SPCA Humane Organization — Local services in Sumter

Sure wish i didn't have to write this review, but I am so angry and sad that maybe it will be cathartic. My husband and I rescued four puppies that someone had dumped on a busy country road in Sumter County, near where we live. It took three days to get all of them, and we felt SO good when we finally had them all! We kept them in a 10x10 fenced enclosure on our property, and put them in a large dog crate in our garage at night. We have a houseful of animals, so there was no way we could bring them in. They seemed to relish the food, attention, and treats we lavished on them. No telling how long they had been out on the road, but it was at least a week or two. The first night after we had brought in the last puppy, we took them out on a walk in our large fenced enclosure. Leashes got tangled, and the new pup attacked the other male puppy viciously. We finally got them separated, but we all were very shaken! All the puppies spent the night in the dog crate without incident after a cooling off period. We got medical treatments and antibiotics from our vet in Florence, and started them all on the meds. The next day another fighting incident occurred without warning, this time with one of the females getting involved as well. Again, we finally got them separated (with difficulty), and got the offender away from the other puppies. I called the SC Humane Society, because I believed that they valued the animals that were placed in their care. We took the largest male dog into their Sumter facility on a Friday afternoon, because we knew we could not handle more of the vicious, seemingly unprovoked fighting. When we left him at the facility, he was scared stiff, but otherwise healthy, except for being slightly emaciated. We also left his antibiotics with the intake person, so that he would get the full dose. My husband gave the person our phone number, and told them to call us if they needed anything. I tried calling the facility last Wednesday to check on his progress. He was a friendly, sweet, smart, and we thought, very adoptable dog! The facility was shut down on Wednesday, so I couldn't reach anyone. On Thursday, the remnants of Hurricane Michael were going through, so we knew the shelter would not be open, and I knew the weekend would be crazy! I called this morning only to be told that the puppy had "gotten parvovirus a few days after he came in, and we had to put him down"! WHAT??? This sweet, healthy puppy who showed NO sign of any bowel or intestinal issues ( and whose siblings have NO sign of this illness at all!) had to be put to sleep? Why didn't they call us like we asked them to if anything came up? we would have gladly paid for his treatment! Parvovirus has a 85-90 % survival rate if the dog gets treatment, so I don't Really think it would have been necessary to put him down! He could have gotten treatment ! Now we are racked with guilt because we chose to take him to a facility that we Thought cared for the humane treatment of any animal! he and his siblings had survived abandonment and near starvation, only to be rescued, and because of a situation we could not handle, we entrusted his care to the SC Humane Society. Now he is just Gone, and we are very sad and angry about the circumstances under which it happened! I guess the SC Humane Society is just another warehousing system for dogs...

I went to drop off my pup Dixie today around 4 and they told me to come back the next day and so I went to leave my Dixie was being little stubborn and as all people do I tugged on it and pulled the leash to get her going and put her in my car and they sent out this old lady in black scrubs and she banged on my door and told me to pull around someone will get the dog and she said this very meanly and I asked why and she said because the girls in the front saw me yank on her leash and said I could be nice about it. I advised her that she was being stubborn and that I’m not going to pull back there I’ll wait to the next day and she said well I have your info and to my knowledge taking a picture of someone tag is illegal and she needed to delete it. But I gave up and said fine I’ll take her back there and this old lady sees me going in reverse and she jumps behind my car and says well run me over then! And I said you are the one who jumped behind my car knowing I was going in reverse. I get back there a very sweet guy took her but they wouldn’t let me say bye or pet her or anything. And the paperwork I have on her says I didn’t have to get her neutered until February and this other old lady jumped down my throat saying you know they are supposed to be neutered at 6 months. Like excuse me my paperwork says otherwise. And she kept making me repeat myself I asked her do you want me to just fill it out and she slammed the pen down and said sure since you wanna yell. And then she hovered over me and had an attitude the whole time. And snatched the paper from me saying that’s all I need you to fill out. And when I gave her the bag of toys for Dixie I said those are for her and said yeah yeah and walked away. So I will be back to make sure they are taking care of her and those toys are in her kennel. They can get mad I don’t care, I did nothing wrong. It was not my decision to get rid of her it was my dads. She is my baby I love her very much and it makes me so upset they just took her and never let me say goodbye like how rude and heartless are these people. I could have lost my mother snd that could have been her dog that I just couldn’t have taken care of and they were just so rude to me. I have been stressed out. Dixie was being stubborn all day so a little tug on the leash is nothing these employees had no reason to be rude. I should have driven off because there is actually nothing they could have done because I owned the dog until I signed the papers. But oh well I have learned my lesson on ever dropping a dog off, I will always find a dog a family before I resort...

This SPCA is very dishonest. First off, let me begin by saying I LOVE what they do and the purpose of this organization. Adopt don’t shop, please!

When my husband and I moved here for the military, we wanted to adopt. SPCA was the only local shelter here in Sumter unless we wanted to travel an hour away. When you first go in, no one says hi or welcomes you or even shows you where to go. And when you ask, they aren’t friendly at all. Ever. Staff really needs to cheer up.

Now, mind you, they’re terrible at updating their website. So sometimes their pets are already adopted, or they have new ones in. Never set your heart on someone because they could be gone.

We’ve been in here many times and have adopted a kitten from here. A month later we wanted to get her a friend. So, I went in and I was looking around at the other kittens and there were FLEES. I immediately washed my hands 3 times and told the lady at the desk. She didn’t seem concerned at ALL and that really concerned me. I won’t get another kitten from there.

Recently we’ve been wanting to adopt a dog. We’ve been on the website and in person many times. Yesterday we fell in love with a dog and filled out paperwork for her. I asked the lady if they knew anything else about her because all it said was that she was a stray and had been there since May. She told me no, and that all she knew was that she was a stray. We needed approval from our apartment, so we left that day without her. I wanted to send a picture of her to a friend, so I went on the website and clicked on her. The picture description of her not only told me that she had previously been PREGNANT and that they had her baby there, but also that she has a very very serious HEARTWORM DISEASE!! Why wouldn’t they tell me that?!?!?! That’s VERY serious, and if I would have adopted her without knowing that I would have been heartbroken if something horrible happened to her. We really want her but have no idea what’s going on with her since they never mentioned anything to us.

They completely lied to me, and I will...