Wednesday, April 22, 2009

The Tri-County Animal Shelter in Hughesville, Maryland SUCKS

Just a quick post to say how sucky the Tri-County Animal Shelter in Hughesville, Maryland is. It's antiquated, it's stinky, it's loud and depressing. And whatever employee I talked to on Monday April 20, who said that no dog fitting Whiskey's description was there, should be fired. She also asked me if he was micro-chipped, which I thought was strange. Since they should not have ANY dogs that are micro-chipped, since they should be scanned when they are taken in.

If the person said they had new animals come in within the past 24 hours and was unsure, I would have been there. But no, she told me that no dog fitting Whiskey's description was there and I could look online at pictures of the strays (there was no pic of Whiskey). I knew that if someone found him, they would call the # on his tag. The pic below with his ID was taken just last week.

I posted on the Lost & Found on our craigslist and another popular regional website in their classifieds. I put up a lost dog sign, drove around the neighborhood etc.

The shelter is located in another county - about 30 miles away. My neighbor, the one who watched Whiskey when we were away, stopped by the shelter and ta-da found Whiskey.

I was happy and shocked on one hand, and furious with the Animal Shelter on the other hand for lying/being incompetent. And something is waay too fishy with how by coincidence his tag is missing. I think whoever in the neighborhood called to report a dog running (walking) loose, removed the ID tag to be mean.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I volunteer at another shelter, not this one, and I think you are wrong to criticize them because your verbal description was not immediate linked to the dog on site there. They get lots of dogs and the way you describe your pet may not sound like what they see. And what if they thought maybe your description matched a dog there and you drove the long distance but it WASN'T your dog? I guess you would attack them for that, too. The only way to know for sure is to go there and see for yourself.

Anonymous said...

I have been coming to your site for a long time, this is the first time I was compelled to write. I too, don't think it's fair to criticize the shelter.
Calling in a description is a pretty lazy way to look for your dog. Shelters are mostly volunteer run, under-staffed, and overused. Cut them a break and do a little more leg work.

Chris the Yardsale Queen said...

The shelter knew they screwed up. I won't go into a word by word transcription of my phone conversations with them, but they knew they screwed up and offered excuses (and a reduction in the fee because of it).

Regardless, the place is still a stinky, loud, antiquated and depressing.

And I am cutting them some slack, I decided to not send in my Letter to the Editors of all our local newspapers.

Anonymous said...

guys, Chris is right. if you met the ladies that work there, you'd know they act nothing short of 'bothered' by every visitor. it's not bashing their business, or all of the people there, it's just stating an experience. i've been there personally, and know for a fact that each time i've visited, they act as if doing their job is a burden. in today's society, with the economy the way it is, they should be thankful to even have a job. and if they don't enjoy it, they can give a two-weeks notice and allow a more understanding employee take over. fact is fact, my friends.

you don't know how many people relate to this post so on one hand of telling Chris she's wrong, your other hand should be smacking yourselves for being biased. true, we all cut them slack because of knowing the typical standards of an animal shelter. BUT, as i said before, fact is fact. and the fact about this place is they are absolutely not compassionate, competent, or organized. three things an animal shelter should be first above anything. :)

good post, Chris.

Anonymous said...

Totally agree with Chris. I used to take in food and treats to donate and everytime I felt like I was intruding by going there. The staff was very unfriendly.