My Nonprofit Reviews
matilda
Review for Greenhill Humane Society, Eugene, OR, USA
I went to Greenhill before I knew about local rescues, in the hopes that I would find a dog. I went to the shelter and found a young male what looked like Rottie-mix - he had that classic, big blockhead although he was mostly black. I thought he was beautiful. I took him to one of the yards to see how he was outside of his pen and we spent a long time together. I was interested in knowing more about his personality than what I could gather from just watching him run around so went to ask a staff person about him. She said they knew very little about him, that he'd come from a town about 50 miles away, and that he was not a Rottie-mix but rather a pitbull. I asked how he was with cats and other dogs and she told me they had no idea. The woman's attitude was rather negative; she seemed unhappy at having to talk to me. I became irritated because I felt that if she'd really wanted to help him be adopted, she'd be less negative and do more to answer my questions.
I voiced my displeasure at the goings-on on my way out and someone must have called somebody because I was intercepted by a woman who called herself a Supervisor. She offered to "cat-test" the dog in her office with a stuffed animal. I didn't think that made any sense at all so thanked her but left.
I took to Craigslist to vent, funnily enough, in the PETS section later that day and to my surprise, the dog's former owner contacted me. She knew his name - it was an odd name - and told me his history, including that he was half Rottweiler (she'd met his parents). She told me he'd run away too many times for them to want to keep him any longer. She told me he'd never seen a cat he hadn't chased. When I told her how he'd been billed at Greenhill, she was unhappy. I encouraged her to contact them to give them this history; she said she already had when she had surrendered him.
I contacted Greenhill's Director to lodge my complaint later that week and he emailed me back and wanted to know everything. He also told me that he would love it if I could become involved with them in improving the shelter. I said I'd be delighted. I never heard from him again.
More Feedback
If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
Improve lots of things, including the attitudes of the shelter staff whose job it is, in part, to help animals in need make important connections. I'd also encourage the Director to be more honest than he is.
How would you describe the help you got from this organization?
None
How likely are you to recommend this organization to a friend?
No
How do you feel you were treated by this organization?
Somewhat badly
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2012
Review for Greenhill Humane Society, Eugene, OR, USA
I tried to adopt a dog from Greenhill and met w/ terrible customer service and an overall negative reaction to any of my questions about the dog. I was dismissed and disregarded. Upon leaving the premises, I registered my disapproval with how I was treated and suddenly a supervisor arrived and tried to placate me. My concerns were on several levels - they knew next to nothing about the dog and did not offer to cat-test him (the supervisor eventually did after my complaint,) and were generally rude and unhelpful. I asked questions about the dog's intake paperwork and was essentially dismissed with a "We don't know anything." They had the dog down as a pitbull mix but he looked more Rottie; I mentioned this and once again was dismissed. That's when I left. I posted my concerns on Craiglist and, funnily enough, the former owner of the dog contacted me through that forum. She told me she'd surrendered him to Greenhill because she didn't have a fenced yard & he kept getting out, and confirmed that he was no more a Pitbull mix than a poodle. She expressed both concern & frustration when I told her what his intake papers said and remarked that she knew both his mother & father and had told Greenhill staff what his genetic make-up was. She expressed concern that he had been labeled a pitbull mix, as they can be harder to adopt out. I ended up emailing the new (at the time) director, Cary, who expressed concern and apologized for the staff's behavior, and asked me if I'd like to become involved with helping Greenhill evolve. I said I would; he was going to contact me later on once he'd been in the position for a while. I never heard from him again. This wasn't the first negative experience I had w/ Greenhill, but it was my last - I have never been back.
More Feedback
If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
Make sure that my staff understood how important it is for the animals in their care to be seen in the best light possible.
The kinds of staff and volunteers that I met were...
disinterested and seemingly burned-out.
If this organization had 10 million bucks, it could...
make an enormous difference in the lives of the animals it serves.
Ways to make it better...
Greenhill staff cared about the animals in their care as well as their customers and understood how important it is for the animals to be marketed properly and cared for w/ love and affection.
In my opinion, the biggest challenges facing this organization are...
Staff who don't understand what customer service is.
One thing I'd also say is that...
I get tired about hearing how wonderful Greenhill is when I've seen and experienced the opposite on more than one occasion.
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2008
