Butler County Humane Society — Local services in Connoquenessing Township

I was highly disappointed in this establishment today. Last Sunday we visited with hopes of meeting a dog to adopt. You're not allowed to walk through the kennels due to giving the dogs extra anxiety, totally understandable! They had a wonderful book to look through and decide from the description if the pet is good for your family, again great! We found one in the book that we like named Ranger. He fit perfectly what we were looking for but the age for children said 10+. Our daughter is only 5 so OF COURSE I asked about it. The girls at the front desk were absolutely wonderful and I can only say good things about them! They kindly called out a tech to give us more information on Ranger. As we talked to the tech, he informed us the age was set at 10+ because Ranger was energetic and could knock over a smaller child(our daughter was used to this and knows how to handle herself around dogs being that she grew up with an energetic Aussie mix that we lost due to old age in August)but said he was not aggressive and scheduling a meeting with him would be absolutely fine. We scheduled the meeting for a week later. So today we were all SOOO excited to go meet Ranger. We arrive and the girl goes back to get him and comes out and tells us we actually can't meet him because of us having a small child and he's apparently aggressive if his feet are touched. (Again, my daughter is very aware you never touch a dog's feet regardless if they're "okay with it" or not.) I understand taking the precautions, but I even called the day before to confirm everything was still good for us to meet and they said yes. They could have told us the information then. They let us get our hopes up and we were so let down. Again, I understand the precautions but I just wish we wouldn't have went through everything we did and have it end like this. Very poor and mixed...

I am deeply disappointed and disturbed by our experience with the Butler Humane Society. Despite the name, this organization seemed to show little genuine concern for the animals in their care or the people who are trying to give them loving homes.

We attempted to adopt a kitten and were met with weeks of silence. They called once to request our dog's vaccine records, which we provided immediately. After that — nothing. No follow-up, no return calls, no update. My teenage daughter had fallen in love with a specific kitten we had visited, only to be left in tears as our application was effectively ignored.

It felt like the staff cared more about red tape and maintaining control than they did about actually getting these animals into homes. It’s heartbreaking to see animals confined behind glass while families eager to adopt are pushed away or ignored.

In sharp contrast, we went to a different, reputable shelter afterward — submitted an application one day, and the next day we were able to meet and adopt a kitten who is now happily thriving in our home. That shelter was warm, professional, and focused on the wellbeing of the animals and the importance of finding them loving families. Every animal there was spayed/neutered, fully vaccinated, and came with all the proper paperwork — no unnecessary obstacles, just compassion and responsibility.

Our experience allowed us to see just how poorly run the Butler Humane Society truly is. What they’re doing isn’t just inefficient — it feels inhumane. They may have the word “humane” in their name, but from what we saw, it couldn’t be further from the truth.

I sincerely hope they reevaluate their priorities. The animals deserve better. So do the people who care enough to open their...

Unfortunately, we did not have a positive experience with BCHS. We decided to attend BCHS’s open house, as advertised on their social media as “come play with animals, meet staff and volunteers, and learn about what BCHS has to offer the community.” After meticulously reviewing BCHS’s urgently needed items donation list, and spending over $150 at Petco before attending, we were greeted positively at first, upon entrance. That was of course as we were holding donation items in our hands. After giving our items to the staff, we were encouraged to have our picture taken so that “others would be encouraged to donate.” Once this was done, we asked if we could visit with any of the dogs, which we were told would be “difficult.” After what felt like having to pull the manager’s arm, we were told we could visit with one dog, but had difficulty finding any staff interested in helping us, as they were more interested in interacting with one another. Once placed in a visiting room, we were greeted by a different staff member who was very rude and short with us, and refused to show us the dogs we were interested in seeing. A different employee who was very polite and professional ended up showing us a dog, but the staff’s overall lack of appreciation and consideration was very disappointing, and not what we expected to find at BCHS’s open house. If you are planning on making a donation here, I would suggest considering other options before...