Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Shelters Doing Good 5

The Brown County Humane Society is struggling to reduce its population of cats from 76 to 45. The no-kill shelter is waiving all adoption fees for cats, which is definitely one way to expand your adoption pool. The shelter has a 95% adoption rate for dogs and cats.

The Dane County Humane Society is continuing its program Second Chances, a partnership program with the local correctional facility. Dogs needing behavior modification or socialization go to the prison and work with screened and selected inmates. They are then placed into new homes. Dogs not on shelter property open up kennel space for more animals. Plus, inmates are learning valuable skills and empathetic traits integral to being a functional and happy member of society. The Dane County Humane Society  has an approximate 70% adoption rate.

If you are a city, maybe instead of running a government-funded shelter (something I think *should* be a government-run facility), pair up with the local SPCA to create a better, more friendly shelter...like the city of Aiken. It is partnering with the SPCA to build a $1 million dollar facility that will house animals in better conditions.

Macon County Animal Care and Control saw a threefold increase in adoptions with their holiday foster-adopt program. Folks interested in adopting but not sure if the animal will fit in their household were given a chance to foster...if the animal fit in with the household? The adopters only paid half the adoption fee. The shelter is also offering an enormous discount on cats who have been at the shelter for more than a year.

The Humane Society of St. Lucie is full, and they are offering a discount on their cat adoption fee. Any shelter can put out a press release - cultivate those relationships with members of the media, they always love a cute animal story!


I would love to profile shelters YOU know that are doing good. Feel free to email me here.

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