68% of households have at least one pet. There is a great need for affordable vet-care and comprehensive humane education in our region. After the Camp Fire, approximately 15,000 pets were relocated to our community as well. With housing limitations and people needing to move suddenly; more and more families are being forced to surrender their pets and hope they will find a new loving home.
Our rural area needs a centralized hub for animal welfare so that no animals are euthanized due to lack of space or length of stay. We can better provide this service once we have our new home built on land that Butte Humane Society owns.
Furthermore, in the case of an emergency, our region needs a dedicated animal evacuation center that is prepared to coordinate and track animal rescues, storage, and movement so that families and their pets have a better chance of staying connected during and after crisis. See graphic of current facility locations below
Unlike the current facility, the new building will have three distinct departments (clinic, adoption, education) that are all easily accessible and well-connected for efficiency. The center’s overall architecture will allow staff to reduce the length of each animal’s stay. The goal of BHS is to find a permanent home for every adoptable animal in its care; we know the shorter the length of stay, the more likely it is that the animal will have a healthy attachment style and be able to settle into a home.
In general, there is a great need for more veterinarians especially for animal rescues. Our long-term goal is to partner with the UC Davis Veterinary training program to provide externships at our shelter and hopefully inspire more future doctors to work in shelter medicine.
Our new facility is an investment in community infrastructure. The campus will have park-like features so that the community can enjoy the space with their dogs and families. At their best, animal shelters connect families and inspire compassion for multiple generations.
Children exposed to humane education early-on are more likely to have a worldview that is based on responsibility for self, others, and care for the environment around them. The Journey Home is an investment in so much more than just Butte Humane Society. Will you join us?
