Priest River Animal Rescue & Critters Thrift Store — Local services in Priest River

I would like to start by saying that I gave 2 stars, simply because the animals at the Priest River Animal Rescue are very well taken care of and most of the staff is pleasant to interact with. Unfortunately, their front desk receptionist is not so pleasant to interact with. My husband and I were in search of a cat that could be an indoor/outdoor cat, with it's outdoor time being spent in the garage (which is heated in the winter, for those who are concerned). Our application also stated that we have two dogs, one of which is not fond of cats, he has never done anything to one, he's just not a fan. (We currently have a cat that has lived with us for one year now, and we have not had any negative interactions between the two.) Anyway, we were very honest and up front about the intended housing for the cat and our current menagerie of pets, but Pat (the receptionist) was not happy about the cat being in the garage or the fact that we have a dog that dislikes cats. But, instead of interviewing us based on the information that we provided on our application, or even attempting to converse with us to glean a little more information concerning our intentions with the cat, she denied us. Which is their right, however, I would be able to understand her actions a little more if she had gone through the steps that I listed above. All of our pets are shelter animals, so I'm not new to the process of adopting a pet, but I have never had an interaction like this with a staff member at a shelter. I called and spoke to a supervisor (Carrie) and informed her of our interaction with the receptionist so that, hopefully, no one else will have to deal with this. I appreciate all volunteers, as I know that it's hard to find good people to give their free time willingly. However, when your volunteer staff is impacting the mission of your organization (i.e. finding homes for pets), it may be time for some retraining or attempting to find new volunteer staff.

*Thank you for the response. However, if Pat had given us this explanation the day that we had come into the shelter, we would have accepted it and moved on. Now, it just boils down to rude staff and telling us to go elsewhere to adopt a...

Don't get your hopes up. I was very disappointed with this organization and would have given them 1 star if they didn't care for animals. After reviewing their felines on-line, speaking with their staff over the phone, and filling out a 3 page application, the drive was made from Spokane to Priest River (1hr 10min Approx). The staff was friendly enough and we choose a cat that we loved and adored. We were then informed that the "Board" would need to review our application and that they would bring the animal to us in Spokane if the "Board" approved. The next day they came as promised, but then conducted an inspection of our house and yard, then re-interviewed (more like grilled) us about our ability to care for the cat. We were a little confused with the depth of their inquires, but didn't feel worried since we are both great people, have cared for animals in the past, and live in a nice area with a fenced yard. They told us that they needed to call the "Board" again after speaking with us, and proceeded to their car. 5-10 minutes later (which seemed like forever waiting on their verdict) the car drove off and our phone rang, it was them. They told us that they didn't feel comfortable leaving the cat in our care since we stated that we would let him outside when he wanted out, and that they should have Googled our house since we lived in a busy area. We disagreed with them, stating that we could keep the cat indoors (time the animal spends outside was covered in the application) and that we do not live in a busy area, to which they replied "you live in Spokane". What? Really? Then why even traumatize the cat with that long of drive if they already knew we live in Spokane? And whats up with a phone call? It was extremely rude of them to chicken out with a phone call and not tell us to our face. My fiancee spent the night crying thinking we were unfit to care for a cat, while these people would rather keep an animal caged up for over a year then give them a happy home to run and play in.

We went to the Humane Society to adopt and I can't say enough good things about our experience with the Humane Society. Don't waste your time with the Priest River Folks. They have...

We have always been supportive of PRAR but recently we have been pretty disappointed with them. We found a very sweet dog that had been dumped and was desperately in need of help. We took her in, took her to the vet to have her scanned for a microchip, checked for any health issues and even paid to have her vaccinated. We already have a full house dog wise ( 3 already) so we attempted to hand her over to priest river animal shelter so she could be placed in a good home. She is one of the sweetest dogs we have ever known and she deserves a good home. We filled out the application for PRAR to accept her. They told us via email that they had a long waiting list and we would have to pay a $50 fee. This was a dog that we found and took in with the intention of bringing her to a shelter. This is exactly why people dump dogs!

Update We are attempting to make things work with this dog and will hopefully be able to keep her. While I am sympathetic to the costs involved with operating an animal shelter I find it hard to justify charging a good samaritan who is just trying to help an animal in need. Particularly a samaritan who already invested in the veterinary costs ( with supporting documentation) to help limit the costs for the shelter. We had recently attempted to donate (on a couple of occasions) items to the thrift store. Many of them still new in unopened boxes only to be told that they wouldn't accept them. I appreciate the difficulties PRAR deals with but I would think they would be more accommodating given the situations I have mentioned. Can't say you are a rescue then charge people for rescuing or ask for donations then reject...