Lynchburg Humane Society Blog

I am not a first follower, I am a cautious follower.  I am the first to admit that I need time sometimes to jump on the bandwagon.  I am never the first to buy the latest technology – I am still a generation behind on my iPhone and iPad and just got Windows 10.  I wait and see, contemplate and then listen and learn from others.   When it comes to new things in this field as an organization, we will jump in fast and hard and get the movement started, if it makes sense.  I ask a lot of questions and make sure I understand the “why.”  I don’t change things just to change them and even then after a change we track it and determine if it was the right decision.  So here we are.   Jumping on the bandwagon to remove the breeds off our adoption postings for our dogs.   This discussion has been going on for many years in this field. We didn’t do it at first because it didn’t make sense to me.   We didn’t have a problem wit...

One of our organization’s core values is to set goals and smash them. Last year, we smashed all sorts of records, including helping more pets than we have ever helped before.  Our goal was to reach 95% save rate but instead we ended the year with a 96% save rate. Our management team met at the beginning of January and have set up new goals for 2017.  In 2016 we: •  took in 3,909 dogs and cats which was 572 more than the year before and more than we have ever helped in a decade •  brought in 602 pets from other shelters -312 more than last year •  adopted out 3,251 dogs and cats which was an increase of 32% over last year (784 more) •  fixed 6,681 pets at our spay/neuter clinic • served 1,847 children with birthday parties, camps, field trips and other educational activities- 647 more than in 2015 •  oriented 953 volunteers and had 21,550 hours of service •  reduced our dog length of stay from 25 days to 19 days and cats from 64 days to only 42 day...

3 shoes, 7 socks, 1 paper plate, 4 power cords, 2 books, 3 Lego pieces, 4 stuffed animals, 2 chair legs, 1 original canvas painting, all destroyed. Living a life with no rugs on our floors and saying “NO” or “Stop it” A LOT.   Does this sound familiar?   If so, you have adopted a puppy.    You forget when you look at those beautiful, adorable, soulful eyes, when you smell that puppy breath and they are all so small and fuzzy.   You forget, at least I did, that puppies are a lot of work and are hard.at times.    You forget the middle of the night walks to go to the bathroom followed by the burst of energy and the crying if they are away from you. All when you just want to sleep.   You forget stepping in a puddle of pee on the floor in your bare feet, you forget your home without any rugs on the floor and you forget that when you are tired and wanting to settle down for the night that they really want to play. Puppies are so...

A month ago, I wrote an editorial for the News and Advance about putting a stake in the ground  Only 14 days old when he arrived from Campbell County suggesting that we all need to begin looking at how we take the area no kill.  That it was no longer acceptable for pets to be killed just because there are too many or there is not enough space to hold them.  And so here we are.  We find ourselves at a cross roads and we have decided it is time for this community to be a part of the solution and not allow the problem to continue to grow.   No Kill VA - “Road to No Kill” is the term we will be using as we begin to grow our programs to give assistance to not only Lynchburg residents and community members in other local counties, but also those in the more desperate regions of our state.  It isn’t the easy path to take but it is the right path and now is the time. We will lead the charge for this area and other communities across the state because it ...

Dooley a 12 year old pitbull who is currently in a foster home Recently a local reporter contacted us about being a part of an in depth look at euthanasia and what goes on at shelters.   This resulted in her speaking with other shelters in the region for her report.   She came back to me with questions and claims being said by other organizations and so I thought this might be a good blog topic.   Here are the questions and the information.   I have attempted to remove the names of the other shelters from this so it is neutral.   Our goal is not to turn anyone against other shelters/organizations but to educate and communicate the truth about these claims regarding the Lynchburg Humane Society and No Kill. Question: Several of the shelters said that they end up taking in animals that had first gone to Lynchburg but were told to wait for their appointments, so they go to these other shelters and say “if you don’t take it I’m just going to shoot...