Humane agency runs on shoestring, but saves lots of lives
WAYNESBURG — At times, the volunteers who work at the Greene County Humane Society must feel it’s raining cats and dogs.
On average each year, the humane society takes in nearly 1,300 animals, most of which are saved through adoption.
“We work very hard for animal adoptions,” said Jane Gapen, executive director of the nonprofit organization since 1995.
“Our volunteers work tirelessly to find these animals new homes. They even take them weekly and sometimes daily to the Pet Smart store at Trinity Place in Washington looking for potential adoptive owners.”
According to the humane society website, www.greenepet.org, volunteers try to walk every dog in their care and also groom as many animals as they can each day. Because of the interaction every dog and cat gets from staff and visitors, animals offered for adoption have proven their friendliness with people.
Of course, the humane society also feeds and waters each animal and bathes every adoptive animal before it goes to a new owner. The humane society also gives all its pets toys to play with, and all cats enjoy a soft blanket and often a soft toy to play with.
The Greene County Humane Society was established as a nonprofit organization on Feb. 11, 1987, and is supported through donations, grants, and fundraising efforts.
Early on, the humane society also received a substantial endowment from the estates of Bertram Blackhurst and Nora Lee Orndorff.
“Like any nonprofit, we exist on the kindness of others,” said Gapen. “We’re never in the black, and have to do a lot of fundraising to continue our efforts.”
When the economy buckled in the fall of 2008, Gapen said, the humane society began to feel the effect with more and more people bringing in their cats and dogs because the shelter could no longer afford to take care of them.
At the same time, donations dropped off but now seem to be picking back up again to some degree.
Former state Sen. J. Barry Stout helped the humane society secure a state grant last summer that was used to erect a six-foot-high fence around the property, she said.
Through a combination of private donations, grants and funding approved by the Greene County commissioners, the humane society moved into a new building at 183 Jefferson Road in Waynesburg in 2004, which has remained the organization’s home ever since.
Besides serving as the only refuge in Greene County for homeless and stray animals, the humane society also investigates and prosecutes reports of animal abuse and works with local and state police, the district attorney’s office and local elected officials on animal abuse issues.
“We have four animal-abuse investigators who are all volunteers with day jobs and limited resources,” said Gapen. “We try to do our very best, but out volunteers do their investigations after putting in eight hours on the job.”
Gapen said the humane society got almost 220 reports from people concerned about animal abuse in 2009 and that each call might take hours to investigate and many miles of travel time.
“Last winter, we went into a trailer and took out 28 dogs,” she said. “You could hardly breathe inside the trailer from the filth. It was that bad.”
To educate the public, the humane society goes to area schools and Rotary clubs giving presentations on a variety of topics from animal health and grooming to abuse and care of animals.
“If we have extra animal food, we also share it with people in need, and have a senior citizens discount for animal adoptions,” said Gapen. “We also help with spaying and neutering of cats and dogs whenever we get grant money for such a project and maintain a lost and found file for missing pets. We also offer a courtesy website for people who want to find a new home for their pets.”
Gapen reports that, while shelters in many cities often have access to a lot of money and resources, shelters in rural communities can’t usually do as much.
However, she said, because the Greene County animal shelter of Greene County has such wonderful volunteers and good connections to Pittsburgh, it is almost a no-kill shelter that can offer more than most rural shelters.
“Our dedicated staff works very hard, but we’re constantly in need of more money, volunteers and adoptions,” she said. “However, I think that the animals who come into our shelter are luckier than those going to other rural shelters, mainly because most of them end up going to good homes.”
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For more information on the Greene County Humane Society, call 724-627-9988 or visit online at www.greenepets.org.