Morris Animal Refuge — Local services in Philadelphia

First off - if interested in adopting, please go adopt a cat/kitten/dog or other pet from here, as they're all so loving. As much as I want to give this place 5 stars because I want the animals to be adopted, I also don't think it deserves to be rated as a 5-star pet adoption facility. I personally believe there's only one main negative factor to the whole place, and it's the guy who works there or runs it. The older woman is so sweet, the volunteers and other staff are so friendly and animal-loving, and the cats are adorable and mushy. Morris could probably just be run a bit better, and that can be somewhat frustrating. For one, unless you happen to know this place's exact location, you'd have almost no idea that you walked right by it. The facility itself is a little sad, with minimal to no windows.. which isn't really all that animal-friendly, and unfortunately, the cats are all in individual cages/crates. Please, please, please go visit the cats and adopt one if you're interested. We adopted a kitten from both PAWS and Morris over the last two years, and they're both fantastic and well-behaved. I tried volunteering at Morris and submitted an application twice, and never heard anything back either time, not even a 'Thanks for applying'. As I've witnessed more than once, the main guy who works here/operates the place is unfortunately not always that nice to hopeful adopters. He always thinks he knows best, and I've seen him try to discourage potential adopters from choosing particular pets due to his own personal preferences. In all honesty, if a caring family comes in that happens to have kids, you shouldn't be instantly telling them that you don't think it's a good idea for them to adopt a kitten vs. a cat. If you have a particular cat that you don't think suits children, that's more than fine to say. But to instantly tell them not to adopt a kitten is pretty lousy. You should be more excited about the prospect that one of the animals you're trying to save is going to have a forever home. You can hold events or do certain advertising to showcase particular pets that have been passed over, but I don't think you should tell people that they should be adopting them instead of a kitten. You can express your hopeful excitement for certain cats to find a forever home, but you can't choose for people. In the end, that mentality will not result in adopters returning to Morris, and you'll be reducing the quantity of total adoptions and rescues. Lastly, and VERY IMPORTANT, update your website to show your available cats/dogs for adoption. It's 2015, everyone relies so heavily on the internet. People love looking at potential pets to adopt on the internet, and fall in love before even meeting them. It doesn't do any good to list all the pets who have already been adopted, because it makes it seem like you don't have many available, when in reality, you DO. The kitten we adopted from Morris in September 2014 is still on your website as "Adopted" and it's now June 2015... Wouldn't it be much better to highlight all of those who are currently up for...

Since day one I was unable to communicate with a live person on the phone. I left voice messages but they went unanswered. I finally was able to communicate with a kind, lady who was able to work with me and arranged it so that I can drop off a feral cat and her 2 8week old kittens on a Sunday in September 2024. I went to Lombard street location and was told by Jesse that they will not take the mom cat only the 2 kittens. She told to release the mom cat and then somehow trap her again and return the following Sunday. When I refused to do so and tried to explain the arrangement I was given she refused to hear me out and talked over me to explain their policy and when I refused to allow her to talk over me she basically told me to shut up by saying”ma’am stop!” I showed her evidence I received via an email of the arrangements made and she continued to be rude. After waiting about 2 hours for them to make arrangements for the mom cat, confirming my home address, and paying $150, they then took all 3 cats. I called once or twice a week for an update. I was informed about 2 days after I surrender them that the cats had a virus and had to be isolated and receive treatment. I continued to call once a week and on the 3 week I was told that one of the kittens had passed away shortly after I surrendered them. I asked the woman why wasn’t I made aware of the kittens death since I’ve been calling weekly. She didn’t have a response but apologized. On one of my follow up calls I was told that all 3 cats were adopted I told the lady on the phone that I was informed the week prior that one of the kittens had passed away. I asked her why is it that every time I call for an update I’m constantly given different information. She apologized and said she will look in the computer for information. She confirmed that one of the kitten had passed away and the other was adopted and that mom cat is still being evaluated to see if she can be put up for adoption. Mom cat continued to be “too” feral and was eventually released. When I tried to get information as to where she was released because I recalled that Jesse was adamant about making sure she had a copy of my license which has my address so that if mom cat had to be released she would be returned to my block. I was asked why did I want that information, then I was told to contact a particular person on a Monday then I was told to call that person on Tuesday. I then received an anonymous call on December 3, 2024 from someone who didn’t leave her name nor the location of where the mom cat was released. This place is unprofessional and shady. There were more incidents that occurred that is not mentioned here. Which is why I would never take an animal to this place for help. I feel in my heart they released mom cat in an unknown location. I I wouldn’t be surprised if they euthanized her and are just saying she was released. It’s apparent they didn’t keep good records on any of the cats I surrendered. Think twice before surrendering a pet or animal to...

I have some mixed feelings regarding the cat I had trapped and cared for for several months while waiting for intake at MAR .

One Positive aspect is that they communicated clearly that there was a wait for intake and it was easy to schedule an appointment a couple of months later when an appointment became available.

I independently found spay and vax resources at PAWS and got the cat spayed and vetted during that time.

Initially, the wait timing was two months, but then I checked back in and it had shifted to three . I also found the female presenting person at the front desk with glasses to be very helpful and knowledgeable. I think MAR is a great resource if you need to surrender an owned animal that you feel like you need to part with.

However, in my case, as I had trapped and fostered the cat myself for the several months it took for a spot to become open , I was a little disappointed in the lack of frequent communication from MAR as well as the lack of follow up when I asked to be put in touch with the adopter or to get adoption related updates regarding the cat I had dropped off.

Emails often take many business days to respond to and often the phone is not picked up, so a lot of persistence is required.

I had also picked up a second stray cat at my colony, which I gave to Green Street rescue . From my perspective as the trapper and fosterer, if I’m in this situation again, I would prefer to go to Green Street rescue where I feel like I could get better updates and communication regarding the foster and adoption process for strays and weigh in and give the adopter my notes about the animal.

Given that I had to wait several months to surrender, rescues in the area will intake the animal almost immediately if you can foster for the same time period that is required to surrender to MAR.

it was a very abrupt end compared to my previous experience

I support MAR’s mission and services to the community and I’m happy to have donated to them in the past, but if I’m in the situation again, I think I will try a different rescue for the reasons stated above. I would still fully recommend them as a resource for adoption and for owner- owned surrenders and support their mission in Philadelphia. I hope the cat found...