Sun Valley Animal Shelter

The one time I don't read the reviews before I make a purchase. We went here Saturday. It was extremely busy which is a good thing, well the front is so disorganized. We went and saw the dogs and found two we were interested in. Filled out the paperwork waited to be introduced to one of the dogs and someone comes in and meets the dog we were waiting to meet She took the dog which is okay but we never got to see the other dog we wanted to see, We wanted a playful friend for our existing dog. Well they matched us up with a dog who they claimed was playful but had a little deformity on his back paw pad. Five people watched our dog and the shelter dog interact. We had misgivings but took the dog anyway. Once we got home and let him play outside in our yard, well the poor thing has major deformity on his little pads. He is a good dog but not as playful as they claim, we are going to have to find a solution to the deformity because he has real problems walking on any type of gravel.
I guess the bottom line is don't think you have an option of which dog you want, they will tell you which one you are to be matched up to. Worse experience ever.

We decided we wanted to add on to our family so we went to Sun Valley, but for some reason not because we couldn't take care of a dog, or we wouldn't love the dog which we already did, but because our dog now wasn't fixed they wouldn't let us take the dog home, my family feels it's a rediculous way to run a shelter, we wanted to give this dog a home a loving home instead of being in a sweat shop style shelter, we take very good care of our dogs but instead they said no, they refused the dog a loving home where it could be taken care of. It's sad that they force those animals to stay in the shelter over something so pathetic as a dog being fixed, the state needs to shut this place down there are plenty of people looking for these animals but are denied because of something so idiotic. I can't say don't go because these dogs need a home but someone needs to take these dogs away from this shelter!!

to add on the next day we had a friend go someone that knew to show they loved animals he goes in there they said they like him and then say you have a dog door, he said no but we do have a dog house in the back.....they said they didn't like that it had a dog house in the back yard.....

This place is like a cult I say don't go and honestly yeah those dogs won't go anywhere none of them get adopted....it's much more harsh then putting them to sleep.

We have taken beautiful kitties here before,but they would not take them in and were very rude.
I honestly was appalled and would never go there again. They are there to help the animals,but did nothing to help us place the animal somewhere else and were very unfriendly.
So if you are looking to take an animal you find here,forget it.

We had the best experience here. My husband and I found our perfect match and can't be happier. Our new best friend seems like he has always been with us! Thank You, Staff, Counselors, and Vet staff,for taking sutch great care of our boy🐶

I've lived across the US and have been to many different shelters & I wish many would have taken animal matchmaking as seriously as Sun Valley does. Upon coming in my first time, over a year ago, I couldn't help but notice how clean it was, how the animals had an air of contentment/happiness, how the people working truly cared about the animals that they were interacting with, & how much interaction the animals were getting with staff and volunteers. ALL dogs are exercised and walked daily, and the cats have a BEAUTIFUL enclosed "Catio" for their enjoyment and to keep them completely safe from outside harm (which I think is wonderful as cats DO NOT BELONG OUTSIDE). This is an incredible place, and honestly all it takes is a step inside to find that out for yourself. I would and do recommend this shelter to friends, family members, and associates. If you're not a crappy pet owner, you should have NO problem adopting from here. The adoption amounts they have monthly show they are doing something right in finding the animals their the best home possible.

I had a very positive experience with Sun Valley Animal Shelter. Initially, my boyfriend and I tried to adopt a dog named "Jack". After being interviewed by one of the staff members, they realized Jack might not be the best fit since Jack wasn't too fond of small children or other dogs and my boyfriend and I plan on having children. I understand some of the reviewer's frustration at not being able to adopt a pet, but I honestly believe the staff members ensure all their animals are just going to good homes. They don't want to have pets being mistreated or constantly being brought back to the shelter.



After discussing that Jack might not be a good fit, the staff member was very friendly and recommended other possible dogs. We were able to adopt a different dog and we have been very happy with the new addition to our family!

My elderly mother recently adopted a puppy from this facility and was charged a $350.00 fee. She soon realized that the puppy had behavioral problems and decided she was unable to care for him. He had bitten her multiple times causing severe puncture wounds to both of her hands. After two days she returned the puppy to the shelter. Despite returning him immediately, the shelter refused to issue her a refund. The puppy is now back on the website. Buyer beware!

We were very impressed with the facility and the staff. There was quite a bit of paper work and a lengthy interview, but it was understandable. We had to go home and get our existing elderly dog to see if she would accept the two wonderful schnauzers we were able to adopt. They are amazing dogs and appear to have been well cared for.

If I could give this "shelter aka pet store" zero stars, I would. Here's why: went there looking for a cat. They won't let you in to see the kittens without first filling out a ridiculous app. So we filled it out, go in to meet the kittens. There were two Siamese MIX kittens we were going to "adopt aka buy" until the lady said that those two kittens were $100 more than the others because their Siamese. Are you kidding, right? So how are these individuals not a pet store? If I wanted to buy a cat, I would have looked on Craigslist however, we were looking to ADOPT. When I called the manager she was just as awful as every other person that works there. HIGHLY RECOMMEND TAKING YOUR INTEREST ELSE WHERE TO SAVE LIVES! These people are money hungry and are NOT in it for the best interest of the animals because if they were, they would have adopted out those two kittens for the same price as all the other kittens. PLEASE BOYCOTT!!!!!

HOOOOOOOORRRIBLE! DONT WASTE YOU TIME!



I honestly think they want to keep those poor babies forever! My husband and I wanted to adopt the cutest kitten with the best personality. After finding out that we are moving into a house with a doggy door, they rejected us saying the cat can escape and left. SO RUDE. I understand that the kitty can escape that's why they build doggy doors with a lock you idiot! We trained our puppy by ringing a bell on the door to go outside because we live in an apartment. But no its not good enough.



DO NOT GET YOUR HOPES UP HERE.



IF YOU ARE GOING TO ADOPT HERE THEN LIE.

BUT EVEN THEN THEY WILL FIND SOMETHING TO REJECT YOU.



I feel so bad for all the babies in there! They will never know what a loving family is!

We just want to thank the Sun Valley Animal Shelter for letting us adopted our little Chorkie. The staff was very friendly and helpful. The interview was kind of intimidating at first but then realized they have to be as they are the keepers of these abandoned animals and take there jobs very seriously... We love our little ( Cody ) aka Cayenne and want to thank the girl that fought for us to get him. As she knows how much we wanted him and some things were a little complicated in our situation but she came through for us and now we are a HAPPY family again as we had lost our little Chihuahua of 8 1/2 years just 3 weeks earlier. I see all these bad reviews and want to tell you to go and check out the shelter yourself and see how nice and caring the staff are. We will be forever grateful to them for making our family whole again.

Sharon and Jamie Bruce

I am a volunteer at Sun Valley Animal Shelter and starting my sixth year. The staff at this shelter works hard to make sure the animals are well cared for. They are very thorough when they do adoptions. Their goal is that this will be a forever home for the animal.

They always need more volunteers. Think about coming to the next orientation. You can make a difference in an animals life.

They slammed the door and said were closed didn't even bother to talk to us. Don't go here.

I agree with the majority! I found the people at sun valley animal shelter very biased! and opinionated! I was turned down because I might build a pool and until I showed a fence around the pool I might build it was a NO! What right do these councilors have to turn away good people who will care and love these pets when there sitting in cages some times for years?? Those councilors are not qualified to review the public!! Some one should put them in a cage!! There not helping those animals as they claim!! I agree there should be some one to check and make sure the animal is going to a safe home,BUT, these people are going way to far with it!! Its my opinion that SVAS should rescue ONLY! and not advertise adoption if they claim there only thought is for the pets, They should keep them!! And stop humiliating the public! They should take there attitudes and stick them where the sun don't shine!! As for me I will find a dog to adopt somewhere else and I will love it and care for it whether they think I'm dog worthy or not doesn't bother me! I know I am! I also know Ill never go to SVAS againAnd I will encourage everyone I know not to go there! There are far to many other shelters with intelligent people who won't judge me for thinking about a pool!

Seeing as not one of these reviews is actually for the Sun Valley Hope animal hospital I have to say they did not read before writing their comments. Although I do have to say the Sun Valley animal rescue is biased and will not adopt out to military families which can be inconvenient it has nothing to do with the low cost vet. For the services they provide at the low costs they charge this place is great. Hopefully people will stop and read and understand that the HOSPITAL is not the RESCUE and give it a fair review.

WASTE OF TIME!! RUDE JUDGEMENTAL PEOPLE! I took my 8 yr old daughter there, waited 45 minutes after filling out an application/ interrogation to even look at the kittens. Then, after reviewing our app, we were told basically we aren't good enough people to adopt one of their pets and to try the shelter!! All because we were honest about a cat we had, that got out and ran away when we moved into our new house! My daughter left in TEARS and with the lesson: Lie to get what what you want! We should have been dishonest on our application. I am a professional woman and have never been treated like that! Guess what Sun Valley? We did get a kitten from a sweet lady that day and she is happy and being well taken care of. You can keep your animals! Please DO NOT take your children there because there is a good chance you will be turned away and the kids left in tears! Who wants to go through that? Either that or lie on your application interrogation. I wish I would have read the reviews first

Regardless of what they claim for donation purposes, they do not adopt animals to military families. We were treated very poorly along with many others who live on Luke AFB. I understand that many military families have surrendered their animals to shelters, but so have civilian families. I know many people who were turned away at the door because their husbands were in uniform. We weren't even given an interview and were humiliated up until we walked out the door. We were also told that the fact that we are a young couple with a child further proves how irresponsible we are. (I had my daughter shortly after graduating high school and my husband and I have been nothing but independent, responsible parents ever since.) When confronted with the accusation, the shelter claimed to deny us because we "abandoned" our previous dog. We found that dog dying under a porch and dug into our small savings to save it's life. From there, it became my husband's parent's dog. I only mentioned it because I was hoping that in the interview that we'd be able to explain all we had done. We were unfortunately never given the interview and the snobby woman assumed that we just gave it away because of my husband's orders. I'm all for strict guidelines, but this place takes the cake. I don't believe that we should be automatically given an animal because my husband's in the military, there's good and bad people everywhere. But we should have atleast been given an interview and not treated like scum bags. Unfortunately, Sun Valley will always falsely advertise they are pro-military because when you operate 6 miles from a base with practically no civilian communities in between, that's where a large part of your donations are coming from. They are absolutely shameless and I'm only giving them a 1 star rating because there's no zero option.

This past week, my wife and I adopted a new puppy from the Sun Valley Animal Shelter in Glendale. We could not be more pleased with our experience there, or with our new dog, Abby (aka Roxy). From the moment we entered the facility, the people we met were unfailingly pleasant and friendly. The fact that everyone who works there loves the animals and has a personal connection with them is obvious. They are quite dedicated to making sure that each animal that is adopted goes to a loving home and that the match with the prospective adopter is the correct one. We toured most of the facility to look at the available dogs and were struck by how clean and fresh-smelling it was (always a good sign).



Interestingly, the dog we took home with us was not the dog we had gone to the shelter to look at. As with any well-run shelter, prospective adopters need to fill out an easy questionnaire (a very reasonable two pages), giving information about themselves, their household, and their wants and dislikes regarding various dog traits. The questionnaire is then reviewed by a knowledgeable adoption counselor who meets with you to review the information submitted and to match you with a dog that will meet your needs and whose needs you can meet. After talking with the counselor, it became clear that the dog we thought we wanted would be in, fact, too much dog for the amount of room we have for exercise and for the quiet lifestyle we lead. She helped us to select a dog much better suited to us and one that has turned out to be the perfect match. Some reviewers have been put off by what they see as the shelter’s reticence to give them the dog they insist on. It is our opinion that the shelter’s desire to make each adoption the best fit is an admirable one. We would certainly return to this facility if we were interested in adopting another pet.

Thank you for past reviews.... I will not be going here!!!!

We adopted a dog named Holly...We were excited to get a dog after ours died 5 years ago we had our grandson with us they were wondering how Holly and our grandson would get along...We played with her for awhile and finally got the ok to take her home...We love Holly so much and are happy ...I'm sorry if anyone had a bad experence..Ours was GREAT!!!!