MONROE - Despite experiencing a challenging year, the Green County Humane Society is reporting some positive adoption and financial trends from 2011.
The nonprofit organization presented its 2011 reports at its annual meeting Thursday, May 3.
The biggest challenge of the year was an influx of 63 dogs, mostly Great Danes, stemming from a seizure performed by the Green County Sheriff's Department at a home near Albany in May. The humane society took in the dogs, per a contractual agreement with the county to care for any law enforcement seizures.
The dogs were adopted out to homes as far away as Pennsylvania.
Looking forward, the humane society is planning to begin construction yet this spring on a new shelter facility on an 8-acre property at the Pleasant View Complex on Wisconsin 81 just north of Monroe.
The humane society pulled in about $301,000 in 2011 for the new facility. The building fund balance for the new shelter stands at $844,229 (as of April 30), according to GCHS spokesperson Rachel Schardt. The organization has an extended goal of $950,000 to build and equip the new facility.
Other updates from 2011, provided by Schardt:
• Total revenues were $629,556; total expenses were $296,622. Excluding money taken in for the new shelter fund, the net income was $31,736.
• The shelter took in 476 animals and adopted out 365. This included an intake of 125 cats from Monroe and 110 cats from the rest of Green County and an intake of 53 dogs from Monroe, 173 from the rest of Green County and 14 from Lafayette County.
• The adoption rate for dogs was 62 percent; for cats, 92 percent. Dogs stayed an average of 47 days at the shelter; cats stayed an average of 78 days.
• The rate of animals returned after adoption has been dropping steadily and hit a new low in 2011 at 4 percent. Of 365 adoptions, seven dogs and eight cats were returned.
• Thirty-two percent of incoming dogs were returned to their owners, but only 3.8 percent of incoming cats were returned to their owners. The shelter aims to boost these percentages by "posting information about incoming animals immediately on our website and Facebook."
• Euthanasia statistics were down from 2010. Of the 476 incoming animals in 2011, 14 cats and two dogs were euthanized due to severe injuries and critical or irreversible medical conditions.
• Almost 500 animals were spayed or neutered as a result of the shelter's programs and partnerships. The shelter, along with Everyone Needs a Home, hosted four free spay/neuter events, which resulted in surgeries on 120 cats; it also issued 68 vouchers to low-income households to help cover the cost of altering pets, as part of the Spay/Neuter Assistance Program funded by United Way of Green County.
• Volunteers logged more than 7,600 hours in 2011, including about 3,100 hours to help care for the seized Great Danes.
The nonprofit organization presented its 2011 reports at its annual meeting Thursday, May 3.
The biggest challenge of the year was an influx of 63 dogs, mostly Great Danes, stemming from a seizure performed by the Green County Sheriff's Department at a home near Albany in May. The humane society took in the dogs, per a contractual agreement with the county to care for any law enforcement seizures.
The dogs were adopted out to homes as far away as Pennsylvania.
Looking forward, the humane society is planning to begin construction yet this spring on a new shelter facility on an 8-acre property at the Pleasant View Complex on Wisconsin 81 just north of Monroe.
The humane society pulled in about $301,000 in 2011 for the new facility. The building fund balance for the new shelter stands at $844,229 (as of April 30), according to GCHS spokesperson Rachel Schardt. The organization has an extended goal of $950,000 to build and equip the new facility.
Other updates from 2011, provided by Schardt:
• Total revenues were $629,556; total expenses were $296,622. Excluding money taken in for the new shelter fund, the net income was $31,736.
• The shelter took in 476 animals and adopted out 365. This included an intake of 125 cats from Monroe and 110 cats from the rest of Green County and an intake of 53 dogs from Monroe, 173 from the rest of Green County and 14 from Lafayette County.
• The adoption rate for dogs was 62 percent; for cats, 92 percent. Dogs stayed an average of 47 days at the shelter; cats stayed an average of 78 days.
• The rate of animals returned after adoption has been dropping steadily and hit a new low in 2011 at 4 percent. Of 365 adoptions, seven dogs and eight cats were returned.
• Thirty-two percent of incoming dogs were returned to their owners, but only 3.8 percent of incoming cats were returned to their owners. The shelter aims to boost these percentages by "posting information about incoming animals immediately on our website and Facebook."
• Euthanasia statistics were down from 2010. Of the 476 incoming animals in 2011, 14 cats and two dogs were euthanized due to severe injuries and critical or irreversible medical conditions.
• Almost 500 animals were spayed or neutered as a result of the shelter's programs and partnerships. The shelter, along with Everyone Needs a Home, hosted four free spay/neuter events, which resulted in surgeries on 120 cats; it also issued 68 vouchers to low-income households to help cover the cost of altering pets, as part of the Spay/Neuter Assistance Program funded by United Way of Green County.
• Volunteers logged more than 7,600 hours in 2011, including about 3,100 hours to help care for the seized Great Danes.