The Lynchburg Humane Society offers affordable end-of-life euthanasia and cremation services.
Talking about death is difficult and uncomfortable. Our pets are part of our families and saying goodbye to them is one of the hardest things to do. During this emotional time, the last thing you want to do is think about the cost of end-of-life services or wonder where you will need to go for these services.
Our cremation services are performed right here at the Lynchburg Humane Society Center for Pets in Lynchburg, Virginia. Knowing your beloved pet is not taken to another facility for cremation is something we believe is a comforting factor in this sad process.
A look into the utility bills of the Lynchburg Humane Society
Not an exciting topic, but very timely because we all have been feeling costs rising lately. I have heard many people are especially concerned with their electricity bills increasing. Probably just like you at your home, our utilities are among one of the highest expenses for us. We are an efficient organization, but it takes a lot to care for hundreds of pets everyday. Each year we spend around $100,000 on our utilities.
The highest of the utilities is our electricity, then gas, and then water. Electricity usage includes our lights, computers and everything else that we use in the shelter that is plugged into a wall, and part of our HVAC system is electric (part is gas). Our electricity bill averages about $5,600 per month.
The main things we use gas for are a portion of our HVAC system, hot water heating, and our crematory (yes, we have an onsite crematory and we offer low-cost pet end-of-life and cremation services – but that is another “Did You Know” Blog for another day). Our gas bill is usually around $1,700 per month.
Of course, as you might have imagined, we use a lot of water, making sure each pet has drinking water, doing dozens of loads of laundry each day, cleaning and sanitizing our kennels, cages, and rooms. Our water bill typically runs about $1,000 per month.
So yeah, this isn’t a pull at your heart strings, pet story kind of blog, but we think it is important for our supporters and the public to understand the impact of the costs of operating a lifesaving facility like ours even if it isn’t often considered part of lifesaving, but without the water, gas, and electricity – we could not operate and save the thousands of lives we save each year.
Low-cost Spay Neuter Services offered in Lynchburg, Virginia.
Recently, there was a post on one of the local Facebook groups asking about low-cost spay/neuter services in the area. We weren’t surprised when a lot of the comments referred to the spay/neuter clinic in Evington, but we were surprised to find that so many folks didn’t know that the clinic is part of the Lynchburg Humane Society!
In 2011, the Lynchburg Humane Society acquired the “South Central Spay/Neuter Clinic” in Evington – now referred to as the Lynchburg Humane Society Spay/Neuter Clinic. Since then, we have spayed/neutered about 80,000 pets at the clinic. We also offer wellness exams. We spay/neuter owned pets, pets at other animal welfare organizations, pets adopted from the Lynchburg Humane Society, and community cats.
Spay/Neuter surgeries for community cats
Our surgery fee for community cats (cats that must be trapped, are not able to be handled and live outdoors) is $25 – this is below our cost of the surgery, so basically these surgeries cost us more in supplies and staff time than what we charge. We do this because we think it is very important to do whatever we can to control the outdoor cat population.
How to book an appointment at the Spay Neuter Clinic in Evington
We do typically stay booked out for a couple months, but this past year was particularly hard on our schedule. Both of our veterinarians were out on maternity leave at the same time. What are the chances, right?!?
On a typical day our small, talented team performs 35-40 surgeries. It is truly amazing what this staff does each day.
All of our services and pricing can be found on our website. You can make an appointment online on our website too. Please spay/neuter your pets and urge your friends and family and heck, even strangers to spay/neuter their pets as well! And remember, we don’t care where you get your pet’s spay/neuter surgeries done – at our clinic or somewhere else, just get them done!
What does it mean when Animal Shelters post stray pets on social media and what is a lost pet hold in Virginia.
If you follow our social media, you have probably seen our posts of photos of lost pets that were brought to our Center. These posts include the location where they were found. Why do we post these? A little background first: the Lynchburg Humane Society is a private, 501c3 nonprofit organization. We take in pets from the City of Lynchburg to fulfill the city’s state mandated shelter requirements for Lynchburg. Pets from the City of Lynchburg account for a little more than 50% of our annual intake and include pets that are required to be held for health department quarantines, are awaiting court hearings, and of course stray (lost) pets and pets surrendered by their owners who live in Lynchburg.
It is our responsibility and policy as a shelter, to try our best to find the owners of pets that come into the Center for Pets as lost/stray pets. Pets who come in as lost, receive an initial examination by our medical team including vaccinations and scanning for a microchip. Our awesome Pet Help team researches if a microchip or any other identification is found, posts lost pets on social media, investigates any leads for possible owners, and keeps records of all of these.
Why do Animal Shelters post lost pets on social media?
Lost Pet Picture for Jane, who is now adoptable at LHS!
If a pet’s family isn’t immediately found upon their arrival at LHS, they get posted on our social media! (There are a few exclusions to this, like neonate kittens that come from community cat mothers.) Posting lost pets on social media has proven to be effective in reuniting pets with their owners. We, here in Lynchburg, are especially lucky to have such active folks on social media committed to helping communicate to reunite pets with their families. In addition to social media, our Pet Help team investigates all other avenue’s possible to help reunite pets with their families.
What are stray holds in Virginia?
Pets that are posted as lost on our social media are not available for adoption. These pets are in their state-mandated lost-pet hold periods. Lost-pet hold periods last no less than five days for any pet and last just over 10 days for pets that have identification. Identification includes, but is not limited to a collar, tag, microchip, spay/neuter scar or tattoo. These lost pet holds are designed to give the families time to find their pets before they are possibly adopted by another family. Sadly, there are many cases where a lost pet isn’t reunited with their family. This rate is very high for cats, typically only about 3% of lost cats brought to shelters are reunited with their families and about 57% of the dogs brought into LHS last year were reunited with original families. Obviously, dogs are better off than cats when it comes to being reunited with their families, but with 43% of dogs never being reclaimed by their owner, that is still a lot of dogs that don’t go back to their homes.
What if you’re interested in adopting a lost pet if not reunited with their owners?
If you’re interested in adopting a lost pet if they’re not reunited with their owners, you can reach out to our adoption team! We have a lost pet hold option that will last until they are available for adoption and refunded if they are reunited with their families. You can reach our adoption team at [email protected]!
Kitten season is known as the time that unfixed cats are most likely to have kittens. Kitten season is typically between March and October. Cats can have litters any time of year, but in the warm months, the number of kittens born alarmingly increases. Cats are very prolific creatures; they reach sexual maturity as young as 4-5 months, have an average of 3-8 kittens per litter, and can have between 2-5 litters per season.
One unfixed female cat can have more than 100 kittens in her lifetime, and assuming that half of those kittens born are females, she and her offspring can go on to have upwards of 300-400 kittens in 7 years. Multiply this by the hundreds of community cats in the area, and that number grows exponentially. The fact of the matter is that there are not enough homes to care for all of the kittens born each year, which is why we want you to know how you can help prevent unwanted litters, and support the litters that are born each year.
How to help Animal Shelters During Kitten Season
The great news is that we have tons of contacts, resources, and programs to help combat this issue. Here’s how to help!
Spay and neuter your pets. The cost to get your LHS pet spayed or neutered is included in our adoption fees! If you have a pet that isn’t an LHS Alum and you’re looking for a low cost option, our Spay/Neuter Clinic is a fantastic choice! Click here for information about the services offered by our Spay/Neuter Clinic.
Consider donating to support the cost of care for our kittens! For those interested in making a monetary donation, visit our donation page! Here, you can peruse options for donating such as our Community Cat Fix program which helps subsidize the cost of the thousands of spays and neuters of community cats performed at our Spay/Neuter Clinic, as well as our Shelter Medicine program, which supports the care of every pet who comes through our doors.
Support TNR programs! TNR stands for Trap, Neuter, Release. Dozens of volunteers all over our community find colonies of unfixed outdoor cats and work with local vets and clinics to perform low-cost spays and neuters, treat and vaccinate, and release the pets back into their colonies where they are happiest. If you have a cat colony you would like help with, consider contacting Stray Cat TNR at (434) 515-0456, or visit Central Virginia Regional Rescue’s TNR Assistance page here!
Beware of kitten napping. Mother cats move their litters frequently in order to keep them safe. When kittens are very young, their best chances of survival are with mom. If you find kittens alone, give them some space and wait awhile! Mom may be in the process of moving the litter, searching for food, or she may be hiding from you. If the kittens are in unsafe places like parking lots, drainage ditches, or under vehicles, or mom hasn’t returned after several hours, make sure they’re warm, and then reach out to your local shelter or rescue group for help. That may be us, or if you live in a different county, it may be one of our neighboring organizations!
Become a foster! The LHS Center for Pets has a bustling foster program ready to support the several hundreds of kittens we get each year. We provide all supplies free of charge to our fosters and are ready to teach new families how to become Kitten Warriors! From sick orphan bottle babies to healthy, plump kittens with a mom, all our underage babies need foster care. We are always searching for the best match based on our pets needs and our foster families’ preferences and abilities, so we always have the kitten for you! No experience is needed; we have a community of Coordinators and other fosters ready to help you! If you’re ready to become part of this life-saving mission, apply here!
