Auburn Valley Humane Society

My 5 stars are for the shelter itself, and those directly taking care of the animals. There are so many people behind the scenes that care, a lot of volunteers. The animals are very well taken care of and loved.
Now, the receptionists I give 1 star or less. They are very cold. I don’t know what’s up with them, but they need to get a personality. A friendly, caring, helpful personality. I know when pets are unreasonably surrendered it’s frustrating and you might want to strangle the person, but you still have to try and be pleasant. Especially to those that are coming in looking to adopt. I’d say some serious training needs to happen.
So please don’t give up on the animals there just because the gals up front seem like uncaring snobby robots. Remember, you are there for the critters not for the girls at the front desk. And keep in mind what it costs to run a facility and take care of the animals. It’s expensive!

I love the friendly and personable staff, shelter layout, and the very clean glass door kennels here! I like that all of the animals are groomed, microchipped, and spayed/​neutered too: clearly well taken care of at the shelter! They even have heated floors in the dog kennels… Wow! They have lots of support brochures for crate training, kids around pets, and other educational programs. As a rescue mama, I fully support AVHS and their mission to serve the Auburn community. So glad that there is now a more local shelter to Auburn that genuinely cares for pets! :-)

My family had a fabulous experience AVHS. They were very patient with our multiple trips back to spend time with the dog we were interested in and bring other family members by before we decided. They provided us with the best information available to them on the dog we adopted. The animals appeared well-​cared for, and there appeared to be a lot of volunteers there spending time with the animals.

We adopted two older dogs from AVHS — they did a fine job. As for charging for lost dogs, you should try losing a dog in Tacoma — people I know who have had pets picked up by their shelter have paid $ 300+ -
Any not licensed, unaltered, running loose pet — BAM, as it should be — being responsible for puppies that end up at the pound, shameful. ‚
Most shelters, if your pet is licensed, they get one free pass home. Not sure if they do that, but wondering how yours added up to $ 120…
Auburn City Claim Fee Dog/​Cat Non Altered — $ 65
Auburn City Claim Fee Dog/​Cat Altered — $ 35
Impound Board Fee — $ 16/​day
Impound Vacations & Worming — $ 16
Impound Rabies Vaccination & Tag — $ 15

The DMV of animal shelters!
I was excited to see an animal shelter so close to my new home, I had montages running in my mind of how I’d take my daughter with me, once she is older, to go volunteer. Well, my bubble has been burst.
Here’s my story: we have a ten year old pomeranian who is a crafty escape artist. One day he escaped our yard during potty time, and frankly we are still baffled how he managed to do it. I digress. So, fortunate are we to have neighbors who took him to the Auburn Valley HS, versus you know, keeping him. This was a few days before Christmas. A gift, surely. But at a price! We didn’t expect to have to shell out $ 133 three days before Christmas to get our dog back — but what can you do.
To start with, the staff here is quite rude. They felt no compassion nor empathy at having to dole out over $ 100 to get our dog back. Their response? We take credit cards. Fine. During the three years it took to fill out paperwork, I left my husband to pay them and deal with the goings on, and took my daughter to look at the cats. I found one that was very sweet and social, which brings me to my next point.
This place is designed horribly.
There are quite a few cat enclosures with sliding glass doors and a chair in each room. Enough space for 1 – 2 people to visit a kitty. Are you allowed to do this? NOPE. There is *one* visitation room and no time limit on it. If it’s occupied… Sorry, pal!
This place does not greet you with warmth and invite you in with welcome. It is a cold, uninviting place with staff who hates your very presence.
I’ll see if there is some place else nearby once my little one is old enough to volunteer.
I’d suggest another shelter before you look here. But seriously, go you for even looking at shelters! That is very awesome.