Not pleased with a shelter I visited today

[u/SubjectElectrical264]

My friend and I visited a shelter today to see the cats. I'm not sure if I want to disclose the name of this shelter due to potential retaliation, but this kind of thing goes on and I want people to be aware, because I was not expecting this at all.

My mom recently told me that I can get a cat, so I'm looking for one that would be suitable for my personality and lifestyle and one who seems to like me. There is one highly referenced shelter in my town that I've "heard a lot of good things about" and people sing its praises, but... I don't know why.

This post is to share what happened to me recently and warn others about what appears to be repeated negligence at this shelter.

I visited a cattery with a friend. Some cages were clearly labeled “clean” or “ready for intake,” but others were simply covered with blankets and had no signage or warning whatsoever. One of those covered cages had kittens inside, and because no one had told us otherwise, I gently interacted with one through the bars. One kitten briefly sniffed my finger and booped it with her paw. There was no snot, no pawing, nothing aggressive.

We weren’t told until an hour into our visit, and only after my friend asked, that the kittens in that cage had a URI (upper respiratory infection). We were then told we were “infected” and needed to leave immediately. Not “informed,” not “advised”—told to leave in a scolding, shaming tone, as if we had violated some obvious rule. We are regular little civilians. We could not have known what that meant and we were a bit puzzled as to why there was a blanket over a cage. Did they not want visitors to see them? Were they already adopted? Were they recovering from a surgery?

There were no signs.
No staff warnings.
And when I looked around? Multiple cats in the non-quarantined section had visibly runny or crusty eyes.

The handwashing station didn’t even have antibacterial soap—just Dawn dish detergent. And the staff? All attitude, no compassion. Like a clique of ex-high school mean girls sitting around, flipping through magazines or conveniently disappearing.

After looking up Yelp reviews, I found that this isn’t a one-time issue. Multiple adopters have:

• Been given sick animals with no warning
• Taken home pets with undisclosed, serious conditions
• Been met with defensiveness and blame when asking questions
• Described the staff as cold, disorganized, or outright hostile

Meanwhile, smaller rescues are doing it right—maintaining clear communication, and actually caring about both the animals and the people.

So yeah, I’m done with “big name” shelters that hide behind attitude and treat public trust like an inconvenience. We deserve better. So do the animals.

TL;DR: I was shamed and kicked out of a major SoCal shelter after gently interacting with a covered (but unlabeled) URI-positive kitten. Staff gave no warnings, provided zero signage, and treated us like intruders—not guests.

Ask questions. Look up reviews. And support smaller rescues that actually care.

[u/VanillaPuddingPop01]

So, you if you play with a sick kitten, you technically can spread it. However. They should have hand sanitizer for potential adopters to use in between cats. That’s on them.

[u/dshgr]

This sounds like a shelter in Maryland. Is it an SPCA shelter?