South Suburban Humane Society To Close Homewood Adoption Center

HOMEWOOD, IL — South Suburban Humane Society will close its Homewood adoption, in a decision to centralize operations entirely at its Matteson campus, the nonprofit said Friday.

The state-of-the art, 26,000-square-foot Matteson location opened in 2022 and is touted as being more able to accommodate the needs of pets, volunteers, and visitors.

"Since our incredible Thanksgiving adoption weekend, all pets have been housed in Matteson and will remain," the humane society wrote on social media. "SSHS is grateful to our dedicated supporters for helping us make use of the Homewood facility as a much-needed, short-term solution to supplement the now-closed Chicago Heights shelter."

The humane society said it will "remain committed to the Homewood community," with plans for special adoption events in Homewood, "in collaboration with local businesses and organizations to help more pets find forever homes faster.

"Streamlining to one location allows us to be more efficient with donor dollars and reduce demands on our incredible staff and volunteers," staff wrote. "Plus, we can help more animals in need because pets are being adopted more quickly from the new Matteson campus, which is designed to modern shelter specifications, making it safer and more comfortable for dogs, cats, staff, volunteers, and visitors."

Some criticized officials' decision, saying they should find a way to update the facility and continue to make use of the space. In response, staff shared 2023 adoption totals for each location: 430 at Homewood, 850 at a local PetSmart store, and 2,106 in Matteson.

"As you can see, Homewood unfortunately was just not an efficient use of resources," staff wrote. "With careful consideration of these numbers, we are going to maintain our presence in the Homewood/Flossmoor community by increasing the number of offsite adoption event partnerships with local businesses. We're bringing pets to adopters in the community."

Staff went on to share that the new, Matteson location for the humane society, has "transformed our ability to serve pets in Cook County.

"We're adopting pets out more quickly from the new campus, and it is designed to modern shelter specifications, making it safer and more comfortable for dogs, cats, staff, volunteers, and visitors. By streamlining to one location, we will reduce demand on staff and volunteers, be more efficient with donor dollars, and better support animals in need."