Abe J. Tuggle Animal Shelter and Adoption Center

I think adopting pets from shelters is the way to go, and I'm sure that I won't regret adopting this cat. However, the shelter makes no effort to check the health of the animals before adopting them out. I adopted a cat from the Garland Animal Shelter and noticed over the next 24 hours that she was in very poor health. That first day, we discovered fleas, even though we were specifically told that she didn't have any. She also hasn't peed, pooped, eaten or had but a fluid ounce of water to drink in 24 hours. The fact that she hasn't pooped or peed, tells me that she wasn't eating or drinking at the shelter either, and that they just failed to mention that or more likely, didn't notice it. It should be fairly obvious during the daily cleanings if an animal is not eating, drinking or using the litter box. She also seems to have a respiratory infection, as she sneezes every 5 minutes. When we called the shelter to tell them this, and ask if there was anything they could do, the man on the phone laughed and said, "You signed all the paperwork. She's your problem now."



On the plus side, the facility was nice, and the animals get to spend a little time in open areas getting exercise. The people who showed us around were nice, but were completely unaware of her condition.

My cat was taken to the shelter as part of a mandatory rabies quarantine after she became frightened and bit me.



First of all, they don't answer their phones or get back to you quickly. It took me many tries and multiple messages to reach anyone at the shelter -- both the day the incident occurred and when I went to have her transferred to my preferred veterinarian.



The animal control officer tried telling me that the law that requires the mandatory quarantine was State Law. Upon asking my vet, it appears to be a city ordinance. He also tried telling me that the rabies vaccine is ineffective. Why do we bother to vaccinate then? Why are parts of Europe considered rabies-free?



I was told they would only feed my cat the food I sent with her. I got all the food I sent with her back, unused. When I asked, they wouldn't tell me anything -- not even if they'd actually fed her at all. Their only response was, "Have a nice day, Ma'am."



I was assured that they treat their animals as though they were their own pets. If that's the case, then they must not treat their pets well.