Mendocino County Animal Control

"Wildly corrupt, arrogant agency (a pattern with government agencies that are bestowed too much money and power) that views citizens as uppity peasants. I knew California would never help *people*, but I actually thought they would still help animals. Especially a whole abandoned *horse* on a mountain above the snowline. No. I was so wrong. And the rot goes all the way to the top, to Molinari. After months of trying to get help from these people, and doing my best to keep the poor old, very lame mare that literally just showed up, alive, in a harsh winter where I did not have a barn, I eventually decided to make a complaint to the County Supervisor. I then ultimately gave up pursuing my complaint because frankly, I was afraid they'd start escalating to retaliation. I feel I am still taking a chance using my real name here. I am now out of the entire state of California, but still maybe not untouchable, not in the country we now live in. But I want my review posted under my real name in this case. I am taking the risk. The case is unique enough I doubt I could remain anonymous anyway, if the long arm of illegitimate law decides it needs to reach me. Every animal rescue type organization I spoke with, private, semi private, horse specific and non horse specific, had nothing good to say about these people. Some were more forthcoming than others, but my favorite was a large shelter where the guy just laughed bitterly when I asked if the agency was hard to deal with/corrupt. Some of the other stories are too specific to share and the rescuers are likely still in Mendo. I just can't imagine why so many people have 'feelings' about rogue government."

"I took the time to write an impassioned email to them as my local vet took HIS time to post on his fb page. Got an auto bot return to call with questions. Call just now, leave a message, called another number, who was great by the way, Shauna, who gave me another woman who was just soooo busy, yes its adoption day, but could you give me 5 minutes, and then at least say goodbye? I'm sorry if I ruined your day. That dog would have had a wonderful life if you had only given me a few of your time. Rude was your word of the day."

"I've been calling animal control for 5 yrs asking them to do something about the neglected dogs up the hill that bark frantically right into my bedroom window 24/7. I haven't had a peaceful nights sleep in 7yrs. They bark with high anxiety non stop all night & day for 7 yrs now. Animal Control officers always tell me "Theres nothing we can do about this." Not to mention their hours, 10am-5pm Monday-Friday, are ridiculous. They work 7 hrs a day, 5 days a week. If you have an animal emergency after 5pm or on a weekend, forget about it. My dog just died of a heartattack early in her life. She was so stressed about the dogs up the hill all the time. I think it played a part in her early demise. Mendocino County doesn't seem to have proper laws in place for Animal Control to serve & protect the animals. I've even sent them evidence of tons of video footage from years of those dogs barking non stop, yet it remains ignored & they do nothing about it. Im doing this review because I feel helpless in this situation, like my only option to keep my sanity is to move out of the home I've lived in for over a decade."

"I adopted a cat from here, I could tell right away that she had respiratory problems and a ear infection. Apparently they treated her for the URI, but when she came home she was really lethargic. I took her to the vet and found out she had a bacterial infection in both ears and respiratory infection. I think they need to do a better job making sure they are adopting out healthy pets cause mine was in poor shape. I'm glad I was able to help her when they failed to. This is a serious problem when you bring a sick pet home and it is a highly contagious infection to other cats. Very small cages also so sad for these animals."

"The animals are great. The dog trainer is great. Other staff - well…. Not very helpful, they don't give very complete or accurate info even when asked specific questions, and it is hard to visit the dogs because of the stench. BUT go for the animals, do you own research, hold your breath when trying to meet the dogs."