My kitty passed a couple months ago. I have mixed feelings about taking on another one right away, but have been going down to the shelter just to look at the kitties and gauge how I feel.
This week my travels took me to a different shelter. I got a rather strange vibe from it, but since I usually only go to my city's shelter, I thought I'd ask other forum members.
When I drove in there was a huge sign--one that dominated everything else--that said not to bring any cats or dogs to the shelter as they are overcrowded. OK, that's probably a common status for a shelter, I thought.
But then I got out and headed toward the nearest building which turned out to the office. There was a sign on the door saying "All animals that are dumped at the door will go to animal control." There was also an unleashed dog sleeping on the other side of the door. He was sleeping right there because his pet bed was placed there. When I opened the door he immediately got up and attempted to leave the building.
I finally made it to the cat adoption facility. There was a large group of people, probably volunteers who simply stared at me when I came in. Someone finally asked why I was here, and I told them I just wanted to look at the cats. Then they had someone come up to me. The person wanted me to fill out a form. I explained that I was not ready to adopt yet. She said it was only to find out what I wanted. I really didn't want to give out personal information just to view cats, so I repeated that was not adopting today. She continued to push the form on me. I finally told her wasn't going to fill it out and I that I was leaving due their insistence on the form.
Later on I went to my regular shelter. I looked at the admittance office. They do have a sign up about animal abandonment, and there was a camera, but it didn't come off anywhere near as rude/authoritarian.
What are other people's experiences at their shelter? Do they post huge signs discouraging people from taking pets to the shelter for adoption? Do they require people to fill out forms just to see what pets are available?
This week my travels took me to a different shelter. I got a rather strange vibe from it, but since I usually only go to my city's shelter, I thought I'd ask other forum members.
When I drove in there was a huge sign--one that dominated everything else--that said not to bring any cats or dogs to the shelter as they are overcrowded. OK, that's probably a common status for a shelter, I thought.
But then I got out and headed toward the nearest building which turned out to the office. There was a sign on the door saying "All animals that are dumped at the door will go to animal control." There was also an unleashed dog sleeping on the other side of the door. He was sleeping right there because his pet bed was placed there. When I opened the door he immediately got up and attempted to leave the building.
I finally made it to the cat adoption facility. There was a large group of people, probably volunteers who simply stared at me when I came in. Someone finally asked why I was here, and I told them I just wanted to look at the cats. Then they had someone come up to me. The person wanted me to fill out a form. I explained that I was not ready to adopt yet. She said it was only to find out what I wanted. I really didn't want to give out personal information just to view cats, so I repeated that was not adopting today. She continued to push the form on me. I finally told her wasn't going to fill it out and I that I was leaving due their insistence on the form.
Later on I went to my regular shelter. I looked at the admittance office. They do have a sign up about animal abandonment, and there was a camera, but it didn't come off anywhere near as rude/authoritarian.
What are other people's experiences at their shelter? Do they post huge signs discouraging people from taking pets to the shelter for adoption? Do they require people to fill out forms just to see what pets are available?