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Helping Shelters Help Communities
The Humane Society of the United States' Shelter Evaluation Program has helped scores of shelters improve the services they provide to the animals and people of their communities. The program has performed comprehensive evaluations for a wide range of agencies, including some of the largest in the nation. Below you'll find testimonials from some of our clients:
Miami-Dade Animal Services, Miami, FL
The Florida Animal Control Association recently named Miami-Dade the Animal Control Agency of the Year. Director Sara Pizano says she is grateful for the initial help and support from The HSUS Shelter Evaluation program whose recommendations touched upon everything from removing sick animals from the shelter population to ensuring proper training for the staff. The department’s many improvements include increasing annual adoptions from about 3,000 four years ago to more than 8,000 today.
–Press Release Miami-Dade County Animal Services 11/30/2009
Orange County Animal Services, Chapel Hill, NC
To help North Carolina shelters adapt to new rules for euthanasia by injection, HSUS Shelter Services director Kim Intino coordinated trainings in 2009 that director Bob Marotto says were "incredibly well received" by animal services personnel in the region, helping ensure that shelters comply with the new requirements. "It is enormously helpful to be able to tap such knowledge," Marotto says, "and easy to do so with Kim and others' commitment to quality service as well as excellent sheltering practices."
—The 2009 HSUS Annual Report
Tallahassee Animal Services, Tallahassee, FL
In Tallahassee, only 1,035 of the more than 11,400 animals sheltered in 2009 were returned, according to the service center. To help alleviate the problem of low return to owner rates for lost pets, Tallahassee's Animal Service Center has created the Return to Owner Committee. A 2005 audit by the Humane Society of the United States helped the Animal Service Center create a 5-year plan to increase community involvement, with the Return to Owner Committee being the latest part of the endeavor.
—Tallahassee Democrat 1/27/2010
Harford County Humane Society, Fallston, MD
"Once again, please accept my sincere gratitude and appreciation for all that you did to assist in our efforts to effect positive changes at the Humane Society of Harford County in the summer of 2007. Without your invaluable and steadfast support, many of the staff and volunteers at the HSHC would not have been able to achieve any real measure of success in properly caring for the animals there. Only after direct intervention of the HSUS was any hope of reaching our common goals of eliminating the countless acts of cruelty and neglect which had been so pervasive there. Thank you from all of us and the animals at the shelter."
—(Letter from local activist Kit Hudgins about continued improvements that resulted from a follow up visit conducted in 2007; initial evaluation occurred in 2002)
City of Superior Animal Services, Superior, WI
"We had what I thought was a VERY good meeting today to discuss the report you prepared for us. It has been received very well by the vast majority of individuals who have read it. Jeff and I have met with our City Attorney, Mayor and council leadership and will be working over the next few weeks on identifying who we feel will best fill the role of the task force. Recommendations will be brought forward to the March 16th city council meeting for formal approval. We are moving along and very excited about this! Thank you so much for the comprehensive, easy to read report with great recommendations. We will keep you posted as we move along."
—Jean Vito, Finance Director
City of Denver, CO
"Thank you and the team for the extraordinary amount of work you put into the ACC report. It is providing us with the kind of detailed feedback, with recommendations and resources to help us in our next steps of fully understanding all the elements of the report, setting up the task force, prioritizing the actions we will take over the next five+ years, and developing specific action plans and deadlines to keep us moving in the right direction. After our preliminary review, both Sherry and I are a bit overwhelmed, but with the report, its recommendations and resources, we have a strong path to guide us in the important work we have before us. We especially appreciate the detailed instructions for certain of the recommendations that will be more readily used in rewriting ACC's procedures."
—Nancy Severson, Manager, Department of Environmental Health, City of Denver
Animal Welfare Society, Inc., New Milford, CT
"Thanks so much Carolyn for all of your help and support over these last few months. It helped that outsiders(as well as the Board) honed in on some of the more apparent issues and we were able to address and implement some changes right away."
—Kathy Lifland, President, Animal Welfare Society, Inc., New Milford, CT
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