Skip to main content

If we don't help them who will?


Abby was found by an animal control officer tangled up and choking from the heavy chain around her neck.  She arrived at the Lynchburg Humane Society very afraid of everyone.   There are few things worse than seeing a dog who has not had any positive contact from the humans in her life.  She obviously lived outside on a chain for the first year of her life.  We vaccinated and treated her for minor medical issues and the staff began working with her to help her realize just how wonderful people can be.  Tiny kisses to faces and wiggling all over is now how she greets people rather than shrinking in fear.  She was adopted by a wonderful couple and is living her life as a family member rather than just a chained up, back yard dog. 
If we don’t help them who will? 

Tanya like so many other cats in our shelter, got a virus due to stress, lack of immunities as a young kitten and the improper air handling systems that exist in our shelter. With Tanya, the virus affected her eye causing damage.  Our veterinarian at the South Central Spay and Neuter Clinic performed the surgery that removed her eye and saved her life. She is just like any other kitty, she just sees the world differently.

Every animal has a story and many we don’t want to hear.  Some are about being lost, neglected or abused, others are about being misunderstood or injured, but all that find themselves at the Lynchburg Humane Society have a second chance. Thankfully most of them have a happy ending since we decided not only to overhaul our operations, but also to revise the entire vision for the shelter. We knew it would be a daunting task. However, it was obviously the only responsible thing to do.  Killing healthy and treatable animals is wrong. 

Last year we cared for nearly 2,000 animals from Lynchburg and surrounding counties.  Today, 90% of the animals we receive leave our building for new or existing homes.  We ask that the community continue to support our lifesaving efforts as we move towards our ground-breaking goals for the future so more animals like Abby and Tanya are given an opportunity at a new and better life.  Part of this ground-breaking goal is a new shelter with a better environment for the animals and the people who visit.

We cannot operate without private donations.  To continue meeting our existing commitments and to move aggressively to meet our no kill goals will require dedication from our community to help save the animals who find themselves in our care. 

Every day we accept animals who need us and the care we provide.  This is your chance to have a positive impact on the lives of the pets in need. Please help us continue our lifesaving work. If not now, when? If not you then who?  

Please consider donating to our Annual Fund by going to our website www.lynchurghumane.org or by contacting Kim@lynchburghumane.org.  Every dollar counts. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

IS LHS UNDER ATTACK?

In 2013 the Lynchburg Humane Society (LHS) ended the year with a 92% save rate for the animals in our care, the highest year end figure since we began down the path to No Kill.   We were able to reduce the number of cats we took in by 294, compared to 2012, due primarily, we believe, to our spay/neuter efforts.   YOU made this possible.    We believe the Lynchburg Humane Society is about to be embroiled in a controversial attack by another humane organization because of all the great work we are doing.   We want our community and our supporters to know why and to be informed about this controversy because without you we could not do what we are doing.   You all are partners in our efforts.     This is long so please hang in there and read it in its entirety because there is important information throughout that you probably don’t know.    In April PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) sent us a letter askin...

They know what they know so don’t give them the facts.

I had the pleasure of having an interesting conversation with a member of another humane organization this past weekend. They are an SPCA that takes in animals for a number of localities and operates as the pound for their area. She asked how we were doing in Lynchburg and I, of course, was excited to tell her about our recent success about our save rate being 84% and having no healthy animal lose their life in our shelter in 2010 and how much the community has embraced the changes as we move toward becoming No Kill. She immediately went to defense mode and asked me loaded questions to prove I was wrong and of course explain to me how our programs wouldn’t work for them. The appointment system, wouldn’t work – pet owners aren’t responsible enough to do the right thing. People must be just “dumping” their animals in other localities.” Fact : The counties that reported their stats for 2010 in the Lynchburg area saw a reduction in the number of animals they took in and more...

When the tables turn

It is not unknown for people to be scared of dogs. Animal shelters throughout history were built on that fear. Dog catchers were employed to capture packs of nuisance dogs that were roaming and pestering communities. Pounds were built on the edge of towns near the dump to remove stray dogs from towns and in most cases, destroy them to prevent public endangerment.   Fast forward to now and shelters are referred to as centers, instead of strays we say adoptable, we don’t say animals we say pets, and dogs are family members. Getting a dog without a home into a family is a community effort and #adoptdontshop is a movement.  So how strange it is that the COVID-19 pandemic has made us fear being too close to people and has increased our desire for pets?  People want to foster or adopt pets, now more than ever! At the Lynchburg Humane Society’s Center for Pets there has been an increase of 85% more pets in foster care than at this time last year. The Lynchburg Humane...