Homeless Cat Network - Belmont, California

Ariana Rollins

The Homeless Cat Network is a non-profit with two branches!
1) they're a shelter that is home to the cats and kittens that aren't being fostered.
2) they're an organization that organizes volunteers to feed and care for feral colonies, allowing them to trap, and neuter the stray cats, as well as providing medical care.
If you're interested in adopting, you have to call in advance (showing up to this building will get you nowhere!)

Good people and good kitties

Rich and Vanessa

Judy H and the volunteers who help clean and feed the cats there are the best!!! The place is also spotless and doesn’t smell. You can tell they take pride in caring for their cats. I highly recommend adopting from them.

Kathy Willis

They are wonderful they are helping me with a feral mama an her babies that someone dumped

Elizabeth Johnston

Have had my second lot of cats from Homeless Cat Network, now for over 2 years. They are the sweetest girls you could wish for and super healthy. Love what this organization does for the feral cat community.

Juliet

The staff was kind and helpful. The counselor that introduced me to the kitty that I would like to adopt was very helpful in providing me with this cat's history, temperament and answered all questions that I asked. The facility was very clean and they followed Covid-19 protocol in there scheduling and rules to social distance, wear masks and use hand sanitizer. I felt safe here and loved the sweet little man that I met!

Jennifer Brown

Let me be clear--this seems like a lovely place, with wonderfully cared-for cats, but I had a devastating experience trying to adopt a cat from here.

After years of research and discussion, my partner and I were finally ready to adopt our first cat. We took the process seriously, and visited several shelters in our area, before finding a *beautiful* cat on Petfinder that was being fostered by the Homeless Cat Network. We applied for adoption, which involved completing a Google Form that asked about our family's readiness & ability to care for said-cat. Y'all would've thought we were applying to grad school, we put so much time into our application.

A day later, I heard from Melissa, who asked to meet via video call. We were thrilled. During the 50 minute chat, Melissa and her associate seemed kind, and wanted to make sure we'd be a good fit for this cat. They were "impressed" with our detailed application, and the thoughtfulness we'd put into the process. We complied with *every* question--including a rude-feeling one where the other volunteer asked my partner why he didn't seem as "excited" about adopting, as I was. (He's a journalist who often works 9-10 hour days, and was just coming off a long day's work; just because he wasn't doing backflips on the call doesn't mean he wasn't excited). They also harped on my partner's childhood allergies, even though we'd been to *multiple* shelters, petting cats, to make sure they'd gone away. I let those moments slide, because otherwise, the call seemed good. We had friendly, honest conversations about our ability to care for the cat.

The following day, they asked if we wanted to meet the cat + her foster parent on a video call. We were, again, *thrilled.* We met for about ~35 minutes, saw her on camera, asked lots of questions about her needs & care, and *on that very call,* setup a time to meet her in-person. Since this was right before Thanksgiving, the foster family wasn't available for a visit until the following week.

Two days before our scheduled meeting, I emailed Melissa, expressing how excited we were, and to confirm our pre-arranged meeting time. The next day, Melissa simply responded with news that another family had applied for the cat "in the time since we'd spoken," and that they would be adopting her. No apology. Just a tepid "we know this is disappointing news."

Disappointment is an understatement. My partner and I were devastated. We feel gut-punched, having been put through the ringer for a cat we were--apparently--never seriously considered for. (Note: meeting her wouldn't even have been the last step. Their application says they also video-tour your home to assess its pet readiness; we were *all in,* even with this extensive process!)

We'll never know what we did wrong, or why they felt we weren't a good fit. But not being told this until *we* reached out; being told one thing to our faces, while they clearly felt differently outside of our calls, hurts like hell. Melissa offered to connect us with other cats, but I can't trust their process. Not after this.

An earlier review mentioned that this place felt classist; like if you aren't in the San Mateo/Palo Alto area, they're not checking for you. As a Black woman living in the East Bay, I felt that. I'm sharing this in case other adopters of color are looking.

Lisa Bastian

Very thorough in vetting prospective guardians. Facility is very clean and calm. Great organization helping lots of kitties.

Sharon Staley

Beautiful cats waiting to be adopted.