Countryside Humane Society

My cat escaped my house and someone picked him up and brought him to this location. I saw his picture posted and called to find out what was needed and was told it was going to cost $99(!) to pick him up due to various fees and shots.

I understand the $46 licensing fee and the $18 rabies vaccine fee because those are required by the state of WI, and shame on me for not having done that previously (my cat is 7 months old and I hadn’t gotten around to it). So, sure, that’s on me. BUT they couldn’t administer the rabies vaccine because there wasn’t a vet there so they gave me a voucher to come back for the shot and the license (which they can’t provide without the shot). I was told that I could bring my cat back between 12-2 on a weekday, so I called the following day at 12:20 and was told that the vets were leaving early and I couldn’t bring him in. Grrrrrr. They took my money and can’t provide the services that they required I pay for!

On top of those fees, they charged for additional (unasked for and unnescesary) shots and a $16 boarding fee, even though he was there for less than one day. The total came to $113!!!! For my own cat!

If they could do the other shots, why in the heck didn’t they do the rabies vaccine at the same time!?

The best part was, after they already charged my card for the $113, they pulled out a “contract” which I was required to sign, and part of which stated I wouldn’t say anything negative about them. Are you freaking kidding me!? I declined to sign the contract with that verbiage and crossed it out.

They ransomed my cat, charged me $113, and couldn’t provide services for the only $64 portion that is state required! And that contract is a joke.

Majority of them could care less about the animals ... just sad.

Growing up we got 2 dogs and 2 cats from here with great success. But as of recently i feel the health of the cats specifically at this shelter is at risk. Me and my fiance have adopted 2 kittens from here and they have both died of a rare viral disease called FIP. we got the first kitten in 12/2010 and he died in 4/2011. The second kitten we adopted in 7/2011 and she has now come down with the same disease. Upon the first kittens death we contacted the shelter and they informed us the rest of his litter had died of the same disease. Did the ever call us to warn us of it? Nope! We contacted our vet had our other cat tested and she was ok and the vet said clean the house get new litter boxes and wait a couple months before adopting and you should be just fine. Well apparently our second cat had aquired the disease at the shelter from cages that were not cleaned well enough or from transfer from other cats at the shelter. And we have to go through the agony of putting down another pet.

It really bothers me to write this as like i said i went here to get all our pets when i was growing up in racine, but they need to do something.

A number of years ago, we had to put our 15 year old dog to sleep for health reasons. To ensure our pet was euthanized in a compassionate and expedient fashion we brought her to Countryside Humane Society. We brought her in, said our goodbyes and waited for the Humane Officer to come and report to us that she had passed. He reported that our 'old girl' went into a deep deep sleep from the anesthetic after which he gave her another shot so she would pass away quietly and gently without fear or stress. I feel the staff was caring, compassionate and empathetic to our situation, allowed us to wait until she passed (so we knew she wasn't caged for the day and 'done' as part of the day's end wrap up), allowed us to grieve and assured us whe would be well taken care of.

Since then, our family has adopted three dogs from CHS, have gotten all of their shots, heart worm preventative medications, spaying and neutering done at CHS. We bring our dog to the dog washes and hope to make it to their next dog wash/carnival in the fall. We check the adoptable pets page and visit CHS on a regular basis, often bringing one of the dogs with us for the visit. The CHS staff greets us warmly and most often remembers our dogs "kennel name" which we changed once we got our new addition home.

I highly recommend Countryside Humane Society as the premier pet adoption location of Racine County

I would like to share a very positive story of my perstonal experience at Country side HS. I went there following the loss of a wonderful Yorkie who was also a resue. I found the staff helpful and friendly. They took their time and sked questions which implied a persnal interest in creating a positive experience. After much thought I decided to adopt 2 animals who were shy and abused- not by CSHS. They needed love, caring and patience,but the reward has been great! They are not perfect, but I love them just the same.

Just remember, we sometimes come accross people who lack good judgement on matters. This is indeed unfortunate, but we should not discredit the hard work of those who work with these animals daily. I comend the commitment and dedication of those who work to protect animals. I would suggest a vist to CSHS again. I have two wonderful pets. CSHS is a needed resourceful place of compassion.

I would not recommend this place to anyone. Its unfortunate the animals are stuck there. The staff and animal control officer treated my wife and I like we were criminals when we arrived to find the animal had come for had been put on hold for someone else when we were told no animal could be put on hold overnight. There was not even an "I'm sorry" or the semblance of sympathy from any one of the staff. My wife was told to shut up repeatedly and we were wasting their time because they wanted to close early, when she was simply looking for an explanation. Then, to horrify us, the animal control officer told us that its because of people like us (people who asked to think about the animal overnight so we could be sure it would be best for us and the potential pet) that another animal had to be KILLED. And he did use the word KILLED. It just made me and my wife sick. We have to live with that thought the rest of our lives. How could we be made to feel like we did something wrong by asking to adopt a pet? To think those words would come out of a civil servant's mouth, it just makes you wonder what he says to others when being paid by Racine's taxpayers. Its easy to understand where the staff that day got their pathetic attitude. Check the reviews on yahoo.com and you will see more of the same.