We are here, a few days beyond the middle of the calendar year, we have somehow flown through the first half of 2022 and are ready to tackle the rest of the year too! Much like years passed, spring rolled in with green leaves, thunder storms and plenty of dogs, cats, kittens, puppies and bunnies calling out for help. We answered. Wave after wave of intakes, local surrenders and strays, and even the typical chaos of lost pets around the 4th of July. We are settling in for the long fight ahead since late spring through fall will have our shelter numbers climb beyond levels where we can provide appropriate care for each animal in our shelter. What happens then, you ask? Do we euthanize animals? Absolutely not! We get creative and our community steps up and helps us keep saving lives. We have an amazing network of fosters that step up to provide care in their homes rather than taking up a cage at the shelter. Kittens, cats, puppies and dogs receive individualized attention and socialization from their foster families and it allows us more space to care for the animals in our shelter that are just arriving and those ready for adoption. Any given day during the summer months you will find amazing fosters bringing animals in for checkups, while adoptions are happening and employees and volunteers are transporting animals between our shelter and our PetSmart adoption centers in Lincoln. Our partnership with PetSmart is a huge part of the reason we are able to stay committed to our No-Kill Mission. Since January 1st we have adopted out 235 cats, dogs, puppies and kittens through this partnership. In that same time, we have adopted out 378 from our shelter in Beatrice for a total of 613 adoption in the first 6 months of the year. We are able to help even more animals because of this great partnership. We will be participating in the PetSmart National Adoption week from July 11th- 17th with adoption specials and special popup adoptable dog visits to their store. It is a great opportunity for exposure for our shelter and allows us to gain a bigger audience for our available animals. 

There are many pieces to saving as many pet lives as our shelter does, from the staff, volunteers and fosters, to our rescue and adoption partners near and far, to the board of directors and the community itself, we wouldn’t be where we are, doing what we do without every one of those pieces. Each year we like to sit back and reflect on how we got to where we are, and thank those who have helped us get here. Animal welfare and sheltering is a constant uphill battle and requires the love and support of animal lovers across our community to help us achieve the success we have. 

In 2000, we developed the Herb & Marian Weston Humanitarian Award in honor of the couple’s longtime support of the Humane Society. Each year we use this award to recognize someone who has gone beyond the call of duty to help us achieve our lifesaving mission. Historically we announced the Award winner at our annual “Pawsitively Dessert” fundraiser, which hasn’t been held for the last two years. That break while unplanned has given us time to re-envision the event, and it will continue in a slightly different form. We have decided to rename it and host our 1st Annual Weston Award Event. This will allow us to focus even more on the people that positively impact our shelter and the animals we serve. It will be a fun filled night with a live auction, great food, and of course the Weston Awards presentation for 2020, 2021 and 2022! All sponsorships, ticket sales and auction item proceeds will be used to support the animal lifesaving operations of the Beatrice Humane Society. The event will be held at Classics on Friday July 15th from 5:30-9:00 pm. Tickets are still available in a limited quantity through our website at https://bit.ly/3tzer2y or by visiting our website directly at www.beatricehumanesociety.org and clicking on Get Involved, Weston Award Event Ticket Purchase. Hurry as ticket sales are limited!

Before we get back to our event prep for the busy weeks ahead, we have to send a special shout out to the businesses who have made our Weston Award Event possible. Caspers Construction, FNIC Group, Edward Jones, First State Bank, Pinnacle Bank, Sandman Family Foundation, Security First Bank, Weston Foundation, Lammel Plumbing, Cause for Paws in Lincoln and Leo’s Jewelers, it’s a little easier saving lives with the support of great people and businesses behind us.  We hope to see you next Friday at Classics!

First Published by the Beatrice Daily Sun: https://beatricedailysun.com/opinion/summer-at-the-beatrice-humane-society/article_94ed9c44-25b0-53fe-939d-754f9d98138a.html