Great Experience All the Way Through!

Rating Details

Service being reviewed:

Humane Society of Barron County
Reviews: 134 | Posted: 10 months ago | Avg Rating: 4.9

Supporting Shelter: Humane Society of Barron County

Supporting Rescue: Minnesota Hooved Animal Rescue Foundation

Pros: Very caring staff, facility very clean and neat.

Cons: They need more space.

I found HSBC through petfinder.com. I fell in love with a photo of "Natasha" a border collie/husky mix who looked just like my late border collie/husky (also a "Tasha"). I communicated with the staff by email and they were always prompt and great to deal with . They had a lot of information about Natasha and I could tell they had all spent a good deal of time getting to know her and were able to answer my questions about her behavior and habits. Natasha was a bit of a special case because she is very smart, very sensitive, and very energetic (after all, she is a border collie/husky mix!) She had already been returned to HSBC once because she was too active for the person that adopted her (or too smart?) I could tell the staff was being very careful about who she would go to next--they wanted someone who would understand her needs. Luckily, I'd had 2 bc/husky mixes in the past (one for 12 yrs, one for 14--both shelter dogs), and currently had a bc/lab mix and a bc/aussie mix, so I knew what I was getting into.

I somehow convinced my sisters to make the 5 hour trek to Barron with me on a cold day in January. We arrived later than expected (got lost thanks to mapquest) but the staff stayed and waited for us. I spent a little bit of time with Tasha outside and all she wanted to do was climb into my lap (she was only about 35 lbs, so it was okay). Because of lack of space, Tasha was being kept in a large pet porter when not in one of the exercise runs. This wasn't ideal (and shows you why HSBC needs to win the contest!) but I could tell that the staff was doing everything they could to make sure the dogs were clean, comfortable, well-socialized and exercised. In fact, the whole place was remarkably neat and clean (though absolutely full of cats and dogs.) I have volunteered at various shelters and rehab centers and I know how hard it is to keep up with that many animals. They really did a fantastic job.
We were given a tour of the whole shelter and were very impressed. It was hard for us to leave without adopting more animals. One of my sisters and her husband are vets and my other sister a former groomer. Among our families we have 12 dogs, 14 cats, and 20 horses. Unfortunately we just didn't have any more room at the time!

Once everyone said goodbye to Tasha we were on our way back. She curled up on my lap in the back seat of the car and either slept or watched me the whole way home (not quite what I expected!) When I introduced her to the older dogs she was submissive so everything went smoothly. Mu husband adored her (she also tried to climb into his lap) and so did my son. She did chase the cats for awhile, but just for fun and soon learned not to. I stayed in touch with HSBC for a little while. They were kind enough to send me some prints of Tasha's website photos.

We've had Tasha for 2 years now. Everyone who sees her thinks she's just about the best looking dog they've ever seen. She is also quite a "talker" and keeps us laughing. She loves snow and to steal toys from the other dogs and taunt them into chasing her. I know I'm not supposed to play favorites, but she's probably the coolest dog I've ever had. Our old bc/aussie mix passed away last fall. It's getting to be about that time when I start figuring I have room for one more....When the time comes, I'll certainly keep an eye on the HSNC website!

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