Helen Woodward Animal Center Reviews

AMAZING! They are so wonderful there, And it's wonderful to see so many homeless animals finding forever homes

One of the most wonderful advanced facilities ever. Great class's to take. Superior technology at hand.

We have been trying to adopt a dog for about a month. We have gone to 4 or 5 shelters looking. This place is the best. All shelters are super busy on Saturday afternoon, here was no exception. What was exceptional was all the great employees. There was a smile on every face and everyone took the time to make sure you know what is happening. Nothing was rushed no matter how busy it got. Loved this place

Fabulous private rescue center. Be sure t adapt a rescue dog or cat

Expected more it was very disappointing for dogs and cats other animals it was pretty good

A true center-of-influence in the no-kill shelter world. We adopted Xander and can tell he had been abused. . . long road to recovery, but he is such a lover!

I know it isn't cheap providing all the services they provide which is why we are so committed to spreading the word about fully funding (can you ever do that!?) their charitable efforts throughout the community.

Take the time to support this amazing organization!

Its a very helpful place for lots of animal services

My wife and I just adopted Bulleit, he is a shepherd mix. I have been to various shelters in California but I was most impressed with this facility. The size and cleanliness of the kennels was by far the best I ve seen in the area. The adoption fees are pricy, but it goes to show that they only want serious families to adopt these animals and give them a great home. The staff was pleasant to work with and we were able to adopt the most amazing new family member we were very happy with the overall experience.

Adopting from Helen Woodward is one of the most pleasant and rewarding experiences of my life. We adopted Mustache five years ago, and I consider him my first-born child. When we adopted him, the center was clean, well-run, organized, and extremely compassionate. The staff members were so kind, helpful, thoughtful, caring and informative. I love this place and can not recommend it highly enough.

Recently remodeled and the new facility is amazing... Good people, good mission, and the animals are well cared for.

I will say the prices for adoption have gone up quite a bit since we last adopted, but it helps further helping other animals.

The adoption price is high but these babies are in clean larger size spaces and have people who genuinely seem to care look after them

Absolutely love this place!...Everyone thinks that they're more expensive being in Rancho Santa Fe, but they're actually cheaper than most. I had my GSD spayed here with ZERO issues. I have also gone back for all necessary shots. Everyone here is extremely knowledgable.

Went to Helen Woodward today in search of an animal to adopt. So, felt like we were in the twilight zone with regards to the staff who handled the paperwork, repeatedly (asked the same questions about our home, what our definition of aggressive behavior was, etc. Then we asked about having a contact encounter with a couple of prospective animals, we were asked if we would adopt them today. We replied that we wanted to engage the animal first then have our existing dogs come down for an interaction, THEN we would be good with the adoption. They told us we couldn't encounter the dogs unless we agreed to take one home today if all went well...silly policy. Also - over $500 to adopt there - $480 for any puppy or young dog and $35 for chip, so actually $515 most likely. Going to Rancho Coastal, MUCH better vibe and interaction with the staff. Good luck HW!

They do a wonderful thing pairing up animals with caring people.

The staff were very friendly and helpful, especially with follow up questions after the procedure (spay). They were very thorough with calling to check on my pup which I really appreciated!

They have updated their kennels and it feels so much better for the pets looking for their forever home. We were happy that they had a comfortable place to stay until they meet their new families. Wished we could bring home a couple. Hopefully soon.

Large facility, definitely tell they have lots of love for animals, very clean, really care about getting the right fit per animal.

Please read all the one star reviews. They are all TRUE! I wish I would have done my homework before heading toward this place. If your last name is not $$$ do not bother coming here. Also, if you have children, do not make an attempt to adopt a puppy here as their excuse is the puppy suffers anxiety. Well, yes they do, I would too, if I am a pup and want to run and play! It is undefined at 2 months of age ... Okay doggy experts check out the pups environment first and then make that determination if your place is not causing this. We went to this place because I have always had dogs growing up and always had a dog as part of the family (not to mention I was fooled by the amount of stars this place was given.) We wanted to adopt (Who cares about the price, yeah its pricey) but, what got me the most is that this people lie to your face. I walked in one day and asked to see a pup and I was told that he was not available that he had a media appointment the following day, to come back the following day. So, as a dog lover knowing that this pup was going to do excellent in his new habitat, I got there the next day and a volunteer told me that this pup was NEVER on the list to see the media and he was never taken to KUSI news. Okay, so another older woman came to me and informed me that this dog was not adoptable to a family with small children in the house due to anxiety (Wait, they were perfectly fine me coming back the following day to tell me this?). So they gave me as many stories as they could come up with. She also went ahead and told my husband how things should be in the house as far as rules and other ways of educating our child (My child was not with us mind you, we were just honest people.) Kidding me right? We are not neglectful people. Furthermore, who are they to think they can assess what kind of people we are and what customs we carry in our home. So, now we got lectured the Dos and Donts with a family, completely offensive. Middle class people are fully capable of taking care of animals!!! Do not be deceived!!! Sometimes we end up being better doggy parents than those who have to travel for work and never have the time to spend time with their animal. Social or Economical status should not matter. We should all do our homework. No joke, this place still has that poor pup for adoption, with sad eyes in his beautiful face. Very saddened that they believe that they can determine if the dog suffers from anything (besides a noticeable disease, such as kennel cough), especially anxiety at 3 to 4 months old, give me a break. I will never come here, I am deeply saddened that the wrong "policies" or liars continue to run this place. I can read through the lines, I will never come back here. If I am paying for the adoption why are these people so choosey on who can/can't adopt a pet? I am shocked that a animal shelter would treat people worse than dogs. We went to another animal shelter in Bonita , and found a beautiful dog (2 yrs old, stray) that needed a home and a family so badly. I do not regret any moment of it. My dog is happily thriving in her new environment and no social status was needed to adopt her, just love, something money will never buy! :)

Helen Woodward could probably have a filter to filter the breeds out. I have a hard time looking through the pets and finding the beeds.

Really high prices and with the large property they were bequeathed I was extremely upset at how they lack in doing the right thing.
They are virtually impossible to place any rescue animals there. Impossibly difficult to work with.
They did take cats from Fallbrook Sanctuary which upset them because they were already safe.
Met a vet tech who turned over bottle feed babies to them because she worked full time and couldn't care for them. Well this group let them die, starved to death.
Absolutely disgraceful.
Just lazy, highly incompetent and totally inconsequential in the rescue arena.
Such a shame.
If you want to adopt there go ahead. Can't blame their nonsense on the animals but I surely would never write them a big check, nor ever leave them in my will.

Nice place. I thought the prices were kind of high for adoption. But I do understand because it's a nonprofit organization. Staff was super friendly there.

I went to look for a new addition to our family and found the perfect little pup. The staff were curteous and helpful, I asked A LOT of questions and they were more than helpful and willing to sit and answer them all. The only reason I gave it a 4 instead of a 5 is that I found it a little pricey for the animals - I think they would find happy homes if they still charged a fee but cut the price in about half! :) Otherwise, very satisfied with our experience here.

I have always heard about this establishment and I was so excited when it came time to adopt a dog for our family. I instantly thought of this place. I called, made my appointment, waited over a month for my appointment. The day of my appointment my husband gets of work and we head down there excited with our application in hand, only to have the doors locked with everyone who also made appointments standing outside in the hot sun. We asked what's going on, and one of the annoyed customers waiting says we basically have to stand here until someone inside sees us. So my husband and I go up to the window and see a bunch of staff standing at the front with clipboards talking to each other. We wait to get noticed. Some gal walks out eventually and says with a attitude "do you have an appointment, if so, names?" No greeting, no welcome, just like that. And that's fine...if that was all. So we proceed to tell her that we have our appointment and I handed her our application. She took it, said nothing, walked back inside. Me and my husband just looked at each other like, okay... maybe long day for her? No worries. Let's wait. We wait and wait and WAIT. It's a hot day and there is other people standing and waiting outside too who made their appointments. There was a space of shade, so naturally more people would hangout in one area. That's when the lady comes out with more bad attitude and started threatening to shut this place down and she will make everyone leave if we don't practice social distancing... she didn't ask, she demanded in a rude tone. Now we're shocked at this point. I wanted nothing but to leave and just get away from the unnecessary attitude and also for due to how long we already waited. She treated us like we were kids on timeout or something. But we wanted a dog so badly and I thought for sure since we have the appointment already, let's just let this go. We waited for 2 hours until we decided to leave. My gut told me to run! We were talking to others and they mentioned waiting for 4+ hours with no end in sight. Absolutely redicouls, you guys lost us. We left! They called us later on that day and say we missed our appointment, I don't even know if the lady marked us down when we first arrived you guys?!! Terrible!! Good luck to all...

P.s We did find our new dog though Too bad you guys couldn't be a part of it!

It's a center with friendly people doing great things for animals. Easy parking. Kennels are very clean. There is even puppy training courses being taught on site.

Clean, well kept facilities. I often go for the thrift store, Orphaned Objects, quite a good one if you are looking for higher end items and furniture.

Hard to find due to all the construction. Great place to find a forever pet.

Wouldnt let me adopt a cat because I wanted to be able to walk it outside on a leash. Never met a place that had this criteria. Recommend adopting from SD humane society over this place.

The shelter did not have very many options and much more strict policies than necessary. Also the outrageous prices are very unjustified

I decided I wanted a puppy, and took my husband to the Helen Woodward Center to see if he would fall in love with any of the pups there. There was a bit of a wait, but by the time we were able to see the pups they were very health conscious and knew quite a bit about them. They asked us a lot of questions about our lifestyle, etc. I definitely got the feeling the staff was there to make sure that every animal adopted found its forever family. The prices were high for adoption fees, but there are a lot of programs there and they seemed to have a a selection process down for the animals they took in.

When they really went above and beyond is when our newly adopted puppy was diagnosed with Parvo. I had never heard of it before, and didn't know what to do or how to go about getting my puppy healthy again. They called to check on each member of her litter, and helped me find a ver that could give her the care she needed. She pulled through in just 48 hours, which is a little miracle. Much of that had to do with all of us working together, acting fast and getting her the care she needed.

I recommend everyone to the Helen Woodward Center, and I now I stop new puppy owners so they know about the importance of guarding their puppy against parvo!

We adopted a puppy (Penelope/Penny) about 2 months ago from here she is amazing, happy and healthy. They are really nice here at Helen Woodward and as you can tell all the animals are well taken care of and loved. It was about $500 to adopt her and she was worth every penny (no pun intended even though her name is penny).

Really clean. Not a lot of dogs. Lots of cats. Might differ between periods and visits.

Had a great experience here. Went to adopt a dog and ended up with a puppy. They were all very patient with us as we visited with quite a few of their dogs.

Good place to adopt a pet. Dogs in indoor/outdoor kennels as well as kittens and cats. Other animals such as horses, goats, reptiles are sometimes available. The center also treats animals who are sick injured, or unvaccinated and makes them adoptable.

Our 5 year old love dogs and he wanted to adopt one, our first dog.
Through our good friend, we came to know about Helen Woodward.
Why I am Giving 5 stars?
* Best Staffs (also the volunteers)
* Regularly updated website, which correlate to current count at Kennel
* Nicely maintained yet very friendly atmosphere.
Cat is one of the Staff who helped us, she was very sweet and helped us to great measure.

The staffs here, they really care about the animals there. All the pets here are very well take care of. Also pets are spayed and well vetted, with regular check up and vaccinations.

Why I took off One star?
* Adoption cost is super expensive are not cheap, it costed close to $500 by the time we stepped out.

We are happy and we will suggest this place to our friends.

My dad and I went for a "look around" to see the kittens but they were just so cute that we had to adopt two! the adoption process was a breeze and everyone there was so nice. You could also see they they cared for each and every single animal there.

The World needs more places like this! caring for rescues is done with grace and by those who really deserve support. finding our puppy there is an experience we'll never forget.

We love little Jane. Sweetest pup we've ever had. Thank you for all you do there!

Great place to adopt a pet nice outdoor kennels to view prospective animals to bring home and make a difference in saving animals from being put down. There are also programs for youth and education.

Hello ! I am sending this message to say how wonderful the work and dedication of the volunteers and professionals Animal Center Helen Woodward. I am in Sao Paulo - SP - Brazil, saw the history of the puppies (brothers) Star and Denver, great job. Congratulations !!!

Adopted a beautiful puppy here. Fantastic facility!

Got my new baby boy, Jean-Luc!
The staff at the shelter were fantastic.

the new venue is under construction next door and it's gonna be awesome.
for now, they have a small temporary place but it's clean, well-run, and staffed with upbeat, happy humans and their friends!

Staff was very helpful and the fur babies were all adorable.

I can not say enough great things about this place and their staff. Such a warm and inviting environment they truly care for animals thank you for being such a wonderful place!

Great, compassionate pet boarding. My little guy especially loves the outdoor play area where he can romp with new buddies. The individual sleeping pens are all clean and well maintained with beds but, what's also nice, you can bring your own along with a special toy or lovey so your fur baby feels secure. I know my guy loves the place since he runs in happily whenever we have to board him.

The worst experience ever, I wish i would have got the womans name that "helped" me, but she was rude and made this experience the worst.

We just adopted a dog. The staff are incredibly nice and knowledgeable. Thanks.

I volunteered at the Helen Woodward Animal Center when I was in middle school and high school; it continues to be an amazing rescue center and hospital for all kinds of animals. Their community outreach programs are really important and I am thankful they are still running these programs. The new facilities are state-of-the-art and I hope it helps them continue their efforts for the years to come. Please stop by and consider adopting some of their amazing animals!

They took the last four of my puppies. I feel so pleased that they will be going to good homes. Thank you so much. My dog will be getting spayed real soon.

Such a wonderful, big, shelter. Everything you could possibly need in one stop.

I foster dogs for HWAC and love it. They do their best to minimize the amount of time an animal spends in a kennel by sending them home with foster parents, even if just for 2 or 3 days. Their process for training and managing fosters is very organized and wonderfully professional. The animals come first here, followed closely by their foster families. HWAC takes good care of all of us.

Our dog loves to stay here when we go out of down. Highly recommend.

My daughter adopted a dog after visiting. Volunteers are kind and patient, very protective of the animals in their charge. The adoption procedure is rigorous and expensive but the dog my daughter took home was healthy, spayed, had all her shots and would be receiving free check-ups from Veterinarians affiliated with Helen Woodward for the rest of her life. She also had been micro-chipped, which is an important step in keeping her safe. My daughter and I were impressed with the professional of the Helen Woodward Animal Center.

My friend and I have been looking at animal shelters across the county and have never been treated so rudely. We made the long drive out after hearing good things about this shelter, and found a few dogs we wanted to meet with! We had to fill out an application, which was expected, but when we were called up to review it with a staff member, it seemed that she made an immediate assumption about us because we are young. Many of the questions on the application were worded strange, and she grilled us about our answers. We have owned dogs in the past, and would never have bad intentions or plan to return a dog. However, she eventually decided that we were not fit to adopt a dog from them and wouldn t allow us to meet with any. Overall, the staff that work at this shelter are very off-putting, rude, and unwelcoming. I would not recommend.

This is a wonderful establishment that is very modern and obviously they spend a lot of money on, that is reflected in the cost of the pets to adopt switch range between $300 and $500 for regular dogs and cats.

~$580 for Puppy adoption.
~$120-$200 for Cat adoption.
Well cared for animals. Facility is nice though the front of the dog house are not fully enclosed. If you are within 1 inch of the cage the volunteers there will they you to back away from the cage. If the dog tries to lick you the volunteers will tell you to back away from the cage. They will not allow you to interact with puppies unless you are intending to adopt it.

GOT the we just lost a dog to cancer and want your dog to market at OUR adoption center charging a fee of $400 for adoption. You want my dog around to play fetch with.blah blah

REALLY, 100s of dogs pass through your business and this is what you send to dog owners.
Horrible, read all of you reviews sad marketing and customer service

Great experience, great people, and worth the wait of you have too.

They have a wide range of dogs from all breeds and ages, can get a little expensive but they are incredibly helpful and obviously care a lot about their animals. Adopted my 3 month old German Shepherd from here and it's been wonderful.

Wonderful animal center. Attentive professional staff on behalf of the animals.

Use entrance on Helen Woodward Dr. Maps sends you to Apajo entrance which is blocked due to construction.

We got our dog there, such a good place for animals in need of a home.

I would never recommend adopting here! It has been the worst experience. I adopted two puppies that were suppose to be a very small breed (under 15lbs). 5 months later both pups are over 35lbs and are too large for my home. When I went back they couldn't have been more rude and I was told the dogs were too shy (after a 10 minute evaluation) and they wouldn't help me find them a new home.

We visited this location today with our kids in hopes of adopting a puppy. Where we live there is a percentage breed restriction, has to be less than 50% pit bull. We fell in love with a puppy, a terrier mix, but were told we would have to adopt in order to do a DNA test. The adoption fee is $425 with microchip additional $30 something.They keep the fee if we would have to return the dog because of breed. Guess We'll be going to somewhere that can either do a DNA test or can guarantee breed (for that price probably a breeder).Very disappointed, they were going to take our money and not look out for the puppies best interest. I would have paid for the DNA test up front , but they only do 3 hour holds!

A very professional environment with knowledged staff. The best part being, I wasn't charged both legs and both arms for my dogs to be examined, and meds they needed were purchased on location, and this cost didn't cost me my torso ... Lol

I adopted multiple pets from Helen Woodward about 10 years ago and loved the place. I moved away and came back to San Diego recently and wanted a dog so that's where I headed. But their adoption fee is now over $400. When I questioned the amount, one of the volunteers told me that the director set the figure high because that person wanted to make sure people with money adopted the pets because they would be better equipped to care for the pets they adopted in the future. So this person feels that only rich people should adopt pets and are generally better pet owners.

I hate to give Helen Woodward a bad rating because it truly is a great place but until they make their adoption fee more affordable, I'm avoiding the place.

I was so grateful that my daughter loved the camp, even though she told me there were some bullies. She stayed away from the bullies. There are so many different animals, and I adore animals.

Our Pomeranian puppy, Sasha, broke four of her metacarpals at 20 weeks when she decided to jump off of our second story balcony. Dr. Carter, along with the rest of the staff, made a traumatic event bearable. She is extremely professional, as well as empathetic and warm. She even hugged me because I was so distraught. We couldn't ask for better care. The staff has been very accommodating. I highly recommend this team!

Friendly, VERY CLEAN everywhere no pressure, VERY knowledgeable staff. We love our new family member .

My wife and I went here after being pretty disappointed in the condition of a city run shelter. Initially we just wanted to take a look and my wife was interested in possibly volunteering. This animal center is well run, clean, has great employees and because they are privately funded they can pick and choose the animals they take and have available for adoption so you will generally find a great selection of pets to choose from. We ended taking home 2 kittens (they were running a 2 for 1 special around Halloween) They pets are vaccinated, spayed or neutered, checked for worms and feline aids and you get a free vet visit also. Plus we got 2 ticket to Sea World. I can't say enough good things about this Shelter.

Love this place and have been very happy with services provided.

Wish this place would more easily let u play with the animals. First class place though.

Sadly, I was very disappointed with this place. Staff was rude and condescending. They said I couldn't adopt a puppy because I work 3 days a week. Um, how do you think people are going to afford a dog without working!? I have worked with rescues and fostered dogs for the past 10 years, never encountered anything like this. I train dogs, make my dogs food from scratch, and spend every moment at home with my dog by my side. It seems they are selling puppies. Over 20 puppies there, 3 or 4 adult dogs, but no moms?

Top notch veterinarian care. But they aren't cheap.

Not very organized, went there to pick a beautiful kitten only to find out that I couldn't take it home because there was a detail that I didn't know about the kitten after me falling in love with the kitten and have spent time playing with the kitten. Also not much respect or care for military families or veterans in need of a pet.

My daughter's experience was very bad. My daughter took her 4 month old puppy in for surgery due to a broke paw. She got a call saying that the puppy was dead. The Doctor could not explain to me what had happen. The call was so cold to my daughter. There was no comfort at all. I know some things could be out of your control but no explanation for a healthy puppy is unacceptable! Please be careful before you leave your pet for what should of been a simple procedure.