Greater Birmingham Humane Society

On Friday, July 11th, we drove over an hour to the Greater Birmingham Humane Society, excited to participate in their "Clear the Shelter" event. We truly believed we had found the perfect cat to bring home and love forever. But within just a few hours of adoption, it became clear something was wrong. Our new cat was sneezing, had thick mucus around her nose, and visible crusting around her eyes. As first-time cat owners, we were completely unprepared for what we were seeing. We did our own research and found information about feline herpes — and she was showing textbook symptoms. Still, we had read that in some cases it could resolve on its own, and since we were told nothing about any health concerns, we assumed she had a mild case and decided to monitor her closely. After four days, still concerned, we scheduled a vet appointment for Saturday — but before she ever made it there, she suddenly and rapidly declined. In less than five days and five hours after bringing her home, she passed away. The entire experience was heartbreaking and deeply traumatic. What was supposed to be a joyful, life-changing moment turned into a devastating loss. We were led to believe that the animals at this shelter were thoroughly examined and evaluated before being adopted out. That was clearly not the case. There is no doubt in our minds that this cat was already sick before we brought her home and possibly suffering from multiple, serious, undiagnosed conditions. If this is happening to one animal, it’s likely happening to many. The fact that this shelter allowed a visibly ill animal to be handed off to an excited, unsuspecting person without any disclosure is beyond negligent it’s shameful. You should be absolutely ashamed to operate this way. It feels like this was more about moving animals out quickly for the sake of appearances or profit than it was about their actual well-being. To profit off people’s compassion while failing to protect the animals in your care is disgraceful. No one should have to go through the pain we just experienced, and no animal should be allowed to suffer just to meet some adoption quota. This wasn’t just a mistake it was a failure of responsibility on every level.

Clean and well maintained all pets were in clean kennels and had food and water available. Staff was very friendly and we added a new family member on our visit.. Sugar has become a wonderful companion

I had a wonderful experience here! All the staff were super nice, and the animals looked very well cared for. The adoption process only took about 3 minutes. I adopted Sasquatch a few months ago, and couldn’t be happier!

Although I had a hard time, because each and every one of them tugged at my heart and I wanted them all, it was actually my daughter's decision. And she had already had her mind on one but when she saw Oakley, he was who stole her heart. They are a perfect match.

Got my cat from here a couple of months ago during a sale and essentially got her at half price, when I went on a Tuesday it was packed. Workers were super nice and the place is kept clean as well. I would just be weary as I was informed my cat was spayed and she was not and it caused some major issues that have now been taken care of. I have no reason to believe this is a common occurrence.

I just surrendered my two LOVELY cats Benjamin and Blue on 12/18/2024. It was the hardest thing I have ever done(and that says a lot coming from an Army vet who deployed). I have cried many tears but unfortunately my baby is highly allergic to cats and she is not able to take allergy meds (conflicts with other health issues). But anyways, if you adopt any of the cats please love them unconditionally. They are fun and lovable. They are pretty much sheltered cats who loves the outdoors and car rides . They will be scared at first but they will eventually grow out of it. was have patience for them and give them grace. They both did well with my baby and they love cuddles. I have shared some photos of them. Benjamin loves snacks and cuddles. He loves be held like a baby. Blue is a Mr grumpy pants but he is a sweet baby at heart. He may be fat but he is fast lol I really wish GBHS would have allowed me to share my contact information because I would love to have updates about the cats..

Unfortunately we were treated very, very unfair. We drove from alabaster to come get Luca but the manager refused to let us get him and because we have several dogs and we just adopted one from Birmingham humane society. She refused to let us adopt lucas. So basically in my opinion the manager discriminated against us. I felt so out of place because she really was insinuating Luca would be in danger if he went home with us. We do have nine dogs and two cats but they are well taken care of. We just lost two of our babies but by just looking at us and she did mention that we don't let anyone adopt animals if they have more than three. But I had just adopted Domino from there earlier this year from someone else there and it wasn't a problem. I tried to explain to her and I offered to show her. We are good people and she just wasn't having it. She was real close-minded to anything by her saying that we have to keep the animals safe to us us that insinuates in my opinion that he would be in danger and we wasn't able to adopt any animals from there. We had already started interacting with Luca and my wife was already playing with Luca and Luca was playing back with my wife and the manager just kept saying no she wouldn't let me prove anything. She wouldn't let me do anything so I felt that we were discriminated against and she had my wife crying.