Type | Private |
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Industry | Animal welfare |
Founded | Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S.1896 |
Headquarters | Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S. |
Number of locations | 1 |
Area served | Washtenaw County, Michigan |
Key people | Tanya Hilgendorf, Executive Director |
Services | Animal shelter Veterinary clinic Spay/neuter Trap-Neuter-Return Animal rescue Cruelty investigation |
Revenue | US$3,654,306 (2009) |
Parent | None |
Website | hshv.org |
Humane Society of Huron Valley is an independent animal welfare organization located in Ann Arbor, MI. The organization was formed in 1896, and opened a shelter on Cherry Hill Road in 1951.
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The HSHV attempts to reduce the over-population of pets, and to provide education and outreach to the community. Another main goal of the HSHV is to stop animal cruelty. The shelter facility cares for lost, stray, and injured animals, as well as animals surrendered by their owners.
HSHV offers adoption services, a full service veterinary clinic open to the public, animal rescue, and investigates animal cruelty in Washtenaw County. [1]
The animal shelter of HSHV provides care to homeless animals from Washtenaw County. In 2010, HSHV took in 6,100 dogs, cats, and other companion animals, of which 820 were returned to their owners, and over 4,100 were adopted out or transferred to other animal rescue organizations. According to the Asilomar Accords this gives them a live release rate or "save rate" of 81.3%.[1]
HSHV is considered an "open admissions shelter", meaning they do not turn away animals from within their service area. In addition to accepting animals from the public, the Humane Society of Huron Valley, also known as HSHV, serves as the stray holding facility for Washtenaw County, Canton, Michigan, and Plymouth, Michigan[2]. There are prevention measures in place to try to keep pets with their owners, such as a behavior helpline, a Safe Harbor program for pet owners in a temporary housing crisis, and a supplemental pet food program called Bountiful Bowls.[2]
The veterinary clinic at HSHV is a full-service clinic open to the public. The clinic is staffed with 6 veterinarians, including vets who specialize in surgery, exotic pets, and small domestic pets.[3] They offer low-cost spay and neuter services and have periodic low-cost vaccination clinics.
HSHV's new building opened at the Cherry Hill Road location on October 28, 2009, after a closure of a few days to facilitate moving the animals from the old shelter to the new one. The fifty-year-old facility was outdated and in poor condition. After a three-year capital campaign, including a construction bond from Washtenaw County,[4] and donations from private individuals, HSHV raised all but $850,000 of the $8.6 million needed to construct the new state-of-the-art facility. Since its opening, adoptions have gone up 29%.[5]
The Humane Society of Huron Valley is an entirely independent agency that receives neither funds nor directives from any other organization, including the Michigan Humane Society or the Humane Society of the United States. HSUS has a "long-standing tradition" of leaving day-to-day shelter operations to local entities.[6]