Corruption. Lies. Extortion. It is expected and tolerated in most aspect of my life; I am prepared. I never thought I would apply these words to the non-for-profit organization, the Humane Society of Southern Illinois.
As a non-for-profit organization, they are required to disclose their financial records and tax return in an easily accessible manner. To me, easily accessible would be online. As a matter of fact, a review of 12 other Humane Societies chosen at random from a search statement yielded either a ledger or a scanned copy of their latest return, not so for Southern Illinois. This same unscientific and totally random search has uncovered a practice that can only be described as bordering on extortion.
The Humane Society of Southern Illinois charges $100 to adopt a dog. What do you get for that fee: a lot of worry that you just made a mistake and will not be able to pay some bill. You see, after you pay them, they take the dog to vet and force you to have the dog spayed and have a series of shots. This amounts to an additional $150. $250!?! There are no specials, no low cost assistance, no support for the new parents. I should have just bought a dog instead of rescued one.
By the time you have figured all this out, you have already played with dog. I don't know about you, but I fall in love easy. This is my third animal adopted from the Humane Society. It is also my last.
No other other animal shelter in my survey had this practice. All of them offer assistant for the first month or more. All of them offer assistance in paying for the first vet visit, including shots and spaying. All of them are better than the Humane Society of Southern Illinois. I could have driven 33 miles, saved money, and still obtained what I wanted.
This practice must change. There is NO reason to ever adopt a dog from Southern Illinois. There is NO reason to ever support the Humane Society. Simply by association, the Humane Society of American has tarnished its image.
Say NO to puppy mills?
(you need to even though I am pissed) The hell with that! Say No to the Humane Society!
I want my money back! I want a full disclosure of their financial practice! I want a public apology offered to the Humane Society of America for embarrassing them!
Comments (3)
It sounds like a scam, none profits often pay rather well. And have been known to become more about jobs than what they were original set up to do. It is good you sent out a warning
hmmm, that does seem sketchy
I have had several experiences with humane societies, but must admit that the bad experience far outweighed the good memories. That said my brother and his wife just had a great experience with adopting a new pet. They were allowed to bring him home for a in-home trial and there was a neuter allowance in the 75. adoption fee.
You could almost equate humane societies with other charities. Many are good but the couple bad apples taint the bunch. It is unfortunate because of the good work many kind hearted people do to care for animals who were by-products of irresponsible pet owners to begin with. The bad ones need to be pointed out and isolated as not to taint the group.