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this spca is lying to people about dogs they have lost, when the people call to ask if there animal is there they say it isn't and it is, what kind of a place thats intended to help animal's does that, I believe the spca should take action and look into this matter, It disgusts me to have a place for helping animals do such a terrible thing to good people who love there animals!
HILLSIDE SPCA IS A JOKE
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
I know what you are going through first hand
I rescued a dog from a breeder who no longer wanted him because he was too old. I took him in with the intentions of finding him a new home. We couldn't keep the sweet little guy because my sister's dog didn't get along with other animals. After six months of trying to find this old boy a home, it became too difficult to keep the dogs separated. There were too many close calls and I was concerned that this sweet old guy might get hurt. We decided that he would have a better chance of finding a home at a no-kill shelter. We called Hillside SPCA where a man told me they could take the dog if I brought him before they closed at 2:00. He reassured me that they would prepare a spot to keep him and they would find him a good home. We immediately left for the shelter. When I arrived a woman came and took our dog inside, she returned a moment later demanding to know why I had brought him without an appointment. I explained my situation and even gave the name of the man I spoke with on the phone. She accused me of attempting to dump the dog, and insisted I take him home again because they had no room. Then she proceeded to say that they were trying to manage a Parvo epidemic within the shelter and because my dog did not have proof of his vaccine he could not stay. Parvo is an extremely contagious and potentially fatal disease to dogs. She had just brought my dog into the shelter and contaminated him! Now she expected me to bring him home to possibly get my sister's puppy sick as well! I explained that this was a biosecurity disaster and that I could NOT take him off the premises after he came into contact with the Parvovirus. As it was I would needed to thoroughly disinfect myself before having any contact with another dog. When I refused to take our boy home with us again they accused us of neglect and trying to dump him. They were extremely rude and disrespectful. Their facility was unsanitary and their manner unprofessional.
I understand that it must be difficult to need to care for so many dogs, and they have my sympathy, but the least they could do was be honest and polite. Luckily our little dog was adopted that week... I just felt the need to share my experience. I will NEVER go to Hillside SPCA again!
About 8-10 yrs ago the Hillside SPCA was also taking pets for no reason and charging people $25 or up to $1000 dollars to get them back. They said my 15 yr old dog was not spayed so they wanted $1000 to get her back. First of all she was spayed 13 yrs before and I said find a uterus and I will get the money from the vet who said he spayed her. When the vet spayed her she had a scar and sticthes. They never checked and got mad because I would not pay the $1000 and left her there because I had a baby and she was a biter. Why if they thought I was unfit would they have given her back at all?
Just recently there was a puppy there that I wanted to adopt and there were several other applications in on him and the woman I spoke to said that considering I came up with vet references and everything I would likely get the dog because I was there with everything first. It turned into an issue when one of the other workers went ahead and called others to come and get the puppy but the woman I spoke to, Alex, did what she had to to make things right for me. I love the Hillside SPCA for their amazing customer service.
my dog ran away from our yard on 2/10/2013 and the morning of 2/12/2013 we still didnt find her so we looked on the hillside spca website and seen her picture and went to get her. we showed them pictures that we had of her so they knew she was our dog. they said they wanted $30 for us to take get her back and we only had $6 cash on us and we told them we would send them a check for the $30 because we dont live in pottsville and couldn't afford to make two trips. they refused and grabbed the dog from my mom and i took the dogs collar to get her back from the lady which didnt work and she took her in the back room and said i had hit her. they called management and another lady come to the building and was very disrepectful and made comments about my 2yr old daughter. we went outside and more of the workers showed up and were very very disrespectful and made nasty comments to me. the one that said i had hit her called me 550lbs which i am not even over 250. after some other comments and nasty words were echanged the cops that my mom had called finally came and made them give her back. and of course all the workers denied the comments they had said to us when the cop came. the women that work there are unprofessional and very disrespectful and lie to cover their own and eachothers backs after being unreasonable and nasty to people that come to their place of bussiness. i also heard stories of people getting animals off of these people and them being sick and dying and also not wanting to give back animals that were brought to them that were found. they also told the cop she was brought with no collar and her collar is on her. they hid it under a bandanna. as soon as they get an animal they put it on their adoption site. they have no lost and found page just animals to be adopted they dont even give anyone time to call and ask if a dog was found before it is put up for adoption. they said my dog was brought in the night she ran away and the very next morning she was on the site for adoption.
Have you ever made a mistake? I made a huge mistake on April 9, 2013.
Have you ever made a mistake? Well I admit it, I made a horrible mistake that ate me up inside to the point where my conscious was making me physically ill. I gave up a little dog to the Hillside SPCA after rescuing her a month before. I allowed my patience to become rundown & I simply gave up on her. I felt defeated.
Her name is Penny & she was rescued by me and my husband from a hoarder who kept her in a crate most of her young life. So after we thought we couldn't take it anymore we made the hard decision to hand her over to see if they could find a better home with someone who had more patience than we did.
I went there, broken down & in tears, and handed her over to Barb along with a $100.00 donation. Barb promised me that they would find her a good home but she also knew I was very torn over giving Penny up so she gave me her word that if we changed our minds within a few days that we could come get Penny back and that they wouldn't do anything for a few days to make sure we made the right decision on surrendering her. Well, after realizing what I did to this sweet little girl, I called less than 48 hours later to speak with Barb about coming back up there and taking Penny back & giving her the loving home that I had promised Penny I would do the day we met.
I spoke to a shelter worker who informed me that Barb was off until Saturday so I told her my tale and how I made the biggest mistake of my life and that I wanted to come back up there right away and bring Penny back to where she belongs. The worker told me she was already adopted but the tone in her voice told me otherwise. I knew Penny was still there but I didn't know what to do about it. I figured I was stuck until Saturday when I could speak to Barb.
I called into the veterinary office that I have used for years & spoke to them about what I did & how I ended up losing Penny because she was already adopted out. I was told to stick by the phone and that they would call me right back. We quickly hung up & I sat here for a few minutes waiting to see what was happening. My phone rang & it was the vet office calling me back to tell me that they spoke to Barb & I could go up to get Penny. Why did the shelter worker tell me she was adopted already?. Didn't they want this little doggie to actually have a home. I don't know of any shelter that would think a life within shelter walls could be a better alternative than an actual home for a pet. From other horror stories I have heard & read about Hillside, I realized my experience with them was also going to be turning into one of these horror stories. At this point I wasn't only angry, I was becoming terrified.
I left within 5 minutes of speaking to the vet to go retrieve Penny. I get there and I was treated lower than dirt. I felt as if I was on trial for being a child molester, all because I made an honest mistake while being totally mentally and physically rundown. They tried giving me a difficult time over getting Penny spayed while overlooking the fact that she needs a surgery for a medical problem. Both were already on the book to be done through my vet's office. I was still forced to use their phone to make the appointment. I was told I was not allowed to call from my cell phone so I was led into a private office to be forced to use their phone. I called the vet's office & I was asked if they were making me call from their facility. I answered "yes". I was then asked if they were in the room with me, again, I answered "yes". I was then told to hand the phone over to the worker which I did right away. The rest of the phone call between the worker & my vet's office took about 30 seconds. After that it seemed to me like the stalling they were making me endure was coming to an abrupt end. It took about another 10 minutes or so until I was reluctantly handed back my Penny girl.
I had another $100.00 in my pocket that I was going to donate because of them helping me out the way they did but after being lied to and treated as if I was the lowest form of life imaginable, I kept the money & decided that I will no longer donate anymore bags of dog food or money to them ever again. I made a mistake in more ways then one but I learned something these past few days... the most important one being that the horror stories about their staff not being honest with people are true among other problems.
So, if you ever feel you have no choice but to surrender a pet for any reason, please, do yourself & your animal a favor and take it anywhere but there. They don't care that people are human and can (& do) make mistakes every once in a while but they will be more then happy to treat you like dirt while looking down their noses at you.
The happy part of my tale is this: Penny saw Smokey (my 8 year old dog) and Smokey saw Penny & they were so very happy. They gave chase to each other all over the house. They took a break and got a drink with one another from the same water dish at the same time & proceeded to play again. I had to give Penny a bath so after some playtime we headed upstairs to get the smell of the shelter off of her. While bathing her I had to pick off the fleas she picked up while being up there but now she smells pretty, she's all cleaned up & is flea free and in my arms taking a much needed nap while being held and loved my me and Smokey who has become Penny's foot rest.
They have NEVER charged anyone $1, 000 to get their dog back. And if you left a 15 year old dog there that you've had for at least 13 years, "because you have a baby and she's a biter", you don't really want the dog anyway and the dog is better off.
If my dog were missing, the very first place I would call would be the shelter. I wouldn't wait two days and then wonder why they wouldn't give her back to me.
Do not ever attempt to adopt from this terribly managed shelter. Rude and predjudicial. They pretend there interestedt in you to adopt and have already picked someone else. That Trisha person is very uppity and talks down to people like she is a know -it-all. Power hungry broad and a turn-off.. We applied for a dog in bad shape over a year ago and it was till there months later. She lied and said it went to another couple. So we tried for another one there and were turned down. We have good references and, a nice home, and plenty of money to give the dog proper care. Well, we called our vet and references and that witch at Hillside NEVER even contacted anyone on our apllication. She gave the dog to someone she knew in the Pottsville area. We adopted another dog here in Harrisburg without a single problem. It made us upset to be tretaed that way and we traveled all the way to that stinking, dirty shelter twice. They are always begging for money. They can save plenty by firing this prima donna. She needs a real job and lesson is dealing with people kindly. Who does she think she is? God of the SPCA? We wonder how many other people were screwed by them. Deceit. Beware. Do not go there.
$10, 000 REWARD FOR THE RETURN OF GEORGE. GEORGE IS A BLOODHOUND WHO WAS STOLEN FROM ME BY HILLSIDE SPCA. [protected]
A Reward Is Being Offered For The Safe Return Of A 91/2 Year Old Husky Stolen From Janel Tokarick By Hillside Spca.
Please Call [protected] If You Have Any Information.
Hillside SPCA is awesome! The negative people that left there comments have "issues" and need to grow-up. I am the person that donates to "Joe's Fund". I am the person that calls the Hillside SPCA staff to say "what are your emergency needs" and provide what I can. I am the person that adopted "Marley" aka Hansel. Marley is an great dog! I am the person that plans to volunteer a lot when I retire. Instead of being negative about something, go and volunteer at the Hillside SPCA so you can learn more as to how the staff love to help the "homeless critters". Get involved in a positive way. Have a great day! Linda
Some day you will have a De Je Veu . bless you Linda
Today I called Hillside to see how my dog George is doing. what a shock. The nicest thing I could think of to call these people is LOWLIFE.
They started to scream at me and call me names that I should not mention. they called me a C_CK S_CKER, AND A DOG F_CK_R .
There is no doubt in my mind that I am dealing with psychopaths .The people who volunteer for Hillside are wonderful loving people. However the people who run Hillside have some deep rooted issues . I did received a phone call from a Trooper Hall from Schuylkill Haven Barracks ; He did inform me that I was arrested. I am extremely happy to hear this and look forward to facing these people in court in front of a jury of my peers .
I am feeling kind of sad. There has been constant death threats being made against me because of the rumors hillside has started.
Please people do your homework and stay away from this organization .
https://www.facebook.com/knowinganarcissist/photos/a.714636121920213.1073741827.714624828588009/1004608029589686/?type=3&hc_location=ufi
The same as most that I have just read, I wanted to adopt a dog and was tuned down. I have contacted CNN to come and do a story on the HILLSIDE SPCA in POTTSVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA. This shelter needs to be exposed and show the public what is really going on when they donate their CASH to this place.
The HILLSIDE SPCA located in Pottsville Pennsylvania has many workers who should (NOT) be working with animals. I made an attempt (3) times to adopt a sheltered dog, and I was turned away each time. The manager named BARB should NEVER be in charge of a place like this at all. Her sidekick named, DAYNA is nothing but a WITCH~ I mean this!~ She is a NASTY woman. She needs to find God and not be working .
I am a GOOD PERSON. I am a DISABLED PERSON. I Live ALONE. I wanted to ADOPT a sheltered DOG! BUT I was Turned down and TURNED away (3) TImes. ! The Manager Barb is not even worth talking to anymore. I have been FORCED to GoTO a Breeder to obtain a DOG! What a Shame. Think of this post the next time you donate your money to the HILLSIDE SPCA in Pottsville Pennsylvania. (Think of what (I) am saying to you. NOT Them! God Bless
What's worse than all of this is people donate small fortunes from their estates to these people!I say make them famous for the SCAMS ! Blackmailing people to return their own dogs back to them! I remember years ago a tractor trailer wrecked and was carrying a load of dog food . Some of the packages where damaged but the insurance company was willing to donate the whole load to the local SPCA. They refused it stating it would be unsafe because some of the label were missing. Who does that to poor starving animals? Donate donate donate and you can adopt a dog for 200-300 dollars.I think this SHAM of a place needs to investigated if for nothing more their non profit status, I think they are pretty profitable! Should be looked into!
In looking at the negative posts on this site, those of you who are complaining cannot in reality be animal lovers. If you were, you would know that if you have been refused a dog there is a legitimate reason. Hillside not only gives shelter and food to each animal, but they also give their hearts completely. So I personally understand completely if a worker isn't always warm and fuzzy to your expectations! They have seen people behaving at their worst, and animals who suffer because of it. The best two dogs of my life, my Matty and my Cleo were sheltered and loved, by Hillside workers and it was my privilege to be able to adopt them and love them for as long as they lived.
Also for those of you who think that Hillside profits in any monetary way, you are not only a fool, but you are stupid.
Next time you go into a shelter and look into the eyes of anyone who has worked there, you need to thank them and respect them for all that they do because as I said before they have seen the worst of humanity.
The fact that you called the OP "stupid" made me stop reading the rest of your post. Their IQ is as relevant as your opinion of it where the subject matter is concerned. Moreover, an ad hominem attack negates any point you might have made. Try sticking to the issue at hand instead of drinking the kool-aid.