Berkeley Humane

I volunteered there while I lived in Berkeley. They take GREAT care of the animals and always ensure they find the perfect forever home!

Had a wonderful experience here adopting a cat, very helpful and kind staff/​volunteers. Although a small selection of animals when I went (probably a good thing that so many are finding homes!), we were able to find the perfect cat for our needs. Berkeley Humane also offers to be there to support you throughout the lifespan of the animal should you ever need help.

Great place. Convenient.
FYI– They don’t offer vaccine shots anymore for people bringing in their pooches.
Apparently, there was a fire a few years ago, and now in the limited space that remains, they don’t have any room for an on-​site vet.

I’m a volunteer here and as far as gigs go? Super organized. These guys really have a good philosophy when it comes to animal care, have one of the best staff and are really on top of things when it comes to keeping a large group of people organized. Not to mention: puppies and kitties! I would say find your next best friend here, encourage people to volunteer here and check them out!

I read a review by someone criticizing the Executive Director, Jeffrey Zerwikh. I had extensive volunteer experience with Berkeley Humane during transitions. I think the organization is blessed to have Jeffrey at the helm. Staff transitions occur, but I saw many BEFORE Jeffery became director. Some made me sad as Berkeley Humane had many incredible staff that moved on. My experience with Jeffrey is that he cares and is totally competent, in my opinion and as a business person, to lead BHS to better places. It should never be forgotten that Berkeley Humane was crippled by the fire several years ago and, in spite of that, continues to provide loving refuge to many dogs and cats and find forever homes thanks to dedicated staff and volunteers.

here’s the brief story. we went last week to see a dog. arrived ½ hour after they opened. we were third in line to see this white dog. the first people who arrived were adopting the dog we were told. we looked at others and left. a week went by, the same white dog was re-​listed.
this time, we arrived ½ hr before they opened. we met with w/​staff who told us dog’s history and its situation: he was skittish/​shy/​didnt feel comfortable around men/​didnt like to be petted by strangers. yes he had been adopted last week but adopters returned him. same thing had happened the week before. this took about 5 minutes, then we we given 10 minutes to walk the dog. 10 minutes? i ask. they answer that there are 2 other people there to see same dog.
we began walking. i’m thinking… so i can’t pet you and we get 10 minutes to decide if we want to adopt you. we return 10 minutes later. we are asked our choice. we say well we don’t really know, 10 minutes was/​is short. they gave us a few more minutes at most, twice coming back to us to ask our decision.
we passed on this sweet white dog. we hope you found a good home and hope the process to place others like you gets reviewed and extended for a special needs dog – prob many adopted dogs — i think time is important to decide if its a match, lest you get mis-​matches and the dog suffers.
a final note… we went to milo in richmond. we were given 1 hour to walk the dog. there happened to be no line for this dog so we stayed 3 hours. they have their own dog park with agility/​obstacles. granted there was no line to see this dog, but we felt we could make a responsible decision with regard to parenting a dog for its life b/​c we had an hour.
we appreciate both milo and b.e.b.h.s for the mission they fill. we just felt that both policy and staff at milo were more a match for us. thanks.

I found my darling kitty Pepper here on Sunday, September 9, 2002. She was a «rescue» baby, about 4 months old, and had just been spayed a few days earlier. She had had almost no human contact and was very shy, but somehow we immediately connected, and the very first night in her new home she jumped up on the bed, climbed under the covers, snuggled next to me and purred herself to sleep. For 13 years Pepper was my soul mate and best friend. Last week she died quite suddenly while under the care of a new and untested (by me) local clinic. I am heartbroken. My fervent wish is that on my next visit to Berkeley Humane, which I hope will be soon, I will find a new little fur person who will need me as much as I will be needing her.

These guys do awesome work, I adopted my dog here. I got him when he was 3 months, and they took care of all his vaccinations, microchipping, and neutering all for a very small adoption fee. They really deserve more than what they charge, especially since they do such a good job. The adoption process was smooth and the staff were all very helpful. They also offer 50% off the training classes for your newly adopted dog. However, the classes are the reason Berkeley Humane losses one star. The training classes were not very effective, due to their size, approx 10 dogs, and the trainer not making the experience fun. I could tell that dog training was just a job for her and not something she really wanted to be doing.
Despite the bad training experience I would recommend adopting an animal from these guys, they really do a good job, and provide the area with a great service.
As a side note, Berkeley Humane is trying to expand their services into a vet clinic as well as mobile adoptions. This could be very beneficial for the area, and the animals they help.

walked in looking for a kitten to adopt, no one acknowledged us… the woman at reception was actively frowning and seemed put out when we asked a question. sorry to have bothered her!
Everyone we met that wasn’t a volunteer was unfriendly and unhelpful. ugh it was a horrible experience. so much smugness from a group that is supposed to want to help place animals in good homes.
i will not be adopting from berkeley — i’ll try oakland.

I adopted my 2.5 yr old kitty Lucy last week and have to hand it to the people at the Berkeley Human Society and their foster folks for taking such good care of her — she’s a great cat and their description was spot on. And they went the extra mile to connect me to one of her foster parents so I could ask a few questions before meeting/​adopting her. Fabulous people and a great organization. Thanks for all you do!

I now know why cat ladies exist– the adoption process was so incredibly smooth and easy. The only hard part is choosing a kitty out of all the wonderful ones they have! If you go to their adopt-​a-​thon, the adoption fee ($ 100) is waived. Get there early and be decisive as these cats get adopted quickly. They have kittens range from a few weeks to months and years of age. You can tell these folks really care about the animals, making the service wonderful.

I’m going to preface this review by saying that I believe that Berkeley Humane probably does want the best for the animals in its care, and that this review mainly pertains to the limited interaction with staff that my friends and I had at their facility.
Today, on 6/​24, myself and two friends (who were both on the lookout for a new dog to add to their families) decided to stop in and take a look around. As we approached the door, a woman exited the building, so naturally, we assumed they were open. The front door was unlocked and there was no sign (at least in obvious view) that implied otherwise. We walked in and were immediately greeted by a woman probably around 5’8″, blonde hair a little bit past her shoulders, with an incredibly irritated look on her face who in an annoyed tone of voice asked us, «Can I HELP you?»
When we told her we would like to look at the animals that were up for adoption, she told us in an incredibly rude tone that they would not be open for adoptions until the next day. We apologized and exited the building, but not before we heard her say, «We REALLY should lock the door.»
Rude.

We just adopted a cat from Berkeley Humane (Mariposa) and they couldn’t have been nicer! They have very kid friendly staff and are very thorough in their adoption process. Animals there are well cared for with volunteers helping out to walk the dogs and visit with the cats. It was a very pleasant experience all around.
Now we are home hanging out in the bedroom getting acquainted. We are very happy!
Please support them because they provide a very important to the community and to their animals.
Thanks Berkeley Humane!
Ned

It’s just not fair!
I wanted to leave with all of them!
The humane center here has all sorts of animals that you can adopt or foster. I came trying to find a cat/​kitten that might be a good addition to our family but my cat’s already 6 years old and already had many bad habits. He is also a little territorial and shy so I wanted to find a companion that would be a good fit.
The workers here definitely love animals and are passionate about being there. It didn’t feel like I was talking to someone who was trying to make a paycheck or trying to get community service hours out of the way.
They helped us play with the kittens a little bit and introduced us to them. My only complaint is that I feel like when it came to adding a pet to a pet-​existing household, they were a little unknowledgeable about the issues that could arise with that.
Otherwise, please come! And adopt! Particularly the sweet little pitbull that they also had!

Although they are still recovering from the fire in May 2010 their clinic and
animal adoptions are still going strong.
I stopped by the other day with some fleece blankets since I read on their
FaceBook page their blanket supplies are low.
I visited the cats and their new digs are nice. Even though they are in a «caged»
enclosure there are different compartments now including a private litter box area.
If you are thinking about adopting a cat or dog please consider BEBHS.
Check their website for hours and info.
Check their Facebook page for some wonderful touching photos of the animals with their new forever families. My heart melts with joy whenever I see these photos.

I was interested in fostering. I had planned to attend the foster training last weekend but had a family emergency. I tried calling and emailing Arianna to reschedule. Finally on Friday I got ahold of her and planned to attend the foster training today from 10 – 11. I got here, 20 mins out of my way. I asked an employee where to find Arianna. The employee went outside and told me Arianna had moved onto other tasks and she would contact me– in a cold tone, and moved on to the next person without the slightest sense of appreciation that I wanted to help their shelter by being a foster.
Why offer to hold a class from 10 – 11, and «move on»? Plus, it seemed like there would be more people than myself or I would’ve asked for a different time.
I don’t believe Arianna will contact me. She didnt the first time despite my attempts and today she didnt even come over to say hi or to introduce herself or apologize. That is LAME. The lady employee who helped me was rude to say the least. I’m parked in front of the shelter writing this because I’m mad at the bad service.
I’m done. I’ll find another shelter who actually appreciates their pet fosters.
*I ended up fostering with Big Dawgs Rescue. Jackie brought my foster cats to my house, provided supplies, overall extremely friendly, helpful and easy to reach.

Berkeley-​East Bay Humane Society («BEBHS») has a history with my family. I came here on a Junior Girl Scout Troop field trip thousands of years ago. We got our first dogs from family friends many years ago. When La Mère decided she wanted another dog when one of the dogs died from natural causes, I suggested the Berkeley Humane Society (as it was originally known as then). We got many canine family members from here since the 1980s. Dolce is an alumna from here.
La Mère decided Dolce was going to go back to obedience classes and was looking for a dog training clicker along with an obedience class schedule at BEBHS. Dolce needs to be more socialized as well as disciplined when we go to the dog park. Dolce has not been to the park in quite sometime and has to readjust to the rules of the game of socializing in the park.
And The Mother decided to get us another dog while we were there. (Translation: Dolce has company and a «new sibling.») The Mother wanted a laid-​back, mellow dog. And that is how we got Bianco who fit the bill. (His name is subject to change.) Dolce was with us and she got to meet Bianco. They got to run and play inside the training area for a bit. When Bianco got in the car, Dolce raised quite a fuss! She threw quite a fit! At the moment and of this writing, Dolce and Bianco are working out boundaries and limits with each other. I had to get in-​between a few minor battle royales between them.
We have gotten most of previous dogs from BEBHS; all of our male dogs have come from BEBHS. Bianco follows our two previous late male pups, Sergio and Grigio, who were BEBHS alumni. Like Sergio and Grigio before him, Bianco is an absolute sweetheart and a gentleman. He is eager to please and to make us – especially The Mother – very happy.
We have been very happy with all of our dogs we have gotten from BEBHS. I would recommend them to anyone who is interested in adopting either a dog or cat – maybe even both!
Fresh Review #58 of 100 Unilocal!for 2013

My family and I have had a longtime partnership with the Berkeley Humane Society, but after my recent experience trying to adopt a puppy from them I was left highly disappointed.
Our family cat was adopted from these folks 10 years ago, and we love her to death and it was so great to rescue a kitty. My parents have been donors since then, and worked with them to help trap some feral cats in their neighborhood. As I went to drop off the cat traps, I noticed a flyer with the most adorable pitbull puppy on their wall. I’d been meaning to adopt a puppy for years now, and felt I was finally ready since I have a home and backyard/​time to raise a pup. I came in during adoption hours to visit with the pup, but wanted to fill out an application and come back the next day to make sure I was absolutely sure and was ready. I’m the kind of person that doesn’t take these things lightly, and having an animal life in my hands is a big commitment that I understand.
Well, this place doesn’t do any kind of hold on animals, so you have to decide right then and there whether you want the animal, and if you don’t decide you do, it’s fair game. This worries me because it seems to open the door to irresponsible pet owners! How many people have walked in this place, saw a puppy or dog they liked, then impulsively walked out with it? How is this ensuring the animal will have the best home it can have?
So, I ended up adopting a puppy from Copper’s Animal Rescue, which does do holds on animals and has a verrrrrrry lengthy application to ensure their animals are left in good hands.

We took our seriously leash-​aggressive Chihuahua, Hollis, to their Dogs with Attitude class. The instructor was a bit of a pain, but we did learn a lot.
Hollis is still nasty, but better. He’s always a fraction of a second from flipping out, so this is progress.
The best part of it all is that I’ve been applying what I learned to our Lab, Mo. He was also very leash aggressive, but has been responding well to his training. His behavior is so much better in a number of ways and he is still steadily improving. For an older dog that was never properly socialized, I’m impressed.
In short, we got pretty well-​trained in how to deal with our dogs.

How have I not written a review for this place yet?! Just about 6 months ago, my husband and I adopted Elba, a little spaniel-​chihuahua mix (best guess) from here. It was the day before we were set to fly to Michigan for almost a week for the holidays, and we just happened to be in the neighborhood. I convinced my husband to stop by just to check the place out, as we had decided that we would adopt a dog upon our return.
Elba wast literally the very first dog we saw. Once we met her we just couldn’t let her go, and (I know this sounds bad…) couldn’t risk letting someone else adopt her while we were out of town! This sent us scrambling to look for a dog sitter while filling out the paperwork. Seriously, if someone else told me that they had done this, I would so totally judge for being so impractical and not planning ahead… but the staff here was very non-​judgemental and understanding of our predicament.
When we brought Elba back over a month later to go to the obedience class (which they discount the fee for dogs adopted here), the volunteers still remembered her name! I know it’s a small facility, but I was still really impressed. The staff and volunteers are so dedicated to their work.
The basic dog obedience class was really helpful, since my husband and I had both never owned dogs before. Our dog definitely had issues from being so scared so much in her short life thus far — afraid of being handled, afraid of going outside, being in the car, afraid of her leash and harness… the list goes on. House breaking was, of course, no walk in the park. But, I’m so happy to say in the past 6 months, she’s been slowly but surely making so much progress, and today she is a happy wagging little munchkin doggie that does great on leash and likes exploring new places.
So, I say to anyone who has been thinking about getting a pet, PLEASE stop by this place and check out their cats and dogs! Or check out their updated website to see all the animals up for adoption. You will be doing a world of good for the animals, and they will bring so much cuddly love to your life! Just maybe time it better than we did ;)

Even before we got our dog from a different shelter there was something magnificent and luring about the East Bay Humane Society. We met many dogs and cats that looked like they were well taken care of and on their way to being 100% adoptable – even AFTER the fire. We were impressed with the tiny space they were able to create. I felt like with each visit, I learned something new about the facility, a specific breed or something general about pet adoptions. The staff has been and continues to be incredibly knowledgeable and super friendly.
Since we rescued our big black lab, we have enrolled in one course here: «Basic Dog Obedience».
What a fun time we had! I was impressed with the open, warehouse kind of look since they have remodeled the inside. The partitions inside were big enough to give our furry friends enough privacy to focus on the class.
We had Nancy and thought her teaching was unique and interesting – especially when she worked with other dogs. They just seemed to love her!
Not a whole lot of philosophy/​theory but just enough to get you thinking. I loved that she provided us with notes about the class and handouts with our «homework» assignments.
We felt like this class was very beneficial to our (at that time) recently rescued lab. With all that practice and guidance, he has become an obedient lover boy that enjoys both people and other dogs.
We will DEFINITELY consider taking more classes in the future and highly recommend any pet-​seekers, and non-​seekers alike, to support the EBHS!

As I needed community service hours to graduate from high school, I decided to volunteer here for a while about 4 – 5 years ago. Berkeley-​East Bay Humane Society is a great shelter for animals! Whether you are a dog or cat person, they take lots of care for their animals here and they try their best to ensure they find homes.
Its also one of the few shelters that does not euthanize animals just because they haven’t been adopted. This makes it easier for people like my mom (major animal lover) to visit some of these guys without wanting to take most of them home with her!
On a personal note, my family adopted our two feline companions here back in 2003(I think?). Ever since I was a little kid, I wanted my very own cat (a brown tabby boy to be precise). Just my luck we came across two kittens in a cage, one of whom was a brown tabby boy named «Giuseppe». Sure enough they won us over with their big eyes and playfulness so we took them home that same day.
The boy would later be named «G» or «Joey» for short and he is still MY cat to this day. Never before have I had a cat that thinks he’s a puppy but he fetches toys and follows me around the house! The other kitten was a girl named «Cuddles”(false advertising if you ask me) so we changed her name to «Gabby» and she has since become my mom’s exclusive cat.
I was sorry to hear that the fire that took the lives of some of the cats that were there in 2010. I know they are still struggling to rebuild and find homes for animals now more than ever. So on a final note, if you ever feel like your home could use a touch of fur please consider coming to Berkeley-​East Bay Humane Society!

Nancy is a wonder and awesome. We brought our newly adopted adult dog to see Nancy for her behavioral issues. From the assessment meeting, Nancy was able to determine what sets our dog off. What she is not comfortable with and how to correct the bad habits and make her a get over the past baggage that she carries.
I was almost at the end of my patience until our visit with Nancy. Now that we both know how to deal with our new doggie, hopefully it will become easier. If not, I am sure another meeting with Nancy will help us out.

I like this place. We found that our doggie has socialization and behavioral issues rather quickly and wanted to get it resolved asap, so we booked an appointment with Nancy, who is one of the animal behavorists. We had a nice hour and twenty minute initial conultation with her and she told us that our dog has issues with socialization and doesn’t like to be touched (that was the layman’s term). So she wrote up some notes, told us the red flags, and gave us some handouts and gave us some good advise and practical exercises on how to adjust her behavior. I really got a lot of the session, and I found Nancy was very patient and knowledgeable. She said that we could email her if we had any additional questions. And since its a not-​for-​profit organization, they don’t really gouge you. She said that it wasn’t really necessary for an additional follow up session, unless of course we really ran into a brick wall with the dog (hopefully that won’t happen).
We also are going on a trip in about a month and are in need of a doggie sitter while we’re gone. Nancy was kind enough to recommend a place for us. We’ll have to check it out and make a review of it later on Unilocal.
Highly recommend this place if you are having trouble with your doggie.

Me: Sorry Bebo, today you are getting your manhood removed.
Bebo: (Damn You!) Sad face. :(
I got really lucky and was able to bring my dog in one month early from his original scheduled appointment due to a cancellation.
Berkeley-​East Bay Humane Society offers low cost spay and neuter for people with low income and college students, but you have to be a Berkeley or Oakland resident. I brought my dog to get neutered about 3 weeks ago. The cost was only $ 50. I dropped him off at 8am and he was ready to be picked up by 4pm. His stitches have healed nicely so I know they did a good job with him.
The staff are very friendly. They don’t try to rush you and they don’t have attitude. They treat everyone kindly. The older woman working at the front desk is very sweet and helpful. She’ll answer any questions you have no matter how busy it is.
If you have any pets that need to be spayed or neutered this is the place to go. Over 5 million animals get put to sleep every year due to over population and not enough adopters. Please stop the cycle of over reproduction and spay/​neuter your pets.

I am heartbroken as I write this update.
Early this morning a major fire broke out and destroyed the entire cat housing area. These were the catopias where cats waiting to be adopted were housed with lots of toys and loved to pieces by the dedicated volunteers and staff.
Some of the cats were playful, some were goofy, and some were just beautiful even when they were just napping. Some came to the door when you enter the room, meowing for pets and play time.
Rest in peace beautiful souls! I hope you found your way to your forever homes.
In addition to the loss of animals, the office was damaged and it would take a while to rebuild the cat adoption area. Please help in whatever way you can, by making a donation, fostering displaced animals, or volunteering your time. You can find additional info through their website.

I adopted my second dog from BEBHS this past weekend. After weeks of perusing
and other dog adoption sites, I found a couple of potential dogs at BEBHS. Then one day I looked at their site and this cute little chihuahua mix caught my eye immediately. His name was BoomBox and he was rescued from a shelter where he was scheduled for euthanization! I decided that this is going to be my new dog.
Luckily for me, BoomBox was still available by the time I came in on Saturday. I immediately pointed him out to the staff and they let us spend some time with him in one of their rooms. After spending some time with BoomBox and deciding that we wanted to go forward with the adoption, the staff recommended that we bring our current dog over to see how they get along. This helped my dog Mimi meet BoomBox on neutral territory, which helped them both with the transition.
The staff was very friendly and you can tell that they really enjoy what they do. From the moment I met BoomBox, until the moment I left with him, I felt very comfortable and well taken care of. I could tell that BoomBox had made an impression on the staff in the few days he was there.
What I really liked about BEBHS is that they really educate potential adopters about taking care of their new family member. Unlike my first experience adopting a dog (we won’t go there, but I’m happy I found my dog Mimi), BEBHS makes sure that you are knowledgeable and understand what you are getting yourself into. Luckily for me, I’ve had experience with adopting a dog before, so I was ready for the commitment.
The fee for adopting my dog was $ 200, which includes all his vaccinations, microchip, free training classes, neutering (he was neutered a few days prior to me adopting him), and a free examination with a local veterinarian. They even gave me two cans of dog food and a bag of dry food, to help him transition.
Being that I’ve had two completely different experiences adopting dogs, I can imagine most of them should have happened similarly to my experience at BEBHS. So my experience may be the norm, but either way I was impressed and thankful for their commitment to finding animals a good home.
P. S. After reading some of the more negative review for BEBHS, I’m confused. I had no problem adopting BoomBox. I don’t know if things changed, or if I’m a better candidate for a dog, but it seems odd that others have been turned away or had bad experiences here. Before you get scared off by negative reviews, I suggest going in to check it out for yourself.