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We Were Adopted! January 24th-30th

Posted on by Ashley Douglas

Queen Lavender went home to her castle, as well as 39 other pets found happiness this week!

Lavender spent most of her time here at the Center watching out of her tower in hopes of finding the one person that could match her unique personality. Finally, her person came this week, and it was love at first sight for them both. This green-eyed beauty finally has her own castle to call home and a family to love and adore her.

The staff is so happy that Lavender found happiness! We want to thank Allison Norwood, who sponsored Lavender’s adoption fee, and Beacon Credit Union for sponsoring this month’s adoption banner!

Adopted Pets from January 24th-January 30th.

Cats that were adopted:

Autumn, Bandit, Caroline, Celebration, Chase, Cider, Cloudy, Cobblestone, Custard, Drizzle, Goblin, Havana, Humerus, Jensen, Kate, Kodak, Lavender, Mackerel, Otto, Renee, Sierra, Sophie, Spatz, Squall, Stormy, Thunder, Timmy, Tully Hart, and Wanda

Dogs that were adopted:

Brisbane, Camo, Casanova, Eenie, Etna, Finn, Miney, Mitsey, Neko, Riley, and Stella

Did you know? Every Pet that Comes to our Shelter Requires Medical Care

Posted on by Jill Mollohan
Medical Team member Kaylyn performing a dental cleaning on adoptable dog, Choppa.

From Immunizations to Complex Surgeries, every pet that enters LHS requires medical care.

Every pet that comes into our care requires medical care. It may be very simple care, like vaccines or dewormer or more serious like treatment for skin issues, broken bones, or treatment for a complicated or critical illness. But all the pets that come into our care get and need medical care.  

We perform preventative care the moment a pet comes through our doors to help keep that pet safe and also keep the other pets safe and healthy that are already in our care. Disease prevention is extremely important in a shelter environment. All pets get vaccines (and then boosters), a fecal test, and dewormer, most need spayed or neutered and a microchip. Just those simple things really add up when you are talking about thousands of pets each year. 

Sunflower who was found in the City of Lynchburg as a lost pet with a large abdominal wound.

Of course, some pets come in needing much more intensive medical care. We get pets that have been hit by a car, dogs that have parvovirus, pets that are starving and we can see almost every bone in their body, dental problems, infections, heart conditions, have been attacked by something, skin issues, severe allergies, diabetes…we could go on and on. We do everything we can do to give these pets a second chance, but those treatments add up…fast.

How much does the Lynchburg Humane Society spend on medical care?

In a typical month, we spend about $20,000 on medical care and that doesn’t include spay/neuter surgeries or our medical staff’s payroll. It would be even more if we didn’t have wonderful partners like Peaks View Animal Hospital and Animal Emergency and Critical Care.

How you can help!

We are able to provide the help to these pets because of our giving community. Without you, we would not be able to save so many lives. We thank you for allowing us to do the right thing for the pets and give them a second chance! If you’re interested in joining us in our mission to help pets and people, please consider following the links below to get involved.

Learn about Volunteering at the Lynchburg Humane Society.

Donate to our Second Chance Medical Fund.

Learn about Fostering at the Lynchburg Humane Society.

We Were Adopted! January 17th-23rd

Posted on by Ashley Douglas

Darwin and 39 other pets found happiness this week!

Sweet Darwin came to us as a lost pet a few weeks ago and we immediately noticed something wasn’t right. He was lean, lethargic and really dehydrated. We quickly found out that Darwin had Parvo. With that news, our amazing medical team went to work caring for him. We also reached out to the community asking for help when it came to Darwin’s recovery, and man, did they show the support!

Thanks to our community and to our medical team, Darwin beat Parvo! Once he got the good news, Dawin became available for adoption and was adopted immediately! We are so happy that Darwin and his new family were able to find happiness!

Thank you so much to all of our wonderful adopters and to Beacon Credit Union for sponsoring this month’s adoption banner!

Adopted Pets from January 17th through January 23rd.

Cats That Were Adopted:

Amber, Arya, Ashley, Batcat, Butterfly, Cardinal, Clarence, Clementine, Donna, Edger, Eleanor, Espeon, Giuseppe, Hugo, Lillian, Lily, Mona Lisa, Ms. Charlie, Porsche, Shadow, Snowball, Tamriel, Tin Tin, Who, Witch Doctor

Dogs That Were Adopted:

Angel Cake, Cooper, Darling, Darwin, Flurry, Hailstorm, Kylo, Milady, Pasture, Rex, Sawyer, Snoopy, Symphony, Weeble, Whisk

Did you know? Animal Welfare is Facing Unexpected Challenges

Posted on by Jill Mollohan

An update on strides in Animal Welfare in the past years:

"Did you know" Lynchburg Humane Society logo, a green dog icon that has a confused head tilt

Animal welfare is one of those fields where specific stories make the headlines, but the overall climate of animal welfare is usually not something that is talked about much.  To fill you in a bit, our field has made leaps and bounds in lifesaving.  In recent years, an increasing number of shelters and communities have made the same commitment the Lynchburg Humane Society made over a decade ago – not to euthanize healthy pets or treatable pets and to never euthanize because a pet has been in the shelter for a certain amount of time or because their shelter is out of space.  Instead of euthanizing healthy pets, shelters are holding adoption specials, increasing foster programs, offering rehoming resources and resources to help people keep their pets in their homes. We are excited for this positive change for the pets.

Animal Welfare organizations had a difficult 2022

Angel, LHS

However, 2022 showed to be the most challenging year in lifesaving that has been seen in recent history.  There are shelters across the country who have not had to euthanize for space or time in years, but in 2022 these shelters were forced to make some tough decisions because of the decrease in adoptions and increase in pets in need. We are still learning and gathering data as to why this is happening.  Currently, it seems to be in line with the economic climate – people are having to make tough choices too, choosing between paying their bills or having a pet. 

While the Lynchburg Humane Society didn’t have to make those difficult lifesaving decisions, we were greatly affected by the challenges of 2022. We had pets staying longer than they have in years past and we saw a decrease in adoptions. But the most notable challenge was the number of emails and pleas we received from other shelters to help them with their overflowing shelters and feeling helpless because we couldn’t help as much as we usually are able to.  We were able to help over 700 at-risk pets from other shelters, but because we were at (or over) capacity ourselves, we couldn’t help as many as we wanted to.

How you can help lost and homeless pets across the country:

We are committed to help fight this battle and continue to help pets in need and help other shelters become “no-kill” to stop the euthanasia of healthy, treatable pets.  As always, we need your help to do that.  Please encourage everyone you know to adopt a pet instead of buying one, to spay/neuter, to seek resources when needed, to volunteer at their local shelter, to donate.  All these things will help us help the pets in 2023.

We were adopted! January 10th – 16th

Posted on by Ashley Douglas

Mister found happiness along with 84 other wonderful pets!

One of our staff favorite cats, Mister, was adopted this week! Mister had been with us since June of last year and we were all so excited to see him finally get a family.

His new mom reached out and let us know that he has adjusted wonderfully and within the first day had claimed his favorite spot on the couch and that he loves watching Dory’s Reef Cam on Disney+ when he isn’t snoozing away.

Thank you to his adopter for giving this sweet man a place to call home! Thank you also to Beacon Credit Union for their banner sponsorship!

Adopted Pets from January 10th through January 16th.

Cats That Were Adopted:

Adrianne, Arnold, Beatrix, Bixby, Callie, Cassie, Chandler, Cocoa, Coffee, Cosmos, Davis, Doodle, Dot, Dustbunny, Eggnog, EJ, Elizabeth Swann, Eugene, Femur, Ferguson, Fibula, Fiddle, Flipz, Floyd, Garland, Griffin, Hannah, Hilton, Iridessa, Kiely, Lisa, Lottie, Lumbar, Maggie, Marie, Minecraft, Mister, Motive,Oriole, Party Punch, Pippin, Queen Elsa, Rascal, Rex Ember, Sarek, Silverbelle, Silverfish, Sketchers, Sol, Soothsayer, Spook, Tibia, Tigger, Vertebrae, Voodoo, Winston

Dogs That Were Adopted:

Aria, Bernadette, Brisbane, Cantata, Case, Cookie, Cornbread, Disco, Dunkaroo, Freno, Graham, Heidi, Hyde, Kylo, Meadow, Melbourne, Opus, Oreo, Perth, Prairie, Remmy, Schroeder, Snowdrift, Sonata, Symphony, Walter

Small Pets That Were Adopted:

Jellybean