Our Position On Managed Intake

The Lynchburg Humane Society has been taking in owner surrenders by appointment since the fall of 2009 when we made a commitment to become a no-kill community. When an owner needs help with their pet we offer counseling through our pet help desk. Counselors listen to the issues the owner is having and offer solutions as best they can. If the issue is not urgent, and the owner wants to try to keep the pet, we  help them with solutions such as; short term boarding, food, low cost medical care, training, and ideas on how they can improve the situation. If the owner does not want to try to keep the pet, we can learn more about their pet, help them advertise and list their pet for them on Petfinder, a national website. If they have not found a home through the Petfinder website, our wish list, or from our suggestions, when we have an appropriate space we can bring the pet to our facility to continue to look for a home. While the owner is waiting to bring their pet in, we keep in contact with them to find out if the situation has improved, if they have had any interest from new owners, or if they need further support. We often find that when the time comes to bring their pet in, the issues they had initially have been resolved and the pet can remain in its home. That being said, if it is an emergency situation and the owner cannot wait and/or it is in the best interest of the pet, we take the pet in right away.

Even though we bring owned animals in responsibly, we want to make it clear that we take in everything, from the 1 day old kitten to the 15 year old pit bull.  We take in the cute fluffy puppies, and the victims of traumatic situations.  We take in bite cases and dangerous dogs and we help those owners with nowhere else to turn. We do not pick and choose what comes into the shelter. Everyone has the opportunity to be on our surrender list, even those from areas that are not in our jurisdiction.

In 2016, we took in 2,031 owner surrendered pets.  Of those, 636 people did not have to wait to bring in their pets, we took them right away.  1,016 pets came in through our appointment program and of all the owners who contacted us we were able to help 45% keep or re-home their pet themselves. 

We find that most people want what is best for their pets and we need to provide them with the answers they seek. We want to be a resource for pets and people, not a dumping ground.  Putting the responsibility for their pets back on the owners is not a new concept, it is how innovative humane societies are making a difference in pets’ lives.  We should not have to be more responsible for their pets than the people who own them. We should be here to help owners with their problems and take responsibility for pets who are abandoned, neglected, dangerous or abused.  And no facility should be euthanizing pets just because there are too many of them.  It is morally wrong to euthanize a healthy or treatable pet.  We need to fix that thinking and one of the many ways is to help owners with services and solutions and not just enable them to get rid of their pets quickly when they are inconvenient.

Most people will do the right thing and if we feel they will not, we always act in the best interest of the pet.  The naysayers will suggest that this program sends people to other shelters and that they will just release their pets to get picked up as strays. They will say we are flooding the other shelters with animals.  The numbers do not hold this to be true. In fact, so far this year 164 owned and stray pets have come into our shelter from other counties, that is 21% of our owned and stray intake. Intake is down in all the counties around us, including Danville. The only two shelters whose intake was up last year is ours in Lynchburg, and Appomattox, since we took over the contract. Since 2014 we have taken in 1,583 more pets.  This suggests that the community wants to know that the pets they bring to a shelter will be safe, not at risk for unnecessary euthanasia and that most people want a positive outcome for their pets or the pets they find.

Will there be a small number of people who won’t do the right thing and dump their pets?  Yes.  Are there pets that end up in other shelters around us that should be coming to us?  Yes.  Are there owners from other counties waiting to bring their beloved pets to us because it is a safe place? Yes.  Have we taken in owned dogs and cats with major medical problems that were old and in terrible condition and treated them this year? Yes.  Are there people who have found dogs and cats and instead of taking them to the correct county they found them in brought them to us because they know they are safe? Yes.  

You will hear sad stories about how terrible people can be but we believe people are good and we base our beliefs on facts not fear. You will hear that every pet must be taken in right away, even if it means killing another pet to make room for them. We do not believe this and you should not believe this. Our methods have proven successful in our city and in countless other progressive cities that value pet’s lives.

We are not a perfect organization.  We have made mistakes and will make mistakes in the future.  We are an open and transparent organization. When we makes mistakes we   learn from them and use them as opportunities to improve.  We will continue to learn from the experts in our field and if a better more proven way to help people and pets comes along we will try it. We are not afraid to grow and change and we are not afraid of the bullies in this field calling us names or trying to disrupt our work. We will not be distracted from helping and saving the lives of as many pets as possible, and neither should you.

Note: No Kill does not mean no pet is euthanized.  There will always be pets that can not be safely placed because they will cause harm and are too ill for treatment or they are suffering.  The general measure of No Kill is when you have saved 90% or more.  Currently this year the Lynchburg Humane Society is saving 97% of all pets that come in to our center.  From the sick parvo puppies, that we have great success with treating, to the 16 year old cat with diabetes.   No kill means doing everything you can to not euthanize a healthy or treatable pet, taking killing out of your tool box and finding other solutions to the problem of pet overpopulation.  Managed Intake is just one of those tools.