Humane Society of Charlotte

Visited the Humane Society with intention of adopting a dog, which my wife and I have done twice previously (in another state). I walked in the front door and felt like I was intruding. Finally acknowledged by a young lady sitting behind the counter (apparently on a very short stool as only her head was visible). She asked that I mark up a form on a clipboard and then go out the side door and around to the kennel area -- she never moved or rose to speak with me and none of the other 3 people in the area did either.\r I went outside and followed the path back to the kennel area. Like most such facilities the dogs are in an indoor kennel with a door to an outside fenced area -- one of these for each dog (this is an assumption on my part because none of the dogs were outside since IT WAS RAINING HEAVILY. After walking the length of the building and seeing nothing, I walked around to one of the doors and stepped inside, where the dogs were staying. I was quickly told to exit by a staff member and sent back into the rain because visitors must view the dogs from the outside kennels only. Being a slow learner but not totally stupid, I went back around to the front desk so that I could leave. The same staff member who directed me originally then asked if I had any questions. I told her it had been a totally waste of time because none of the dogs were visible. Her reaction was to smile and say nothing. I LEFT QUICKLY AND PERMANENTLY.\r This organization may be compasionate, caring, and totally dedicated to the animals they work with. THEY ARE NOT dedicated to working with people who are equally interested in rescuing animals by adopting them. If one of their goals is to place these animals in loving homes, their process is in total conflict with that objective. \r EITHER MODIFY THE PROCESS or ADMIT THAT YOU DON'T REALLY CARE HOW MANY PLACEMENTS ARE SECURED. The attitudes I witnessed tell me that this Humane Society has lost perspective on what the end product is -- they are wrapped up in ""running the facility"" and ignoring ""placement in loving homes"". \r How disappointing and sad............................................ more

As a volunteer for the Humane Society of Charlotte. It upsets me that people are so misconceived about where the money goes, and the well being of each and every animal that resides there. Understaffed? Yes, maybe. It is far too expensive for a donation only to pay for a larger staff. That is why there are thousands of volunteers there. We do it out of a passion for animals, not for the money. So what is the reason for more staff, when we offer to do the same for free. There are new animals brought in every week from surrenders, and from animal control. So yes, it gets crowded. But never uncomfortably for the dogs, and a dog is usually gone in a week or so as it is. And again, all the space and kennels cost money. At a no kill shelter things do get expensive, but they are all well fed and cared for. You're 'expensive' $110 fee goes towards any health care, a free spay/neuter, microchipping, shots, and a months worth pet insurance. $110 does not TOUCH the money that they put forth on these animals. Altering alone can cost more than $200, but they do it for you, to ensure responsible pet ownership. And microchipping isn't cheap either, and ensures your new pet will be brought back to you if something happens. I support animal control and what they have to do, however I do not support putting an innocent, friendly, harmless dog down for it's breed. A breed that they may not even be 100% sure of. As a pit owner, I can not look at those innocent faces thrown straight to death row. Humane Society on the other hand goes in takes 6 or 7 of those hopeless dogs and finds them homes, as well as several dogs of other breeds. Lastly, your t shirt comment. They are donated, and WE solely pay for them at the time we begin volunteering. Maybe if you knew your facts, you wouldn't post such untrue things. And the dogs that can not go to homes with small children.. The Humane Society is at liability of anything happening, so if that dog snaps at a random scream, or ear pull, or even just playfully knocks your child down and seriously injures him, they don't want that responsibility. It's a risk, and they have more experience than you do to decide which home is fit. Thank you & reconsider your thoughts. more

We went as a family, with a particular animal in mind that we wanted to interact with. In the pet profile it says this animal may do better with older children rather than younger children(babies/toddlers). Well we have a toddler and went in and interacted with this animal and the animal was great towards our baby! He played and followed the baby around and even chased after toys we all tossed around. We went in intending to adopt this animal just to be told it would be a 'shot in the dark' and 'slim to none' that we would be accepted to adopt, all because we have a small child. This animal showed no aggresiveness even when the volunteer tugged on his ears slightly and tail to see if the animal would react. (this is typical 2yr old behavior, we weren't trying to be mean!) There was no reaction. The dog just acted as if he didn't notice. Don't get your hopes up if you go here. Plus the application approval takes like 3 days, and as much as we really wanted that dog, we live nearly 2hrs away! Have you gotten stuck in that Charlotte traffic? Its horrific, we don't want to waste our gas to keep coming up there to get sent home empty handed. Sorry CHS, I will not be suggesting you to any friends or family, and most likely you will not recieve my business in the future. We have a huge yard, live outside the city limits and have ideal environment for this dog, but I suppose that doesn't matter just because I have a child. I would totally understand if the dog was aggressive or had a bad attitude, but this dog was a teddy bear. So what if he jumps up on the kids, thats something you have to TRAIN them NOT to do! If he jumps up then he gets corrected, its not like he is trying to hurt children he just wants to play. If people don't have the patience to teach him not to jump up on people then they don't need a dog right now anyway. Animals are like having an addtional child in the house. You have to teach them right from wrong. If your kid ran up and jumped on someone that was sitting on the couch or you going to send him/her off to be adopted by someone else? No. You're most likely going to tell them 'No, that's not acceptable' or ' No, thats not nice, we dont jump on people.' Cons: HAHA- They don't play fair. more

I am a fan of all animals. Let me tell you that from the beginning. If anyone loves animals and wants to be an advocate for them, it is me. I came to Charlotte and was eager to work with the Humane Society. After interacting with their staff, I was shocked. These people are so greedy and take so much money off the top just for the running of this organization. They are more concerned about their staff having matching shirts then if the dogs and cats have enough food to eat or enough shelter from the rain. I know that the humane society has had problems in the past, and I thought that with the new administration things would be better but it doesn't seem like that is the case. I hope that in the future things do get better there because with a city as large as Charlotte, there should be a relevant humane society. If you want to give to an organization, give to the animal control. Those animals in animal control need your help just as bad if not worse. PLEASE stop breeding dogs. Make sure that you get your next dog from a rescue society or animal control and pray that the humane society wakes up before it is too late. Also always spay or neuter your dogs. I hope that the Board sees what is going on before it really is too late. Cons: Bad People with Agendas of Their Own... more