Do YOU have a good...

[Buddy'sParents]

shelter in your area?

I am kind of jealous at some of you who have credible, responsible, ethical shelters where you live. Our nearest local shelter is a crock, they have no idea what they are doing and I am sure many dogs/cats die due to their ignorance. I've been there two or three times and I just can't bring myself to go again- it's pretty awful.

I haven't been to any of the other local shelters, but I try to read up on them as I like to donate. Oh and I do have to say everything I have read about the San Francisco SPCA is all very good. I'm glad it's in the Bay Area as a lot of people look up to the trainers available, etc..

What about your area?

 

[Dizzy]

Absolutely and utterly wonderful!

I only went there for the 1st time the other week (bad idea..........) to donate some food, and it's lovely.

They do dog walking on a morning, so when I am back at uni, I am going to go on my free days.

 

[noludoru]

We have FOHA and the Culpeper County HS. Oh, and my county has one - I've never been there - and Prince William has one that is okay.

 

[bubbatd]

Excellent !!! Human Society very clean and many volunteers. Many outside dog pens to walk and work with dogs . I've only been to our Animal Shelter once , and was better than I thought . Most go on to the HS. We're lucky !

 

[elegy]

the shelter in my county is terrible. the dog that i had to euth for human aggression came from there. part of the reason i brought him home was because when i went there over the winter, the kennels were so cold that the water in the dogs' waterbuckets was frozen. that's how bad it is.

shelters in surrounding counties are significantly better. they spay/neuter before animals are allowed to leave, they temperament test, they screen their adopters (one requires a special application for pit bulls, another requires a home check for pits/rottweilers/shepherds/dobes), their customer service is SO MUCH better, their hours are more user-friendly.

 

[Dekka]

The humane society here is blah. Its not horrible but could be better. There is a private shelter here linky that is really good.

 

[Paige]

I think it's pretty good. Nothing high class but the animals are well looked after and they screen potential adopters. I'm not complaining in the slightest. Our adoption fees are rather high but hey it's worth it. I am forsure getting my next cat from our SPCA.

 

[Dakotah]

God ours is horrible.
They leave their cages in a mess, not very clean water, no dog walks for the dogs, the cats are stuffed into cages, they put down all of the pits and the mixes, rotties and mixes, etc.
There kittens/cat look so unhealthy its sickening.

I hate this shelter but I want to help those animals sooooo bad. And its so cheap to get an animal there to.

 

[Sweet72947]

We have FOHA and the Culpeper County HS. Oh, and my county has one - I've never been there - and Prince William has one that is okay.

Don't forget Fauquier County SPCA. They try real hard over there not to euthanize healthy animals, and they work with foster homes. They don't work with any all breed rescues that I'm aware of, but I think they work with some breed specific rescues. They are very knowledgeable about the bully breeds.

Prince William is improving. They work heavily with rescue, and they keep their runs pretty clean most of the time. They don't have time to get to know the animals though, so they can't offer you any info past what is on the shelter card, and they will tell you flat out that they can't make any guarentees as to the temperament of the animal. They are pit bull friendly.

City of Manassas Animal Adoption Center is kept very clean, but they need to work on their policies. They used to euth any pit bull that entered, but now they will put the nice ones up for adoption. I don't know if management has changed, but when I was there they euthanized based on what animals the shelter manager liked/didn't like. And they do not work with any rescues as far as I know.

Loudoun County Animal Shelter is ok with non-pit bulls, but they will euth any and all pit bulls that enter their shelter for no reason (there is no BSL). They do not work with all breed rescues, but do work with breed specific rescue. If it is a mutt, it has a poor chance of leaving alive.

Mostly the shelters around here are ok, its when you go into the more rural areas that they get crappy.

 

[bubbatd]

Dakotah ....that sound horrible !!! Can't something be done ??

 

[~Dixie's_Mom~]

I've never been to the SPCA here, but I assume that the fact that it's an SPCA that it's pretty reputible. I plan to voulenteer there pretty soon, and hopefully (if I can talk my dad into it) we'll be able to adopt or at least foster when we get a house with a fenced yard.

 

[bubbatd]

Hijacking a little . When at the grocery yesterday I bought some dog bones and canned food . The lovely check out girl asked about breeds and said how she loved Goldens and GS . She wanted to meet Ollie and since they weren't busy , shut down the station and took my groceries to my car . As she was loving on Ollie and I put my groceries in , she said that her daughter was a HS volunteer ( 14 or 15 ) and LOVED dogs . I wrote down Chaz's site for her and I hope her daughter joins !

 

[Dakotah]

I dont know if anything can be done Grammy, but surely something can be done.
2 counties share the same shelter so... thats an issue right there. There are SO many dogs around here that are just let loose.

 

[bubbatd]

Such a shame when 2 counties are involved . I think it's more of a problem in rural areas .

 

[Picklepaige]

We are the only shelter around here for at least an hour, and we get little funding, so we do the best we can. It is the law that all pits have to be put down, but sometimes we play dirty and label them as staffies. We just got new cages, so that is an improvement. However, we still put down many, many dogs. Right now, most of the dogs we have are VERY adoptable, but no one adopts from us.

Just to give an overview of the variety of adoptable dogs we have here:

We have about 60 puppies, including litters of purebred yorkies, schnauzers, maltese, and various small breed mixes. We also have about 40 other adult small breed dogs, like shih-tsus, boston terriers, chihuahuas, and many mixes. We have 3 Belgian Tervurens, many beagles, a basset hound, and several other purebred dogs. That's not even counting the endless amount of adorable, beautiful mutts.

It blows me away that some shelters rarely get in puppies and small dogs. We put down far more puppies than adults.

 

[bubbatd]

If anyone wants to check out ours , it's www.indyhumane.org

 

[Sweet72947]

Picklepaige, have you tried advertising? Take good pics, put them on flyers and put them everywhere, vet offices, pet stores, etc. I'm sure you'd get people interested...

 

[Picklepaige]

We put them in the newspaper, in walmart, we have a tv special, we have many adoption events; we do basically everything to get these guys adopted. We just live in a country town where people are dropping off dogs left and right. We are going to start a program where we send some of the dogs up north, so that will help.

 

[ihartgonzo]

Our SPCA (Sacramento SPCA) is awesome... they have amazing facilities, they take wonderful care of the animals, and the employees are generally very friendly. : )

Another local SPCA, Placer County, is baaad. I just hate it. They take in unbelievably few animals. There are always empty cages, everywhere, and it makes me wonder. I've heard unfavorable things about how they handle the animals and how few animals get adopted out, from people at the Sac SPCA. The worst part: they are all SO rude! I was considering volunteering there, and I went in with my friend to look at the cats with her. Their website said that they desperately needed canned kitten food, so I brought in an enormous box of it. The girl up front, in a very rude tone, said: "Uhh... we don't need that. We don't even have kittens." And I said, "Isn't kitten season in a few months? Maybe you should update your site, because it's on your donation list." She just shrugged and looked away, so I awkwardly brought the massive box back to my car. D: Then, when my friend wanted to meet a cat, an "adoption counselor" brought us into a room that was about the size of a closet (not a walk-in closet, mind you), had no chairs, and was covered in cat pee. The cat was shy at first, so we were trying to give her time to feel more comfortable, but the adoption counselor came barging in 2 minutes later and said our time was up. Derrrr, ok. I'm not going back there again.

Our shelters are unbelievably bad. The closest to me, in particular, is filthy and high-kill. Every one I know who has adopted from there has recieved a very, very sickly animal. I feel SO bad for all of the cats and dogs that go through there.

 

[Buddy'sParents]

We put them in the newspaper, in walmart, we have a tv special, we have many adoption events; we do basically everything to get these guys adopted. We just live in a country town where people are dropping off dogs left and right. We are going to start a program where we send some of the dogs up north, so that will help.

Where are you located? I never heard of so many puppies before!

Erica- that sounds like our local shelter... ick! I feel so bad for the animals.