Columbia Humane Society - St Helens, Oregon

Shawna

Called them on the phone and sent an online inquiry about a dog I was maybe interested in. They want you to print out an extensive application, fill every bit of it in, scan it in, and then email it back to them before anything. Then give you an intensive phone interview before they even consider setting an appointment that works for them to see 1 dog!
There are other places that do not treat you like a criminal because you want to rescue/ adopt a dog! The Shelter in Longview does in person applications and the applications are not that long. Plus, you can see multiple pets. They treat you like a human.

Aimee O.

We adopted my very best friend from here 13 years ago. When we went to meet him the first time he was sick and being cared for at one of the employee's homes. We came back to meet him when he was well and just knew that he belonged with us. They took excellent care of him while he was there and allowed us the space to meet and greet with him. He passed away at 17 years old last month. I will never be able to replace him and am grateful for Columbia's role in placing him with us.

Austin H.

Was looking to adopt one of the amazing animals. Emailed the paperwork and the person who responded was really rude and unprofessional. They proceeded to tell me that the dog wouldn’t do well with cats but didn’t say anything about that in his details of the adoption page. This person was incredibly rude and unprofessional. This person also said that the neighborhood where I live I’m not Allowed to have another dog and not allowed to have outdoor cats. If I wanted to ask this person whether I’m allowed to have another dog or outdoor cats I would’ve talked to the managers of my establishment. Other than that I don’t really this was appropriate for this person to say any of this. Just trying to help and give a dog a needed loving home.

Kyla D.

When my lost dog was found and I tried to contact them to get her back they were extremely disrespectful telling me that I would have to adopt her if I wanted her but I had all the paperwork stating that she was mine as well as they adopted her out to another family before I had the chance to come into the shelter. They do not accept volunteers as well as profile people and tell them that they look like somebody who would abuse animals. Continuing on my friend and I found a dog running down the highway risking getting hit so we tried to bring the dog to the humane society and we called the front desk where we could very clearly see the lady at the desk ignoring our phone call we finally gave up on trying to call and called the police and only when the cop showed up banging on the door did she respond and with attitude as if we did something wrong as well as grabbing the dog by the scruff on the back of the neck the dog was yelling in pain from her doing it and she showed no remorse as well as them having animals sleeping on cement no beds and almost anytime I’ve gone to the humane society none of the animals had food or water it is so sad to see the humane society go downhill this much. NEW STAFF IS NEEDED. This is not a humane society people should bring animals to especially if you care about the well being of animals. I don’t know what happened to this place but it’s horrible now.

Jessica C.

Whoever works here is extremely rude! We submitted an application to adopt one of the young pups. Some how I received an application from another adopter and they received mine. I also received an email from the shelter that they tried to call and then instantly another saying that was not for me, then before I could respond got a call. I informed her of the application mix up and she demanded the name. She was very rude. She then informed me that we were not suitable because we have a male dog and I asked for clarification, not being rude just to understand if it was aggression or another reason! Her response and tone of voice were extremely disrespectful as if I had just offended her. Then she went on to explain that because this dog was large breed, Great Dane, and I have a 2 year old he could not be placed with us. I totally understand in some situations this is true. He is a puppy still and we have the training and experience for this breed. I then said ok that’s fine! But we currently have two Great Danes and they do wonderful with our daughter. Her entire attitude was unacceptable. She then proceeded to argue with me that large dogs shouldn’t be in families with small children and that they have had them returned for this in the past…. That is 100% the fault of the shelter and adopter. The shelter for allowing a dog that size to go to a family with no large breed dog experience and not aware that large dogs can knock over small kids. The family for not doing their research regarding large dogs and small kids.

Overall I regret submitting my application to a shelter who is not willing to be professional with others. I simply was confused how my personal information got released to another adopter. She didn’t need to be out of line.

KK

I agree with some of the previous reviews, they're rude and condescending. talked to me like we didn't know anything about dogs. Absolutely nowhere on the website or in the application does it say they will not allow you to adopt a male dog if you have a male dog no matter the age. Absolutely nowhere on the website or application does it say they only allow adoptions of small dogs if you rent. There are many other shelters and rescues around the state to adopt from. Call around and and educate yourself about the people and the rescues.

Kelsey R.

My husband and I visited a dog that we were interested in on a Wednesday in November. The staff was helpful and things seemed great. We were very interested in him. The staff recommended we bring the kids that Saturday to make sure everyone got along. The kids were very very excited. My husband took them in on Saturday, however much to the disappointment of the kids and my husband, they were told that Duncan could only go home to a home with another dog. The kids were devastated! Nothing was said about that criteria when we turned in the application on Wednesday and no one bothered to let us know that they changed their mind. There was nothing on the site that said Duncan needed to go to a home with another dog. I understand that the dogs must be placed in a home that is a good fit, but it would have been nice to be informed of the decision before bringing the children over to meet him. I am not pleased with how things were handled.

Dina G.

The Staff was very rude. I could hear dogs barking sadly. They have dogs sleeping on cement outside. They refuse to have volunteers. Which is so sad :(. I saw the cats had no food and water at one point. They do not have a current website!