Ionia County Animal Shelter — Local services in Orange Township

The operator was behaving inappropriately towards me and my mother when asking her to bring out someone who could capture our poodle or to set out traps. We have reported this inappropriate comments to the sheriff's department as well as the county administration. I plan on visiting the town hearings to complain regarding this issue.

Not only did she say she wasn't going to "search the entire county" for one dog. Despite my dogs sightings being on 3 streets in the heart of Ionia. Literally MAIN STREET. She continued to sigh dramatically towards my mom and act completely apathetic about our situation.

I am blind, and she basically said that I had to find the dog by myself, despite me being unable to go into people's yards or property lines. It would be inappropriate to ask someone to trespass because you didn't want to work.

We had a definitive location, with a photo. And she gave my mother excuses, saying she had better things to do. We called hourly, reporting locations and everything. All we got was "oh I'll GET to it when I can", she never said or guaranteed us that she would do her job. Personally, I would be fired if I outright refused to do my job then taunted the people who are coming to you for help.

We have reported her to the Board and have informed multiple offices about this issue.

Our poodle was seen safe, completely uninjured, when we called it in FIVE TIMES. ALL WITH STREET NAMES AND BUSINESS NAMES.

Our poodle was the gorged by a horned/antlered animal. Requiring surgery and anesthesia. Costing us nearly $900 to fix this issue because of the failure of performance from the Animal Control Officer.

Our poodle was found because of our neighbor. And if she had gone out and truly patrolled like she had said she would, she would have known where my dog was because she had not moved at all in 24 hours. Her injury happened in a window of 3 hours, after the animal control officer said she "wasn't going to respond" when it's within a set amount of time.

If your workcenter is so bombarded and busy, then petition the county. Do not take it out on people within the community. That is how you lose our confidence and our support. This incident alone does not make me want to live in Ionia, and I just moved here 5 days ago.

I could have lost my dog due to your lack of care and want to preform your job. She was found with intramuscular lacerations and exposed arteries and ligaments.

I am severely disappointed by the animal control officer that I was in CONSISTENT contact with, who had basically told us she found that we were asking too much of her: which was to set traps for our small poodle.

If we had set traps my baby, that I raised and reared by hand, would not be in pain.

If my dog had died, I would have taken you to court. And this will go higher. This was poorly managed, and your attitude towards me and my mother was completely inappropriate and unnecessary, and more importantly dismissive, arrogant, and completely full of ignorance that we saw through immediately. Every time we interacted with you, you did not attempt to deescalate or resolve our issue with solution-based answers and only continued to aggravated and aggress the situation.

You may not see animals as living beings with the capacity for emotions, but they are. You are disappointed and your attitude was disgusting. You are a grown adult, no longer in high school. So drop the mean girl energy and be a proper and professional adult. I frankly don't care who you are related to in order to get the job, but I will not allow you to do this without consequence.

Let it be known: you are the sole reason my dog is in pain. You are the sole reason she nearly died. To purposely pretend to be busy so that you don't have to do hard animal catches is absolutely awful. All you had to do was to set up traps.

If you do not care, why do you work here? If you cannot show empathy and have good bedside manner, then you shouldn't be working in an environment which would require that, go work in a factory if you cannot...

In response to Tee Fly and your 3 posting family members- I was working on the kennels at the Animal Shelter the afternoon that you brought your 10 year old daughter to see her dog, and possibly get her back. A day or two prior, you knowingly and willingly forfeited your dog after you had called 911 for help because you had been bitten by her while trying to seperate her in a fight with another one of the 4 dogs in your home. She had just given birth to a litter of 11 puppies the day before, and was severely injured in the fight (most likely defending her pups) and required immediate medical attention to save both her and her litter. You were asked to forfeit her and her pups to the Animal Control officers, to remove them from the chaotic and dangerous environment that they were living in, and so they could see to it that she received the necessary medical care. Your claim of racism is completely unfounded, almost slanderous, and certainly warrants an apology to the Shelter staff. The officers responded to your call for help, did what was in the best interest of the dog and her pups, and would do the exact same thing in any same situation. Also, when you called the Shelter after the incident, It was explained to you why bringing your daughter to see the dog, in its condition and in the Animal Shelter environment, was a bad idea for both your daughter and the dog. You chose to bring your daughter in anyway, and when the Shelter staff again explained to you why it wasn't good for either of them, you chose to make the situation even more traumatic for your daughter. It is very unfortunate that this dog, who was a stray you had taken in a few months prior, was your daughter's emotional support animal. I do hope that she can find comfort and support in another pet, possibly one of the puppies born to the other dog in the fight, who had her litter the same day the surrendered...

Honestly, Carly, the manager/supervisor there, kind of rubbed me the wrong way. She gives off major power-trip energy and seems more interested in judging and criticizing than actually helping or informing people.

Last year around this time, I adopted my cat during one of their $10 events. I was actually just looking for a buddy for my other kitten, and the second I saw him, I knew he was coming home with me. But literally a week in, he started acting super off; totally lethargic, wouldn’t eat or drink, stopped reacting to me, and was having accidents everywhere. I took him to the vet, and turns out he hadn’t received any of the basic shots or care to prevent what the vet called a severe upper respiratory infection (aka “cat flu”). I was shocked, especially since I had talked with Carly in-depth about his medical history, and she made it sound like he was good to go. Even worse, my other kitten caught it from him too (thankfully he pulled through). I called the facility to let them know what happened, and they basically laughed at me and said I was making it up. Super frustrating.

And for the record; He also wasn’t neutered when I got him. They called the next day asking if I wanted to schedule it, and I told them I’d talk it over with my partner first. After hearing a few stories from friends whose pets didn’t survive even simple procedures there, I just decided not to go through with it. But they kept blowing up my phone and email, basically trying to guilt me into it.

I’m not saying this to start drama, just hoping it helps someone make an informed decision. I love my cat to pieces, but I wish I had known what I was walking into before adopting through them. This shelter is very shady and needs to be looked into and...