Heatland Humane Society Establishes Endowment Fund
Heartland Humane Society was established in 1966. Its mission is to build a more compassionate community by teaching humane messages to youth, caring for homeless animals, and strengthening the human-animal bond.
Heartland runs an open-door animal shelter for Benton County where more than 2,400 animals are cared for each year. No animal from Benton County is ever turned away. Adoption packages for animals include age-appropriate vaccinations, parasite treatment, leash or cat carrier, collar, identification tags, and microchips. One hundred percent of the animals are spayed or neutered before going to their new homes. Adopters also receive 30 days of complimentary veterinary insurance, a free visit to the local veterinarian of their choice, behavior information, and post-adoption support.
Healthy, happy animals can stay at the shelter as long as it takes to find a home for them—no time limits are imposed for placing an animal in a permanent home. Approximately 150 animals participate in the Foster Care program at any given time. Foster families provide a positive environment for adoptable companions and help the society keep euthanasia rates low. The society works closely with the Oregon State University College of Veterinary Medicine to get advanced surgeries performed, so even animals that need knee, hip, or eye work done are likely to be adopted.
The adoption/returned to owner rate for dogs is 90 percent and for cats is 65 percent. These rates are approximately two to three times greater than the national average.
As examples of other ways Heartland fulfills its mission, it offers services for low-income per owners, such as a pet-food bank and spay/neuter programs in conjunction with local veterinarians. It offers behavior counseling and referrals for pet owners and lost-and-found services for pets.
Heartland also teaches responsible pet ownership and safety around animals in cooperation with local schools. It offers opportunities for youth to volunteer at the shelter through the Kindness Club and Kiwanis Kids Club. Each summer and spring break, children can attend Camp Catnip, where they spend one week learning all about the services provided by Heartland Humane Society and various aspects of pet ownership. They visit with local veterinarians, learn about animal abuse, and much more. The society also operates programs with other youth organizations, such as clicker training at Children’s Farm Home.
Although the organization has contracts with Benton County and the City of Corvallis to house impounded strays and the victims of animal abuse or neglect, these contracts account for less than 11 percent of Heartland’s annual budget. Funding comes primarily from private donations and fees for service. The society would like to be able to provide more of a safety net for the animals in Benton County and deliver more programs such as expanding their humane education programs. For example, Heartland would like to increase the reach of Camp Catnip to include special programs for at-risk youth. “Programs that work with animals are excellent for at-risk youth,” said Andrea Thornberry, executive director at Heartland. “If you learn compassion for an animal, you can translate that to people.” Heartland also would like to have space to offer programs for pet owners such as disaster preparation, first aid classes, behavioral training, and so forth. It would like to be able to offer more spay/neuter and other medical services to low-income pet owners.
Anyone can contribute to the Heartland Humane Society Endowment Fund. Donations will help to provide a stable source of operating capital for the organization and strengthen its long-term viability.