Mt. Pleasant Animal Shelter — Attraction in East Hanover

If you have a lovely camping tent to pitch, you might as well bring it to MPAS. I have never encountered a facility that made it near impossible to adopt a pet. I had visited on a Sunday to look for potential dogs. Out of the whole kennel I had fallen in love with two dogs; a yellow lab mix and a chihuahua mix. I wasn’t allowed to meet them yet as they had arrived two days before I had shown up and hadn’t been seen by a vet or behavior tested. Fair. I had walked out to reception and I was told to fill out an application (which is useless just so you know). The lady at reception told me that the application wasn’t a place holder but that I would be considered before other people (lies) should they be interested. I was told both dogs would be ready on Tuesday at 1pm (more lies). She told me to call in the morning to check to see if they were ready for adoption and I could come up on Tuesday to adopt. Nobody ever remotely mentioned to me I needed my whole family plus your unborn children to attend to meet the dog. Needless to say, I work like the average American. I had called when they had said to and I was told both were available for adoption and would be cleared by 1pm. Great. With ignorant bliss, I picked up my mother and we drove a good 40 minutes to the shelter only to be told upon arriving one of my dogs had been adopted already.... did this family use a VIP pass I didn’t know about to beat the 1pm clearance? I digress. The other dog I was interested in was still there. I was told to sit in the chairs and wait for them to bring him out. We were eventually escorted into another room to get history about him (which wasn’t much). The employee was impossible to understand and never looked us in the eyes, always away from us or down at the floor. He said you needed all members of the family in attendance. I had stated that nobody had ever told me this and he laughed and said that was their policy. He eventually brought in the dog and naturally my mother and I fell in love. I had called my father and disturbed him at work and told him my plight. He agreed to leave early and hop in his car to meet us at the shelter. The employee who had brought the dog in cane back in and we had said happily that the third member was coming up. He looked confused and nervous and said he was going to let the front desk know. The dog had fallen asleep on my lap and was very calm. The next thing I knew, the “so called manager” came in and said there was another family looking to adopt the dog I had and without another word took the dog from my lap and walked out. My heart hit the floor so hard I found Earth’s core. They left us alone in the room for what seemed like hours before they came back in to tell me without compassion the other family is taking him and they put a down deposit on him like he was a layaway item. Staff was very rude, had no compassion, and definitely only cared about getting their dogs out of the door with their “first come first serve policy”. Stay far away from this place unless you like disappointment and heartbreak while getting treated less than the dogs they try to re-home. Take my advice, contact your vet about adoptable dogs or visit...

Overall my family had a good experience. I came in with my 2 kids, never owning an animal before, in search of a kitten for my son. We found our forever friend, but I noticed when I was there that he had a balled spot on his tail. I asked why it was there and was told they believed it was congenital (a birth defect) as they initially thought he had ringworm but that he had not. It was repeated multiple times that he did not have ringworm and that their doctor had treated him just incase but ultimately that the condition was congenital. Stupidly, I believed them. He’s been with me and my family for about 2 months, and at his first vet visit, he was diagnosed with ringworm, the exact thing they denied him having. This wasn’t kind, as I have small children, one of whom caught ringworm from him. I explicitly asked about his medical history during our visit, so this was disappointing. Outside of the dishonesty, the staff was kind and the shelter was clean. I'm just upset because ringworm is a lot to deal with for someone whose cat is adjusting to getting to know them. The poor guy is terrified, has been quarantined in one room, and has even been attacking his tail from the anxiety. I think this could have been avoided if the staff had been more honest.

Update after response from Animal Shelter : If transparency was the goal, I would have been provided his full history, and not outright told by a staff person that his condition was congenital. Saying his ball spot is congenital is outright dishonest if your shelter received records from the facility that he came from initially stating that he was covered in ringworm, not just on his tail but also on his face and ears. This is an important detail I learned only after calling and requesting my cat's full medical history. I received his full history only after calling for it, despite asking if he had health problems prior to signing the waiver. His ringworm history was minimized, at the very least if I am being nice. However, I have to be honest: hence my pointing to what I perceive is dishonesty. Ringworm was NOT explicitly explained as the cause of the waiver I signed. It was presented more generally to me as me being aware that I would be responsible for his medical treatment for any issues that could arise. Overall, my experience was good. And I thank the staff for the opportunity to have a companion for my family. For adopters: please be aware that if you are adopting from this facility, there are details about your cat's medical history that they may know and that this may not be told to you, even when you ask outright. This may be a normal aspect of adopting from a shelter, as I am ignorant of the process, but it is incumbent upon me to let anyone thinking about adopting from this shelter know that they have to do further digging before adopting. You cannot just take their...

After an extensive search, dealing with multiple rescue shelters and organizations, I ultimately adopted my dog from MPAS. My experience was fantastic and I would eagerly adopt from them again for the following reasons:

The staff and volunteers were friendly and compassionate. From the top down, everyone I met was equally devoted to the animals at the shelter. I visited multiple times and each time the shelter was clean and the animals maintained. The front desk staff was attentive and the adoption counselors were knowledgeable about the individual animals. Our counselors were wonderful and we are still in contact, by choice, not by requirement.

The adoption process is extensive, without being intrusive or unreasonable. We were by no means the perfect candidate for our dog. He is a larger breed, high energy, hunting-type dog. Most rescue groups would have excluded us immediately. We live in a one bedroom condo and do not have a yard. After interviewing me and my fiancé, MPAS determined that we were able to meet his needs and indeed a perfect fit. They were right. Our boy runs 2-4 miles, hikes, swims, and/or plays at the dog park 7 days a week. He comes with us everywhere. There are a lot of other groups that would have excluded us immediately due to our living situation. In our case, the process was same day adoption. They were even willing to accommodate us by keeping our dog overnight so that we could "baby-proof" the home and have two people available for the car ride (one to drive, one to handle). We managed to take our boy home that night ;)

MPAS is honest. Just as we were not the ideal adopters, he was not the ideal dog. They were upfront with his issues including exercise needs, manners (or lack thereof), and toy guarding issues. We were made aware in no uncertain terms that he was not a first time dog-owner dog. We were also provided his known medical history. MPAS wants to be sure their dogs go to forever homes. They truly want the experience to be a positive one for both the animal and new owner.

Lastly, you get what you pay for and more! The adoption fee is reasonable and inclusive: spay/neuter, microchip, vaccinations and more. These services easily total 500-1000 dollars. My vet was surprised to see the vaccinations included canine influenza (an optional vaccine at most vet offices). He found our dog to be in great condition; a happy and healthy young dog. He also had kind words and praise for this organization.

This is a class-act organization. Extensive thanks to MPAS for doing what you do. We couldn't love...