Ottawa Humane Society

I purchased my cat and my dog or adopted from the Ottawa Humane Society. The experience was fantastic. The environment was peaceful inviting they even gave me food when I left with the animals and called to check on them so I would highly recommend anyone visiting the Ottawa Humane Society either to donate their time to walk with the animals dogs or to donate food or what other resources they require

Our dog was taken to the humane society after being found - thanks to the person that picked him up and of course thanks to the humane society for being there and doing what they do best.

Always fun to visit and see the dogs, cats and bunnies! Staff is always super kind and helpful! It was fun seeing a kids birthday party there too!

Took in a pregnant stray cat in who showed up desperate at my door. She gave birth to the kittens and I tended to them for weeks until they became too much so brought them to “Humane Society” to be adopted out with the exception of mom and 1 kitten who we requested back. They forced us to surrender them and tested mom who was FLV+. Without telling us they euthanized all the kittens without even testing them for FLV (even though statistically half would have been completely healthy). They were on the verge of euthanizing mom and I had to fight tooth and nail to save mom from death sentence. They told me she’d be dead in 6 months but finally let me adopt essentially my own cat. She recently passed away at 10 years after 8 great years with her. Was a wonderful cat that they would have euthanized as they did her babies. Recently visited to see their cats against my better judgement. Totally unclear what is available for adoption and what isn’t. We looked at cats we liked who had already been adopted with no notification of such. Seems to be all about them now and not the animals. Stood waiting at the front desk for the three staff to bother to acknowledge my presence as they were all simultaneously “busy” and did the “pretend not to see you tactic”. In case you’re wondering this is NOT a no kill shelter and they will kill potentially healthy animals rather than do a simple blood test on them. They’ve completely changed and not for the better. Last time I ever go there. Donate your money somewhere else.

We found a teenage Canadian goose with a brocken leg outside. When we brought it to the Ottawa Humane Society, they quickly helped and took care of him. Definitely bring your pets here when they need medicle attention. They are very quick and helpful.

We only look for our pets here.cats, dogs, rabbits, birds, hamsters, guinea pigs. Glad to see there were not many to choose from! Lots of empty kennels and in this case, that's a good thing!

People who work at the Humane Society I feel are just nice to animals and not people lol every time I’ve gone in there throughout the years people that work there are just rude and arrogant just not pleasant

I had to put my 18yr old pitty to sleep (Prince) my sweet baby is with my mom in heaven the ottawa humane was very nice and kind to him, gente loving this was one of the hardest times in life I love you Prince and miss you

My cat was taken care of very well and he received all shots he needed. I called everyday and they told me he was fine until I could pick him up. Professional staff I dealt with and they were informative and friendly.

We were forced to make a very hard decision regarding our 14 year old black retriever. He had serious health issues and had to think of him and not ourselves. The help we received from the SPCA was very comforting and compassionate. They were professional and helped us with the tough action of ‘handing over his leash’. We thank you for your kindness and are now at peace with ourselves.

Awesome support for families needing alittle assistance for their pets during cov 19
thank you so much

They take very good care of the animals and if you can't afford to buy food for your animals, you can get some for free. And Nepean Neighbors helping Neighbors will deliver it to you if you can't pick it up.

Very respectfully, super understanding and patience when dealing with us. I had to put my pet rat down and I was super emotionally. I'm glad I had my bf with me, I was such a mess. My poor girl was so sick from a tumor and a stroke I do appreciate all the patience and care from the staff.

We're totally disappointed and disgusted in the way our Bengal cat was treated when he was turned in to the Ottawa Humane Society on December 30th. Our seven-year-old cat slipped out behind me when I opened the front door to check for a package on the porch. When we noticed he was missing about an hour later, we searched the entire neighborhood but came up empty.
Upon posting the missing cat information on the Humane Society website, we received a notification within a half hour that a Bengal cat had been brought in to the location a short time ago. Within two to three hours of the notification being posted, I was at the location to pick up our cat.
When I arrived home, my wife noticed that an area on his tummy had been shaven and that his nails had been clipped down to the quick.
First of all we haven't had our cat's nails clipped in six years, the reason being that he experienced a bad ordeal at the vet years ago when two staff members attempted to clip his nails but couldn't succeed, even with me in the room. Since that time our cat has clipped his own nails. So I can only imagine the force that was applied to him to be able to clip his nails at the Humane Society yesterday when he had already experienced a bad ordeal being outside in the cold and lost for a period of time.
Secondly, they didn't even inform me when I picked him up that they had shaved an area on his tummy. Upon calling the location today (December 31st), I was informed that the person who examined him was not in but I did speak to another female attendant. When I inquired as to why they shaved his belly, she said they assumed he was a "female" and that he was nervous when they tried to touch his "behind".
ASSUMED!
I said "you assumed. You don't assume when it comes to deciding to shave someone else's pet unless you receive permission from the owner. "
NERVOUS!
"How nervous do you think he felt when someone took an electric shaver and began shaving an area on his stomach? "
She replied that I was right, that they should not have shaved his tummy but that the shaved area would grow back in a short time.
Grow back?
I said that wasn't the point and that they had no right to do this to someone else's pet or at least until a few hours had passed to see if his or her owner came to claim him.
I am totally disgusted with the treatment our cat was given by the staff at the Ottawa Humane Society on December 30th and I feel very sorry for the pets that are kept in that faciltiy. At all costs, I wouldn't recommend this "butcher shop" to any pet owner.

We’re fortunate to have services like the Ottawa Humane Society. Unwanted pets and rescue animals etc need out help sometimes. It’s understandable why people can’t afford to keep their pets anymore. There could be many reasons why. Bringing them to the humane society is the best step if there aren’t any other options. We needed to sadly let go of a couple of rescue cats because it wasn’t feasible. The society was helpful and courteous and took them in. I’m sure they will find a good home. Thank you. ️

They were very courteous and kind when I had to take my daughter's rabbits there. The lady listened to what had to say and seemed to care.

I drove their to donate lots of freshly washed dried large towels and they didn’t know how to accept them because of COVID-19.

Tried calling several times with no answer. Left messages to have someone call me in regards to viewing dogs that are up for adoption. Website show one dog. Maybe they would find more success in finding homes for animal's if they change the way they do things.

I have had all 3 of my rescue kittens fixed and microchipped at the mobile clinic and it has always been a pleasant experience. They are polite and very professional. All 3 procedures went well and never had any complications. 5 Stars!

I have been to this location quite a few times.
This adoption agency picks out the right owner, through a piece of paper of very limited information. You are not allowed to see the dog, even if interested. You fill out a paper, that goes into the pile of other adopters, and then one person is randomly picked. You can not tell me, that you see a person fit by asking them, "Have you had a dog before? Are you interested in a small, medium, or large dog size. What other breed of dogs have you had? ". I just think it's wrong to give a forever dog to an adopter, based on what they wrote on a piece of paper. When that very same piece of paper, lead to being surrendered and ended up in your human society.

Great place for adoption. Professional and knowledgeable staff. They keep and treat animals in a really good way.

The kind and compassionate care the organization has for the animals in their care is evident. I was treated professionally and my wife and I were very pleased with how the adoption process went to bring our new cat home.

The people are extremely friendly and were able to answer all of our questions. We are now proud and happy fur parents of a sweet kitty who goes by the name of Dena!

Changed it to one star after my friend told me of her experience "learning" from one of the staff here. She WAS a student trying to learn from a woman in the Education Centre and this woman was a nightmare. She belittled her and basically called her and all students stupid. Something should be done about this! Train your staff better because they are supposed to HELP students, not ruin their dreams!

I don't like this place very much. They have cats that you can meet but don't tell you until after you've fallen in love that they've already been adopted.

I brought some kittens in and the receptionist bit my head off over the difference between "feral" and "wild". Very unpleasant woman. Had to wait forever with multiple kittens and a cat to fill out pointless paperwork as I didn't plan to adopt any of them. Why do you need all my personal information for kittens that don't belong to me? It's almost like you want to encourage me to leave them in the wild because I will never EVER try to bring another animal in there.

Honestly I went in looking for a dog after mine had passed a few months earlier. I wasn't pleased to find out the about 90% of the dog for adoption had major behavioral problems that the staff is aware of but makes no attempt to correct! It just makes it that much harder to then integrate these poor dogs into our already planned out lives. All I would like to see is them working towards rehabilitating these dogs into social environments much better then they are

Animals are well taken care of. Foster care allows animals to build rapport and have detailed bios that go alongside them. Good turnover of animals indicating many are getting adopted.

They really do a great job looking after animals that people ignored abused or no longer able to take care of.

Love this place! Makes me happy to be there! Adopted my cat bella there and she is the best desicion i made that day!

Very great place, accecible to anyone. It makes sure the animals live the less stress possible while the customers have the chance to pick out their next family pet.

So many cute cats! Must be doing something right because last time I visited they had half the amount of cats and dogs they had a year ago.

Friendly staff and well organized. I brought in a stray cat and they were really careful with him and gentle. All the animals look to be well taken care of.

The best place in Ottawa for getting your pets neutered/spayed. Also the best place to give up your pet for any reason.

They tracted the kittens through the adoption process and kept me up to date!

When I've gotten my kitties neutered/spayed OHS did a fantastic job on the whole thing (the stitches were done by NO amateur).

If your on ODSP ask your worker about the benefits you get with OHS.

One of the top tier quality facility to animals for animals. 10/10

Thank you for providing care to these animals, our community is grateful for all you do. I look forward to continuing to participate in upcoming fundraising opportunities. All the best- Marla.

Great kids bday party! My daughter and I love animals and this was a great party and helped a great cause.

Thank you

Love going here always a great experience with the cats! They are all so well behaved and staff is super caring and great people! Overall I always leave this place with a smile

So clean! No smell! Needs nore animals, but thats a great thing since it means they are being taken care of.

As Ottawa residents we are blessed to have such an organization in our city. This place privides professional help for many pet owners as well as homeless cats, dogs, bunnies and other pets.

There are many volunteers doing a really hard work to make our worls a better place. They are real heroes.

Thank you for your service of taking care of the most vulnerable and often neglected small members of our society.

High functioning animal care and welfare for domestic animals, mostly dogs, cats, rabbits and other smaller rodents, and some birds.
I’m writing this review coming from a perspective of working in animal care and welfare for over 25 years, mostly in southern Alberta, with domestic and wildlife rescue. I have encountered many large and small rescues, some very well run and encouraging and others rather dismal, over the course of my career with animal care. When I moved to Ottawa, I left behind my work in a long term highly functional, non profit sanctuary for small domestic animals (paid position). I reached out to The Ottawa Humane Society to inquire about starting in a volunteer position in order to keep my animal care skills fresh and to learn more about what others are doing to care for the needs of housing and sheltering our animal populations, that find themselves homeless.
I currently do two regular afternoon shifts in Canine Enrichment working directly with the dogs that are in, what is called, the holding area.
This is a high functioning facility with teams of people dedicated to the welfare of the animals that are brought to them, on every level of animal care including medical and behavioural.
The Ottawa Humane Society does not turn anyone away and will take in any animal in any condition and provide the best possible care to the individual animal.
I witness quality care and attention from all the professionals and other volunteers I work with, the animals come first and foremost.

Another important factor is that The Ottawa Humane Society is functioning as an educational institution for animal care. Clearly our society has problems with understanding its role as caregivers to animals.
When you see the conditions that many of these domestic animals come into the shelter; poor health, neglect, in some cases, abuse as well as the very serious issue of high numbers of cat homelessness and our flippant attitude of what constitutes proper animal caregiver responsibilities, it is clear that our social system needs to update our knowledge of what is appropriate for animal care.
The Ottawa Humane Society is stepping up to fill that role and to help people to be genuinely accountable to the animals we bring into our lives.
I’m not saying The Ottawa Humane Society has a perfect system, but perfection is impossible, what I see here is an evolution of animal welfare conditions and standards and constant improvement.
I am happy to be part of this team and being a member of an organization that is working hard to be more of a solution than a problem. I value my hands on work with the amazing dogs that make it to this facility.

One thing I’d like to see is a social system around animal care where we are all involved in solutions and we, as the people of this society, take the responsibility to care for animals so there are not so many that end up needing to be rescued.

Also, all OHS public events should be vegan.

I do understand how horrifying it is to find out that not every animal makes it out of the facility. The Ottawa Humane Society does humanely euthanize animals that are severely ill, have serious debilitating health issues or are a danger to people or other animals. These decisions are not made flippantly. Many no kill shelters will not take in the animals that need rescuing the most so it is a much simpler process to be a no kill shelter when you will not take in injured, sick or aggressive animals.

If you are a person that has decided to give OHS a bad review and you are unhappy with your encounter, please go back and talk about your concerns, ask questions and be open to learning the realities of long term animal care and the function of the OHS in connecting animals with people that will really care for them, for the long term.
If you are a reasonable adult, then you will see The Ottawa Humane Society is more of a solution for animals in our society than a problem.

Jennifer MacDonald

Had our daughters birthday party at OHS and everyone loved it. Highly recommended especially knowing the money goes to a great cause.

The staff are always helpful and nice. It's usually pretty clean but there are areas they could improve on such as cleaning the cat litters more often and giving a quick sweep in their cages.

Looked at a Great Dane the other day, that volunteered a view of his teeth through the window. Wouldn't want to see a dog like that get adopted and harm someone.

Amazing people at the shelter. We found a cat and were able to bring it in to have it scanned for a microchip, the two women who helped us were friendly and professional, they were patient with the cat and very efficient in getting the cat out of our carrier and into a temporary one while waiting for its owners.

So a friend of mine was visited by a cat for about 3 weeks. Unsure if the cat was homeless and being close to winter my friend posted signs throughout the neighborhood hoping to find an owner. About a week later my friend received a phone call from someone in the neighborhood stating they had brought the cat to the OHS. Being a little concerned my friend visited the OHS to ensure the cat was there. They said they couldn't reveal any information except that after five days the animals are evaluated and then put up for adoption. OK, whatever. Just trying to make sure he's Ok. My friend returned about a week later with no sign of the cat. Again, no information can be given. Returned again, then followed up with an email stating wanting to adopt him if he was there somewhere. Still policy that no info can be given. Never did see the cat. My friend is still saddened by this not knowing if the cat is even alive. I'm sure the staff is courteous and friendly judging by reviews but their policies are a little extreme. Just wanted to know if the cat had been brought in.

Great freindly staff had no issues picking up my mom's lost dog they had he's profile up as soon as he was brought in now he is at home and happy thanks again to the staff good job

Terrible once you adopt a puppy and if you have to return the puppy for what ever reason you dont get your money back they maKe you sign something that says you are not able to sell the puppy on kijiji. They are just in this for the money.