Humane Society of Catawba County — Local services in Hickory

Animal shelters in general are great places to get a pet. My mother adopted our cat Dorothy recently and it was a really soothe experience. The staff reviewed the application and approved my mom quickly and we could take her home that day. A worker sits down and goes overall information about the pet and making sure you know how to care them(their current diet and to slowly change that or keep it the same), their medical files, all paperwork done when the animal was first brought into the shelters care and microchip information. We were even given some of the food she was already eating to help make the transition easier on her. This sweet cat was 10 years old when we got her and she is healthy enough she will have a long happy life with us,

Things about this shelter i love: -volunteers (normal people) help socialize and play with the animals. -it is NO kill! -all animals have to be assessed before they can be put up to adoption so you will get a friendly (non violent) furry friend -when you go to adopt they have pet supplies available from toys, collars/leashes, food and treats, and kennels or cages. -they can also fix animals for a low fee. -the have cats that can be adopted to be barn cats

notes: -anyone with the age of 16 I believe can submit and application online to volunteer here. -you have to be over 21 to adopt. -seniors can adopt senior cats for free! you can't adopt of you plan on declawing a cat and if that is an issue I recommend reading up on declawing ethics. -animals come in good health, and are evaluated for aggression before they are adoptable. you can't adopt animals as gifts.

UPDATE on animal services: My boyfriend has a dog. He's never been to a vet and I want to be a responsible pet owner. I called the humane society to see about getting him fixed. I also wanted to get rabies vaccinations. I got scheduled for a less than a week later. You have to pay with a credit card before you go, this wasn't an issue for me. I ended up getting his nails clipoed, microchiped, fixed, and multiple vaccinations for parvo, rabies, ex and pain medication for him for $132. I highly recommend as that is cheaper than most vets. I just dropped buddy off at 8am and picked him up at 4pm that day.

I know it sounds like a lot of money but for what you get it is so worth it. I can't stress the value of protection from diseases and the importance of a microchip if the animal gets lost. Please look into...

We found a catahoula breed at this humane society and fell in love with him. And when it came time to adopt, the original fees that were posted on line (still have the screen shots) had an extra 150 dollars tacked onto the overall price. the lady assisting us assured us from the start that the price/fees online were all that we would have to pay. No hidden fees, except the 150 dollars extra we paid because he was a "pure catahoula breed". When we asked to have his paperwork and breed registration documentation for our private vet to keep in his files, they assured us That it would be in the take home packet they were providing us with.

... No paperwork, no documentation, just a med sheet with his prescribed medications and a coupon sheet were inside the folder.

I have never in my life heard of the humane society charging extra fees for pure breed animals. And on top of all of this, after calling and trying to get answers from anyone who worked there and being hung up on twice, our vet informed us that his breed doesn't have a standard to go by and isn't recognized by any reputable kennel clubs.

We love Domino (the dog) regardless, because he is mine and my girlfriends son in every aspect. He is amazing and I am glad we didn't think twice about paying the extra amount when we adopted him. But to sit there and preach against "dog breeders" who run "third-rate puppy mills" because their kennels are overpopulated from over breeding just so they can make a paycheck off of each pup.... And then turn around and do practically the same thing to customers who are REACHING OUT AND RESCUING/ADOPTING??!? It's lowdown and unacceptable.

I'm still waiting on that return phone call by the...

I had called this humane society one afternoon and made an appointment to get my cat neutered. They took all of my information and scheduled me for the next day. They told me that I could drop my cat off at 8 a.m. since I had to be at school and that they would neuter him around 2 p.m. and I could pick him up by 6 o’clock. My first hesitation about this place was when they wanted my debit card number over the phone because I had intended to pay in cash when I got there. I gave them my card number anyway because they said that they couldn’t schedule over the phone without a debit card. Well the next day I get there at 8 a.m. and they have a paper on the door saying that they don’t open until 11. This was terrible for me because I drove all the way from Morganton to get this done because they did offer me better prices than in Morganton. So I drive around Hickory for three hours waiting for them to open and when I get back there and go in to drop my cat off they have no idea who I am. The lady acted a little rude as she searched for my name through papers and on the computer. She told me that they didn’t have me scheduled and that there was no record of me paying them. She also told me that they do not even neuter cats on Tuesdays so that I should not have even had a schedule made. She did finally find my name, which they had spelled incorrectly, and offered for me to leave my cat overnight so they could neuter him the next day. I refused because if they cannot even get their schedules right then I definitely do not want them doing surgery on my cat. For a refund they charge $25 but I made it clear to them that I wanted a refund without being...