Humane Societies

Up until today I hadn't realized the worth of humane societies. The importance of humane societies is often overlooked or taken for granted. Until you're in a situation where you find yourself relying on the services of a humane society it is all too easy to take for granted what they do for not only pets but also families. This is where I found myself today….

Today started out normal enough. I drug myself out of bed about 6 AM, stumbled to the back door to let the dogs out to do their business then proceeded to get ready and leave for work. It happens the same way every day of the work week; I let the dogs out when I get up and Zeb lets them back in the house in time to eat and drink before he leaves for work. However something went wrong today. I got a frantic voicemail from Zeb about 8:35 saying that when he went to let the dogs back in this morning the gate was open and they were nowhere to be found. He had already driven all around the neighborhood looking for them with no luck.

Once I got the voicemail I tried calling the Joplin Humane Society but their phone was disconnected because they are moving into their new facility tomorrow. Since I was unable to reach anyone I decided to leave work early to go look for our boys. Once I got home I searched the neighborhood with no luck and then decided to take a ride down to the humane society to have a look for myself just as their website suggests. Our dogs had not been brought in but I took the necessary precautions and filled out lost animal reports so they could be identified if they were brought in. Once I got home I began posting ads on Facebook, Myspace, CraigsList, and even an ad in the Joplin Globe. Luckily the humane society called a couple of hours later saying that they were just brought in by animal control and that I was able to come pick them up anytime. We were very lucky that they stuck together and that they made it back home with no problems other than being very sleepy from their big adventure. We were also very lucky that there are establishments out there like humane societies.

The mission of humane societies as outlined by the Humane Society of Missouri is to provide second chances. Humane societies do this by providing a safe place for abused, neglected, abandoned, and in our case runaway animals providing them with food, shelter, and veterinary care, obedience, and behavior classes. They also seek to find loving homes for these animals through adoption. At the Joplin Humane Society all of the animals are available for adoption for a fee of 60 dollars. This fee covers their shots and spay/neuter. Up until this day I really hadn't given a second thought to the value of Humane Societies. But I now plan on helping them as they helped me. There are a number of ways you can do this, by becoming a member, volunteering, or making a donation.