I would never tell anyone how they should donate their hard earned money. But, I can't resist blogging about an incident that happened here at the Lynchburg Humane Society.
A nice woman came in to our facility with an arm full of towels, papers and some food. She approached our counter with her checkbook out and asked if we were No Kill. When the front desk staff member said no, but we are working towards becoming No Kill. The woman loudly said, "well, I only give to No Kill organizations." She closed up her checkbook and left.
That got me thinking. Why wouldn't you give to an organization that was in the process of becoming No Kill. This is the time when those types of organizations need the support from the community the most. It is expensive to create a No Kill community. It is much easier to raise funds when you are No Kill but why not get on the wagon early to help bring about these types of efforts?
Unfortunately, this person didn't allow us to explain anything to her but maybe there are others out there feeling the same way.
The funny thing is that many No Kill organizations are private groups that don't kill their animals but the community they are in or service, is far from No Kill. You have to look at what is happening to save ALL the animals in their county or city.
The Lynchburg Humane Society is a private humane society that provides pound services so we are both in this community. We take in all lost pets from the city of Lynchburg and owned animals from city and county residents. We don't get to pick and choose the animals we end up with. When we say that 83% of the animals make it out of our facility alive, that means for the entire city of Lynchburg.
To better illustrate my point lets look at Henrico County, Virginia. There are a few rescue No Kill groups in that area that service this community yet, only 49% of the animals are making it out alive from their local animal control facility.
And just so others don't get upset, I am not bashing no kill rescue organizations. They do great work and many work collaboratively with their local pounds. I was a part of a No Kill organization that limited it's intake, that was working with animals control towards a No Kill city in Richmond, VA.
I just think you should judge organizations on the work they do, not how they "classify" themselves. What are they doing for the animals in their community?
So, we aren't No Kill but I feel we are doing great work with very limited resources and we need the community's continued help to be able to reach our goal where no savable animals are killed in Lynchburg.
How do we do it? We really need to increase adoptions, donations, volunteer help, altered animals and foster home providers. We need everyone to give us a boost so we can save more animals and make Lynchburg a No Kill Community.
If you would like to see how other counties are doing in your area, please go to the following link and select the year you want the stats for and the organization's name. (note: Amherst Animal Control's numbers are not up on the site due to a glitch in the system. You may call them directly if you wish to know their numbers)
http://www.virginia.gov/vdacs_ar/cgi-bin/Vdacs_search.cgi
Hey guys,
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you. Nobody knows what you guys go through on a daily basis for the animals. Yes, a no kill shelter would be great but, what happens to the animals when they are not saved by you? They die or stay in the homes that may abuse them and do whatever to the animals. At LHS these animals are given a fighting chance. They are not left on the street. I adopted my dog Beretta from LHS. I would like to thank them for giving my buddy a fighting chance. LHS needs volunteers badly. Not just money. I volunteer there and would love to see you there. This would help people with a better understanding of how hard it is to become a no kill shelter. We are working very hard to reach our goal. We need support from our community to obtain this goal. Please understand our every effort to save animals. The shelter workers become very close to the animals. It is very hard when they have to put an animal down. It is not a very easy thing. Please help the LHS reach our goal!!!!! I love the staff and lives saved by LHS
In response to Margie MacCormick Ion's comment:
ReplyDeleteThe article does not state that "the woman bellied up at the counter with her checkbook", as you report in your comment. However, the article states that "she approached our counter with her checkbook out and asked if we were No Kill." If you are going to complain about the way someone is portrayed, then make sure you read carefully first. People, let's not look for ways to be offended, but rather assume positive intent and consider overall tone. The Society's goal was to communicate a need and educate the community. Thank you to those who give so much of their time and energy to save the animals!