Highland County Humane Society Serves Critical Role

Nick Mullins:
Stray and unhoused pets are a common issue in our society, so much so that nearly every municipality in the US employs some form of animal control. The reasons are many, but chief among them is public safety. While stray animals are often considered a nuisance there is also a potential for spreading disease into human populations. This is especially true in rural areas where unvaccinated strays can interact with wild animals to contract rabies or other dangerous illnesses.

Three sheriff’s deputies in Highland County are trained animal control officers who field calls to capture stray animals, but once they have them, it takes a lot of time, money, and effort to care for them, much less find it a good home.

For many areas, the costs of housing and caring for these animals falls on tax payers, but organizations like the Highland County Humane Society have been working hard to ease those burdens, providing a valuable service to the community and the animals they care for. And… unlike many traditional organizations, they work without a physical shelter using an entirely foster based service.

Corena Huffman, Board president of the Highland County Humane Society explains.

Corena Huffman:
The Highland County Humane Society is a foster-based rescue and what that means simply is that we don’t have a bricks and mortar building, all the animals are kept in foster homes and sometimes temporary boarding if we don’t have anything open.

Nick Mullins:
In other words, the Highland County Humane Society works with a network of volunteers who take in and care for the animals, ensure they are properly vaccinated, and are spayed or neutered until a more permanent home is found. Deanna is one such volunteer, and when asked why she does it?

Deanna Shipe:
To save their lives, you know, everyone comes up and says, “Oh, I can never do that. I couldn’t part with them.” And I used to feel that way too, but then this dog was going to die if I didn’t foster it. So I said, “What’s a little bit of temporary heartbreak to save the dog’s life?” So, just take care of them like they’re your own, feed them, play with them, love them. So they find somebody else who wants to do it full-time and then you hand them over and you cry and do it all over again.

Nick Mullins:
And it’s more than just caring for the animal. By fostering, volunteers are able to observe the animal, socialize it, and help determine the best fit for new owners. In some cases, animals who’ve not spent much time around people receive the services of Amy Robles of Nelson County and the Blue Ridge Canine Safe House.

Amy Robles:
I help them with dogs that have never lived in homes before and will work on certain things just to help the dog become more adoptable, like just basic living skills. I feel like we make a lot of difference for the dogs before they get into homes.

Nick Mullins:
And as she explains, fostering offers potential owners an opportunity to try out pet ownership.

Amy Robles:

Yeah, we would just like to encourage people to foster if they’re interested in owning a dog and maybe they don’t know if they really want to make that commitment. Fostering is a good way to know if you think that your home would be a good fit for a dog or not. And it’s really helpful for the dog.

Nick Mullins:
But as important as it is to foster rescues and find good homes for them, preventing animals from ending up on their own is one of the most important areas of work being accomplished by the Highland County Humane Society.

Corena Huffman:
We’ve been in operations since 2012 and probably a year or two into it, we started what’s known as our pet retention program and that’s probably, it’s probably 60% of what we do now. Simply what that means is we help people keep their animals in homes with whatever resources we can help with if that’s free space and neuter, helping with a vet,appointment, pet food, transportation, that sort of thing.

Nick Mullins:
And as volunteer Kathryn Weller explains, the need can happen at any time.

Kathryn Weller:
If you have pets and you’ve fallen on hard times or you’ve gotten hurt or whatever hardship may be, we will help you with free pet food. We will give you cat litter for your cat. If your animal gets hurt or sick and you don’t have the money or don’t have the vehicle to take the pet to the vet, once again our volunteers will help you and we will pay the bill.

Nick Mullins:
For many, keeping their pets is a life line in terms of the emotional support they provide. There is undoubtedly a benefit to pet ownership that address a variety of issues, including loneliness, which is why the humane society also has their Laps for Cats program for seniors.

Corena Huffman:
Essentially we support the cat as far as any expense for vet care and supplies and such and the senior community member provides the home. Those folks can have a companion and not feel like they’re kind of stuck with the decision if they need to move into nursing care or move out of their residence, they’re not burdened with that, “What do I do with this animal?” sort of thing. It simply comes back into our program.

Nick Mullins:
But the costs of all these valuable services can add up. For rescues, cats can average up to $200 per intake with dogs reaching upwards of $400 alone. Without local or state funding, the humane society relies upon grants and a LOT of fundraising as well, including multiple yard sales, and events such as the Ladies Night Out and Mom Prom they host periodically throughout the year. Aside from being a lot of fun, these events are essential to providing a service that Sheriff Bob Kelly and deputy and animal control officer Thomas Boyd agree is all too important.

Sherrif Bob Kelly:
We have a wonderful, wonderful working relationship with the Humane Society. We always contact the Humane Society every time we pick up a stray and they help us find the owners. A lot of times it’s really quick getting the dog back to where he needs to go. They are a blessing.

Deputy Thomas Boyd:
Without their help, we probably wouldn’t be able to do it. We have limited shelter space. We wouldn’t be able to do all that work with just us. They are a blessing.

Nick Mullins:
For more information on the Highland County Humane Society, you can go to their website at highlandcountyhumanesociety.org check out their Facebook, or call (540) 468-1575