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 Clinton, Iowa and surrounding areas.
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 own community. This does mean that if an owner is wanting to surrender their pet, they may have to wait until space allows. We try to allow owner surrenders to come in a few times a month, 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, confident animal. 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 will most likely result in the cat being euthanized, or possibly sent to live on a farm where it can be outside as it would like. Funding with a non-profit does not allow us to to get that cat spayed or neutered at this time. There are TNR (trap-neuter-release) programs out there that can be accessed in Clinton County.
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 a potential to be adoptable given the right chance. Sometimes the bad outweighs the good and if our staff is threatened, or the animal is extremely ill, we have to re-evaluate our animals and make a difficult choice. We feel confident that having this option to euthanize available to our shelter is in the best interest of our animals.
If you come in to volunteer and a certain animal is no longer in the shelter, feel free to inquire! Many animals get adopted weekly, so it is possible that they went to their forever home, or are at the vet for medical treatment. However, if you are inquiring, just be prepared to accept that the animal may have had to be euthanized if that is the case. We are deeply saddened each time we have to make the choice to euthanize an animal, but it is a choice made by caring and experienced staff.
