Humane Society of Greater Kansas City

This place is without a doubt the most responsible animal shelter/​rescue organization that I have encountered. I work full time as a veterinary technician and have 3.5 years experience in pet rescue, so I’ve seen my fair share of organizations in this field. I currently live in Austin, TX which is the largest no-​kill city in the U.S. and still the HSGKC is as good as it gets. I adopted my rottweiler/​shepherd mix, Hailey, from here almost 4 years ago. At this point in my life I had little to no animal experience. I had submitted my application online and came into the shelter later that week to meet the particular dog (not Hailey) I was hoping to adopt. I was advised by an adoption counselor over the phone that this particular dog may not be the best fit for me as my only experience with dogs was a generally friendly family dog I grew up with. I pushed back against their advice and INSISTED that I meet that particular dog. Upon meeting the dog at the shelter my adoption counselor, Kathleen, went into tremendous detail on what kind of things I can expect from this dog. I was also educated on what I would need to do as an owner to help set this dog up for success. At this point I realized I would be getting in over my head with this particular dog and was preparing to leave disappointed. A couple of very helpful volunteers were assisting at this point too. One of them asked me why I liked that particular dog so much and my (uneducated) answer was, «I like german shepherds!» even though at this point I wasn’t even entirely sure what that entailed. After taking the time to get to know me, and honoring my request… they brought out the «next best thing» (which really really was the next best thing!!!) and I met Hailey. I had prejudged this dog (Hailey) because she was a rottweiler mix. The only shepherd looking thing about this dog to me (at the time) was the brown in her hair coat. Since I had very very little experience with dogs I had assumed that rottweilers were mean, vicious, «could possibly eat you alive» dogs. After about a minute and a half in the play yard my ignorant stupidity was crushed. This rottweiler beast had everything (I didn’t know) I wanted in a dog: family friendly, dog friendly, fairly basic manners. So basically, «I met Hailey and the rest was history!» But really, the time, care, and effort the staff and volunteers here take in adopting out their pets is remarkable. They are not quick to push adoptions onto people. They make sure to carefully evaluate the detailed applications to ensure that the owner (and the pet) are matched perfectly. This shelter’s focus is definitely quality over quantity. They don’t have as high of an intake volume as many other shelters but I believe this is a responsible and caring thing they are doing for the pets. Had they not been careful and really taken the time to educate me I would’ve walked out with a dog that I couldn’t handle. Instead, they took they time to find out what it was that I was really looking for and matched me with the dog that was the best fit. Since they don’t have high volumes the staff and volunteers can really get to know their animals so they can make perfect fits like this happen. The two volunteers that helped me that day knew Hailey EXTREMELY well, and you could tell by Hailey’s interaction with them. I am very grateful for the HSGKC for pairing me with the best fit dog! Hailey has well exceeded my expectation from what I wanted from a dog. We have lived in Austin for 3.5 years now and still go back to visit HSGKC when we are in town. Last time we visited (about a year ago) one of her volunteers got to say hi to her. It was amazing to see her reaction when she saw him, you can tell these volunteers leave lasting impacts on these pets. This is the only place I would feel 100% confident in when adopting a pet!
**Also noteworthy, Hailey had distemper and HSGKC did all of her medical treatment and still brought her into their program.

My boyfriend and I adopted Farley a few days back. Farley had been at the shelter for over a year and you can tell how much the shelter has done to provide for him (as well as the rest of their animals). Also major kudos to not being a kill shelter or else we never would’ve experienced the joy it is to have Farley in our lives!
The volunteers and workers have such big hearts. Christine Blank was always prompt with email communication and ensuring Farley was a great fit for our family. She even went as far as to bring Farley to our home to make sure his size and character fit our place and our fur baby we already have.
The lengths her and everyone else does at the shelter shows that if they go that far to make great relationships between human and fur baby… that the dogs and cats at the shelter are in great hands and worth adopting.
Thanks so much for everything! We are as lucky to have Farley in our home as we were to work with you throughout the adoption process. :)

I might be a little biased, since I’m a volunteer for these guys, but I can’t say enough great things about them.
They are the oldest animal shelter in Kansas City. While they are smaller than some of the other organizations in the area, I feel that they are better at matching people with animals than some of the other shelters in town. Being smaller allows them to get to know the animals really well.
They are a «no-​kill» facility and recently said goodbye to long-​time resident Fancy, an Akita, who had been at the shelter since at least 2006.
These guys are great at what they do, which is why they’ve managed to stay open as long as they have!
If you’re looking for a furrever companion check out HSGCK. If not, you can always, foster, volunteer, or even sponsor a pet!

First off I have taken my cat here to be neutered when he was just a tiny little kitten. They did a great job, little guy was back to normal asap and the staff was incredibly nice. They provided me with all the information I needed and were beyond affordable. I am not a poor person, but I sure as heck can’t afford to fix my cat for $ 300.
I recently had a dilemma in which I was almost forced to give up my cat. I had moved to an apartment complex that required all cats to be neutered/​spayed. Not a big deal, Humane Society had done that. BUT I was also told they had to be declawed!!! I had nothing but trouble from my apartment already which was rude and full of incompetent people who didn’t know anything about their jobs. I was seriously on the verge of surrendering my cat to keep him from having to have his toes mutilated and amputated. Because that is exactly what declawing is. It does not benefit the animal, cats were born with claws for a reason. Anyways, I was doing all I could to fight this and still try to keep my kitty, I looked up info on Soft Paws that are nail caps to protect claws from damaging things. Although my 1 year old kitty has never been destructive. Well I spoke to the Humane Society and told them my issue, they were so wonderful they wrote me a letter personally, listing why they were against declawing, all the problems and side affects that came with it, and why it was mutilation of cats. They also wrote info on alternatives that were much more humane and that could be used instead of declawing. They had all of the Vet’s there sign it for me and thanks to that letter with all of their information, plus the research I acquired I was able to keep my kitty with his claws in my apartment!!! So thanks Humane Society for helping protect another animal :)

This place is such an asset for the KC community. I dropped in to meet a dog that I had viewed on Pet finders. It was very clean and had numerous volunteers hard at work, early on a saturday morning. Lots of cleaning going on, others excersising the animals outdoors.
Everyone was polite and helpful, I had pre-​completed the questionaire, for prospective adopters, which sped things up considerably. I met with Kathleen, who ushered us back and brought me the dog I was there to see. She explained the adoption process to me and filled me in on the dogs history. Asking questions about me along the way.
You could tell that her main concern was the animals welfare. Great job.
Even though this animal was not a good fit for my home, she will be there and cared for, so that the right home will find her., and the others as well.
I appreciate all the hard work and dedication that the staff puts forth for the animals.

In my insatiable quest to become a crazy cat lady I’ve been searching for another cat as a companion to my existing one as well as to add more hair to all of my clothes.
Immediately upon searching the website I was impressed with their cat rooms. They allow the older cats to run and lay around freely while some of the babies or those who need special care are in large cages. It was such an upbeat place to visit!
First, you fill out an adoption form which is fine and very painless. The really make a genuine effort to make sure that their animals go to good homes and that the fit is right. We are waiting to bring our new cat home as we are dog sitting for a bit but I can’t wait to go back. The employees are extremely dedicated and really care for those animals.

I took a litter of feral kittens to the Humane Society yesterday for a check-​up and vaccines. I was very impressed with the helpfulness of the very knowledgeable staff. You do have to wait a long time for the walk-​in clinic (I was there for 4 hours) but it’s worth it because they are very thorough and caring and the prices are incredibly low. Just a heads up, everyone that showed up after 2:00 was turned away, even though they are open until 4:00, because of the high volume of walk-​ins… so go early!