Humane Society of Charles County

This place is stupid!

May 17, 2015 — This shelter is a ‘no kill shelter’ which operates on donations and volunteer help.
There can be many reasons why someone would give a 5 star rating to a business. Here is my story…
After becoming frustrated with
and some of the organizations on there, I stumbled upon
. If you want me to share my frustrations about petfinder, let me just say briefly… of the 6 organizations I contacted about adoption, only one called me to discuss adopting a cat. And, that lady was very nice. Three organizations never replied back (and two of those I had already completed their lengthy ‘online applications’). You know the type; where they ask you your date of birth, full name, address, # of people in your home, how many hours will the pet be left alone? Those types of questions. Too bad they didn’t come right out (and be blunt) and say «What would be a good time to rob your home»? or, «May we sell your information to someone in Nigeria so they can commit Identity Fraud»?
Fancy Cats in Herndon, flat out rejected me (for some unstated, unsupportable reason). I guess they prefer to have all the cat’s pictures online so they can generate ‘Donations’. Perhaps, their motivation is more financial, than what is moral and good. At any rate, then, lastly… I contacted the Humane Society of Charles County.
I was looking for a particular breed of cat — a Maine Coon. I found a really cool looking adult cat named Mufasa at the Charles County shelter. So, I fired off a email late one night and the very next morning, I received a response from Heather. Heather said that Mufasa is still available to adopt. We exchanged a few more emails to answer some additional questions I had, and on Sunday afternoon I drove over to see Mufasa in person.
There were several people checking out pets in the lobby area. I saw cages on the ground with rabbits, turtles, and other little animals/​reptiles. I walked into the cat room and saw several cats playing openly. There were two young girls in there playing with the cats. I walked around but couldn’t find the Mufasa I was looking for so, I walked over to the reception desk and spoke to a lady named Jenn. Jenn walked me back to a office in the building. She opened the door, then opened a six foot tall storage cabinet, inside on the second shelf from the bottom was Mufasa. He looked regal, calm, collected… like you would expect to see a large male lion act. Way cool! I took a few minutes to get to know him while Jenn and I chatted.
After I was absolutely sure I wanted to pursue the adoption, I walked back around the building to the front desk. Jenn gave me the application. I was standing there in the cat room filling it out when all of a sudden, I feel my shirt getting snagged from the back. Here I was using the top of a cage to fill out the application but, I also was backed up to another row of cages. So, I turn around and see this adorable little black male kitty in there with his paws outside the cage. I played with him a few minutes and as I walked around the row of cages, a cute little black and white, medium-​haired, female kitty caught my eye. Her name is Lil Shopper. Yeah, I know… crazy name right? She had the most beautiful personality. I opened the cage and started petting her. We must have bonded quickly because the next thing I know, I’m asking Jenn «what would happen if I wanted to adopt two cats today»? She said I would get the second cat half-​off. Well, the rest is history as they say.
I turned in my application. The bill came to $ 97.50. Both cats were previously fixed, both micro-​chipped, and all of their shots and vaccines are current. I had one pet carrier in my car but, needed a second pet carrier to take Lil Shopper home. So, that added $ 5 to the bill. I then wrote a check for both and included a $ 27.50 donation so they can continue to feed and care for the other animals at the shelter.
STAFF:
Heather was very nice in her emails to me and more importantly, she responded very quickly. Jenn was really super and allowed me time with both cats, she told me about the ‘multi-​cat’ discount, gave me the required forms to fill out, talked to me about the food I should feed these cats, and even helped me carry one of them to my car. She made my trip to this facility a positive rewarding experience.
IN CONCLUSION:
I’m rating this facility 5 stars because everyone I met there were outstanding… they are all very kind and passionate about saving /​rescuing animals, they take great care in the service they provide and the animals under their care.
If you have room in your heart, and room in your home… please consider adopting a animal from this shelter today.
Link:

Between volunteering here and coming in to play with the cats, and adopting a pair of older Huskies, I have to say that this shelter is wonderful. They truly care about the animals they have, and want to find good homes for them.
We adopted Ike and Cheyenne, 10 and 13 years old respectively, in January after their owner died. I saw them on Facebook, as the Pet of the Day, and boosted the signal hoping someone could take them. As it was just two days after we had to put our Husky Kyra down – she was 16 and failing – we weren’t looking to adopt again. But I called anyway, and was happy/​sad to hear the pair had several adoption applications. I checked back the next week, and they were still there; apparently the adoptions hadn’t gone through. So we went down, met the dogs, and fell in love. We brought them home the next day, an have been laughing ever since! I’m so grateful that HSCC was able to get them out of Tri-​County, which is a kill shelter! Thank you to everyone at HSCC for taking care of our lovable cuddle bugs!

I can finally make my review after my little man got neutered two weeks ago, it was a very easy process… drop off between 8 and 9am and pickup after 5pm. The people at the Humane Society were extremely nice and professional and gave me strict directions to follow to make sure my doggy would be ok. Needless to say I didn’t have to worry about any of the negative consequences following his surgery after the first day. I got my same lil buddy back I had before his surgery, I just don’t have to worry about him «mounting» any people anymore.

the humane society in waldorf is a good place to go if you want a pet. they work hard with your family to help you find the right pet that will fit in with your family. its a clean facility with a hard working staff. they can use volunteers and donations of dog/​cat food. paper towels and bleach (for cleaning purposes)

I’ve adopted two animals from this shelter… a dog in 1994 and a cat in 2001. Both animals were well-​socialized and healthy. I’ve been to other shelters where the animals shy away from you if you try to pet them or otherwise don’t seem like they’re being properly socialized, but not here. Ike (my cat) showed absolutely no fear of humans, and was ready to explore the world the minute I opened his cage! Same with our dog. The staff are very friendly and helpful and will let you browse at your leisure and get acquainted with the animals. There have been times when I’ve just stopped in to visit with the kitties for a little while; the staff are absolutely fine with that (again, not always the case with some shelters). If you’re looking for a furry friend, I highly recommend that you check out this shelter first.

Facility is very clean, organized, and they have such a hard-​working staff! All the animals are given comfortable, clean cages, and the dogs and cats are separated in their own rooms. The staff is very helpful in answering any questions you might have, and they are there to help the animals find great homes. They do many many fundraisers and events that are fun and they appreciate any help from volunteers. I have adopted many of my pets from here and referred many of my friends and family to them. They have a great adoption rate and they have a very informative web site with a list of pet groomers, pet sitters, and other pet-​friendly businesses.
. Check them out to adopt a pet or to help out their cause! They really are the most compassionate group in Charles County!