Lynchburg Humane Society Blog

Last year, after attending a national lifesaving conference we decided it was time to lead a statewide change. We put a stake in the ground; we would help lead our state to no kill status by 2020. To do this we committed to help other organizations reach a place where no healthy or treatable pet was euthanized in the state of Virginia.   We began working with other localities to bring in pets in an effort to save more lives, 602 to be exact in 2016.   In 2017, we have made great strides towards setting our goals in motion. We have begun managing the Appomattox Shelter and we applied for and received a very generous, multiple year grant from the Petco foundation.   The Petco Foundation Lifesaving Impact award will be used to assist with low cost spay/neuter and medical services, transport assistance, training, mentoring and for us to offer consulting services to other shelters. We will create No Kill VA support services to build relationships and coordinate effort...

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...

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...