Lynchburg Humane Society Blog

In July of 2009, when the Board of Directors decided to change the way the Lynchburg Humane Society operated, they gave the staff until 2015 to achieve a save rate over 90%.   This is a widely recognized benchmark used to define “no kill” status.    The Board gave us real concrete goals such as increasing our adoption and return to owner rates and implementing spay/neuter programs.    The Board also realized that we needed a new building to really reach our ultimate goal of No Kill for the Lynchburg Community.  In 2009 we increased our save rate to 65% after only the first six months of our new no kill policy. In 2010 we reached an 84% save rate.   This first 1½ years of progress should be compared to a 49% save rate in 2008.   Then in 2011 we were so excited to reach a 90% save rate.    However , we are always careful that we don’t claim that we are no kill because we often find ourselves making hard decisions on anima...

China was given support from two humane societies and two vets. Synergy is defined as two or more things functioning together to produce a result not independently obtainable.  Without synergy we could not do the great work that we do.  We already have great synergy with the community at large but we have begun to work with other humane groups in the area in order to increase our Synergy Network of friends.   Here are a few stories of how we have been working with our partners and groups in 2012 that resulted in saving the lives of pets that may not have been saved otherwise.  First let me tell you about China.  Her original owners lived in Lynchburg and China found herself at the Lynchburg Humane Society when she got away from her owners.  As a result they re-homed her to a new family in Campbell County and China once again got away. Unfortunately this time she was hit by a car.  China arrived at Campbell County Animal Control for her mandato...

"I don’t give to animal causes. "   This is one of those statements that I completely understand and respect.   People have every right to give as they see fit and I am just thankful that people give at all in this economy.   But, and you knew there had to be a but, I don’t see us as just animals.    We do far more than just help animals and I would say 90% of the time there is a person involved that we are helping as well.    Let me give you a great example.   An older woman called us because she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and it was time for her to figure out a place to bring her 4 dogs.   Soon she is heading to an assisted living situation and could not take them.   She loved them like they were her children because to her they were.   They were her whole life, a reason to get up in the morning.  Today, she brought them in to the shelter.   We started the intake of the dogs at 11:00 am and at 1:00 pm sh...

It is Thanksgiving Day; you are surrounded by family and friends. You hear the sound of a crackling log in the fireplace and smell the aromas of the feast laid out before you. All of the fixings: stuffing, green bean casserole, rolls, mashed potatoes and gravy, and roasted squash. Children trying to snag a taste of the freshly baked pies including pumpkin, pecan, apple, and chocolate cream as they make their way to the dessert table. The main event catches your full attention as the long awaited turkey makes a debut in all of its golden glory and your beloved dog patiently waiting underfoot for the remnants of your thanksgiving dinner. But what you don’t know is that the delicious morsels that Fido is waiting for could be dangerous to him. Take a look at the following tips from ASPCA experts for a   great Thanksgiving that your pets can enjoy, too.  Talkin’ Turkey If you decide to feed your pet a little nibble of turkey, make sure it’s boneless and well-cooked. Do...

So far this year has been an amazing one for the animals at the Lynchburg Humane Society.   None of it could have been accomplished without YOU!   Because of community involvement and your influence we were able to work with city council to strengthen our partnership and to establish a fair compensation and lease agreement for our new humane education and adoption center.  Council received more emails and phone calls around this topic than any other in their tenure.  We officially merged the operations of the South Central Spay/Neuter Clinic in Evington with ours giving us a more regional focus on reducing the numbers of homeless animals in our entire community.   With a new full-time veterinarian, Dr. Pearson, we have begun to provide more services for the community.  We are up in surgeries and revenue and because of generous donations to our spay/neuter fund and many grants awarded this year, we have fixed over 700 animals for free. ...