What a difference a year makes. I first stopped in to Help for Homeless Pets during one of their "open" events. While the people working here were fine, the facility itself was an "oh my gawd get me out of here so I can breathe" place. I understand space limitations, and volunteer staffing, but the place smelled horrible. Pet shelters are bad enough, leaving me with a strong urge to take the animals home or set them free; but dealing with that smell . . .uh .... no. just no. Heartbreak all around. Fast forward to a little over a year later. Again, the volunteers were absolutely incredible. They deserve all the kudos they can be given. After taking a deep breath before I walked in, I first noticed the normal (e.g. not gag-reflex inducing) odor of a pet shelter. It was like they installed a new air filtration system and along with it, improved the lighting. I had a hard time believing it was the same place. HHP is not a large facility. It has fairly large cages, wire on all sides, except for the ones along the wall. The dogs appear to be in individual cages, mostly, unless they're small dogs and then might be in twos; and the cats, about 4 or 5 or so are in the larger cages as you first walk in, but some, depending on temperament, are solo. There are also cages out in front of the building and in a back room. I still hated to leave all those animals behind, but wow -- I'm impressed with how well HHP has improved. I've not adopted any animals, so I cannot speak to potential health issues of any of them as noted by other reviewers, but the staff does an incredible job keeping up with the resources they have. read more

Alright, so long story short, this place has lovely people that care about their animals. The staff are energetic and caring and I had nothing but good things from them. I had recently lost my beloved baby at 14 years old last December to a thyroid emergency. I spent thousands to have her keep her quality of life up till the very end when she passed away in my arms. I have been extremely depressed ever since as well as her sister. I told Asha if there was a cat for me let them tell me. So I went in and my new baby ran up and begged for me. I couldn't be more happy with her. The whole process was easy and informative. She is super healthy and her fur is soft and sleek. I am very happy with this shelter. read more

Help For Homeless Pets - My friends that came to help me and myself in the middle with Salie ( Sally) ! - Pet Services Near Me - Billings, Montana

I walked in this place today and it was bad the smell was awful the cages are dirty the days have poop all over this place is gross it should be shut down I feel bad for the animals. read more

Help for Homeless Pets where do I begin. First and foremost this is a full shelter with the most die hard, dedicated staff and volunteers out there. They stop at absolutely nothing to make sure each and every animal is cared for and finds a loving home. They take in the animals, all other shelters won't. They are a living example of how second chances save lives. Please consider adopting, fostering, or donating. A little goes a long way. read more

This business is horrible. These pets are kept in horrid living conditions. I was appalled that the employee told us that they were getting fifty more dogs when they do not have any room for the pets they have there. The stench of urine was so foul that I could not breathe. I started crying after we left because I felt so terrible for those animals. I wrote an email to the mayor saying that they need to be shut down. I asked if they could be transferred to the other shelter. Please do not step foot into this place. There is another, well-kept animal shelter in Billings called "Yellowstone Valley Animal Shelter" that is very nice and the animals there are taken care of properly. read more

Ok look, I've volunteered at 4 shelters in 3 states, including Yellowstone Valley Animal Shelter here in Billings. So listen to me when I give you the honest truth about Help for Homeless Pets. (1) Yes, this shelter is generally smellier, more disorganized and frustrating to deal with in terms of staff being present at posted times, answering the phone etc. YES, these things are all true. (2) The people that run this shelter and work here care for these animals. They are not abusive. They are not neglectful. They do NOT kill the animals and that means that they give every single animal in there a bigger chance than they will get at YVAS because that shelter is under contract with the county and they have to keep a certain amount of spaces open for the dog catcher's daily intakes. This means simply an animal there, has much less of a chance to live than one that finds themselves here. YVAS is much nicer, it smells less and the staff are all there when the posted business hours say they will be there. YVAS has them beat hands down there BUT Help for Homeless pets is no-kill and the bottom line is that each animal in there has shelter, food, medicine and care. It's not ideal, no but the world we live in created this mess. GET YOUR ANIMALS SPAYED AND NEUTERED. Ask the staff if you can walk one or two dogs while you are visiting, they will most likely let you. I've done this and it's an easy way to do something when you may not have money to give. I've adopted 3 dogs from them over the years, one with 3 legs and they've all been great animals. read more

They overprice the hell out of their pets that need homes, sad when there's dogs left in there for $500 because they're sooo over priced

This place is strange, to say the least. It was supposed to open at 1:00. At 1:45 my husband and I banged on the door for a good 5 mins. We could hear voices on the other side, so we KNOW they heard us. Finally a woman answered the door and said they weren't ready to open......why? Is this an operating business or what? When I asked when they would be open, she didn't know. I would think if an interested party came to adopt an animal, they would let you in. I can only think they don't want you seeing the place because they have something to hide. I'm sure animal neglect goes on here without stepping a foot inside. One dog was shivering in a small outdoor enclosure with pouring rain. There was a partial tarp on top. Please don't surrender your animal to this place if you want it to have any kind of life. read more

Rather than criticize the organization (which squeezes a dime out of every nickel it receives) why not make a donation to alleviate the problems that you have identified? In the past seven years, my wife and I have adopted three precious small dogs from them. Each of those great dogs was on "death row" in the Los Angeles pound when they were rescued and accepted by Help for Homeless Pets. Had it not been for this organization, these three wonderful companions would be dead now. A few years ago our daughter went to India and volunteered at Mother Teresa's in a Calcutta slum - she combed lice out of dying old women's hair. She did not think about the surroundings, she thought about the work and the smiles she brought to these old women who literally had nothing - including hope. Yes, the conditions at Help for Homeless Pets should be improved but they are doing the best they can with what they have so why not quite being self righteous and help? In addition to adopting from this organization, we make a sizeable cash donation each year. How about you? read more

We adopted two kittens from here last april. I was a little nervous due to the atmosphere, but I was sympathetic to the fact that it's hard to make money running a shelter, and therefor hard to have a nice facility. However, in hindsight, that isn't an excuse for the gross and griminess. My sister and I fell in love with two cats that we were told were kittens, one of which we were told had an infection, but that she was recovering and is doing well. The day after we adopted the cats, we took them to the vet where we were informed that, 1. The "kittens" were both over a year old, just very small. No wonder that our older cats were so unwelcoming. And, 2. The cat with the respiratory infection actually has FIP- a terminal illness. We were told that we should probably put her down. But since we're stubborn, we keep her on antibiotics, and she has steroid shots twice a month. The vet bills are adding up, but she is a fighter. We just want her to continue to be the playful and happy cat she is for as long as we can. We love her to death, but it is irresponsible of HFHP and their vet to give out such sickly cats without warning. I will never be returning here, and not just because it smells bad and is grubby. read more

Sure they need money but they also need somebody better able to run a shelter. The conditions have not been good at the main building. The cages outside looked dirty and in need of care. I have adopted a dog, cat and two cockatiels from them. The dog was the best dog ever, however when I reported to them that the previous owner had abused her and they shouldn't be allowed to adopt again I was met with a who cares stare. The cat had to be put to sleep because of an auto-immune disease which we all found out later was rampant at their shelter. The birds showed signs of neglect and we were informed that the other birds had picked the feathers off the one we were interested in. Funny how that spot never grew back and their toes were deformed. I have had Angie try to get me to say that a litter of puppies were Chinese crested because there hair was so short. No, they were chihuhuas. I got the feeling she wanted to advertise them as something more exotic and possibly charge a higher adoption fee. read more

We adopted a six-month old pup on 7/30/18 and were charged a $450 adoption fee because the director stated he was "young and a purebred german shepherd." He had only been at the shelter for four days but in that time had picked up a virus. After adopting him, he passed the virus on to our two older dogs and it cost up several hundred dollars in vet bills to treat them all. We had previously adopted two cats from HFHP that died from an autoimmune disease. We were willing to give it another try with this puppy. In August we submitted the paperwork to get reimbursement for his neutering. After calling, texting, and emailing the staff and Angie, the Director, we had no refund. Finally in the end of November we received a check. However, it was unsigned. The Director came by our house in early December to sign the check. We love our new family member but he isn't purebred german shepherd. If they are trying to place as many animals in good homes as possible, adoption fees should be reasonable. I am so disappointed with our interaction with HFHP. The organization needs to be brought up to standard. read more

We've adopted pets from HHP over the years and always been more than satisfied. Sure, it isn't as spiffy as some of the other shelters but HHP does ALL their work with donations and volunteers - big difference from county or state funds! These people deserve a big hand of applause and a huge THANK YOU for the dedication and the no kill policy. People PLEASE spay and neuter your pets. Kathy S. read more