The Humane Society — Local services in City of Binghamton

We did not have a good experience trying to 'rescue' a kitten from the Binghamton Humane Society. We told our six year old that if we found a kitten that we thought was suitable that we could bring it home for Christmas. We saw online that they had a few cats there that weren't exactly kittens, but they were young enough that we thought we we would drive the family up and check them out.

I guess this is partly my fault because I naively thought that you could pick out a cat and leave the same day with it if you met all the criteria. Boy was I wrong. We ended up finding a young cat there that was very laid back and great with the kids. I filled out the 4 page application and upon finding that all of the references and vet that we had put down had to be contacted before we would even be considered we left pleased that we had found a suitable cat before Christmas arrived. We were confident that there should be no reason we couldn't get the cat as there was no other applicants waiting in line.

After three days passed we called and were told that they were still reviewing our application, although we know they called and spoke to all of our references because we checked. After a couple more days passed my wife called and was told that the 'Adoption Counsel' was reviewing our adoption request.

At this point I was getting a little frustrated, I mean, are they trying to find homes for these animals or not? Everything on our application had checked out, shouldn't that have been it? I started looking on Craigslist at this point. I instantly found a kitten, not a cat, that was exactly as my son wanted. I called and arranged to meet with it's owner.

A full week after we put in our application we got a call from the Humane Society. They asked my wife if we intended for the cat to be an indoor or outdoor cat. This was a question we had already answered on the application, it would be both. Well, the 'Adoption Counsel' had decided that this cat, who had spent what little time it had been alive in a crowded cage, was an indoor cat. So, we were told, the 'Adoption Counsel' was going to choose a different cat for us. Perhaps we would have considered making it an indoor only cat, but we weren't given that option, a different cat was to be chosen for us.

That was enough for me. I felt like telling my wife to tell them to @#$% in their hat, but she politely told them we had located a different cat.

That afternoon we went and met with a wonderful old lady who we visited with for two hours. She said she could tell we were good people and we left with a great little kitten as a present for our son. We've spoke with her several times since, she's great and the kitten, who is awesome, fits into our family perfectly.

I guess in the opinion of the Binghamton Humane Society 'Adoption Counsel' a cat is better off rotting in a crowded cage while it awaits its death than it is being placed with us.

So be it, we will never go there again.

If you are looking for an animal, look on Craigslist FIRST. You will truly be 'rescuing' an animal if you do and you will also be saving money. Instead of paying $135 for a cat that still needed to be fixed, we paid nothing and had a MUCH...

It's definitely a better alternative for the animals than the street and there are some good people there that truly care for the animals, but by and large they seem to have gotten very corporate. I've adopted a few dogs from them over the past 30 years. But not enough to be recognizable apparently. It has been a while though and things have changed drastically. There used to be minimal staff which presents it's own problems, there is no doubt. Adoptions were around $60. You could go in to check out the animals, and if one picked you, you would leave with that animal...usually in about an hour after you were picked. Now there are people that watch over people that tell other people what to do. And of course there is one to rule them all. There is at least one specialized staff member who only does adoptions. And now adoptions take a week and the website that directed me to the Humane Society stated the cost at $195. I was told that was wrong and the cost was $225. I did some research and that is actually on the low side to adopt a rescue today. I saw as much as $450 adoption fees on multiple rescue sites. I went in to look for a pup. Standing apart from all the other barks and yips was the deepest, most thunderous bark I'd ever heard and the animal behind it was looking directly at me. He picked me. He was big, scared out of his mind, shaking, traumatized, and too thin. He was so upset he hadn't been eating. My concern grew every day of that week waiting for my application, which is akin to an FBI investigation, to finally be processed. They are probably gonna be upset with me but it's truth that he came to me with meds for "kennel cough" and disturbingly thin, looking malnourished really. I couldn't get him to go near the food that the shelter uses ( it's donated). He would catch scent of it from a couple feet away, stop, and turn away. He wouldn't even approach the dish. So is the justification for the 3 star review. I'm glad he picked me though. He is an ultimately cool animal, although it's clear he was not always treated as such. Almost a week now and the respiratory infection is just about cleared up and he is slowly starting to add some weight. Just an opinion, and we know what that's worth, but I believe the current adoption process is based in good intention but it's too much, too intensive and intrusive and huge numbers of people who may very well make great owners are getting shut out of the opportunity to adopt a rescue animal, and that is...

The place itself is decent, the animals seem to be very well cared for and the staff is very nice. However my issue is the adoption process. (For the dogs). I’m not exactly sure how many applicants they allow for one because I’ve seen mixed responses in regards to that. I’m completely fine with the “first come first serve” but if you’re already planning on giving the dog to the first family that applied then maybe let the other know the dog is on hold pending applicant review. Let them fill out an application and if things fall through they’ll be next to consider but do not allow the other people to visit that dog while in queue. Y’all allow families to visit with a dog knowing damn well they may not get him/her and it’s messed up. Then you leave them hanging with no response after they’ve gotten their hopes up and bonded with the animal. Like I said maybe it’s not the best idea but y’all gotta come up with a better alternative for the adoption process than the current system cause this ain’t right especially during the holiday season. I completely fell in love with a dog only to have her ripped away and given to the people who applied first. You should’ve never let me have a one on one when you knew your intentions from jump….should’ve let me fill out the application and sent me on my way. If the first family fell through then you call the next in line to set up an appointment for contact. Now I’m left heartbroken, I was so excited to get a dog for Christmas. I was very traumatized when my dog died 10 years ago and it took all this for me to be ready for another animal. But due to this situation I don’t even want one anymore…EVER. So thank you Binghamton humane society for...