December 14 , 2005

Washington Humane Society Announces Five-Year Plan
to End Euthanasia for Adoptable Animals in DC
Goal of "The Good Home Guarantee" to Reach 100% Placement of Adoptable Animals
Who Enter Washington Humane Society Shelters

Ambitious Plan Will Make DC Model for Urban Animal Care

Washington, D.C. - Today the Washington Humane Society announced a bold vision to provide the District of Columbia with a model urban animal rescue program by making a commitment to find a good home for every healthy and temperamentally sound companion animal who enters its shelters. The goal of the "Good Home Guarantee" five-year plan is to reach a 100% placement rate for dogs and cats suitable for life in a home by 2010.

Each year shelters across the country are forced to euthanize an estimated 4 to 5 million dogs and cats because they must take in far more animals than there are good homes willing to adopt them. The problems are far worse in urban areas like the District of Columbia, where a large number of homeless animals create a staggering influx every year - 12,000 in 2005 alone.

WHS currently operates two shelters. Both of them are open access shelters (no animal is ever turned away) and they are the only open access shelters in the District of Columbia. Because of the huge number of animals cared for every year, implementing the Good Home Guarantee will clearly be a massive challenge for WHS - perhaps the largest challenge in the organization's history.

"We will need the support of the entire community if we hope to make the ambitious goal of 100% placement of adoptable animals a reality," says Howard Nelson, the Society's new Executive Director and chief architect of the plan. "We believe firmly that, if the community works together, we can guarantee a good home for every adoptable companion animal that comes to us in need."
In developing the plan, WHS staff, officers, and board members initially launched a comprehensive review of WHS's adoption, spay/neuter, fundraising, communication, and education efforts. Then they reviewed the best animal welfare practices, conducted local market research, held meetings with key stakeholders in the community, and consulted with a wide range of experts in the animal welfare field.

The resulting plan has three essential building blocks: increase adoptions, decrease the number of animals in need, and teach responsible pet care.

WHS will be expanding its adoption program by increasing the number of offsite adoption events, launching a mobile adoption center, offering adoption incentives, and expanding the foster and transfer program. Early in 2006, WHS fully expects to make concrete its pledge to guarantee a good home for every adoptable dog. The plan focuses mainly on increasing placements for cats and providing medical treatment and behavioral correction to help dogs overcome obstacles to adoption.

However much WHS expands and enhances its adoptions program, the pet overpopulation problem cannot be solved through adoptions alone. Consequently, the "Good Home Guarantee" seeks to greatly increase the availability of low-cost spaying and neutering, an arena in which the District of Columbia lags behind. Surgeries will be offered through the WHS Spay/neuter Clinic, volunteer veterinarians, a partnership with a mobile spay/neuter clinic, and by 2010, a permanent high-volume, low-cost spay/neuter clinic to serve the city of Washington and nearby region.

The education and outreach element of the plan encourages spaying and neutering, helps people hold on to their pets, includes a pet-friendly housing outreach effort to rental property managers, and provides affordable vaccinations and prophylactic medical care for pets of low-income people.

WHS is committed to running open access shelters where no animal is ever turned away. Currently its two shelters take in an average of 33 animals a day. Clearly, achieving the "Good Home Guarantee" for every adoptable companion animal in the District of Columbia will require a lot of work, and a lot of resources. The Washington Humane Society will need the community's whole-hearted support. It will need to increase financial contributions dramatically, particularly in the initial years. It will need more volunteers and foster homes, as well as broad-based community involvement to promote shelter adoptions and spread the word about the plan and how the residents can help make it a reality.

Since 1870, WHS has enforced the District's anti-cruelty laws. It was also selected to enforce the District's animal control laws under a contract with the D.C. government. The Society is the only animal protection group in the city that rescues animals in the field and it runs the only two open admission shelters in Washington: the D.C. Animal Shelter at 1201 New York Avenue, NE and the Society's private shelter at 7319 Georgia Avenue, NW. Between them, the shelters care for over 12,000 abused, neglected, lost, abandoned, or injured animals each year. WHS provides humane education in the D.C. public schools, teaching children to respect all living beings and take action for animals who need help.