Humane Society of Boulder Valley

This is a beautiful, clean, spacious facility where you can really see your donation dollars at work. They have a great website updated several times a day with photos and status of animals and are frequently throwing events to raise money for the animals. When they ask for donations they tell you specifically what it’s needed for. The staff and volunteers are also wonderful people, I would go so far as to call them heroes.
I have adopted 4 kittens from here over time, which was my first experience with shelter animals, and I have really come to appreciate that shelter animals both tend to come with a lot of health problems, but a lot of love. Two of the kittens I adopted from here did not make it (one unknown and one with wet FIP), and of the two who did make it: one has chronic diarrhea if not on her special diet and the other has partial blindness and bad teeth, but these cats have become so special to me. They are the most loving, friendly, beautiful little animals I could ask for. They follow me to the bathroom, they follow me to watch me take our dog to go peepee, they follow me to every room to keep me company, they lay on me constantly and lick my hands and face every night. They have never scratched or bitten me, they are like plush, loving stuffed animals, it is almost ridiculous. One of them doesn’t know how to cover her excrement in the litterbox so the other one does it for her when she’s done. I can only assume Boulder Humane Society and whoever fostered them as kittens deserves the credit for producing such sweet animals, because these are the most unusually wonderful cats I have ever had. I didn’t know cats were like this. My husband never liked cats until he met these two while we were dating and now he has a name all picked out for when I let him get another cat from here.
To staff at Humane Society of Boulder: Just want you to know that your time and efforts on these animals is not unappreciated, at least by me, the kittens you gave me did not go to a home where they hide under the bed and are largely ignored and fed junk. I feel like everything I do for them is paying back the dozens of people who were involved in saving them: drivers, volunteers, vets, foster parents, etc. from your facility. I tried my best to save my kitten with FIP; I was calling ongoing studies at Cornell and Texas and trying to import feline omega interferon from Europe, but he passed too soon. I would have done and paid anything to save him. My other two who made it eat half Primal raw and half raw I make at home, they have a large water fountain, they go to the vet for checkups all the time, and are spoiled rotten with attention for hours a day. I’m not a crazy cat lady (I think) I just love these animals, hence this emotional review, but I am so very thankful for Boulder Humane Society for rescuing my little family members and giving me the chance to give them a good life.
Anyway this is a wonderful place and I highly recommend adopting here.

If you don’t have a job but still have plenty of money and would like your pet to receive adequate care, this is the place for you! I have a regular job (M-​F 9 – 5). I am forced to take time off work nearly every time I need an appointment. Things like physicals can be scheduled for a Saturday months in advance but illnesses can’t, and their limited availability means they almost never have an appointment available within the next two weeks outside regular work hours. My dog has been a patient here for several years, and the care he has received has been adequate but certainly nothing spectacular. Their limited availability and average care won’t stop them from charging you a premium, though. Some people shrug it off and say even though their services are probably over-​priced, the money benefits homeless animals. Maybe it does. I think if you want to help homeless animals and have a good vet you can actually get in to see, you should donate money directly to the shelter then find a different vet. That’s what I’m doing.

This place has horrible customer service. I hope they treat animals better than they treat people. Their closing time is listed as 7PM online, so I showed up at 6:35 for a meet and greet with a puppy, but was callously turned away. Zero encouragement to come back, or empathy for my hour long drive home. They should be encouraging people to adopt pets, not telling them to go away. Truly sad.

Growing up I have always had dogs from humane societies.
HSBV is so great. I have adopted a cat and a dog from here from two different locations and the staff were very kind and made the adoption process painless. The animals are well taken care of. I always see familiar staff faces which to me is a good sign of a healthy business.
One thing I like is that you can play with pets without having to fill out paperwork or waiting in long lines like I have done at other humane societies.
I have used the vet at HSBV too and can not say enough good about them. Super helpful and caring.
I highly recommend adopting from here.

I have nothing but positive feelings for the humane society, and I have been here a lot lately.
My partner and I have spent a lot of time looking at dogs, making repeated visit to the HSBV. It took a lot of self control to not take every dog home during each visit, but we were wanting a young pup that we felt a connection with. The staff was great with giving us freedom to browse and opening up for meet and greets.
Lo and behold one day we found an amazing dog and took her home on the spot. Two days later she became very sick and showed signs of parasites. We called the HSBV first thing Saturday morning and they told us to bring her in immediately and they would make room in their schedule to see her. This was fortunate, as she and 3 litter mates had parvo virus. Scary and potentially life-​threatening, they took her and her siblings in for treatment immediately.
The HSBV provided the long term care the puppies needed to get better. The were courteous, great at communication, encouraged visits (I couldn’t get enough visit time — I would have spent the night there if I could have), and genuinely cared. Their work and immediate response paid off and we were happy to bring her home just a few days later. We were fortunate that this treatment that can run up to $ 3,000 was completely covered by the HSBV (and insurance complimentary 30 day insurance they provided us). Thanks for everything!

Soon after adopting by dog at the Longmont Humane Society, I took my little buddy to the Humane Society of Boulder Valley to get checked out by a veterinarian.
Despite taking a long walk before heading over, the pup was nervous and couldn’t help but poop in the waiting room moments after we sat down. The front desk staff were very understanding and quick to assist. We had a minimal wait time (no more than a couple minutes) before an aide escorted us to an exam room.
The veterinarian spent so much time answering all of my silly questions — from best types of dog food brands to estimating my pup’s real age. She really took the time to check him out while making sure all of my silly questions were answered. She recommended an additional set of shots and got us all set with heart worm preventative care.
And on top of it all, the services were very reasonably priced. I had accepted the high price of veterinary care while living in Washington, D.C., but the total cost here at the Humane Society of Boulder Valley was significantly less than I had imagined.
All around, I highly recommend the Humane Society of Boulder Valley for veterinary care. The staff are friendly. The professionals are knowledgable. And the price is right!

I’m in love with this place. I got my cats and dogs here. I’ll always come back, they are so sweet and the things they do for the animals are amazing. I need to donate some kitty food soon but I might have to take another one home with me.

Vets seem competent; the staff less so. Poor communication and an amazing lack of concern for their clients’ time.

I got my 3 year old mixed breed (husky mix?) from here. I had never owned a dog before I brought home Dexter and the people working there were so helpful! I wrote an email outlining my needs (which are a bit different than a regular pet), lifestyle, and level of experience with animals and was responded to promptly with a few suggestions and a short description of each dog’s personality. I wrote similar emails to other shelters in the metro area and either got no response or responses that were entirely unhelpful (ex: just come by and see for yourself).
I really felt that my dog and I were set up to be successful by the HSBV. All of my questions were answered and everyone was very friendly, both in the adoption center and at the vet. I didn’t end up adopting any of the dogs they suggested, mainly because the one I fit with best was going home with someone else.
However, I felt confident enough (waaaay more confident) to explore the other dogs in the shelter with the knowledge that the volunteers were happy to help me and would not pressure me either way. I ended up meeting a different dog that I clicked with instantly and I haven’t regretted a single minute spent with my new friend!
I will definitely look into their training center in the very near future. I’ve had positive experiences with both the adoption process and the veterinary clinic, so I’m optimistic about training as well.

I decided to make them my veterinarians for my cats because I was unhappy with my previous veterinarian. I really like the way they are with my cats, and they are more affordable than my previous vet as well plus I know that the money I pay will help with the care of other animals so I is worth it twice as much to me. I also adopted a pit bull mix from them, and she was in great health and happiness when I got her.

This review is for the veterinarian service at the Boulder Humane Society:
I’ve adopted two cats from the humane society, and have had the pleasure of working with the vets at the shelter for all of their needs. I’ve worked with vets in Longmont previously, for emergencies, but the vets at the Humane Society have been much friendlier, more patient with questions I’ve had, and more enthusiastic about helping keep my pets healthy; and they’re more than happy to act as a sounding board for ideas and concerns I might have. While there’s much to be said about bedside manner of any vet, they not only treated my cats incredibly affectionately and with care, they also kept me sane, and knew how to work collaboratively with me to provide the best for my cats.
I can’t recommend them enough.

If you read other reviews I write, you’ll know that I reserve bad ratings for truly crappy experiences. This one was borderline crappy so I’m giving Boulder Humane a 2.
My partner and I had determined we were ready for a dog and were 100% on rescuing an adult dog. We wanted to start our search at this shelter.
When we walked in, we described what we were looking for and mentioned a couple of dogs on their website that seemed like maybe-​fits to us. The desk staff shrugged their shoulders and very non-​committally said, «umm, you can go look around.» We asked if, given that we had a pretty good idea what would work for us (a medium dog, not bigger than 60 – 70 lbs, good with kids and people, playful, likes to walk, and can go to work with me and be ok with other people and dogs. Oh, and we know we like some of the traits of these specific breeds but other dogs that have those characteristics would be interesting too) could they think of any dogs they had that we should meet with?
Again, they offered no help or info, only saying, «Well you can go see dogs in their kennels and read all about them on their kennel cards. Go walk around back there.»
So we did, and found over 50% of the kennel cards missing. We could determine nearly nothing by just looking at a dog through a gate or glass door, and when we wanted to meet with an animal, giving the name of the animal resulted in lots of confusion where we then had to go find the kennel NUMBER. Meanwhile, in 3 out of the 4 cases of meeting dogs, they did not have any info we could read on them before getting them out and meeting with them in a play area. So then we’d ask to meet a dog, they’d get all excited in the play area, and only then would staff come and read off some info about the dog. «Daisy has some head flipping and is not recommended to be around other dogs or children in case her aggression gets worse.»
Well, now we have this dog who’s all excited to be out, and we’re a revolving door letting them down again and sending them back to their kennel saying, «No, that’s not a match for us.» The staff member would take the dog back, and then disappear. She never introduced herself to us, by the way, so then when we’d head back up to the front desk and ask about another dog they’d say, «who’s working with you?» Ummm, I don’t know — it appears none of you are.
I can see this facility places a high priority on treating their animals extremely well, but unless they put some energy into customer service to the PEOPLE who come in to try and also help these animals, they can’t truly say they are doing their best to place animals in loving homes. Our experience was that their kennel-​info (or lack of it!!) did not allow us to do any self-​service exploration and that their staff did not help us find out more about which dogs we might want to meet with. This happened repeatedly as we tried to meet other dogs that day. I ended up crying because I felt like we were leading these dogs on. Had we only been given some info on, we would have known, «that’s not a good match for us.»
We ended up adopting a dog in Aurora, more than an hour away from us, because we simply could not work with these people or they didn’t care to work with us.

I adopted 2 cats at the Humane Society of Boulder Valley. The staff was very friendly and knowledge about cats. After trying a few vets in Boulder, I started taking my cats to the vet at the Humane Society. The vets and the staff have been doing a good job taking care of my cats.

This review is for the training classes as I adopted my dogs before moving to Boulder. I cannot say enough good things about Jai and Anita. Their Grumpy Growlers class really helped my growler. I have a pit bull mix and while he is not always happily welcomed in Boulder, he was shown lots of love by these trainers :) It is also very convenient to sign up for a class and pay online.

This place is amazing! I’ve adopted 2 dogs from here. They bring in dogs from other shelters and puppy mills to adopt out. The place is clean and well run. They also offer obedience and puppy training.

An awesome humane society that always has a variety of great animals to adopt, in addition to a small pet store, vet, training, etc.
I will say, however, that they tend to give animals to anybody who on a whim decides to get one. I don’t like places that make you jump through hoops to prove you’re capable of caring for a goldfish, but not every college student should be able to adopt twenty puppies without some sort of proof that they’ll actually be cared for.

I got my cat here about five years ago, and I still return often for vet appointments, even after moving to Denver. The veterinarians are amazing, they really care about your pet. On my last visit the vet took about an hour for a routine check up. She answered all my questions, taking the time to really explain things to me. Very thorough and obviously invested in the well-​being of my cat!
The people at the front desk are great! They are willing to spread a particularly expensive visit over a few monthly payments.

I recently brought in a very ill stray cat that was living under my porch and the staff/​volunteers at the Humane Society of Boulder was so amazing that I immediately registered to become a volunteer myself.
The staff gave me the identification number of the stray I brought in and was more than happy to give me an update when I called every few days to check-​in.
The facility is beautiful and the animals are exceptionally well cared for.
Please consider stopping here for your next pet rather than a pet store or private breeder.

So I did it! I got rescued by a Boxer — Rocco!
I swear, I am easily swayed. A friend of mine during the week, gave me a flier for a Bike Run (Motorcycle) that supported MaxFund– I was curious to what the support was for and googled them… and came to a page of love able, adorable, dogs looking for a home. So, I started texting my gf… «hey, wouldn’t you love to have a new friend named… Spot… or Rex… or Jojo?». I was obsessed!
So that night we were online and saw the Boulder Humane Society website, and fell in love 40+ times, with 40+ dogs/​puppies. We decided to go that Saturday and simply check it out (yeah right, check it out).
Coming from Westminster, it was fairly easy to find, and in a nice building and clean area. They have clearly labeled entrances to know if you are going to the VET, or Training, etc.
Walking inside we simply bypassed the counter and started checking out those pups. Inside, I wanted to adopt every dog and take it home. Thank GOD for the size of my place, or I probably would have.
Then we saw Rocco. Sitting there, so pretty and calm. We looked at his card, 5 year old Boxer… and we also notice he was stitched up in a few places… oh, cycsts/​tumors… we didn’t care, he looked so hopeful we asked to see him.
When you want to see a dog, you go back to the front and get assigned a person to get you connected. We only wanted Rocco at that point, so we were lucky that when we took him outside, we all fell in love.
Checking out wasn’t too bad, and yes it can get hectic on a weekend when everyone is there with their families looking for a new puppy (Yes there were new puppies there, but we were intent on getting an older dog because we knew pups are easily adopted. We got our free collar and some food when we left.
Got home and got an email to confirm his free pet insurance for 30 days (Make sure you accept it)… and a week later took Rocco back to the Vet to get the stitches removed… another easy and uneventful trip.
What a great experience, all the while helping us get set up with the love of our lives. Like I said, easily swayed. The whole event took place and completed within 2 weeks of getting that flier!!! LOL

We just adopted a one year old chihuahua from this shelter. The facilities are brand new and nicely done. The only complaint I have about the facilities themselves is that it’s really hard to hear in the lobby area, which is where they greet people and do the adoption paperwork.
We went in for free cat Friday. We got to hang out in a communal room of kitties who were transferred from New Mexico. One (or possibly more) was going through the de-​worming process, which was kind of gross and a turn off. While we were waiting to look at cats, my husband found a dog he wanted to look at. With so many staffers there, there was some confusion on who was actually helping us. They have a ton of volunteers who help out, such as walking dogs. It’s awesome.
The dog we got had ‘fear issues’ on her paperwork. The shelter has an animal behavioral unit which helps animals improve on their negative behaviors, which makes them more adoptable. I can tell you that our dog has no fear for the most part. She was friendly to people in the shelter, as well as to my young son when they first met. She did flinch a little when I was reaching for something near her and she thought I was going to hit her. Other than that, she’s a happy dog.
When we decided to adopt her, the process went by fairly quickly. They give you some freebies from the pet shop, such as a small bag of food and a collar. I think the stuff in the pet shop is reasonably priced, and they have a good assortment of stuff. You get a 30 day pet insurance policy as part of the adoption fees, which is nice. They also make it clear that they want the animal to work with your household, but they also understand that things don’t always work out (no fault credited to the owners or the animal). They give you as much health information as possible to bring with you to the vet, as well as information on how to introduce pets to kids, other pets, and other good information.
Overall, we were very impressed with them.