Denver Animal Shelter — Local services in Denver

This week has been my first experience with the Denver Animal Shelter and I'm very disappointed by the mismanagement and bureaucracy that I encountered.

On Tuesday I called to inquire about a dog listed for adoption on their website. I was told that the dog was still available for adoption and I asked what time the shelter closed that day, and was told 6:30 PM. After work, I drove to the shelter and after arriving a few minutes after 6 PM was told that 1.) adoptions stop at 6; and 2.) the dog I was interested in had 2 other people already with a hold on him. I was not told either of these things when I called and had I known either I wouldn’t have wasted either my time or the shelter employee’s time.

In any case, after talking with the people at the shelter, I was told that if neither of the people with holds had adopted the dog by the close of business Thursday, the dog would be available for adoption on a first come basis. I asked if I could put a hold on the dog and was told that they only allow two people to place a hold on any dog.

So Thursday night rolls around and the dog is still listed as available. I wait until Friday morning just to be sure and he’s still there so I called the shelter again and was told that yes, he’s still available for adoption. I immediately go pick up my spouse and our dog and drive to the shelter, arriving about 45 minutes after my call… only to be told that someone has just been in to visit him and has him ON HOLD until she can come back with her other dog for a visit. OK... I understand that this is just really bad timing – the fact that someone came at exactly between the time I called and the time I arrived just seems like the universe doesn’t want me to have this dog. But that realization doesn’t alleviate the frustration I have at having driven to the shelter twice for nothing.

So then I ask if we can just go through and look at the other dogs available for adoption. The employee there told us that we could only go see a dog if we had already identified it online - that we couldn’t go through and look at the other dogs because that area is not a “free-roam area”. So it doesn’t matter that we’ve already identified a dog and driven down there twice only to be told that he isn’t available and that if we were given an opportunity to go look at the other dogs, there’s a very good chance that we might have given one of the shelter dogs a new home. That just doesn’t make any sense to me. Isn’t the job of the shelter to encourage people to adopt? Not put up senseless, bureaucratic roadblocks? If people can only take a look at dogs that they’ve identified already, why not provide some kind of system there in the shelter for people to identify them, like a computer there onsite with access to their website maybe? Or better yet, allow them to go through the area with an employee or volunteer if there is some concern about people “free-roaming”!

It just seemed to me that the employees had no interest in helping us adopt a dog there and that they couldn’t or weren’t willing to do anything that required any additional effort on their part. If you really want to help dogs find a home, don’t make rules that make it unnecessarily difficult.

Lastly, it seems like the number listed on the shelter’s website just goes to the overall city information, Denver 311, operator. The problem with this is that the people who answer the phone don’t appear to be familiar with how the shelter works and don’t have all the information about the animals. They could have prevented a lot of my frustration simply by informing me of the actual adoption hours and by being able to tell me if the dog already was on hold the first time I called.

When I left today I was frustrated and as I left said “It’s sad for the dogs” and I do think that this is the really unfortunate part of this. They had people there in the shelter who were obviously interested in giving a new dog a home but they let their red tape get in the way of making that happen. I guess from now on I’ll be working with...

I am 40 years old disabled waiting for a liver transplant. I am being treated at UCH in Aurora but it was recommended by my doctors, therapist, friends, family that I get a dog for companionship, I shopped shelters and mills for a few months without much luck. I did have a certain criteria... A small dog that I could handle. A good condo animal, healthy. I fell in love with Triumph and I adopted him because I was assured he was healthy, I may have not if I knew there was going to be a medical concern. And because of my disability and limited income, I budgeted monthly for that . That being said...

Two days ago, Triumph began limping from hardly any activity. Since he just got neutered, I have walked him but with limited activity per the instructions after he was neutered before I picked him up from the shelter. The neuter procedure was the only thing that was listed in his medical history. His Muscular Skeletal condition was listed as "OK" by an intern at the shelter. I took him to the VCA Animal Hospital on Corona to be examined and the Vet felt what was like loose hardware underneath his thigh which was likely from a procedure done prior to adoption and it should have been caught by the Shelter. He was going to need x-rays to see what it was. I had spent $200 on additional shots he needed and I certainly wasn't prepared for this. I paid another $100 for "Puppy Advil" which is helping with pain while I sort out what to do. The Vet recommended I contact the shelter and explain the situation since I adopted a dog with a pre-existing condition I wasn't aware of. I called the Animal Shelter's phone number and per usual it was someone with the City and they opened up a case. I got the case number and waited for a call back. Yesterday, I get called from someone. Told her my sob story and she said, "Sounds like you need to talk to someone at the shelter;" I said, "Aren't you with the shelter?" And she said "No, we look for lost dogs." So i called back and the city rep saw that the case was routed to the wrong group and she would get someone from the shelter for me. I talked to someone at the front desk. I told her my story and here is the conversation in so many words: Randy: “The Vet told me this should have been caught prior to adoption because he could have had another procedure done prior to coming here. Shelter Rep: “Well you have 90 days to return the animal.” Randy: “And what would happen to him if I did.” Shelter: “We’d treat him and adopt him out to someone else.” Randy: “Why can’t I just readopt him then?” Shelter: “it doesn’t work that way.” I was not pleased with her answer but her perceived indifference really disappointed me. I understand they are busy in that shelter and I always go there knowing that and have sat patiently while they are trying to help everyone. I know how it goes. I showed empathy towards them so I don't think it's too much to ask to be treated the same. I asked her to have a supervisor call me. Today a Supervisor called me. She showed concern and empathy and went to see if they had any emergency funds. Unfortunately, I was told they didn't. So with that logic, it perplexes me that if I returned the animal, they would treat him, and adopt him out to someone else. How would they pay for that? So a lot of people I have talked to believe that if I returned the year and a half old puppy to the shelter, he would likely be euthanized since there are "no funds" to treat him now. So i have a wonderful new furry friend who may haver severe hip problems from a pre-existing condition and the first week I have him, I am staring down the barrel a thousand plus dollars to have him taken care of. I don't have the budget for something like this and it's incredibly sad considering the Shelter tries to convey that they want to ensure I am going to treat the dog well but we aren't given a fair setup for success. I will not be recommending the DAS to anyone and will voice my complaints elsewhere. It's very sad and unfortunate this is the kind of...

UPDATE: in response to DAS responding to this review, unfortunately for them I do have the full behavioral report of the dog’s stay at this shelter. She did not bite anyone, she only growled from within her dog cell. This also doesn’t explain how this decision was made when other notes on her behavioral report pointed out how sweet she was going outside with some of the people that work there. And finally, why did they call me only once? And how come in this voicemail there was ZERO mention of euthanasia? I was ten minutes down the road at work the morning she was wrongfully killed by this shelter. I arrived 3 hours after this, excited to pick up my girl. I have correspondence from supervisors within the organization accepting fault and taking accountability. DAS’ response to this review is useless. Original: I brought a dog to this shelter that I did not own because she had been abandoned. Multiple law enforcement officers encouraged me to do so due to ownership laws in Colorado. During the drop-off, I thoroughly explained my intention to adopt the dog to the shelter staff after she had completed her waiting time.

Shortly after the 4th of July, which is typically a busy time for shelters due to runaway pets during fireworks, they contacted me to inform me that the dog was aggressive. Unfortunately, I missed their call and had no way to reach them back as their number leads straight to Denver 311.

When I visited the shelter today, I encountered a man named Nate who was extremely unpleasant. He showed a lack of empathy and essentially blamed me for missing their single phone call. In the voicemail, they never mentioned anything about euthanizing the dog. As Nate gathered information about the dog’s status, his demeanor became defensive. Although I was visibly upset to hear the news, I never once became hostile. Throughout our interaction, he treated me as a hostile customer instead of understanding that I was grieving for the loss of a beloved animal. To make matters worse, he attempted to charge me for the dog's ashes. When I expressed my frustration and commented on the apparent lack of care from the shelter, he became angry with me and told me to contact the supervisor, refusing to assist me further with the dog's ashes.

Throughout this time the dog was in the care of the shelter I diligently checked their website, which they claim is updated hourly, to assure myself she was safe. Even now after I have confirmed she is deceased, she is still listed as a lost pet on their website, even though they have already euthanized her. I had hoped she would receive proper medical care, not be disposed of simply because the shelter ran out of space after the fireworks.

I am utterly heartbroken and grieving the loss of a cherished member of my family. I am also disgusted by how this shelter and their staff treated both the innocent dog and the person who cared for her. It is truly a disgraceful place. I implore you to avoid surrendering your animal to them. They claimed that she was aggressive, despite her never displaying aggression towards me or anyone she encountered. If she had exhibited aggression at the shelter, it was likely due to emotional stress. I would have assumed animal professionals would recognize this behavior as not at all surprising due to her stress.If they had made even one more effort to contact me, she would be living the life she deserved in my care. However, they were too overwhelmed to exhaust all other options before resorting to taking the life of an innocent animal.

TLDR The shelter is not transparent with their policies on euthanizing animals. They are desensitized, likely by how often they do this to animals and their loved ones. They would rather blame a grieving person than take any ownership of their negligence in exhausting all other options for this animal.

…Will more than likely receive a follow up response from the shelter to this review stating their policies on lost animals rather than show any sincere apology or understanding how awful this...