”WE BELIEVE … in the Clinton Humane Society and its ongoing mission to care for the less fortunate animals in our community. It’s 75 years of experience makes a difference and provides a vital service to the community.
WE BELIEVE … that no animal is disposable and that they are all valuable. All animals deserve a good home with loving and caring owners.
WE BELIEVE … that we must provide a voice for the animals that cannot speak out and ask for help themselves.
WE BELIEVE … that the Clinton Humane Society is a place of hope and compassion. Its mission to provide and care for suffering and homeless animals, to prevent cruelty to all animals, and to advance humane education, is as vital today as it will be one week, one month or one year from now.
If you believe as we do, please consider making a donation today. With your help, together we can make our beliefs become a reality. By making a tax-deductible charitable donation, you can help the Clinton Humane Society continue serving all of the abandoned animals of Clinton County.
Our greatest reward is when an animal is reunited or adopted to go home to a loving family.
We are an open admittance shelter. This means we will never turn away a stray or an injured animal from citizens or members of the police departments in our area. This does mean that if an owner is wanting to surrender their pet, we do have a waiting list. We try to allow owner surrenders as often as we can, but it really all depends on how full we are from strays that are brought in by citizens. Being an open admittance shelter, this means we unfortunately are not a “no-kill” shelter.
A “no-kill” shelter is one that publicly announces that they will not euthanize a pet at their facility. Most of the time, they are also a selective admittance shelter. This means that they can pick and choose which animals they allow to come in.
We cannot help but question what happens when a “no-kill” shelter is full, what do those owners or citizens do with the pets they have found, or no longer want? Do they search for alternate shelters? Turn their pet loose? What alternatives does that person have? By the Clinton Humane Society being an open admittance shelter, we can feel confident that we are serving our area to the best of our means. This means that we have guidelines that our potential adoptable pets have to meet before being put on our adoption floor. We require all adoptable dogs to pass our Behavior Assessment and Reactivity Checklist (BARC test), along with being a happy, healthy, adoption prospect.
We also have similar requirements for potential adoptable cats. We require that they all be happy and healthy, and are given adequate time to adjust to shelter life. Unfortunately, we have a large volume of feral cats brought in from the community that have not been spayed or neutered which has resulted in a large population increase of cats in the surrounding areas. Feral cats are cats that have never experienced life inside, and have no desire to do so. Bringing a feral cat to our shelter doesn’t always mean it will get euthanized, but we will have to do an assessment before that can be determined. We can sometimes find people that are looking for farm/barn cats, so that can sometimes be an option also. There are also TNR (trap-neuter-release) programs out there, but unfortunately Clinton does not have one at this time.
When our customers have made the tough decision to euthanize:
Our process is the fastest and most humane way to euthanize today. We strive to make this procedure as calm and safe for the animal as possible. If it is safe for our staff, one person will hold the animal while our Certified Euthanasia Technician (CET) performs the procedure. Sometimes in the case of a severely aggressive or frightened animal, they do not want to be pet or cuddled, in which case the animal is safely given a mild sedative so he or she can not be stressed, and our staff can handle the animal safely.
When the shelter has made the tough decision to euthanize:
We do not discriminate due to breed under any circumstance. Each dog and cat is given an equal chance to adjust to shelter life. Each animal has great potential to be adopted given the right chance. Sometimes the bad outweighs the good and if our staff is threatened, or we know the animal will be a liability to adopt out we have to re-evaluate our animals and make a difficult choice. We NEVER euthanize for time or space. We are deeply saddened each time we have to make the choice to euthanize a shelter animal but it is a choice made by caring and experienced staff.
