Bendigo Animal Welfare & Community Services

"I am really disappointed with how my daughter Katrina Alvaro was treated by your staff today. NO apology was given, she was distraught and needed advice and understanding but instead was treated appallingly. We understand the good work you do and the pressure of your job but showing some kindness and empathy to people who donate funds to your organisation is not a lot to ask. Perhaps your staff need training on how to deal with humans, if they treat animals the same way I would be very concerned."

"This is the reason they gave for hanging up on me “Hi Katrina, thanks for getting back to us and confirming that instead of answering the question asked about dog or cat, (to which the volunteer would have provided names of local rescue groups you could try), you responded that you'd already tried everywhere so there was no need to continue the conversation.” absolutely disgusting. Should have read the reviews before I called."

"absolutely awful and unprofessional organisation with staff members who bully and humiliate customers for faults made by the company itself. they withhold information about the animals and will berate the customers for misinterpreting questions. i am absolutely appalled by the behaviour of the staff and will absolutely not recommend this organisation to anybody."

"Disgusting, disgusting organisation. They keep out information in their animal bios to catch you off guard when answering questions to do with the animal. They would rather keep a pet away from their furever home because they trick you into answering the wrong type of questions whilst not providing enough information. My experience with this horrible organisation will forever make me hesitant to trust an adoption centre. My first ever adoption application was a horrible experience and honestly makes me scared to even try again. They withheld information that i needed to know about the cat (that she was an strictly indoor cat) and then said I "answered wrong" when answering "where in the backyard would the animal be allowed?". This question was not only phrased in a way that would make one think that the pet was allowed outside, but they also had PICTURES of the cat outside, further emphasising this idea. After back and fourth emails where I was trying to get a fair opportunity to redo my adoption process, they called me up personally and accused me of being "obsessive" and "manic" and that I was sending "too many emails." Horrible and unprofessional, such a shame for the animals in their care that will never find their furever homes because they withhold information from you on purpose."

"Disappointing experience! With the very best intentions they mean well but clearly don't truly understand cats, preferring to hold cats caged indefinitely until they find the 'right' fit to some undisclosed criteria? Questionable ethics where the cat is denied being a real cat. I find this quite sad as I'm a REAL cat person."