i dont get there thinking .yesterday i went to a local shelter to look as i just lost two of my girls to old age .a friend thought it would cheer me up so we went .the minut we opend the door the stink almost knocked me back out .i went to look at the dogs i saw a sweet male german shepherd i bent down to pet him through the fence and was told to get my hands out and go wash my hands before i looked at any more dogs as this spreads germs to other dogs i was pissed but i did it and then came back and looked at all of them then back to the shepherd he was fixed already i could see that when he jumped up on the fence but he was so sweet i just had to pet him again .miss thing came around the corner and told me to leave .so right there i made a stand in front of every one i said what are you supost to do come through the door if the stink will let you and run up to a cage and say i want that one with out knowing its personalty i dont care what the papper sezzz on the front of the cage i want to interact with it she had me so pist i said instead of chasing away people and then killing them because there is an over population of them maby you should be thankfull that people come in this stink hole at all .instead of chaseing people away you should spend your time cleaning this place up then there would be no germs to spread .i then left but not fore saying i would go to a puppy mill and buy a puppy before i would get one there .i have tried to deal with local shelters every time i wanted a new dog but every time they just piss me off to no end how do you feel about it

It's a shame that shelter is run that way...I've been to quite a few shelters where the smell didn't knock you over when you walked in, and a little more friendly of an attitude from the staff. It's a shame they couldn't get their act together or have better people running it, I can see that being in that situation could bring on some stress...but nothing like you describe should be tolerated.

Heh, the few humane society people I have come in to contact with have been total jerks, it seems that they are completely soured against people and by default, you are just another irresponsible owner. I am guessing they deal with it alot so I cut them some slack, but the arrogance they seem to have is annoying. I am not sure how I would change if I was in that field, but I would hope I would not be as big of a jerk as the people I came into contact with. And of course, this is just my personal experience with the few I contacted, I'm not saying all are that way.

As for the shelter itself.... well, they do have limited money, and the "no touchy" thing is most likely just a safety precaution, but if you are willing to wash your hands, I dont see the big deal.... it definitely doesn't seem like enough to ask you to leave. She was probably worried more about the other people touching and not being able to keep track of who washed/who didn't and it getting out of hand.... but she could have asked if you wanted to take the dog out, and if not, she could've reminded you again to wash your hands, or pulled you aside to explain why she doesn't want you touching.

I haven't been in any sort of shelter that is like that....

I think its pretty awful that there are some like that, they really discourage people from supporting them...
Since you know the specific one (s), why not try reporting it to the national chapter of the humane society? I know they do try to keep a good name and if a shelter isn't keeping up its standards they will usually try to divert more money/volunteers or close it down...
If you had time you could see about volunteering there to help keep the cleanliness up and try to provide a better image..

well i did help out there for a while but they found out i ust to breed american eskimo dogs for show so they made it rufff till i left .you would think they would want people like me as i have sat up all night with mothers that refused to nurse there pups growing up on a farm i have sat all night with sick animals and i love grooming dogs and cats i finde it peaceful to sit with an animal and groom it .i will never go back as i feel bad for every animal in there .

some rescue workers are like that, they come off as snobs in my opinion.
but i have met some nice volunteers and shelter workers that were unbelievably friendly. Especially my local shelter, it used to be terrible and smelled awful, but now there's a huge community involvement and it's cleaned up, has an outdoor play area, and just plain fun to go there and give the shelter animals some much needed attention.

I've never heard of washing your hands before petting each dog, except maybe puppies/kittens, but i thought all shelter pets are supposed to be given a booster shot. Maybe that's just my area though.

THe local animal shelter here is similar to that one, except the people are a little nicer. The minute you walk into the place, the smell is just horrible. I was told not to touch any of the animals, but I did pet this cute female chow mix of some sort. She even licked my hand. But I couldn't handle one more minute of that stink and so I left. I feel sorry for all the animals that were in there. If I could, and had the money and land, I would take all the animals in there. I believe a week later, that sweet girl was killed because she was in there too long.

Well
I think when you get non animal richous people in volved in something they will ruin it every time..

Run

Never going back won't help those dogs.
I'm sorry, but your attitude seems to be just as bad as the shelter peson.
Two wrongs do not make a right.
Maybe you should contact the person in charge and find out what is really going on.
I have done a ton of work for an animal shelter, and yes sometimes the "keepers" can be officious as hell, but that is no reason to turn your back on the animals.
Humans suck.

Its a shame how some animals are treated, so poorly. Those places need fixing. =/

It makes me sad that this stuff happens even sadder is that this isn't the first time I've heard something like this from someone