OUR GOAL IS TO SAVE ALL ADOPTABLE CATS AND DOGS FROM EUTHANASIA IN MODOC COUNTY, REGARDLESS OF AGE OR BREED.
That is job #1 with us. We are here in this County to help the
community re-home cats and dogs, and to pull all the adoptable dogs from the City
and County Shelters if we can. The animals we take in are either adopted out by us (after being spayed or neutered) or transferred to other No Kill facilities or rescues.
WHAT IT MEANS TO BE "NO KILL". HPHS is a "No Kill" facility. That is, we DO NOT
euthanize animals as a means of population control or to make room for
other animals (as so many public shelters are forced to do for various
reasons). Instead we only euthanize animals who are suffering and
cannot be cured, or who
have behavioral issues that make them un-adoptable (like being human or dog aggressive) that cannot be
correct with training.
We are the only organization in Modoc County that is
set up specifically to help our local shelters. Without our help,
all the animals that remain unclaimed in our City and County shelters would be
euthanized because neither the City nor the County has the staff to run
an adoption center. In fact, they don't take in cats at all, only
dogs. When they are called to pick up a dog, they put them in a kennel
to keep them safe and secure and to give owners a chance to find them. They feed them and clean up after
them for 5 days. That is it. They have no staff to exercise or train
the dog. When five days are up, they call us. If we can't take the
dog, it is euthanized.
ADOPTION TAKES TIME, MONEY AND THE PROPER FACILITIES. Make no
mistake, this is not a criticism of our local shelters. We believe they
are doing the best they can with what they have. Adoption programs
take time, money, dedicated staff, and the proper facilities. It is
not a matter of pointing interested adopters at a kennel and taking
their money. All animals must be spayed or neutered and micro-chipped before they can be adopted out per State Law. In addition to this, HPHS tracks every animal's medical and behavioral history,
takes them to and from the vet, pays for all medical treatment, takes
photos of them, writes bios and then advertises them all over. We also
train them, take them to adoption events, socialize and exercise them,
interview interested adopters, confirm potential adopters have the right
home environment and facilities for them, and, of course, feed and
clean up after them until they are in their new home.
The average adult dog or cat stays with us for 30 days, kittens and puppies are often with us much longer. Neither the
City nor the County can dedicate that much time for each and every
animal they take into their facility. It takes volunteers! However,
even volunteers need resources. We need money for gasoline to transport the animals, kennels and
crates to keep them contained, electricity to heat and light our kennel areas, dog and cat food, cat litter, leashes and collars, toys and cat
scratching trees, and disinfectant, not to mention paying for mundane things like insurance, trash collection and the mortgage on the Thrift Store building where all our cats are housed.
WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO "SAVE THEM ALL"? It takes YOU. Our #1 need
right now is funding! Our #2 need is volunteers who are willing to help us walk and train dogs, foster dogs and cats or help in the Thrift Store on a regular
basis.
Thank you for your help and interest in making sure Modoc's Pets are well cared for!
