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Shelter transitioning to No Kill

Letter appeared in the News and Advance in the editiorial section on 10/4/11 in response to a letter posted on September 24th by Jason Shelton.


I first want to thank Jason Shelton (The Forum, Sept. 24) for raising awareness that the Lynchburg Humane Society’s current facility is inadequate to meet the needs of this community, continue saving lives and reach our goal of an open-admission, no-kill shelter. Our new building project will enable us to provide more services to the community and alleviate the overcrowded conditions that affect the animals, staff and the public.
Similarly, we acknowledge that there is a problem in the city with the cat population. We are dedicated to solving this problem by providing free spay and neuter services through our City Cat Fix Program and a grant from PetSmart Charities. Unfortunately, as long as people allow the cats they care for to reproduce and not take full responsibility for them, the problem will persist.
The standard operating mode for a pound is to take in all animals and then kill pets to make space when they get full. The Lynchburg Humane Society feels that killing pets to make space is irresponsible. We now ask owners to be responsible and wait until we have space. We knew when we decided to alter our philosophy regarding the intake of unwanted owned animals that it would be very uncomfortable to some folks. Happily, we found that most people want what is best for their pets and will wait. Asking owners to wait enables us to stop the killing of healthy and treatable animals. In the meantime, we give them assistance with their behavior issues and help them re-home their pets with courtesy postings on our website. So far this year, 274 animals have found homes through this system.
This new way of thinking puts trust in the public and allows the community to be a part of solving the problem. While some don’t like this new philosophy change, most of Lynchburg is excited about the transformation and our new programs to save lives; our current save rate of 91 percent is dramatic proof of our programs’ successes.
We always welcome the opportunity to solve problems when they arise and appreciate Mr. Shelton’s letter. The Lynchburg Humane Society is not perfect, of course. Realization and analysis of possible problems allows us to become a better organization to the benefit of all involved.
MAKENA YARBROUGH
Executive director
Lynchburg Humane Society

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