Humane Society of Harford County

Last updated
The Humane Society of Harford County, Inc.
Founded1946
FounderMrs. Elsa Horne Voss
Type 501(c)(3)
52-0567970
Location
Area served
Harford County, Maryland State
Website http://www.harfordshelter.org/

The Humane Society of Harford County, Inc. (HSHC) is a nonprofit open admission animal shelter located in Fallston, Maryland, contracted with the Harford County Government to provide sheltering services for all animals brought to HSHC by Animal Control (which is operated under the Harford County Sheriff's Office) as stray, or subjects of animal cruelty or neglect cases.

Contents

HSHC is also obligated to accept animals from Harford County residents wishing to relinquish their pets, or stray animals which are found in Harford County by private citizens. The shelter takes in approximately 3,000 animals per year, and since 2016 has maintained a live release rate of 90% or higher.

History

In 1944, a wealthy socialite named Elsa Horne Voss [1] and approximately 100 residents of Harford County, Maryland banded together for a common cause and organized the Humane Society of Harford County. This group of animal lovers pledged themselves to care for pets which were ill or who had no home. For a time, HSHC was operated from the homes of these individuals, including on Mrs. Voss’ property, known as Atlanta Hall. [2] Sometime in the early 1940s, Mrs. Voss purchased a small dairy farm at 2208 Connolly Road, in Fallston, Maryland, which would become the permanent home of HSHC. On February 5, 1946, HSHC was officially incorporated by the State of Maryland.

Originally, the shelter had just 10 wooden dog kennels, which housed both stray dogs and cats. The residents of the property, Mr. and Mrs. Sid Boniface, served as caretakers and kennel workers for the facility. The staff not only took care of the animals on the premises but also went out into the county to pick up stray and injured animals. At that time, Harford County did not have an Animal Control department.

Word soon spread about the facility and more animals were brought to the shelter until it was filled to capacity. People who adopted pets were charged between two and three dollars for each animal. This fee also made them a member of the Humane Society. Many adoptable animals were provided care for several months.

In 1961, the existing wooden kennels were replaced with steel gauge kennels and 11 more kennels, with indoor and outdoor runs, were added. Heat was also installed in the kennel area under the floor to keep the animals warm in winter time.

In 1971, a front lobby with a reception area was added to the building; and in 1976 an area to house the chickens, ducks, peacocks, geese, etc., was constructed to house these animals safely.

For years the cats available for adoption were housed in one of the dog kennels. So in 1981 a room in the old farmhouse was converted to a cat room where cats and kittens could play freely.

Anyone who visited HSHC in the 1980s and early 90s knew there were many times when the front office was full of people and animals. It was impossible to hear the phone and at times, was dangerous with too many animals entering and exiting this confined space. In 1994 the Board of Directors approved the construction of a new front office. The project was completed in the fall of 1994, and the old office was converted into two new dog kennels.

In 2006, Rebel's Dog Park, a free community dog park, was opened on the grounds of HSHC. The dog park was closed temporarily at the start of the construction of a new shelter facility in 2014, and the decision was made to close the dog park permanently in 2017.

On September 4, 2014, ground was broken on the new 19,000 square foot shelter facility, and on Easter weekend in 2016, shelter operations moved into the new building. A grand opening and ribbon cutting, attended by State and other local dignitaries, donors, supporters, and members of the local media, took place on Saturday, October 22, 2016.

Programs & Services

HSHC is an open admission shelter and takes in approximately 4,000-4,500 animals every year from Harford County's population of 250,290, [3] including cats, dogs, rodents, reptiles, birds, fish, farm animals, and wildlife. The shelter offers these animals for adoption at its primary location, as well as cats for adoption at several satellite locations such as pet supply stores and veterinary hospitals, and takes animals offsite to regularly scheduled and one-off adoption events at various locations in Harford, Baltimore, and Cecil counties as well as Baltimore City. In addition, a robust foster program helps alleviate overcrowding at the shelter.

Over 250 volunteers provide supplemental staffing to the paid staff of approximately 24 employees. In-house veterinary care is provided by the veterinarian on staff. Animal enrichment programs provide for the physical and mental well-being of the animals in the shelter's care. The shelter works with many animal rescue groups to help reduce the risk of euthanasia. Humane Education programs are offered to schools, libraries, youth groups, and others to nurture compassion and respect for living things.

HSHC also practices shelter intervention, through its pet food bank program, free behavior consultations, and surrender prevention counseling, with the goal of keeping pets with their families thereby reducing shelter intake and decreasing euthanasia rates. As mentioned, HSHC offers free behavior consultations, as well as low-cost dog and puppy training classes, through a partnership with Mutt Magic, Inc. HSHC also offers compassionate, low-cost euthanasia services to residents of Harford County who cannot afford to take their pet to a veterinarian for the service.

Funding & Fundraising

HSHC is a nonprofit organization, and therefore relies on donations from individuals, local businesses, corporations, and foundations to carry out its mission. As part of its contract with the Harford County Government, the shelter also receives a portion of its annual $1.3mm operating budget from the Government. HSHC's Executive Director and Board of Directors is tasked with fundraising responsibilities, and the organization holds several fundraising events throughout the year, as well as special appeals, grant appeals, and other fundraising activities.

Relationship to Animal Control

HSHC does not provide animal control or humane law enforcement services. Animal control services are provided to the County through the Harford County Sheriff's Office. Stray animals picked up by animal control, or animals seized by animal control, are brought to HSHC for care and shelter during their stray hold period or until any case filed against an owner is closed. At the end of the stray hold, or if an owner charged with cruelty or neglect pleads or is found guilty, the animal becomes the property of HSHC, who will determine its disposition.

Awards

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pet adoption</span> Adoption of pets that have been abandoned by previous owners

Pet adoption is the process of transferring responsibility for a pet that was previously owned by another party. Common sources for adoptable pets are animal shelters, rescue groups, or other pet owners. Some organizations give adopters ownership of the pet, while others use a guardianship model wherein the organization retains some control over the animal's future use or care.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Animal shelter</span> Place where stray animals are housed

An animal shelter or pound is a place where stray, lost, abandoned or surrendered animals – mostly dogs and cats – are housed. The word "pound" has its origins in the animal pounds of agricultural communities, where stray livestock would be penned or impounded until they were claimed by their owners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Puppy mill</span> Type of commercial dog breeding facility

A puppy mill, also known as a puppy farm, is a commercial dog breeding facility characterized by quick breeding and poor conditions. Although no standardized legal definition for "puppy mill" exists, a definition was established in Avenson v. Zegart in 1984 as "a dog breeding operation in which the health of the mill’s dogs is disregarded to maintain a low overhead and maximize profits". They are cited as being a result of increased demand for household pets, especially after World War II. The Veterinary Medical Association of the Humane Society of the United States defines the main characteristics of a puppy mill as "emphasis on quantity over quality, indiscriminate breeding, continuous confinement, lack of human contact and environmental enrichment, poor husbandry, and minimal to no veterinary care."

Trap–neuter–return (TNR), also known as trap–neuter–release, is a controversial method that attempts to manage populations of feral cats. The process involves live-trapping the cats, having them neutered, ear-tipped for identification, and, if possible, vaccinated, then releasing them back into the outdoors. If the location is deemed unsafe or otherwise inappropriate, the cats may be relocated to other appropriate areas. Ideally, friendly adults and kittens young enough to be easily socialized are retained and placed for adoption. Feral cats cannot be socialized, shun most human interaction and do not fare well in confinement, so they are not retained. Cats suffering from severe medical problems such as terminal, contagious, or untreatable illnesses or injuries are often euthanized.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kennel</span> Shelter of a dog

A kennel is a structure or shelter for dogs. Used in the plural, the kennels, the term means any building, collection of buildings or a property in which dogs are housed, maintained, and bred. A kennel can be made out of various materials, the most popular being wood and canvas.

The Anti-Cruelty Society is an animal welfare organization and animal shelter in the River North neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. The Anti-Cruelty Society is a private, not-for-profit humane society that does not receive government assistance. It is one of the largest such organizations in the United States. The organization offers adoption, veterinarian, and training services.

An animal rescue group or animal rescue organization is a group dedicated to pet adoption. These groups take unwanted, abandoned, abused, or stray pets and attempt to find suitable homes for them. Many rescue groups are created by and run by volunteers, who take animals into their homes and care for them — including training, playing, handling medical issues, and solving behaviour problems — until a suitable permanent home can be found.

In some countries there is an overpopulation of pets such as cats, dogs, and exotic animals. In the United States, six to eight million animals are brought to shelters each year, of which an estimated three to four million are subsequently euthanized, including 2.7 million considered healthy and adoptable. Euthanasia numbers have declined since the 1970s, when U.S. shelters euthanized an estimated 12 to 20 million animals. Most humane societies, animal shelters and rescue groups urge animal caregivers to have their animals spayed or neutered to prevent the births of unwanted and accidental litters that could contribute to this dynamic.

A no-kill shelter is an animal shelter that does not kill healthy or treatable animals based on time limits or capacity, reserving euthanasia for terminally ill animals, animals suffering poor quality of life, or those considered dangerous to public safety. A no-kill shelter uses many strategies to promote shelter animals; to expanding its resources using volunteers, housing and medical protocols; and to work actively to lower the number of homeless animals entering the shelter system. Up to ten percent of animals could be killed in a no-kill shelter and still be considered a no-kill shelter.

Animals used by laboratories for testing purposes are largely supplied by dealers who specialize in selling them to universities, medical and veterinary schools, and companies that provide contract animal-testing services. It is comparatively rare that animals are procured from sources other than specialized dealers, as this poses the threat of introducing disease into a colony and confounding any data collected. However, suppliers of laboratory animals may include breeders who supply purpose-bred animals, businesses that trade in wild animals, and dealers who supply animals sourced from pounds, auctions, and newspaper ads. Animal shelters may also supply the laboratories directly. Some animal dealers, termed Class B dealers, have been reported to engage in kidnapping pets from residences or illegally trapping strays, a practice dubbed as bunching.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philippine Animal Welfare Society</span> Organization

The Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) is a volunteer-based, non-government organization whose goal is to prevent animal cruelty through education, animal sheltering and advocacy, based in Quezon City, Philippines. It was founded in 1954 by Muriel Jay. PAWS believes that the creation of a more peaceful society starts with the widening of mankind's circle of compassion which includes animals, thereby envisions a nation that respects animals, practices responsible pet ownership and protects wildlife. The volunteer-based organization rehabilitates these animals in the hope of finding them new homes and a second chance at a good life. PAWS does not take in pets of other people, but only victims of cruelty or neglect where the animal offenders are charged with violation of the Animal Welfare Act in court.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MSPCA-Angell</span>

The Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals-Angell Animal Medical Center (MSPCA-Angell) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with its main headquarters on South Huntington Avenue in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1868, and is the second-oldest humane society in the United States. "MSPCA-Angell" was adopted as the society's identity in 2003, and indicates the names of its two closely related predecessor organizations: Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Angell Animal Medical Center. The organization provides direct care to thousands of homeless, injured, and abused animals each year, and provides animal adoption, a veterinary hospital, advocacy, and humane law enforcement.

Animal Care Centers of NYC (ACC), formerly known as Animal Care & Control of NYC, is a not-for-profit corporation that was formed for the purpose of providing animal control services in New York City. ACC was created in 1994 to assume the responsibilities of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), after the ASPCA decided not to renew its contract to run New York City’s animal shelter system. ACC entered into its own contract with the New York City Department of Health (DOH), and on January 1, 1995, followed the ASPCA as New York City’s provider of animal care and control services. It has a nine-member board of directors, which includes as ex officio members the Commissioner of Department of Health, the Commissioner of New York City Department of Parks and Recreation and the Deputy Commissioner for Community Affairs at the New York City Police Department (NYPD). The six remaining members of the Board are appointed by the Mayor.

The National Animal Interest Alliance (NAIA) is a non-profit organization in the United States dedicated to promoting animal welfare and animal husbandry practices, strengthening the human-animal bond, and safeguarding the rights of responsible animal owners and professionals through research, public education and public policy. The NAIA mission is "to promote the welfare of animals."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Compassion and Responsibility for Animals</span> Organization

Compassion and Responsibility for Animals (CARA) is a registered non-profit, non-government animal welfare organization in the Philippines. It was founded in 2000 by a group of animal lovers determined to help the plight of animals in the Philippines. The current president of CARA is Nancy Cu-Unjieng.

Helen Woodward Animal Center is an animal center located in Rancho Santa Fe, California. Located on 12 acres, the Center provides a variety of services that benefit the community through educational and therapeutic programs for people, and humane care and adoption for animals.

Humane Animal Rescue of Pittsburgh (HARP), formerly known as the Animal Rescue League of Western Pennsylvania, known commonly as Animal Rescue League Shelter & Wildlife Center (ARL), is an animal welfare organization founded in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1909. The ARL is a non-profit organization that offers various services to support both animals and pet owners alike. It is the only animal shelter in the Pittsburgh area that accepts both domestic animals and wildlife. The agency's shelter and clinic are located in Pittsburgh's East Liberty neighborhood, while its wildlife rehabilitation center and boarding kennels are a few miles away in Verona, Pennsylvania. The organization maintains a contract with the city of Pittsburgh and accepts all stray pets that are apprehended by the Animal Control unit.

The North Carolina Animal Protection Act aims to protect pets and their owners in North Carolina. This legislation models the Animal Welfare Act of 1966 and can be found in the North Carolina General Statutes under Chapter 19A: Protection Of Animals, Article 3, consisting of six articles.

The Richmond SPCA is an idependent non-profit animal shelter in Richmond, Virginia founded in 1891.

Patti Strand is the founder of the National Animal Interest Alliance (NAIA), a broad-based, mainstream, nonprofit animal welfare organization dedicated to encouraging high standards of animal care and treatment, and to preserving the human animal bond. She is an author of books and articles and has served on numerous local, state and federal animal welfare advisory boards, committees and task force bodies.

References

  1. "The Voss Family", Maryland Historical Society News Magazine, Spring 2008, accessed July 4, 2016.
  2. "1969 and 1975 Applications for the National Register of Historic Places for Atlanta Hall/Edward S. Voss House", Maryland State Archives, accessed July 4, 2016.
  3. "2015 United States Census Report for Harford County", United States Census Bureau, accessed July 4, 2016.