I had a female Beagle/Pekineses mix who is 15 yrs. old. A few days ago Cookie, my dog, was yelping and crying out in pain, I had no idea what was wrong with her, or what I should do to help relieve her pain. My mother told me to call the Animal Welfare League in Chicago Ridge and ask them what I should do, so I did.

A woman answered the phone and I told her about my dog, explaining that she had been showing signs of weakness, pain and that she was hardly able to walk. The woman then asked me how old Cookie was, I answered 15, maybe 16 years old, she told me that because of the dogs age that it would be in Cookies best interest to be put down. The woman explained that a dog that age was probably going to die soon anyhow, and spending any kind of money on her would be a waist. She then proceeded to give me the hours that the shelter would be open that night and the price to have Cookie euthanized. I took Cookie in, paid the fee of $69.50 to have her put down, and said my goodbyes. About 1 hour later I received a phone call from a woman who called herself Dr. Judy, a vet from the shelter. She said she had examined Cookie and there was absolutely nothing wrong with her, and she wanted to know why we wanted to euthanize her. I again explained what Cookie had been going through in the past few days. Dr. Judy then said, Well, there's a woman here who has fallen in love with Cookie, and since there is nothing wrong with her she was wondering if she could have her.

I was shocked! I of course told Dr. Judy that I wanted Cookie back, she has been my dog since she was 3 weeks old, and if nothing was wrong with my dog then I was coming to pick her up...I didn't even think about asking for the money that I had spent to have her euthanized, I figured that it could be used as a donation...Well, to my surprise Dr. Judy said, I'm sorry but you have already signed a paper that stat

This place was once a shining star for unwanted animals... now I would steer so far from here it's not funny. In my opinion, this shelter is underfunded, poorly managed and a germ bed! There is no guarantee that your animal is disease-free, despite the fact that they claim to run a battery of tests. This is not to say that the volunteers at this facility are not dedicated - I think this place is so overwhelmed that it can no longer send animals out the door where a new pet owner can feel fairly sure that the animal will not die on them. We adopted two kittens from here and one died yesterday of a bacterial infection that had been present at the time of the adoption. The other kitten is losing fur and will be taken to a different clinic to make sure she gets acceptable care.

We have yet to tell our eight-year-old daughter that the kitten she bought for her grandmother's Christmas present is dead.

As far as volunteering there, I'd be afraid of what I may transmit to my own pets!

In my opinion, this place should be closed down until it gets its act together. It gets one star for the dedicated people there who are trying to help these poor animals despite the mismanagement and indifference one quickly detects when walking through the door.

I am a volunteer at the shelter and I am disgusted by the people on here that are so fast to criticize but put no effort out to help. I have adopted a pure breed Miniature Pincer and a Chocolate Lab that are wonderful dogs. Before I got these dogs they had been turned over by owners who abandoned them. Needless to say they we not well groomed and needed much training to get them where they are now.

The shelter runs on such a stretched budget. They provide services to owners at a very reduced price. If you have problems with the shelter then get in there like I do and volunteer 1 or 2 hours (even each month) a week and see how things work and make it better. Other things you can do is to discourage needless breeding of these animals and have your pets spayed and nutured. Above all don't buy pets from pet stores and realize that a pet is a lifetime commitment.

This place is sooooooooo overwhelmed, under funded, disorganized & under staffed it was truly one of the saddest things I've ever seen. After adopting 2 kits from this place, I've spent over $1000.00 getting them healthy. There are so many sick diseased animals in there, I'm sure it's impossible to keep the majority of them remotely healthy w/o the funds & help needed. If you're looking for a pet, there are soooooo many here to be adopted and although I had to put out a chunk of change to get them healthy, it was well worth it. I now have 2 of the cutest little guys in the world and hope what I paid for the adoption (& then some) goes to making this place a more suitable environment for all parties involved. If you can....donate. THEY NEED IT!

I would say you can't trust them. My friends ex husband turned in her 2 dogs to them in the morning, called her later in the day to let her know. She called them immediately. They said they didn't have them. She stayed on the line through numerous b.s. stories including one about them both being adopted right now. After saying that she'd have to get a lawyer to find out what happened to her dogs, she was put on hold, then told that the dogs were there - they found them in the gray room. Both these dogs were originally adopted from this shelter and both had microchips identifying her, not him as the owner. They never checked. They charged her to get them back. Shelters have intake paperwork, it's no mystery when a dog is turned in. Surrendered dogs can be killed immediately. (Which they also have paperwork for.) They are suppose to scan for microchips! Adopt from there, sure, they're overloaded with nice animals. But if you've lost a dog, make them check every room, don't believe the first 6 answers they give you.