Does the Lynchburg Humane Society take stray dogs and cats?

The Lynchburg Humane Society takes in all lost dogs in the City of Lynchburg and cares for them until their owners find them or finding a loving home for them if their owner never comes.  Some lost dogs are brought to us through a kind citizen, Animal Control, or the Lynchburg Police Department (who we partner with but are not the same entity – they are a part of the City, we are not – more about that next week). We always take the lost dogs that are found in the City. 

If a pet is brought to us from another county, we typically will ask them to take them to the county’s shelter where they were found.  The reason we do this is because we want to give the pet the best chance of finding its way back to the owner.  If a pet is taken to another jurisdiction than where it was found, it makes it more difficult for the owner to find their pet.  Additionally, if we took in every lost pet that was brought to us from another County, we would not be able to house them all safely.  

One of our lifesaving programs at LHS is our managed intake. We do not take in stray, healthy cats found in the community. We have many cats outside in our city that do not have families and are community cats! This cats live happily outside in their colonies and after they are altered and released no longer contribute to the overpopulation of cats in our community. Unfortunately, less than 3% of cats that are brought to shelters are ever reunited with their families. For more information on getting involved in Trap Neuter Return programs you can visit our community cat resource page or check out the local group, Stray Cat TNR!

Does the Lynchburg Humane Society take dogs and cats surrendered by their owners?

 We also take in pets that are needing a new home because their owners aren’t able to care for them anymore.  There are some lifesaving policies around taking pets who are being surrendered by their owners.  For example, we ask that owners help us help them.  A shelter should be the last resort to take a pet.  We want to bring every pet into our Center safely and not become overcrowded.  We ask them to work with us to rehome their pets.  We offer them guidance, marketing, advice, and more. 

If a pet is able to safely go from one home to another without coming to the shelter, that is the best for the pet (and the other pets that are at our Center).  The shelter, even our wonderful Center for Pets, is stressful and stress can cause unwanted behaviors and illnesses.  We provide whatever resources we are able to help owners either keep their pets or keep them until they are able to find a new loving home for them or until we have space to bring in the pet safely to our Center.  Resources can range from medical care, crates, food, training, etc.  If a pet is being neglected or is a danger to the household, we will take the pet in right away.  There are other emergency situations where we might take in a pet right away. 

Our lifesaving policies also prevent quick decisions of people who may be having a tough time with their pet, have lost patience, or don’t know what else they can do. This gives them a moment to think about it and not do something they will possibly regret.  And gives us a chance to work with them on any issues we can help with.

It’s important to communicate our policies and procedures with the public so they understand how we operate.  We see ourselves as a Center for the community and we want to do what is best for the pets and the people in our community!  

Help homeless and lost pets at shelters by donating supplies

Did you know that you can help pets in your community with supply donations? Pet owners everywhere know that when you have pets, it requires a lot of supplies to care for them. Food, bowls, beds, linens, and toys are just a handful of the many things it takes to care for pets. Here at LHS we can be caring for up to 900 pets at a time here at our Center for Pet and in foster homes so it takes many supplies to make sure these pets are happy and healthy. Animal shelters rely on your generosity to save pets and supplies are a great way to get involved!

There are several categories of supplies that you can collect and donate to LHS that have a huge impact on saving pets. There are more details below but you can always visit our Needed Supplies webpage for a list of supplies and our online wish lists. 

Pet Food Donations

Food is one of our largest monthly expenses here at the Center for Pets. We typically need over 2,000 pounds of dry pet food and over 1,500 cans of canned food per month. The pets here are kept on a consistent diet of the Purina Chow products, Purina Cat & Kitten chows and Purina Dog and Puppy chows. They are able to eat any brand of canned food. If you have a picky pet and have an already open bag of food you can’t use we can still accept those in the original packaging. 

Any pet food that is donated that our pets can’t eat will do into our Community Pet Pantry. Last year we gave away almost 12,000 pounds of pet food from our Community Pet Pantry to pets and their families in need in our community. Help us keep our Community Pet Pantry stocked all year long!

Animal Shelter Bedding and Linen Donations

You can probably guess that we go through a lot of bedding here at LHS! Our laundry is constantly going but sometimes bedding is too soiled or used by sick pets and unable to be washed. If you are cleaning out your linen closet, the Center for Pets is the perfect place to donate those unused sheets, towels, and blankets. Our pets always appreciate cat and dog bed donations as well. 

You can also donate a comfy Kuranda bed to our pets here at the shelter here.

Enrichment Program

Shelters are a stressful place for dogs and cats. Enrichment can help! Our enrichment program includes many different things for both dogs and cats to exercise their brains. Things that help with our enrichment program include, peanut butter, enrichment toys, treats, and more! We have an Amazon wishlist dedicated to enrichment here: https://a.co/gLPTPNn

Foster Program

Our fosters are often taking care of our youngest, most vulnerable pets. Many of these pets are too young to eat regular pet food and need specialized food and supplies to grow. Our foster department has a dedicated wishlist that includes many of these items. Even if you aren’t able to foster these tiny pets, you can still help them by donating formula, bottle supplies, heartbeat toys, and more to keep them healthy and growing. https://a.co/iCNJ7xK

Thank you! We are so grateful to our community for being so involved in caring for our pets and donating supplies!

Author: Senior Manager of Operations, Amber Cabell

Saving pets at-risk of euthanasia

Did you know in 2022, LHS transferred 783 dogs, cats, puppies, and kittens into our care that were at risk of euthanasia at other shelters? That’s 783 pets that were not euthanized for space or length of stay because of LHS’s transport program and were given a second chance to find happiness. There are many reasons why these pets may have been at risk; they may have been sick or injured and their originating shelter did not have the resources to provide medical care, they may have been too young for adoption and the originating shelter did not have any fosters for them to go to or adequate resources to care for them, or they may simply have been unlucky enough to end up in a shelter that is forced to euthanize for space because their community is unable to provide the resources they need to care for the number of pets they bring into the shelter’s care.

But there is one thing that every one of these 783 pets had in common. They all deserved to find happiness.

How to shelter transport programs work?

Everyday there are a myriad of shelters and volunteers organizing transports all over the country to bring pets from at-risk shelters to safety.  A smooth transport is no easy feat and requires the collaboration and cooperation of both the originating and destination shelters. Through each shelter’s point of contact, transfer paperwork is prepared and volunteers are secured to drive the pets from one location to the next. During this time, our pet care staff is working hard to prepare space for our new additions and setting them up with comfy blankets, fun toys, and tasty treats to celebrate their arrival. Once the pets arrive at LHS, our medical staff performs exams to ensure everyone is safe and sound, administers vaccines, and places them into their new, temporary suite and our adoptions team gets to work finding their new homes.

How to help shelter pets at-risk of euthanasia  

We are very fortunate to be part of a community that makes this level of lifesaving possible and allows us to help pets both inside and outside of our city. Through fostering, adopting, volunteering, and donating, we are able to continue to save at-risk pets, provide them with the care they require and unite them with the homes they deserve. For information on how you can help save lives, visit the Get Involved tab on our website https://lynchburghumane.org/