The holidays were good to the animals at the Santa Maria Valley Humane Society, which saw a record-breaking number of adoptions in December 2008.
In a release to the media, Humane Society Executive Director Kelly White O’Neill said 34 cats and dogs found new homes during December—the shelter’s largest number of monthly adoptions in its 26-year history. With only 26 “adoption days” in December, this number exceeded the agency’s monthly goal of one adoption per day. The adoption rates for all of 2008 showed a 16 percent increase over 2007.
Pet relinquishments, however, were up for the month as well, but White O’Neill explained in the release that providing the option to people is an important part of the Humane Society’s mission of removing barriers to responsible pet ownership.
“We want the community to realize that while our nation and our state might be concerned about the economic future, this did not put a damper on our local community’s interest in helping people and pets,” White O’Neill said in the release.
Charitable giving for the Humane Society also rose in December. The local shelter received a significant number of holiday donations and animal sponsorship gifts, as well as a large grant from the Smith Family Foundation.
White O’Neill said in the release that she expects a similar pattern for this year.
“So far in 2009, we appear to be meeting—and possibly exceeding—our adoption goals for January and had our first adoption of the year practically the moment we opened the door,” she added.
The Santa Maria Valley Humane Society is located at 751 Black Road in Santa Maria. The adoption facility is open Monday through Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the spay and neuter clinic accepts appointments for procedures Monday through Friday.
For more information, call 349-3435 or visit smvhs.org.
This article appears in Jan 15-22, 2009.