South Suburban Humane Society — Local services in Rich Township

I adopted a ~2yr old female tortoiseshell cat from my local Petsmart. Apparently they partner with the South Suburban Humane Society- someone drops off cats to the Petsmart to be adopted out (and they must do very well because I'm always seeing new cats available week-to-week!).

I fell in love when shopping for my other cat and the whole adoption process was incredibly simple and easy (but definitely thorough enough that I could tell they cared who was taking home one of their animals). It was a cash-only transaction, $25 flat fee (goes straight to South Suburban, I hope) and that is a very reasonable price compared to other shelters in the area.

Finally, to the best part: My lovely new cat Sophie came with an envelope with her complete medical history (all vaccinations, medication records, surgery, etc), a detailed description of her personal history, and her microchip info.

About 7 days later I noticed she started sniffling and coughing but luckily I had not used my complimentary free vet visit that came with as part of the adoption. I took her in to the Countryside Veterinary Center (they were wonderful also!) and I walked out with antibiotics, probiotics, appetite stimulators, and everything I needed to complete my free stool sample (to check for parasites) and she was better within a week. South Suburban was called during my visit and they approved payment for everything- I thought for sure that I would maybe get the office visit for free but I would pay for the medications, but no! I didn't have to pay a penny and I received top of the line veterinary services. I was shocked.

On top of everything- someone from South Suburban called me maybe 2 weeks later to check up on how Sophie was doing and a little later I got a letter in the mail saying that Sophie's microchip information had been transferred to my name for me. I honestly could not have had a better experience overall with my adoption. South Suburban impressed me every step of the way, they deserve a LOT of credit for what they do and I really hope their partnership with Petsmart in Countryside continues to benefit other families...

Let me just first start off by saying over the years i have supported the humane society. I have adopted a beautiful dog from you all and appreciate all of the work you do. Today I was very very disappointed with the humane society. I came in around 12:30pm and was greeted by two nice ladies who i explained that I had a stray dog and needed assistance, before they could respond they were cut off by a very rude woman who completely shewed me off without any care whatsoever. Here I am with a sick flea infested abandoned dog trying to find shelter or any care at all for it and was told to drive back where i found it and get help and was also told by leaving the dog…which I would never do, that me the one person who has fed cared and housed a stray dog that I would face a felony even though here I am trying to do the right thing. The only reason why I chose the humane society is because I trusted you all and felt like you all would do the right thing or at least could’ve helped me be able to continue to care for the stray dog with additional resources. What a horrible person that day, she may be great any other day she may be great period but in that moment she was horrible to even say that. I then went to the police station spoke to a very nice gentle caring police officer who helped me. He at least scanned for the chip and helped me come up with some ideas. So, I ended up at Petco, in homewood with 4 wonderful ladies who paid for all the dogs care and medicine and they even named the dog for me. They made it so i can at least continue to house the dog safely in my home around my other pets and my children and i really appreciate them for that. They also thanked me for being a Good Samaritan. I know you all work hard everyday. I’m sure the people in the community work hard as well and I truly appreciate all of you that truly care for everyone that walks thru that door rather you can help them or not. Sometimes it’s not what you say it’s how you say it and that goes...

We drove an hour to get a specific cat. The place was ok, not the cleanest in the kennels. Some of the labels they had on pets seemed questionable and, in our case, very inaccurate. We were told he does not get well with other animals, has a scratching and biting issue, and defecates outside of the litter box. All untrue. He actually got along great with my neighbors cat, has gone into both litter boxes in 2 different levels of the house without going anywhere else in the house. He has gotten along with everyone who has come here, and they vary in ages. We only went to get home because we knew the original owner who gave the cat to a family friend for their daughter, who then turned it into the facility a year later for moving reasons. My friend described the cat and his behaviors to a tee. I really hope the staff there doesn't take what people say to heart without actually interacting with the animals. We gell in love with another animal a dog who was older and wanted to bring him home with us but they said we couldn't due to policy and the fact that they labeled the cat as "didn't get along with other animals". The front staff was nice but at one point we had one lady almost make us feel like we weren't good enough or qualified to take the cat home and wanted us to make a decision on either taking the cat, picking another cat that gets along with other animals or picking the dog and it made us feel like we were a bother because I questioned a lot of what they stated. Overall, the overall staff was nice, the facility is decent , they have a lot of foot traffic with customers, which is a plus, and there were no fees associated with the adoption of the cat. They gave us a free bag of food, a free collar and tag, plus gave him his needed rabies shot for free. I do want to return in hopes of getting...