Animal Humane Society — Attraction in Golden Valley

Well where do I begin? I took my two chihuahuas to the Animal Humane Society vet center on University Avenue in St.Paul when I got them appointments I felt lucky, they needed rabies and a check up and both my fur babies are 14 years old. I was concerned with one of their teeth. They said I had to pay this bill and then they can do my Bella”s bloodwork well I paid and took Bella for her blood work and we could get a plan together. On August the 16th I got an email from one of the doctors there at the vet center. The blood work very much concerned me and I immediately called the doctor and got her voicemail and I tried several different times to call her. But in the letter it said that even though she had. Some things in her blood, we still could go ahead and take care of her teeth. So I tried at least once a day to get ahold of the clinic and left several messages. On August 28th my Bella woke up and was having a hard time breathing, first thing I did was call the vet clinic, I was frantic and leaving messages each time I called. Well as the day went on and no calls back we took her to the Emergency vet on west7th street in St. Paul, they did what they had to do to make sure my baby was going to be ok. Well they came to the conclusion that she had a very loud heart murmur and she was in heart failure they figured her teeth were the cause. My question is when they did all the blood work why were we not told she had a heart murmur and WHY WAS SHE NOT STARTED ON AN ANTIBIOTIC!?! I would of paid!! We knew that her teeth were a problem because her breathe was bad! It was brought to their attention her very first appointment with them!!! Unfortunately our baby died August 28, 2024. And we have yet to hear from any of them at that clinic !!! ALL OF THE MESSAGES I HAD LEFT STILL NO CALLS!!! I will not be taking our other Chihuahua there he is also 13 and God only knows how long we have with him, but that vet clinic did an extremely poor job when it came to Bella! The day before she died she was running around enjoying her family, she knew how much she was loved! Well I wanted to give an update on my review.. unfortunately it doesn’t get any better, my sweet baby has been gone now 14 days and just today I get a phone call regarding my Bella. I started calling to speak to the doctor on August 16 and never not once received one phone call to discuss her bloodwork and get a plan together until I left a review on Google two days ago, now the doctor called and made up a bunch of excuses on how they need to improve their communication!!!! REALLY IMPROVE YOUR COMMUNICATION I STARTED CALLING YOUR CLINIC ON AUGUST 16th and now I get a phone call from you because I left a review I asked her if I didn’t leave that review would they have called me?? That question got smoothed over by talking about their communication problem they have…this was more than a communication problem not to get a phone call not one!!! I told her I would not be bringing my other chihuahua there!!!! What a disgrace to vet clinics. WOW! A post on social media did its job! Unlike this vet clinic who...

After months of agonizing over the failing health of our wonderful dog, watching her fade away, we finally came to the agreement we had to help her. Cancer and kidney disease had begun to ravage her. We called the humane society- for " end of life services". (We had an agreeable experience with our 20 year old cat being assisted with end of life last year at the humane society. ) We were told the location we previously used was not available to us. We answered many questions. Made the sad appointment. We spent a couple of days celebrating our beautiful dog, companion and source of so much laughter for all the years. We loved her. We arrived to the appointment - called the number to let them know we were there- per the guidelines because of the virus upending or lives. We answered more questions. A very sweet woman, Fay, phoned us back - requiring more information and payment. We were in the parking lot standing with our sweet dog when Fay came out of the building with paperwork to be signed. All of a sudden, I had a horrible feeling we were not going to be allowed to be with our beautiful soul at the end of her time. I asked Fay if that was the case. Fay was surprised and upset we had not been informed. Fay presented us with the option of leaving with our precious dog. We were totally stunned. Whirling from the pain of coming to the decision to end our sweet companions life. We allowed Fay to take her. She went with Fay as the dutiful dog she was - without questioning, without apprehension - simply trusting. My husband was sobbing in the parking lot - the thought of our sweet dog being without us was too much. We didn't think it could get much worse. But, the days that have followed are so much more painful. The thought that we have no idea how she was treated prior to her death, was she put in a cage until someone got around to her? Was she scared? Is she still sitting in a cage? When thinking of the pain this process has caused us and possibly our sweet sweet soul -I think of all the people that aren't permitted to have any idea how their loved ones - humans and pets - spent their final moments. Absolutely heartbreaking. The damage these choices by someone else are going to devastate our country. I don't understand why their can't be - at minimum - some sort of visual a person could watch. Why can't the humane society have something set up outside? At the very least - all information regarding the process is presented at the time of the initial contact. This was a devastating experience. I pray no one else goes through this. I believe there are ways to ease these issues instead of simply saying "because of the virus". There are unutilized opportunities to ease this pain and really tough decisions. My heart...

So this might be a totally different spin on a Humane Society review than one might expect but I want to share that in addition to exceptional fur-ever friend adoption services, they also offer an amazing children's educational program! There are many classes and camps to choose from throughout the year with anything from a half-day, in clinic class for older students that might want to pursue veterinary medicine to week-long, summer day camps for younger kids (or even the older ones... up through 8th grade) that want to spend their days learning about furry friend care with hands-on experience! They also offer a few classes here and there during the school year's scheduled days off. They even have a read to the pets program where kids (and parents) take a brief training then sign up to go and read to the animals for an hour.

If you have a child who loves animals, this is AbSoLuTeLy worth checking out!

Just FYI, all of the children's programs do have a fee, including the read to the animals program... However, when you consider the gift you are giving to not just the animals, but the staff that work so tirelessly, and the children so eager to love on the animals and the time it takes to make it all happen, the fees are well worth it. For example, my 10 y.o. child wanted to take one of the Saturday classes for kids who might want to pursue becoming a veterinarian. During the Saturday class she was able to learn about the more behind the scenes, "medical" aspect of care and was able to not only watch a cat being spayed, but was also able to do things like practice giving the routine animal shots by practicing with syringes on oranges.

Oh! But if you are looking for summer classes, please know that they fill up sUpEr FAST... as in many of the summer camps go to the waitlist by mid to late February! So, the sooner you sign up, the better!

Please just know that whether you are looking to find that fur-ever friend or to enrich your child's summer (or school year) by spending time and giving back to animals that they will be in good hands, and have a great experience in the local Humane Society...