Compassionate Animal Rescue Efforts of Dutchess County in
Wappingers Falls (NY)

I was approved for a kitten adoption associated with thrift shop. It was a mess from beginning to end. Disorganized, uninformed, and defensive, reactions to me just trying to rescue 1 of several cats. Would NEVER recommend them for rescuing, which makes me Leary if buying from thrift shop.

There are some decent finds in here and prices seem fair, however the animals that are located in the store need to be taken care of better. There are many cages with guinea pigs that were incredibly stressed out and running away to hide under blankets and a rabbit whose cage was dirty and filled with poo. The excuse was that it would be taken care of later as they were short staffed. As an animal rescue organization, please close for an hour or stop handling donations to make sure these animals thrive. It’s unacceptable.

We adopted two guinea pigs yesterday with the help of Jill. She was friendly and easy to communicate via text message. I’m so happy that we ended up adopting them over buying them (wasn’t really an option) because these guinea pigs are extremely social and you can tell they were well cared for and handled often.

I’m so happy to have found this place. It also serves as my therapy to come in and treasure hunt. Everyone here is truly compassionate. Compassionate Animal Rescue thrift store is ultimately the best! Thanks to Tom, Christine, Jill, and the volunteers, for a wonderful experience.

Awesome thrift store where money spent goes to a good cause! Very nice people here!

This place is extremely overpriced. The staff were somewhat helpful but extremely rude. I will never come back

Great cause you can also donate.. heart people, great prices. Huge variety

I was told a dog was available. I filled out the application and was approved. I had an appointment to pick the dog up at 10am and was texted she was adopted the day before. Terrible way to do business. No honesty or trustworthy here for a place that deals with such much emotion

Great deals, very friendly owner/manager and staff- all proceeds go to saving local animals, $5 bags of clothes, half off Saturday. Great to see donations actually going to a great cause.

Thank you for making a wonderful first pet adoption experience for our family. Everyone was so friendly, honest and helpful. Lindsay took her time to explain every dog to us. The shelter was extremely clean. The animals looked happy and healthy. You can feel the love they have for the animals. I would highly recommend this rescue shelter. You will not be disappointed at Compassionate Animal Rescue Shelter.

My family tried to donate multiple items here and we were met with nothing but rudeness. The man that is responsible for accepting the donations was EXTREMELY rude and ungrateful for the items we were trying to donate (wheelchair, walker, and shower chair were basically brand new). We even called ahead of time to make sure these items were accepted, which we were told they were. We would never donate any items here for the future after such a negative encounter.

Best thrift store!! Their prices are amazing and all the money goes to CARE animal rescue!! Which is where I got my chi baby Leela from! Go support a great cause and find treasures!

This is specifically for the cat sanctuary. I adopted two kittens on 8/2/2025, who are both clearly sick. Both have been wheezing, coughing, sneezing green mucus, and have infected eyes. One also has diarrhea and tracks it through the entire house every time he uses the litter box because he steps in it. Funny now none of this was disclosed to me, all they were worried about was getting their $200, PER CAT. Now I’m trying to contact the cat sanctuary and conveniently nobody answers my emails, and now they’ve BLOCKED MY NUMBER. Absolutely disgusting for a place of business that is supposedly revolved around caring for animals.

On May 17th I adopted 2 cats from CARE that I had seen at the Petco in Wappingers. Upon meeting the first cat (a Siamese) you could clearly see her eye was almost swollen completely shut but the adoption lady brushed it off as something minor. She mentioned the cat was from North Carolina and they don’t know much about her besides that she’s “3 years old.” The woman mentioned in the Siamese’s records there was minor nasal congestion, but this was far beyond that and clearly her health had continued to decline going unchecked. She told me I should get both cats vetted immediately after adoption but I’m sorry is the $200 adoption fee PER CAT not under the assumption that the cat is vetted AND if you listed on her chart she had nasal issues why would you not follow up to check on her current health…..? I brought her home and she had SEVERE wheezing and nasal/eye discharge as well! I also could tell she acted like a kitten and not a “3 year old cat” I brought her to the vet and $250 later and numerous antibiotics/steroids she is finally in good health! Also my vet told me she is NO WAY a 3 year old cat she is 1 year or younger! The second cat is 1 year old but she has a limp and her back legs are turned outward when she tries to walk (no mention of this from CARE). My assumption is this is from being in confined spaces for too long. She will be going to the vet next for her health issues! Clearly they do not upkeep the health on their adoptees. I understand ya’ll are non-profit but it’s cruel in itself to allow these cats to go unchecked I mean the lady acted like the cats eye being swollen was news to her and she knew nothing about it. This woman was supposedly the head of cat adoptions too so I was shocked at the conditions these poor kitties were in. I will not be adopting through CARE again in the future. I highly recommend SPCA in Hyde park they are phenomenal and have their own vet on the premises checking the cats THOROUGHLY and CONSISTENTLY.

Such a great thrift store. And they had a sale last time I visited. The staff were friendly and the prices were good. They even had a clothing section where you could full a whole bag for 5$! That's a really good deal.

I absolutely love CARE of DC and their amazing thrift shop. Staff's wonderful as well ❤️We adopted a Dog from their shelter 3 years ago he was a puppy that time and he was potty trained! We recently adopted a hamster and a bunny. All animals were very well taken care of I've not had any issues what so ever with any of our adopted babies. I will forever continue to support them because you can just see how much they love what they are about. Thank you for what you do for all these rescues you guy's are amazing ?❤️

me and my hubby are very happy with our pets we adopted from u , got skippy in august 2020 and we adopted shadow 2 Month Old Male Himalayan/Ragdoll in 2021 and we also adopted 1 of maggies puppies her name was macy,.her new name is bella in 2021 . i just adopted my 4th animal from u another kitty 08/23 timmy the kitty great friendly place and we recently adopted cuddles (timmy) and baby summer (intergalactic)

I cannot recommend this shelter enough. We took home a kitten this weekend and are SO in love. Jeanne was so informative, helpful, and kind while also giving us the space we needed to come to the right decision for us. All the cats in the sanctuary were so people-friendly, curious, and calm, which speaks volumes to the staff’s care and attentiveness. We feel totally confident about our new pet’s health history and upbringing so far. We came all the way from Brooklyn and the experience was so worth it!

Absolutely thrilled with our experience at careofdc! Adopting our dog was a breeze from start to finish. The online scheduling for the doggy meeting was so convenient, and their responsiveness made everything seamless. The staff was not only lovely but also made the paperwork process organized and easy. Wishing you the same joy in finding your dream dog as we did!

We adopted this 2.5 Yo Aussie and she needed spay surgery. This organization was so professional, efficient, friendly and truly compassionate. I am extremely grateful for their services. Thank you.

We love this place! They have great service and love all their animals. We got our Sasha (German Shepherd) from them in may 2020 and she is now a thriving part of our family. Thank you Care of DC for all that you do. We are currently looking at getting another special friend from their facility. Hopefully he will be with us soon! Matt

So many items for an affordable price. And there are small animals waiting for adoption. Please support.

I suppose it is safe to post about this place as it is no longer "my litte secret." I call this the 10 cent store. They take donations and liquidate them to raise money to rescue and sell abandoned pets. This is a non profit. They sells reptiles, rodents and amphibians and affordable pet supplies. On the other side of the store they have a flea market style store. Books are 10cents VHS tapes 10 cents Cheap Cds cassettes LP and 45s Stereo equipment, old toys, medical supplies This is a great place to shop if you are a young teacher looking to build a leveled class library. Don't spend 8 dollars a paperback when they are 15 for 1$ here.

CARE has the most loving and dedicated animal lovers I've ever seen. They are so genuine and invested in the care and proper placement of the animals that I hope people will consider them first when wanting to adopt. Kerry texted me twice to check in on how our sweet Linqa (now Luna) was doing over the course of 2 weeks. I will always remember how every staff member I encountered was simply amazing and sincere. Please consider adopting and supporting this fantastic local rescue. Thank you so much for our sweet girl!

What a great rescue! they processed my application , verified expeditiously my references including my vet. Most important, they kept me appraised of my status. I rescued the sweetest little scottie-mix who fits in perfectly with my family and my big dog. They even suggested fostering for a week to see if my dog would get along with Newton". I am a long time animal lover, I take my pets very seriously - CAREofDC does the same. Yeah for them!

We just adopted our second dog from C.A.R.E. The first was three years ago and the second was yesterday. Everything was done smoothly, professionally, and I would recommend this rescue if your looking for a new family member.

The people are friendly and they’re always thankful to receive donations. The shopping selection is great, especially pet items, dvds, nick knacks and household stuff. All proceeds go to help the animals in need, everyone wins!!!