Dec 21 I went into the AVHS looking for a new forever friend. this was not the first stop in my day but it was the last when I laid eyes on "Nova". I held her and knew I wanted to take her home. I was provided a reasonable sum of money to adopt her and decided to proceed. when I asked what the process would be another employee came in at which time the process was reviewed and I was told the cost would $500 for her (she was a pup)! this was way outside my budget and I certainly would have said yes knowing the outcome of pocket. when my daughter and I mentioned that was not the price quoted we were told that there was nothing they could do. so I left. 1 hour and tears later I turned around and spent money I shouldn't have. "nova" was anticipated to be a small breed (24 pounds or less) wiener mix. Fast forward. "Nova" is now Magnolia/Maggie she is 35-40 pounds and shows every trait of a coon hound. Ending: over paid for a puppy after being quoted a lower price (yes I went back and paid it) that is bigger then I wanted and a breed that doesn't really work in an office due to the whining, howling and need for activity. oh and did I mention that they forgot to send her home with meds for after spay and wanted me to drive back from Yelm to Auburn? nice facility. disorganized. Not willing to follow through in incorrect pricing quotes. read more

Auburn Valley Humane Society - Animal Shelters Near Me - Auburn, Washington

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I've had wonderful experiences fostering and volunteering for AVHS. If you're considering lending a hand to a nonprofit in the area, I highly recommend this organization. read more

You know...It's all good.. Nice, but I didn't find my next/new little dog.. A few more thoughts , hmm , good location, too.

I was receiving Pets for Life services here for my three kitties. Out of the blue, Jessica Koertz from the program called me up and asked me for my address. When I gave it to her she said it wasn't in an PFL eligible zip code. I told her I was moving back to my previous eligible address as my lease was ending. Also the place I "moved" out of was my family home that I go to regularly so technically it was still my permanent address. She and her manager Phoebe Leong mandated that I provide a piece of mail to establish "residency". When I did that, they tightened the rules to require mail that shows I receive services such as utilities. I didn't pay rent or utilities so I didn't have those. They said receiving mail at a place does not prove I live there. Does it not? LOL. I guess it applies to everyone on the program then, why pick on me? I asked for the PFL policy regarding address verification, they could not provide it. They made up rules as they went along. Now they've decided to leave my cats stranded with no vaccinations because I complained about being targeted for selective enforcement, a form of retaliation. The PLF program is meant to break down barriers for care due to systemic injustice. My situation fits this exact problem that PFL aims to solve yet its staff are doing the exact opposite by setting up barriers to ensure the underserved who don't own / rent a place or pay bills don't get a chance. This program is broken - staff managing it do not have the compassion or capacity to serve the very community it strives to help. Auburn Valley Humane Society can do something about this but it has not. This does not align with the mission of the broader humane society. I wouldn't go here for services. read more

Went into the humane on Friday 3/20 and saw a kitten who had a hold on her, came back Sunday 3/22 and the hold was being released from the customer. They proceeded to tell me it was then placed on hold to go to the cat cafe at the outlet collection so we'd have to make an appointment over there and couldn't adopt the kitten. Then today the cat was on the Humane Society's website and the specifically told me if it had changed they'd call me so we'd could apply for her adoption. It is so sad when a perfectly able family wants to adopt a pet and be misled by this facility. Now I called and was told she was adopted out. If it's first come first served a person there on site when a customer hold is released should out way going to the cat cafe. read more

This is my sweet baby Belle (renamed) that I adopted from Auburn Valley Humane Society. When I went in looking for a kitty to adopt it was a mostly painless process but which ones were available to adopt was a little confusing but after asking I figured it out. They found my baby outside of the Auburn Mall and being that she was a stray, she's very timid and what we call "a scaredy cat" lol. It's been such a blessing watching her blossom and become her crazy, sparky self. Thank you auburn valley for saving her so I could become her mama. Would definitely adopt from them again. read more

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My previous dog passes away in 2018 and I didn't think I could ever get another. He was a special dog. My goodness was I wrong! This girl I adopted from the Auburn Valley Humane Society was exactly what my husband and I needed. And I can't say thank you enough to the Humane Society, after my hour meet-and-greet I knew I was adopting right then and the staff shared in my excitement and made it a wonderful experience. The staff is super sweet and they do everything they can for the dogs and cats they have. Very clean and welcoming place! read more

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This is not a place for animal help. This is a for profit organization masquerading as a nonprofit. They are happy to take your free animals then sell them for several hundred dollars but refuse to help sick or injured pets. They should be put out of business or at the very least they should lose their nonprofit status. THIS IS A FOR PROFIT BUSINESS. PAY YOUR TAXES CROOKS. read more

Went for this guy, after a few conversation I was told he was very scared and snapped at the vet! The last call I was told I could see him in a day or two. Day one of two they IM me saying the long search since 2017 his family found him and he was so happy. I'm happy bout that, but I haven't seen this happy family reunion picture up here! I feel they put him down no fault of his knowing the breed! I just feel I was lied to! read more

Auburn Valley Humane Society - Animal Shelters Near Me - Auburn, Washington

These people care about animals and help place kitties and pups , birds, and other small animals in loving homes. You can support them with donations or by shopping at their thrift store. I do! read more

Auburn Valley Humane Society - Animal Shelters Near Me - Auburn, Washington

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I got here taking a child I work with for their cat reading program. All the cats seem to be very well taken care of! I love how the cats/kittens are in cat rooms inside of cages. They have cat trees, blankets, and toys for all the cats. In the cat reading program, children can read to cats and the kittens! It's a lovely idea for the cats to be associated with people and helps with kids' reading! The cats are so cute and I love the rooms! read more

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Tucked away at the foot of Lakeland Hills entry off "A" street, is a well kept, clean, bright humane society. Their prices for adoption of adult cats is much higher than Seattle, however, that did not deter me from adopting my new family member. Not only is the environment bright, clean and roomy, I was impressed with the modern electronic technology for the adoption process which cuts down on paper. There are also assigned meeting rooms to meet and greet your potential cat, which is a plus before buying. read more

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Adopted a dog (Taika) here about a month ago and they were very helpful and made process easy. We came in and met him and we knew he was one for us immediately. We were able to fill out some paperwork and take him home the same day with no hassle at all. He is a very wonderful boy who we are so happy to have in our lives. read more

I recently signed up to volunteer with cat care. I was pleasantly surprised at the cleanliness and care given to all the animals.

I went on their website and set up a meet and greet with a kitty and the process couldn't be smoother. I came to my appointment and the two ladies at the front desk were great. Super personable and kind and answered all my questions and were also very kind to my little ones. Exceptional staff! I definitely would recommend this place to anyone looking for a fur baby. Thanks to them my kitty now has a fur ever home. :) read more

Auburn Valley Humane Society - My sweet new kitty - Animal Shelters Near Me - Auburn, Washington

I would give 0 star if I could to write a review. This place is horrible. Staffs are lazy and not well coordinated. Everything in their response to my question always starts out with "unfortunately.. " Meet and greet took longer than it should, if it's an appointment based system why did we have to wait 15+ minutes despite being here on time? I really wanted one of the dogs as I felt that I had an instant connection with her. Asked them politely if there's any way to coordinate a pick up time and said I am more than happy to put down full deposit right now, or more, and complete an application process or anything more that's needed if it meant that they could potentially work with me on a different pick up time. I was going to be on a particularly different work schedule that week and I didn't want her to have to wait for me at home all day. Normally I'm able to bring a pet to my workplace so I was hoping to get something worked out, as it's IMPORTANT to me that I do anything I can do dedicate my time and my attention to her once she comes home with me. They don't seem to even consider any of the options and the dog has been adopted over just a day. Pretty sad and upsetting experience knowing that I would've done anything to make this work and the feedback I've got in response was plain lazy and horrible. I've called again to say that I understand that she's been adopted and in case of any possibility where she may be returned ( for rare cases where things don't work out with the new home ) then I would absolutely appreciate them returning the news to me and that I'd take her in a heartbeat.. their answer was again starting with "unfortunately.. blahblah." No effort being placed on ANYTHING here. Aren't we all here to try our best to provide the best home for these dogs? I tried my best to communicate that and my efforts/time weren't being reciprocated obviously. You guys are absolutely horrible. I hope you take this as a potential feedback and start making process improvements/adjustments that you crucially need. read more

AVHS is hands down one of the best rescue shelters! I had such a wonderful experience with everyone I came into contact with, from the staff to all the volunteers. Everyone took time to speak with me and help me when needed. The place is immaculately clean, and the pets all look to be very well cared for. In fact, many times I saw staff and volunteers comforting and spending time with the animals. You can tell that everyone working there really loves animals. I love that they have "meet and greet" areas, where one can take their time to spend with their potential future family fur member. I want to specifically thank Judy and Hannah, who helped me tremendously with the adoption process and everything else! If you are in the market to adopt a rescue, I highly recommend AVHS. read more

Hey this place has been doing a great job for a lot of years. Though I'm no fan of their pandemic protocols.

We went to one of their adoption events and we were like the second people there filled out the application for the dog we wanted. We were told that all families were interviewed..which they were not. We were not even looked at. Talk about inconsiderate. To top it off when we called and complained we never got a call back. Definitely will never adopt from them again. read more

Today my mom and two small kids went on a search to 3 separate humane society for a kitty. This establishment BY FAR was the best. We were treated with respect and kindness from the moment we got through the door. We were able to visit with the kitties and cats. There were volunteers who were willing to talk to us about the kitties and answer questions. The other two humane societies we saw this same day were rude to us and acted like they couldn't be bothered with helping us get the cat we came to see. Honestly love this place and hope to be able to support them by adopting animals from them in the future. I recommend you consider them if you are looking for a pet. read more

The DMV of animal shelters! I was excited to see an animal shelter so close to my new home, I had montages running in my mind of how I'd take my daughter with me, once she is older, to go volunteer. Well, my bubble has been burst. Here's my story: we have a ten year old pomeranian who is a crafty escape artist. One day he escaped our yard during potty time, and frankly we are still baffled how he managed to do it. I digress. So, fortunate are we to have neighbors who took him to the Auburn Valley HS, versus you know, keeping him. This was a few days before Christmas. A gift, surely. But at a price! We didn't expect to have to shell out $133 three days before Christmas to get our dog back - but what can you do. To start with, the staff here is quite rude. They felt no compassion nor empathy at having to dole out over $100 to get our dog back. Their response? We take credit cards. Fine. During the three years it took to fill out paperwork, I left my husband to pay them and deal with the goings on, and took my daughter to look at the cats. I found one that was very sweet and social, which brings me to my next point. This place is designed horribly. There are quite a few cat enclosures with sliding glass doors and a chair in each room. Enough space for 1-2 people to visit a kitty. Are you allowed to do this? NOPE. There is *one* visitation room and no time limit on it. If it's occupied.... Sorry, pal! This place does not greet you with warmth and invite you in with welcome. It is a cold, uninviting place with staff who hates your very presence. I'll see if there is some place else nearby once my little one is old enough to volunteer. I'd suggest another shelter before you look here. But seriously, go you for even looking at shelters! That is very awesome. read more

If i can give a minus 100!! I would. This place takes in dogs from California and DOES NOT SCAN THEM. My dog was stolen from me last year in March 2017 i live in Los Angeles and she ended up in Washington!! The avid chip was reported as a stolen/missing dog and they didn't scan Pixie. I found out after when i was given a tip of information that she was in Washington and i saw they ADOPTED HER OUT TO ANOTHER PERSON. I SPOKE TO THE Manager and she said she couldn't do anything about it because she was already adopted out. They said they couldn't contact the new owners and not even let them know of the situation and this was insane. They wouldn't take responsibility of fault. She was then returned to the shelter by the first family and yup again she was adopted out with a stolen chip on her. Finally on April 26 2018 I received a call from Olympia animal services that they had my stolen dog!!! Thank god for answering my prayers!!! And yesss i booked the first flight to Washington to pick up my dog. !!! She is back in California where she belongs with me. Please ask this place to scan for a chip, not to just take in dogs from other states and not do investigating and knowing very well that Pixie was reported as a stolen dog!!!!!! Had no sympathy to call me the second time and nooooo will power to make things right. Shame on you! Auburn Valley " humane society" read more

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This place is AMAZING! I wish I could rate them 7 stars....The animals are in fantastic shape and the staff obviously has the animal's health and well-being at the forefront of their minds. The price is slightly higher than some of the surrounding shelters, But, it is quite obviously money well spent. The Executive Director spent a ton of time with us also Lexie and Judy were fantastic, everyone took as much time as we deemed necessary, answering questions and being unbelievably helpful. I would recommend this facility, hands down, over any of the neighboring Humane society locations or local shelters. read more

Auburn Valley Humane Society - What a bright and beautiful environment to find a new Puppy or Kitty! - Animal Shelters Near Me - Auburn, Washington

To start off it's incredibly hard to even get into the establishment in the first place. Second, the staff was incredibly rude. My fiance and I look young but that is no reason to treat us like children. The dogs seemed very unhappy and we weren't even allowed to pet them. When we attempted to ask about meeting a greeting one of the dogs we where shut down immediately because we didn't 'appear' to be interested in actually adopting. First off, even if we weren't interested in adopting (which we are) the dogs in shelters need all the socialization and love they can get! How rude can you be to not only the customers but also the poor animals held inside this establishment. We will NOT be returning. read more

We adopted two older dogs from AVHS - they did a fine job. As for charging for lost dogs, you should try losing a dog in Tacoma - people I know who have had pets picked up by their shelter have paid $300+ - Any not licensed, unaltered, running loose pet - BAM, as it should be - being responsible for puppies that end up at the pound, shameful . , Most shelters, if your pet is licensed, they get one free pass home. Not sure if they do that, but wondering how yours added up to $120.... Auburn City Claim Fee Dog/Cat Non Altered - $65 Auburn City Claim Fee Dog/Cat Altered - $35 Impound Board Fee - $16/day Impound Vacations & Worming - $16 Impound Rabies Vaccination & Tag - $15 read more

I adopted my Siberian Husky mix from AVHS back in October, and I have become a foster for them as well. It is a beautiful organization, well run and unlike some other shelters you can run across, this doesn't feel like a jail when you walk in, no wire cages, which I love...it has less of a sad commercial feel to it...the staff is so friendly, very helpful and very approachable. When considering adding a new family member, an approachable staff was a definite plus. I fell in love with Anarchy at first sight, and it was obvious that she had with me as well...her name was previously Coquita, but I had changed it to Anarchy to go with my Mayhem and Chaos at home, also to help her start disassociating from her unfortunate past and start focusing on her happier new future!! It is a crazy, wild and fun pack I have at home, and I have Auburn Valley Humane Society to thank for adding the perfect fit! read more

Auburn Valley Humane Society - I always love seeing their van! - Animal Shelters Near Me - Auburn, Washington

I wish I could give this place less than 1 star. I would give them into the negative's if I could. Let's start off with how they broke my families heart by telling us that the dog we were going to adopt was "ours" and that all we needed to do was come back on Tuesday to pick him up...I'll lay it all out for you. Saturday night I was just browsing their website, cats and dogs. I saw Watson on there and he immediately stole my heart. We went down on Sunday, waited for a good 15 minutes before having to ask someone sitting behind the desk if we could go in and just look at him, mind you no one asked if we needed help. As soon as we saw him, we knew we wanted to meet him and see how he was around my 8 year old. As soon as we got into the "Meet and Greet" room, Watson stole our hearts even more, if it was even possible. We asked for adoption paperwork, filled it out and took it back up to the front desk. They told us since it was about 20 minutes to closing, that they didn't have enough time to process the paperwork. I asked the lady what the next stop would be and she replied "He's pretty much your dog, you just need to come back on Tuesday to pick him up! Everything on your application looks perfect!" So out the door we went and went to prepare our home for getting our first dog. We spent over $250 for supplies (crate, bed, food, collar, etc) and Tuesday morning came around, we were all so excited. I had the leash and collar in my car, scheduled a half day at work so I could go pick him up. Then I get a phone call at 940A to let me know that there was a mix up in the paperwork and that Watson was actually already adopted and that they were sorry. That was it...they were sorry. After calling back to talk to them again, they told us that a previous family that came in wasn't ready to take him home on Saturday (the day before we were in there) but filled out the application anyways and then decided to come back on Tuesday to adopt him. So even though we were ready on Sunday to take him home but they wouldn't process the adoption, filled out the paperwork, nothing was said about a PENDING ADOPTION already, and that he was basically our dog and that we could come back Tuesday to pick him up...here I am, Tuesday afternoon with no pup, $250 for nothing, and a heartbroken 8 year old. Their solution to fix the problem "Oh, we'll just find you another dog." As if it were that easy. Granted, I know there are plenty of other dogs out there to be adopted, and I am sure we will find one, and I am extremely happy Watson is going to a home and not in a shelter, the fact that they were so unorganized and this could've been prevented just completely throws me over the edge. This facility is so close to my home, and I drive past it every day, but I will never EVER come back here. And I will make sure to tell anyone who is looking to adopt from here to stay away. Which breaks my heart, because the animals in here should go to good homes and loving families, but the staff make the experience not worth going back. read more

I came here looking for a compatible dog and was pleasantly surprised at how well cared the animals here are. The other shelters didn't seem to care for their animals as much but the staff here are nice and friendly and they have a wide variety of cats and dogs. I was also quite surprised to see they had a shop in there to sell various necessities for pets. Lots of nice volunteers too. Definitely the best shelter I have visited so far that actually seems to care about the animals. read more

Bad costumer service, front desk don't help much... there more worried about closing then helping out....

I got a new cat here named Kirby and she is so nice. if you were to get a new pet, come here!

I am not the happiest person in the world I left my kitten a week ago to go up for adoption. I am on oxygen 24/7 so during the day i am connected to 50ft tubing so i may move about freely around the house. My kitten kept chew holes in the tubing which caused me to not get air. So I had to make the decision to give him up yes I signed there contract and I understood but people make mistakes I missed so much that day I called to get him back and I was going to work something out for the tubing that i dragged behind me when i walked instead they refused me and told me he was in holding and i wouldn't be able to have him. So know after being in holding he has been released for adoption the only thing they wont let me re adopt him even though i filled an inquiry about him i will probably not hear from them. Doris read more

"In memory of Harris" I'm so relieved to see other people that have been unhappy with AVHS or had been given sick animals. I really thought I was the only one this has happened to. I adopted a very overweight cat (18 pounds) It was love at first especially since he looked so sad, I just wanted to give him a loving home. I noticed right away from day 1 he did not eat and was not drinking. I thought it was normal since he was nervous and in a new home. But by the 3rd day, I called the humane society and told the woman that answered the phone harris' symtoms. She laughed and said maybe at his weight it was good he wasn't eating and for me to "keep an eye on it" so I did. I ended up force feeding him water and food. Then called the vet and tool him in to be seen. The vet said it was possible liver failure and that it would be Tens of thousands of dollars to even try to help him. The vet said he would need a feeding tube, IV fluids, and 24 hour care. He recommended I take harris back to AVHS asap. I called them from the parking lot of the vet and they said I couldn't just drop him off, I had to make an appt. And the next appt. Was at 5:00 the next day. So I tool harris home and started thinking that they would just euthanize him or he would die alone in a cage. I doubt they would spend the thousands to save him. So I emailed them and called the next day to let them know I was going to try to help harris here at home. The email I received said they were so happy I was going to keep him and wished us well. Unfortunately at 5:30 the day I was suppose to surrender harris, he tried to stand up and collapsed. Then just laid there calmly... then he was really calm, I injected water into his mouth and it just spilled out the other side onto my carpet :( he was gone. My kids were in the living room and hadn't known so I brought them all to my room and my fiance took harris back to AVHS and they gave us a $95 voucher towards a future adpption. I was very very upset, I cried for hours and my kids cried and it hurt us all. So a few weeks went by and I felt I could look at cats again, I went in yesterday and looked at a few and found one that looked like harris but in shape :) he was so funny and friendly I told Judy who was very sweet that I would like that guy. So she had me fill out paperwork and I paid $30 for licencing. As she was about to finish up, a lady came out and said the cat was having trouble peeing and would need to see a vet the next day. Another sick cat!!! I anxiously awaited good news when I received a phone call this morning and the girl told me they had a meeting and that due to Harris' situation that I was terminated from being able to adopt from their facility ever again!!???? Really???? So I will be going above and beyond to get my story out. I will be calling the executive director Phillip Morris, the mayor and possibly write in to news channels. It may take time but I will be on it. After the hurt that an animal they sold me caused my family then to shun me from adopting any animal from them. Very very disturbing. read more

My 5 stars are for the shelter itself, and those directly taking care of the animals. There are so many people behind the scenes that care, a lot of volunteers. The animals are very well taken care of and loved. Now, the receptionists I give 1 star or less. They are very cold. I don't know what's up with them, but they need to get a personality. A friendly, caring, helpful personality. I know when pets are unreasonably surrendered it's frustrating and you might want to strangle the person, but you still have to try and be pleasant. Especially to those that are coming in looking to adopt. I'd say some serious training needs to happen. So please don't give up on the animals there just because the gals up front seem like uncaring snobby robots. Remember, you are there for the critters not for the girls at the front desk. And keep in mind what it costs to run a facility and take care of the animals. It's expensive! read more

They keep this super clean and odor-free. The pets are kept in very nice condition. The staff is friendly and helpful.

Went to look at dogs with my sister. They were nice enough I guess not jumping out of their chairs or anything. We looked at a little doxi boy we were both possibly interested in. They let us go in and look at the dogs without monitoring us like 5 years old so that was nice :) They didn't have very many dogs but all were cuties. It took a while to get into the visitors room with the doxi because they only have one room and there were quite a few people there. The fee's cannot be beat! only $95 for a dog adoption fee. read more

I love the friendly and personable staff, shelter layout, and the very clean glass door kennels here! I like that all of the animals are groomed, microchipped, and spayed/neutered too: clearly well taken care of at the shelter! They even have heated floors in the dog kennels...Wow! They have lots of support brochures for crate training, kids around pets, and other educational programs. As a rescue mama, I fully support AVHS and their mission to serve the Auburn community. So glad that there is now a more local shelter to Auburn that genuinely cares for pets! :-) read more

I've been there a few times and ended up adopting a cat from them. Every time the staff was friendly and helpful. One time it was very busy, and they were struggling to help everyone. But still no one was rude. Those fees are to help support the animals. Are they supposed to take care of your lost pet for free? They get good food, water, a warm bed, flea treatment and vaccinations. The flea med and vaccines are to protect the animals already at the shelter, as well as yours. She was lucky that her dog was taken to such a great facility, and not kidnapped or hit by a car. It's also a no-kill shelter. No adoptable animal is ever euthanized. AVHS will keep and care for them forever, until they are adopted. The dogs are walked 3 times a day, and the cats get lots of attention. And yes, there is a time limit on the meeting room. read more

I was seriously upset with this humane society! I was informed by a local PetSmart that I could surrender my pet Sunday from noon until 4:00. When I got there, I was told that I would have to sign up for an appointment to surrender my pet and the wait would be a week! And then, the young lady told me I had to be from Auburn. I will not be going here again for anything! Highly disappointed! read more

This shelter is top notch. Please read the one star reviews carefully - I read all of them and it is obvious that the people who wrote them aren't the sharpest knives in the drawer. In fact, I'm relieved they were not able to keep an animal. read more

I have adopted 2 dogs from this shelter at different times, with each experience unique in how it made me feel and the ultimate outcomes. The first adoption was a relatively joyful one when we adopted a 4 year old German Shepherd, who was heart-breakingly sad in the kennel with a downturned head as if he was being punished. This behavior continued once home for over a month. I immediately realized he had major food allergies when he had constant diarrhea all over the house no matter what kind of expensive foods I tried. I ended up having to make his food until I finally found 1 single kind of food that doesn't give him wicked diarrhea although it does still cause some skin irritation. His sadness eventually turned around and he is now a happy and healthy doggie despite his managed allergies. The second adoption was not a positive experience. The staff intentionally lied to us or they are extremely inexperienced, including the veterinary staff. We adopted a 9 year old pug and although he is a delightful dog whom we love, he has some serious degenerative health issues that we were not informed of. I even asked the staff about his leg dragging behind him and they claimed they had not seen this before nor had anyone reported seeing it previously either. They had this little guy in their possession for over a week at this point. Then a Vet Tech just happened to come out to the adoption desk and I asked this person about his legs dragging as well and they said that this was new and he has not been doing this the entire time so based on this information I figured he must have sprained a muscle and knowing I was taking him to my Vet for a check up anyway, I wasn't too alarmed. He had a serious ear infection that he was being treated for already and we received medication to continue his treatment but this was the only health issue we were informed of. At my Vet during the exam a whole host of issues came to light that any Vet who actually did an examination of the dog would have found according to 2 different Vets there and 3 Vet Techs, They were actually shocked that any Veterinary team would not have caught the most glaringly obvious issue that this dog had partial paralysis in his rear quarters that would only increase with time due to a compressed spinal column that my Vet discovered just running his hand down the doggies back and seeing the extensive callouses on his rear upper toes from dragging his legs/feet across the ground for some time. X-Rays and an MRI confirmed this spinal issue. A $10,000 surgery MIGHT be able to fix some of this but there are no guarantees. I spent over $600 on X-Rays & an MRI just to find out I adopted a dog who was going to be in a wheelchair likely within a year. I informed the facility of this and they said there is a health guarantee and we can return him. Their lack of compassion was frightening, as if I were returning a defective appliance. I quickly figured out that if I returned this poor little guy they were going to euthanize him. I couldn't live with that so we have kept him and spent a fortune on his care, which will continue for his lifetime. I complained to the Adoption Coordinator that this is the kind of thing an adopter should be informed of PRIOR to adoption so they know what kind of financial obligation they are in for but this person couldn't be bothered to even respond to my email. Although I can't prove it, I feel as though they knew exactly what they were doing and intentionally "unloaded" a dog they were well aware was going to cost someone a ton of money, thus making him virtually unadoptable so they hid the information. He is a purebred Pug so why they didn't turn him over to the Seattle Purebred Dog Rescue's Pug rescue group is beyond me. They regularly have Pugs with health issues that they find the right adopters for and are far more qualified to handle such situations than a shelter. I was not prepared for the costs associated with this little guy's health problems but I have had to sacrifice in order to take care of him. He deserves someone who cares enough about him to deal with his issues. I certainly expect to cover a dogs health care costs when adopting but this was excessive and not at all fair to have had dumped on me without some warning. Ultimately I am conflicted on how to rate this shelter. I think if you happen to get lucky and find a healthy pet there that you adopt from the right staff at the right time then you will have a great experience, but if you are unlucky enough to find a pet with some "issues", don't expect the truth or a good experience. read more