VHS and Animal Control Team Up To Save More Pets!
Feb 27, 2023
Vanderburgh Humane Society Teams Up with Evansville Animal Care & Control and Best Friends Animal Society to Save More Animals
[Evansville, Indiana] — The Vanderburgh Humane Society is partnering with Evansville Animal Care & Control and Best Friends Animal Society as part of Best Friends’ Prince and Paws Shelter Collaborative Program with a goal of increasing a live release rate from 61% to 90% for dogs and cats entering Evansville Animal Care & Control.
In all, Best Friends is providing a grant in the amount of $150,000 (of which $60,000 has already been received) to support the initiatives in this partnership.
The shelter collaborative program matches shelters that are leaders in animal welfare with shelters that are working to save more animals. The goal of the partnership is to improve the save rate at Evansville Animal Care & Control (EACC) by the end of the year grant program. This would mean that the vast majority of the dogs and cats entering their care leave alive, understanding that some animals will be too medically or behaviorally fragile to be released. Best Friends helps to facilitate these matches, works with peer mentors to create a contract that includes clear grant parameters, provides mentors with seed grants, and offers ongoing training and coaching to mentors and fellows.
The Vanderburgh Humane Society (VHS) is a national leader in animal welfare who was chosen to partner with Evansville Animal Care & Control because they have experience overcoming many of the challenges Evansville Animal Care & Control faces each day. And Animal Control, bound by City Ordinances to pick up strays and accept all owner surrendered animals, is always looking for partnership to increase their live release rate.
“Things will only improve for our community’s animals if we all work together,” says Kendall Paul, CEO of the Vanderburgh Humane Society. “This grant will take the VHS and Evansville Animal Care & Control’s longtime partnership to new heights. The initiatives that come from this collaboration will have a positive impact for the people and animals of Vanderburgh County.”
Through the shelter collaborative program, Best Friends will be providing grant funding to cover the expenses associated with achieving the partnership’s goals. Evansville Animal Care & Control and VHS will use the funding to implement nationally recognized proven strategies to decrease unnecessary intake and increase adoptions, community engagement, and rescue partnerships.
Current partnership initiatives are:
- FREE microchips for Vanderburgh County pets at pop-up microchip clinics:
Friday, October 27, 2023 from 1-5 pm at Howell Park Shelter
*Free pet food thanks to Chewy and distemper-parvo vaccines thanks to Petco Love will also be available at this event!
- Use portions of the grant to waive reclaim fees so families can reclaim their pets from Evansville Animal Care & Control more quickly, with less financial burden.
- Creative initiatives to improve outcomes for cats
- To provide best practice recommendations to update the City of Evansville’s Animal Control Ordinance
- A focused collaboration around promotion of adoptable pets and fundraising for animals’ medical expenses at both organizations
Together, the VHS and Evansville Animal Care & Control expect these strategies to dramatically reduce the need to euthanize animals simply for lack of space at Evansville Animal Care & Control.
Alisa Webster, Superintendent at Animal Care & Controls says “The collaboration between Evansville Animal Care & Control and VHS gives us the opportunity to truly reach out and help the community with their pets. One of our goals at Evansville Animal Care & Control has always been to reunite pets with their owners. Now with the Best Friends grant the programs that we have planned are geared towards reunification through microchipping, and free reclaims. Together we WILL save more lives.”
The shelter collaborative program is a cornerstone of Best Friends Animal Society’s goal of making America a no-kill nation by 2025, according to Carrie Ducote, National Senior Strategist for the Shelter Collaborative Program.
The public is encouraged to follow both organizations on their social media accounts below to stay up-to-date with the latest news about this partnership:
Vanderburgh Humane Society:
@vhslifesaver on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok
Evansville Animal Care & Control:
@evacc_spiritfund on Instagram
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About the Vanderburgh Humane Society
The Vanderburgh Humane Society is leading our community to eliminate pet overpopulation through Spay/Neuter, Adoption, and Humane Education. The organization serves more than 11,000 Tri-State families each year through multiple programs and serves as a regional animal welfare leader, celebrating 65 years of operation in 2022. Alter, Adopt, Adore.
About Evansville Animal Care & Control
Evansville Animal Care & Control is Evansville’s only open admission shelter; meaning it doesn’t turn away any animal from Evansville or Vanderburgh County. The Evansville Animal Care & Control Shelter is dedicated to promoting pet safety and responsible pet ownership, reduction of animal overpopulation, and enforcing section 6.05 of the Evansville Municipal Code.
About Best Friends Animal Society
Best Friends Animal Society is a leading animal welfare organization working to end the killing of dogs and cats in America’s shelters by 2025. Founded in 1984, Best Friends is a pioneer in the no-kill movement and has helped reduce the number of animals killed in shelters from an estimated 17 million per year to about 347,000. Best Friends runs lifesaving programs all across the country, as well as the nation’s largest no-kill animal sanctuary. Working collaboratively with a network of more than 3,300 animal welfare and shelter partners, and community members nationwide, Best Friends is working to Save Them All®. For more information, visit bestfriends.org.
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