MEET OUR PETS OF THE WEEK

Receive a special discount on the adoption fee by adopting a Pet of the Week!!!

Dante	Jeanine
I really am hoping that someone will see that I am the Pet of the Week and come take me home. I have been at the shelter longer than any other dog and it really is time I find a home of my own. I sure appreciate the hospitality but I am ready to move on. I am about a year and a half old and am neutered. I have many people friends here at the shelter but really don’t care for the other animals so I need a home where I can be the only pet. I have watched so many other animals come and go and wonder why I am still here. I was here for most of the winter; please don’t make me spend the summer here too!	Goodness me, this place called the Humane Society saved my life! I was a homeless girl and I was very afraid and hungry. An animal lover brought me here so I didn’t have to live outside on my own anymore. They got me spayed and have told me about adoption. I am so excited about the prospect of belonging to someone that I am beside myself with happiness just thinking about it. Imagine, having a family and home of my own. It seems too good to be true. So I am here waiting for my happy ending, can you give it to me?

BABY BRIA!!
Baby Bria was born May 5th from the malnourished mare seized two weeks ago along with two other horses. Mother and foal are doing well!

  

  

  

WALMART FUNDRAISER!!
Johnstown Walmart, May 5th

  

  

STACY MILLER MEMORIAL DONATION!!
Jeff Perigo presented a check for $1,600 to Joan Wendel, Humane Society Board Member, for money raised at the Stacy Miller Memorial Benefit held April 6th at the Boswell American Legion. Thank you!!

GIRL SCOUT TROOP #40856!!
Girl Scout Troop #40856 recently donated supplies and money to our shelter. Shown in the picture are Girl Scout Troop leader Becky Perigo with her children Nate and Libby along with Joan Wendel, Humane Society Board Member. Thank you!!

ACCESSORIZE FOR PAWS!!
Georgian Inn, April 27th

  

  

  

  

  

A LETTER TO OUR FRIENDS

Dear Friends, For the past several months, we have been under attack by a disgruntled group who have decided it should be their mission to close the Humane Society of Somerset County. These few people have attempted to swell their ranks by adding relatives and friends to their group. They have published their so called awful experiences as well as trying to find anyone else who had a “bad’ experience to publish their experiences. Here are the facts and - we have nothing to hide. The Humane Society of Somerset County was formed in 1973 by a group of caring people who hated to see the thousands of unwanted and lost animals of our county suffer and die. We are a private, nonprofit shelter. First and foremost, we are NOT and have never claimed to be a sanctuary! We have an incredibly high adoption rate for an open door shelter, so some people assume we are a sanctuary. Sanctuaries fill their kennels and shut their doors to anyone bringing an animal to them. We accept all animals from PA. Dog Wardens, the State and Borough Police, the Humane Officer, and the general public. Sometimes the public must be put on a waiting list when we are completely full and when we have no more willing foster homes. Some people are willing to wait, some will not and threaten to dump or kill the animal if we do not take them- of course we do under those circumstances. Please understand that the shelter is not a “magical” place. There are no magic rooms that never fill. There are always more animals than loving homes wishing to adopt them. Keep in mind, the Humane Society did not create the overpopulation problem, and we cannot be the total answer to this problem. Last year we accepted 483 dogs and pups. We adopted 438 of them and a licensed veterinarian humanely euthanized 35 unadoptable dogs, (less than 3 dogs per month.) Our dog adoption rates have climbed from 59% in 2002 to 91% in 2012. Please consider the fact that when they arrive at our doorstep, some of them are very ill, some are vicious and therefore unadoptable. Some dogs cannot tolerate shelter life and become aggressive. Shelter life is not an ideal environment for a scared dog. We have been accused of being money hungry! Last year alone our operating budget was approximately $280,000.00. Approximately 7% of that operating budget ($20,910.00) was received from grants, ( $15,000.00 from a state grant and $5,910.00 for all stray dogs received within the year). The remaining funds (93%) were donated by our caring public. When dogs enter our shelter, they are given a DHLPP shot, a bordetella treatment, their first worming and are checked by a veterinarian within a week. All are treated for fleas if necessary. Cats are given their FVRCP injection, wormed and treated for fleas. Booster shots are given after the appropriate time period. Feline leukemia testing is made available by our veterinarians upon request since we cannot afford to do this for every cat. Many need additional medications as well; ear mites, treatment for upper respiratory infections, etc. Our medical bills last year were $27,006.00 . Veterinarian services are not donated to the shelter. We have been accused of making money by euthanizing animals. We receive $30.00 per stray dog (now reduced to $25.00 per stray dog as long as money is available) from the state. This is included in the 7% total funding we get from grants. We receive no funding for cats and kittens, or owned dogs and pups. If we wanted to save money, we would euthanize all animals immediately, rather than give them medications, pay for their daily care (walks, staff, veterinarian, food, etc.) for many months, additional booster shots and worming, and administer a Rabies shot, which must be given by a veterinarian within 10 days of arrival. As you can see, we really care about our animals! Another accusation states we make money by posting pictures of animals that have died. We have a volunteer webmaster, who has a full time job and updates our website weekly. At this time animals’ pictures are added or removed. She does an excellent job and we are so fortunate to have her help. She takes all pictures weekly and even walks dogs each Saturday. Countless hours are donated to helping the animals by our webmaster. We have even been accused of posting pictures of the poor horse that had to be euthanized in order to collect funding. Seven of the eight horses from the horse rescue were able to be saved. We ask that you please contact the Equine Veterinarian who treated the horses. She will tell you the facts and the truth. The Humane Society of Somerset County is run by a volunteer group forming the Board of Directors. The President is a volunteer who devotes her days helping the shelter. Many people volunteer at the shelter to help the animals. Only the staff members are paid employees. Our Humane Officer has been attacked by this “caring” group. Let us go on record by saying she is a fantastic officer and has rescued many poor animals from hideous situations! We only wish we could afford to have her as a full time employee. Try calling other shelters in our neighboring counties. Most do not have a Humane Officer at all. They will tell you, they simply cannot afford to fund them. We are most fortunate to have an officer and a dedicated one at that. We should be supporting her, not criticizing her. Let’s talk about the cat overpopulation explosion happening in our county. One just has to read the daily paper to see how many unwanted cats and kittens are in our area. At the shelter, we cannot accept a feral (untamed) cat. The reason is we cannot safely handle them, feed them, medicate them, exercise them, socialize them or safely adopt them. We have a set number of kennels and rooms designated for cats; the cat isolation area, the main cat room, and the cat colony area. When they are filled to capacity, we have used a waiting list, but have not been happy with this alternative because it fills too quickly. We have called foster homes and other shelters to ask if they could help us when we are full. Many people come back to us and tell us no other shelter would accept the cats and kittens. Of the 256 domestic cats housed at the shelter last year, 229 of them found homes. Please keep in mind, litters of cats and kittens are dropped on our doorstep during the height of “kitty” season. There are just not enough homes for all the poor cats and kittens. After exhausting all our alternatives (Can you please keep the cat a while longer? Have you tried all other shelters and rescue groups?) and when foster homes are full, some were humanely euthanized by a veterinarian. HSSC of course paid the bill for this. The alternative (people dumping them along the roadside) results in suffering, starvation, reproducing more litters, and being struck by cars or eaten by predators. The answer is promoting spaying and neutering programs to reduce the cat population problem. Some say give them to the farmers. We have farmers bringing us boxes of cats and kittens dumped at their farms. It they do keep them, they reproduce so next year’s numbers continue to climb! For those who criticize us, we ask you- What is the answer? Are you willing to take all the cats and kittens that come to us after we are full? We welcome your suggestions. It takes an entire community to tackle this enormous challenge. Please support your spay/neuter groups. Many people say they will not contribute to anything but a sanctuary. We would love nothing better than to be a sanctuary. How wonderful it would be to just take a few animals and close our doors to the rest. But please consider what happens to the ones you refuse? Would we truly be a “humane society” if we left them to suffer? What does the word “humane” mean? It would be a perfect world if there was no pet overpopulation problem. We would love to go out of business from lack of animals! We have made great strides with our dog adoptions in the past few years. Thanks to licensing and spay/neuter programs, we have not had to euthanize for space. The same cannot be said about the cat situation. They are not licensed and people dump them and leave them outside to reproduce. For those who continue to criticize and are not happy with our private, nonprofit group (many many people are VERY happy with what we are accomplishing), we ask that you please go to another shelter or form your own rescue. Your negativity only hurts the animals that so desperately need the public to adopt them. We invite everyone to please come tour our facilities, see what we have accomplished, witness the care and love being given to our animals. Please join us as we strive to help those with no voice as we have done since 1973. Dear Friends, Some people are still confused regarding our dog numbers at the shelter for the 2011 period (Jan 1- Dec 31, 2011). For the year 2011,( beginning Jan 1, 2011) we had 34 dogs already in our shelter, we received 483 dogs within the 2011 year, we adopted or placed 438 dogs, 35 dogs were humanely euthanized, 2 dogs died of natural causes, and 42 dogs remained in the shelter for adoption as of Dec. 31, 2011.

In partnership with Purina® Pets for People™ we are happy to offer a Purina® Pets for Seniors discount program to qualified seniors, sixty years of age and older.

The Pets for Seniors program helps to cover the cost of adoption fees and provides product information‚ coupons‚ and a pet care booklet. Why? Studies have shown that pet companionship may actually help improve senior citizen health and outlook on life.

Find out more by visiting the Purina® Pets for Seniors website or by calling our shelter.

Supplies are needed to help care for three horses that were seized. We are in need of bags of sweet feed, mare and foal feed, and tubes of equimax wormer. Donations may be given to the shelter. Thank you everyone!

PET SPOTLIGHT


Can anyone help any older girl out? Even though Becky seems to be starting to lose her sight and hearing she isn't letting it slow her down. She is a really sweet girl who would love to have a home and someone to love her. Please come to the shelter and meet this wonderful girl!

UPCOMING EVENTS Old Pike Days May 19-20 Please visit the Humane Society of Somerset County this weekend, May 19th and 20th, at Addison's Old Pike Days. Come join us for good food, face painting, dog walk, and learning more about historical Addison, PA. Operation Pit Bull Motorcyle Run August 26, 1 PM Shananagans Sports Pub, Johnstown $10.00 a rider / $5.00 a passenger (includes lunch, and door prizes). Be there early to register and get your wristbands. The ride ends at Shananagans with a free lunch! All proceeds benefit Hello Bully, Operation Pit Bull and the Humane Society of Somerset County. Premier Golf Outing September 1, 11:30 AM Indian Lake Private Golf Course $100 per person. Includes golf, cart, lunch, dinner and beverages on the course! For more information or to sign up please call 233-4950 or the shelter at 443-2121. Benefits the Humane Society of Somerset County. See you there!!

Help reduce the number of animals in shelters! If anyone is interested in sponsoring one of our shelter pets to be spayed or neutered please call us at 814-443-2121 for details. Thank you.

FOSTER CARE

Some of our animals are in foster homes. Please call ahead if there is someone in particular you wish to meet in case we need to make arrangements with the foster family. Thank you.

DOG WALKERS NEEDED!!

We are in need of volunteer dog walkers. Walkers must be at least 18 and able to handle energetic dogs. Call us at 814-443-2121 if you are able to help! Thank you.

Do you have an old cell phone you don't know what to do with? Drop it off at the Verizon Wireless Zone at 2066 N. Center Ave, Somerset, and mention the Humane Society. The money returned will be donated to the shelter! Contact Bryce at 814-233-7587 with any questions. Thank you Bryce and the Verizon Wireless Zone!!

HELP UNCHAIN PA DOGS!!

State representative James Casorio (D-Westmoreland) recently announced that he will be introducing new legislation to restrict 24/7/365 tethering in Pennsylvania. The new bill will be based on current HB1254 but with numerous amendments.

It's time Pennsylvania enacts responsible tethering legislation.

Find out how you can help to get this bill passed at Pennsylvania Coalition Against Tethering.