Seattle Humane

They don’t seem to take much time getting to know an animal before writing their bios. The dog we got has an almost completely different personality than the one we were told about.
She is a good dog, but I never would have adopted her had I known about the issues she has.
Update: And now they have the gall to have me make an appointment to give her back. Thanks a lot for the two extra days of stress and anxiety in my household.

You have to be «first in the parking lot «in order to get the puppy, not just first in line at the door and first inside … I left that place in tears I was first … Still didn’t get the dog. INSTEAD. They gave the dog to some old rich guy that pulled up in a 60k vehicle that said hes gone 8+ hours a day!!! The poor puppy that’s 4 months old has to sit in its filth :(I’m home all the time my husband just worked 3 straight days no sleep to go drive to this place. The staff is nice the place is nice but they need a better way of doing things. That guy should not have gotten the 4 month old puppy ‚(I hope it survives ‚((

Staff and volunteers very professional, shelter is run with the highest standards. Helpful pre-​adoption interview tipped me off to ways to some kitten-​adoption best practices that I (an experienced cat owner) was unaware of. So thankful they took the time for this. They also knew the personalities of their animals very well and connected me with 2 cuddly, outgoing kittens, who had clearly been fostered by some amazing cat person. All shelters are run by saints, but these saints are also highly organized pros. This is the shelter to adopt from.

Very well run place. Loved the dog I adopted there. Had to give him up for move. Miss him terribly.
Staff here top notch.
Get your next dog family member here.

The staff was very nice and very helpful when we came to adopt a dog. We were walked through each perspective pup’s health and behavior records, questions were clearly answered, and we were give time to «interview» (my own words) potential new family members.
The cages and kennels were clean and well kept, and the animals looked well cared for. It was a great experience.

I adopted my new dog from Seattle Humane last weekend. My initial visit took place on 4/​17, a Friday afternoon. I fell in love w/​a lab mix and that was that. The volunteers & staff were friendly, knowledgeable and patient. We did intros with my other dogs on Saturday at the shelter and Sunday my new buddy came home!
I like that the staff took the time to allow for introductions and make sure he’d be a good fit for our family.
This is our 3^rd rescue dog and I highly recommend Seattle Humane if you are looking to adopt!
Re: The review that mentions holds: You can’t do a hold over the phone, but CAN place a hold on a pet once you’ve met him/​her in person.

Yet another Humane Society bad experience — the take-​home message is that there is minimal consideration for animals, zero consideration for possible adopters, and 100% consideration for the convenience of the workers. I called on a Friday afternoon about a dog, hoping to drive down, visit and possibly adopt. No one answered the phone — voice mail for 15 minutes. Finally got a call back two hours later, and the only meaningful info I received is that they do not do holds and that their website information was current each night. I was then put on hold and hung up on after a few minutes. I did the 1 hour drive the next day, and amazingly, the dog I was to visit was ‘ON HOLD’ for 24 hours. And their website still says that the dog is available. Call ahead and be ready for b.s., regardless of what you are told.

I adopted my cat, Aslan (formerly known as Cappy) from here back in February of 2012. The staff was super nice and helpful! We didn’t have to wait long to adopt him since it was a week day. They let us know of his medical background and there weren’t any «surprises» that other people got when they took their pets home. Everything was in the paperwork.
The description of him was so on point! He really does greet us at the door when we come home! And he’s super cuddly and sweet! He’s a wonderful therapy cat and I will definitely adopt another pet in the future!
I’m also a new volunteer there and get to work with such precious, sweet dogs! It’s a great environment to be in! I highly recommend volunteering if you have the time!

Horrible service, i called them to get help and advice on training my unruley dog after getting nowhere ive called a few rescues for help and lessons. i figured because i had left several messages someone would call me back… nothing, ive brought my dog here for spay surgery and the people they had working at the time didnt seem to care a whole lot about animals they were just rude. I wouldnt trust them with my dogs.

We adopted a great fluffy oof-​oof dog from the Seattle Humane Society. The SHS staff was very friendly and helpful throughout the entire process, however I do have a suggestion for them going forward:
Our new fluffy friend had been a farm dog stray in Eastern WA and they thought he’d be a major problem dog because he didn’t respond to any commands… the catch was «English» commands. His Spanish understanding was at a higher level than me. Once my Columbian girlfriend started speaking those exotic noises to him, he was «ven aqui“ing and «sientate“ing with the best of them.
My suggestion is to test strays for Spanish understanding. I know the family in front of me passed on our big pup because of the potential hardship (which I am extremely thankful of! Thank you lady who thought ‘Ozark’ would be a menace… he’s actually the perfectly behaved angel shepherd lol not really but close). I would hate to see other great animals getting passed up on because of something similar.
Anyways, this is a great place and rescuing animals is the way to go! Usually it ends up as the human being the one rescued, ya feel?! Thanks Seattle Humane Society :)

They are not good at returning phone calls. Over the past few days I have tried reaching them to schedule euthanasia and cremation for my sick pet and only once was my phone message even returned. (Of course, they never pick up the phone.)
Pet died today before scheduled euthanasia and I called to find out if I could just get cremation done and never heard back. Ended up using Pet Crematory in Auburn instead.

Seattle inhumane society is not good.
I was just sold a lab puppy, and after all the paperwork and $ was done, they showed me his medical records that they withheld.
I was told he was fine, just a little diahrea. But it turns out, he’s been on medication for a week for his tummy problems, and has a serious case of kennel cough. Which is now full on pneumonia!
His first night at his new home was spent coughing and throwing up bile.
Also, it wasn’t until I was home that I was told about his medical issues. They called and said «I forgot to take his meds?» «What meds?» I asked. And then it unveiled just how sick my pup is.
Horrible horrible situation caused by the inhumane society.

I’m very disappointed in my experience yesterday. Two years ago I adopted my cat there and my experience was so much better.
Yesterday my adoption counselor was cold and judgemental. I felt overly criticized for my cats disappearance. For the past 2 months I have searched and done everything I knew how to find him. According to her I didn’t try hard enough. Sadly, he’s probably not coming back so to fill the empty hole I decided to adopt.
I arrived thinking maybe I’ll adopt 2 kittens or possibly an adult cat. I wasn’t sure. After my interview, I was told I couldn’t adopt kittens, cats that are declawed or have special needs. I felt humiliated! All because she believed I didn’t try hard enough.
I am an animal loving person who puts her pets first. I have a great career that provides enough money to care for these fur babies. Yet, I went home with nothing but hurt feelings.
I don’t usually post negative reviews or many reviews at all, but I think customer service on this day sucked and one or 2 of your kittens lost out on an excellent forever home.

I used to volunteer here a few years ago. It’s easy to volunteer at events or at the shelter itself. They do a lot of great things helping out animals and I loved attending their recent Catapalooza event. I hope they continue in all their efforts helping out the animals.

This was the first shelter I’ve ever been to. I love that it’s a no-​kill shelter and that they have such a huge variety of animals. I am personally a rabbit lover but I adopted my very first dog here and I couldn’t love him anymore than I already do. Sometimes I stop by when I’m having a bad day just to see all the animals, since it’s close to school and work for me. However, I can see what the other reviews mean when they say that some of the volunteers there are rude. It honestly is a «hit or miss» thing when it comes to them. They’re people too and they’re only volunteers — you can’t expect much from them. But when you meet an animal you fall in love with and want to take home, all the attitude is worth it! Personally most of the volunteers have either been quite helpful and nice to me or just don’t mind me at all and continue doing their thing.

I’ve been here many times and they have a handful amount of pets for adoption. Usually on their website there will be a list and picture of pets animal for adoption. Always something to check out before you come here. And if you are seriously interested you should give them a call to see if anyone has holds on the pet you are interested it.
On another note, I read in a different review saying that adopters beware and to go to another shelter. I want to say that this is an adoption center. You are here to ADOPT a pet. These poor animals did not choose what shelters they are put into, so give every shelter an equal opportunity. I was here a couple weeks ago and the volunteers that devote there time in caring for these animals said that they do not kill any animals. My encounters with the people running this place were kind and educated in these animals.
*Side note* It’ll be really cool if a dog park was created within the facility for these animals to run around and play!!! [maybe if everyone donated a little, the community can make this happen!!]

We’ve been considering getting a dog for quite some time now and we finally broke down and decided to look into adopting. We went to SHS thinking we were just going to start our search there. After seeing all the dogs I was immediately drawn to Bella (Artemis). We met with the staff for about 30 minutes to discuss her and a couple of other dogs we liked then we finally got to meet her! We knew Artemis was meant for us as soon as we met her :) After spending another 30 or 45 minutes hanging out with her and making sure she really was a good fit, we met with a volunteer who described some of her mannerisms and things to be aware of. We were there for quite a while, but I think the time we spent was well worth it.
The staff and volunteers at SHS obviously love what they do and they do a great job making sure the animal is a good fit for its new owner and vice versa. The process couldn’t have gone more smoothly and the fit couldn’t be better. Thank you SHS for making a great match for both of us!

We officially adopted Phinney in May from SHS, but she unofficially came from our friends who were fostering her mom and the rest of her litter. We met Phinney when she was 6 weeks old in a home environment. What started as «just playing with puppies» turned into a serious discussion about getting a dog. After 3 weeks of hemming and hawing, we made the leap to dog owner!
The good thing about knowing the foster parent is that you get to «reserve» a puppy so we didn’t have to queue up when the shelter opened to snap up a puppy. Phinney transitioned almost directly from our friend’s home to ours, with a short 10 hour stint at SHS for spaying.
The adoption process at SHS is very efficient. The employees there are more brusque and matter-​of-​fact than warm and gushy (like I imagine animal lovers to be). I guess they see so many puppies and kittens that they become immune to cuteness. My adoption officer was monotone and bored, but he did process my paperwork very quickly.
The environment there on a Friday afternoon borders on chaotic — many people coming in and out looking for new family members — but the staff managed them well. While I was waiting, I eavesdropped on some conversations with potential adopters — I liked how the staff were honest about individual animal’s temperaments and behaviors. They didn’t try to sugarcoat or lie in order to get the dog out the door and into a home. If the dog wasn’t well-​trained or good with children, they would say so.
After Phinney came home with us, we received followup calls from the shelter after the first month and then a few months after that to see how she was doing in her new home. We also received a free 6 week training class with our adoption, but we never used it as we found a trainer closer to home.
I have to mention that the shelter isn’t very good at pinpointing the breeds that make up the dog’s genetic makeup. Phinney was said to be a «lab mix» but when we got her DNA tested, she came back with absolutely 0% lab or retriever. The largest breed represented was border collie at 25%. She’s also a little bit of terrier, a little bit of chow, and 50% «unknown». It was mostly fine with us — we were a bit disappointed she wasn’t a lab — but I wouldn’t rely on their breed classifications too much when choosing a dog.

I wasn’t even intending to adopt a dog that day. And I certainly wasn’t planning on adopting a dog that spent most of the time during our initial introduction barking, growling, and snapping at a bull terrier in the next pen over. (Jeez, I thought. No wonder his last family sent him back to the Humane Society after a week. He’s a monster.)
However, thanks to the great advice and help from the people at Humane Society, this so-​called monster (who was really just a cuddly wuss-​pants in a stressful situation) has found a happy forever home with me and my two other dogs. As busy as the Seattle Humane Society gets (especially on a Sunday), the process of adopting a dog was quite simple. Everyone we met at the Humane Society, from the volunteers to the full time staff, was really great. The girl who helped us introduce the new dog to my existing pets was super knowledgeable about dog behavior and gave us great tips to make the new dog’s transition into our home an easy one. And they provide lots of resources to make sure that any dog owner (from first timers to experienced) will have a great relationship with his or her new pal.
My house is full now, so I probably won’t be adopting another pet anytime soon, but the Seattle Humane Society is the first place I’d recommend for anyone looking for a pet.

Healing from losing my beloved dog, I decided to visit some shelters to see if any dogs tugged at my heartstrings. I wasn’t sure I was completely ready to adopt a dog, but looking couldn’t hurt! It was actually kind of healing seeing how many dogs needed a loving home. I knew that I had given my last shelter dog a gift, just as he had been one to me.
I had been looking online and it is difficult to tell from the write up online and from the photos exactly what you should expect! Some shelters have the age and weight of the dogs listed, but Seattle Humane Society does not have the weight of the dogs available and did not have the age of one of the dogs I was interested in. I prefer a very small dog since I live in an apartment. The last dog I adopted was eight, so age was not a huge factor, but it is still nice to know! I don’t have time for a puppy and didn’t want to deal with a dog that was so old we would only be together a few years.
We looked through the cages and saw some of the dogs that we saw online. I am not sure the breeds are classified properly, some of the Chihuahuas were 20+ pounds! We passed one of the kennels a few times with a couple of dogs in it. One was «Wendy» a cute little Chihuahua who didn’t have her age listed. She seemed sweet and docile, she was even sleeping on her roommate, so cute! Then the dogs started barking and she went crazy! The last thing I need is a barking dog in my apartment :) We decided after an hour that we would visit with Wendy, just to see. We had a few other dogs on the list to visit, I didn’t want to regret not having a one on one with this dog.
The shelter requires you fill out some forms and complete a quick interview before you can visit with a dog. My daughter really wanted to visit with a puppy, but because of the interview and us not being able to take a puppy home, we were not able to visit with it. I really appreciate this because so many people take on pets they cannot handle. We had a one on one with Wendy and she was a little snuggle bug! She nestled right in and fell asleep, so amazing! She didn’t bark when we were with her, except when another dog was having a visit next to us. She is a really good listener and stopped barking when I asked her to. We were in love, my daughter even gave her a new name, «Wednesday» or Winnie for short. Once you name a dog, it is yours, right?
We started the adoption process and the shelter had all of Wednesday’s vet records. She has a medical condition which requires prescription food for the rest of her life. They were really great about explaining the condition and the recent surgery she had because of it. Because they had the prior vet records, it was really easy to see what we had in store if she needed surgery again.
Seattle Humane Society gave us a voucher for a free vet visit and six weeks of obedience training. My regular vet accepted the voucher, which was fantastic. I cannot wait to start obedience classes!
The paperwork was kind of sloppy and it was unclear of the dog was spayed as everything the shelter had said she had not been spayed. The Seattle Humane Society does not adopt out dogs that have not been spayed, I’m not sure how this was missed! When I called, the person I spoke to agreed that all of their records showed the dog was not spayed. Thankfully I was able to go through the prior vet records and find that she was spayed when she had her recent surgery. Otherwise, the shelter said they would have to open her up to confirm or perform the spay.
Our sweet Wednesday is at home enjoying her new life.