Ways to Support the Western PA Humane Society

The Western Pennsylvania Humane Society is supported in many ways.  However, we are not directly funded through local, state or federal tax dollars and receive no financial support from donations made to any regional or national animal welfare organizations.  We rely mainly on you to help us serve the animals of Western Pennsylvania. 

 We're grateful for the corporate support we receive from local and national businesses, as well as the support provided by foundations in the form of grants.  By providing funding for specific endeavors, purchasing permanent naming opportunities within our facilities or by being a resource for product donations or event sponsorships they free up other income to be used for day-to-day operations and upkeep of our two shelters. 

Adopting your next pet is one way to help the Western PA Humane Society.  We do not sell animals.  Your adoption fee is considered a donation and is put right back into the services we provide for animals in the shelter, as well as towards our efforts to prevent animal cruelty and investigate abuse, and low-cost veterinary services for some super pet owners who otherwise may not be able to afford spaying or neutering. 

 WPHS also operates the Louise Shaw Dill Memorial Pet Cemetery on the same property as our Fallen Timber Shelter in Elizabeth, PA.  Income from burials and maintenance fees also go to help the animals housed in our shelters and those in need of our investigative teams in the community. 

 Over 3,000 people who wish to support the Western PA Humane Society regularly do so by becoming members.  By obtaining an annual membership, you show your yearlong commitment to WPHS, allowing us to better prepare and budget for the year ahead.  Membership provides you with benefits as well.  Check out our membership page if you are interested in joining as a member of the Western PA Humane Society. 

One time donations for things such as memorials, remembrances or other occasions also help to provide operating support, though these areas are not as easy to budget or plan for in the way memberships are.  However, we appreciate and welcome all gifts of this kind.  This is a great way to honor the animals and animal lovers in your life. 

 Many friends of the Western PA Humane Society also choose to support us in very special ways through planned giving programs.  Through your will, a bequest or even through a Charitable Trust, you can provide long-term support for the Western PA Humane Society.  We are happy to provide you with ideas on how to do this, as this funding will help assure you that the WPHS will be here for many more years to come, carrying out the mission you depend on us for. 

 It surely takes a community to care for and place a happy adoptable pet!  And the Western PA Humane Society continues to maintain its open-door policy – to never turn away a homeless or unwanted pet, unlike other area shelters that must limit admittance to help maintain their “no-kill” policies. 

 We hope you’ll find it in your heart to support the Western PA Humane Society to ensure that we continue to make the region a better place for people and their pets! 

 How Your Money Is Spent

Your dollars help the Western PA Humane Society maintain its leadership role in the areas of animal welfare, protection and sheltering.  Making this region a better place for people and their pets encompasses much more than a focus on the animals that come through our doors.  We believe we have an equal responsibility to those that can’t make it here on their own; to those who can’t speak for themselves or report their owners, and we work to ensure that all area pets have safe comfortable living conditions. 

A majority of the monies received by the Western PA Humane Society go directly back into the care, feeding, grooming and kenneling of unwanted or homeless pets awaiting adoption.  This includes their veterinary services such as inoculations and spay/neuter surgeries that are performed before they are even made available for adoption.   By the time you see an animal available for adoption, you can be assured a large commitment – both financial and humane – has been made by the Western PA Humane Society to find this animal a good home. 

 General operating support includes areas such as administration, clinic and kennel personnel, communications, fund raising, and marketing for our shelters.  We receive over 6,000 hours in volunteer support in many areas, to help keep these expenses to a minimum.  We have utilities to pay, just like any household or organization, and your donations go to support that as well.

 Another very large area of the Western PA Humane Society’s budget is spent on our investigation services.  This is an area of service that most people don’t think too much about until they have a concern about an animal they know or have observed.  Until such a time, most people don’t like to imagine what cruelties neglectful and abusive people can impose on the animals in our region. 

 Our team of Humane Officers, a department that your donations help us staff without government funding, investigated over 1100 complaints of abuse during our last fiscal year.  Some of these cases make it to your TV screen, but many are handled out of the public eye.  Some are resolved through education and follow-up with owners but many result in court cases and confiscation of the abused animals.  When that happens, your dollars are used to help rehabilitate the animal physically and emotionally – by the Western PA Humane Society.  Your memberships and donations provide happy endings to many cases that start out far from that description.

 Education and outreach is another way that the Western PA Humane Society makes this region a better place for people and their pets.  We send speakers to present to various organizations such as schools, scout troops, and senior groups in the Western PA region.  Discussion topics vary from WPHS history to animal nutrition, animal behavior, animal welfare and obedience training tips.  We also offer low-cost obedience training programs at our shelters for dogs of all ages.  This helps make for a better home setting for more families, and hopefully less surrenders for issues of behavior. 

 The Western PA Humane Society provides low cost and sometimes no-cost spay and neuter and inoculation services for area pets as well as homeless cats living in wild colonies throughout the region.  Your dollars help to make these services available with the goal being to reduce the population of unwanted and homeless animals and to eliminate the chance of generations of feral cats altering neighborhood ecosystems and possibly contracting or spreading rabies.  

 Thank you for whatever funding you can provide.  It really does make a difference. 

     

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