cause I know it all!
If you are looking to add a dog or cat family member then check out Pixie’s web site. There you will find who is currently looking for you. The cats live in the cat house at Pixie and so you can stop in and visit. They will be glad to meet you. The dogs are all in foster care or hanging out in their kennel– so call to set up an appointment when you find someone you might love. Amy and Shannon are happy to help you if you need advice, suggestions, or if you know just what you are looking for.
Parking is limited. But I have never had an issue with parking in Starbucks’ spaces for short visits. Oh! And if you are just looking for a dog and /​or cat fix (without taking them home!) — I can recommend volunteering at Pixie Project.
My final suggestion? Stop in next door at Spirit of 77 afterwards and mull over your decision with a cold beer.

After working with another shelter and receiving very little info about the cat we were adopting it was wonderful to work with pixie. They care about the animals and want to support the adopters as well as the animals for the long term. I would go here first and stay off craigslist.

Great organization and very lovely people!
We ended up not adopting through them (got our loaf cat from the Multnomah County Animal Services instead), but our experience with the staff was a pleasant one. They were super nice and patient and didn’t pressure us to decide right away. They wanted to make sure that we got the purrfect companion to suit our needs. You can tell that they really love animals and the dogs and cats there are very well taken care of. The place is clean and spacious, totally not the stereotypical depressing animal shelter. Plus, if you can’t adopt right now, you can come in and pet some cats!
They also have a small store and all proceeds go to the upkeep of the place. When we’re ready for a second furry friend, we’ll definitely go back here!

The Pixie Project is a great organization! I found my best friend there and am so happy I was able to get the help of such a great group of people. I had become discouraged after a long search for an animal through a pet search engine. When someone mentioned the Pixie Project to me, I thought I would give them a shot. I called and scheduled a time to meet some pooches and when I arrived, I was given the opportunity to take three dogs for a walk and decide if one would be a good fit. That is how I met Hogan. Now he has 45 acres to run around on and chase endless amounts of squirrels, deer and birds that he will never catch. He is fast, but not that fast. :) Thanks Pixie Project for helping me find my best bud!
Joe

This is a fantastic, non-​profit animal adoption & rescue center is located right in the heart of PDX!
They are not focused on just making a buck (like a lot of stores/​breaders are), but rather they really strive to find a small companion that’s the RIGHT fit for your personality, lifestyle, and living situation. And even better, you can feel good knowing that most of the pets available are from over-​crowded shelters and rescues from more rural areas of Oregon that otherwise might have been euthanized.
They also offer pet owner education, and provide low cost or free spay/​neuter and other veterinary services for homeless or low-​income pet owners.
Finally, all of the proceeds from their small pet store go right back to supporting their non-​profit services (their gift cards make great presents to pet-​owning friends/​family!)
Honestly, the more you learn about this place, the better you feel about supporting it versus their big-​box competitors like CatCo or what have you.
When I’m ready to find a furry friend (not the PDX hipster kind), this will definitely be my first stop.

The Pixie Project is an amazing organization full of passionate and caring people. I think they take «care» to a new level. They are experts at finding people the correct pet to suit their lifestyle and habits.
I love that they try to give each client special attention and the best advice that they can. Unlike other shelters, they really care about making sure when you take an animal home, it’s the one that will be best suited for you and it is a match made in heaven.
I was able to see their facilities, store and speak to the owner, Amy. Everything impressed me. Their dedication to the health and well being of animals is second to none. They are what all shelters should be.
Also, my three legged rescue dog Ruby, loves Amy because Amy gives her oatmeal cookie treats.
I highly recommend shopping at their retail store, adopting from their facility or donating to their cause. It’s a great organization to support.