Boone County Animal Services - Belvidere, Illinois

Carl Francik

Staff is so kind and considerate! They even allowed me to have extra food for the long drive home. Their priority is to make sure these family pets are taken care of and it shows.

Haley Miles

Went to inquire about a basset hound that was recently listed. After the employee finally came to unlock the door, she asked me what I was there for and I told her I was there to inquire about the dog and get an application started to adopt him possibly. While simultaneously blocking the door, not letting me in, she told me that they were already 10 applications ahead of me. Sorry. I responded that we have basset hound experience and are looking for a younger one since our current dog is getting older. She said well he already has a meeting to meet a family on Sunday. And that was that. Even if we wouldn’t have been chosen to be his family, it’s upsetting to think that they are gatekeeping anybody from even putting in applications for dogs that aren’t even adopted yet. Not even getting a chance is what’s frustrating.

Callum Horwood

Found a stray cat in our basement that we believe is a stray, unaltered male (has big puffy cheeks.) Called first to get some advice from them and was told by a woman, "We're full. Leave them outside, they may belong to one of your neighbors and go home." In a very blunt manner. Which is fair enough advice, but the blunt and almost accusatory tone which she took once we told her we found them in our basement was very uncalled for. We took them to a vet to check for a microchip, which there wasn't one. Made a post on Facebook about it saying "We called animal sevices and they said to let it back outside." Maybe an hour later we got a call back from a different person seeming annoyed about our post saying "it's not a bad thing that you made your post but just be careful of the wording, we're already dealing with enough flack." Not any advice for what to do, just calling us back on an official government number because he didn't like our Facebook comment. Maybe you wouldn't have to deal with the public flack if you actually gave some useful advice instead of blowing us off, not giving any further advice, and telling us to release what is quite likely a stray, unaltered male cat. Will be taking them to a more reputable animal shelter like PAWS or Noah's Ark in Rockford.

They may be useful if you have a rabid racoon or any other crazy issue but if you have a more common one like needing advice on what to do with a a stray cat, you're better off just taking them to another shelter.

Edit: We ended up taking him to a vet and he ended up having severe ear and eye infection and had to be euthanized. Thankfully we took him and could end his suffering quickly instead of leaving him outside to suffer like they suggested.

Patty Fuller

I don't know who the new person in charge of Animal Control is but, he or she is NOT answering phone calls. We had a puppy show up today. I called several times, no call back. Waited more than an hour. Finally, I called the non emergency number at the police department and they were able to get a very nice lady to come and help us. It's a good thing it was a puppy and not an aggresive dog! So much for "leave a detailed message and we will get back to you"

Annette Swanson

The people working there are very rude and have no business working there. I filed a report about my pet being attacked by another animal and all the women could do was try to blame me. I felt like I was being attacked. She just kept assuming what happened and wouldn’t even try to listen to what I was trying to tell her. She showed no compassion for the victim. She has no business being in that position and was very unprofessional . I just hope I never have to deal with her again. Her behavior was unacceptable.

Rodes Heine

Saw a lot of of bad reviews and was thinking about going through someone else, but ended up choosing them. Had a rabid racoon seizing out next to my fire pit. It says they don't open until 9, but they were here about 8:30 to remove the racoon. The lady was super friendly and you could tell she cares about the animals, and this isn't just a job to her. If I ever have another animal issue I'll definitely not hesitate to give them a call!

Colleen Blaney

Do they ever answer the phone? It’s a nice building but are there any services?

Valerie Harbison

Extremely rude!!!
I called to ask for assistance with low cost spay. My family works, we pay taxes, they will not help you unless your income is extremely low. Mind you they go off of gross pay THIS IS NOT WHAT WE TAKE HOME! We do not live or budget off gross pay, nobody does!!
Just like EVERY government agency.. if you are trying in life and you work every day and you pay your taxes you will get NO help!! But if you live off every federally funded program and do nothing but be a bum you will get everything!! This needs to change!!!
The lady I spoke too could not answer any questions and unless I was Hispanic and lived off section 8 pretty much did not care about helping me.
No I’m not racist this is what I was asked on the phone.