ani

Humane Society of Southwestern Michigan


Visit Humane Society of Southwestern Michigan >> http://humanesocietyswm.org/   (report broken link)
The Humane Society of Southwestern Michigan was founded over 75 years ago to help shelter the homeless animals of southwestern Michigan. We continue that mission today by providing programs and services that annually impact thousands of people and pets in our community.

Our Programs and Services Make a Difference, One by One

* Animal care. While animals wait for their forever homes, we provide shelter, food, and a nurturing environment. Animals are examined by trained medical staff and area veterinarians who visit the shelter weekly on a rotating basis.

* Adoptions. We are a NO-KILL facility that strives to find a home for every adoptable animal.

* Humane Education. Through classroom visits, youth group programs, and civic group presentations, we bring the message of compassion, kindness and safety to hundreds of children and adults yearly.

* Lost and Found Services. Stray animals are brought to the shelter almost daily. We make efforts to reunite them with their owners by maintaining a lost/found directory and tracking callers who have either lost or found an animal. If the animal’s owner is not located after 7 business days, we try to find the animal a loving home.

* Anti-Cruelty Services. Cruelty and neglect of animals are both inhumane and illegal. Through education programs and referrals, we strive to educate the public about the laws governing animal care and cruelty. We work hand in hand with many area law enforcement agencies and other animal welfare organizations to ensure investigations of all cruelty and neglect reports and enforcement of all laws.

* Spay and Neuter Initiatives. Aggressive spay and neuter programs are essential to reducing the homeless animal population in our community. We work with other organizations to refer qualified persons to low-cost spay/neuter programs.

* Hope for the Helpless. Many of the animals coming through our doors are in desperate need of medical attention for illness or injury. Our volunteers and staff work tirelessly to rehabilitate the animals that can be saved; for those who cannot, our compassionate veterinarians humanely end their suffering.


Address:
641 South Crystal Avenue
Benton Harbor, MI 49022

Call Us: 269-927-3303

Do you need to find a loving home for your pet?

No-kill shelters do wonderful work, but as a result, are often inundated with pet surrenders. In the unfortunate scenario that you have to find a new home for your pet, please read through the rehoming solution and articles on this page before contacting the shelter.

Feral Cat TNR Program
0
High-Volume, Low-Cost Spay/Neuter
0
Rescue Groups
0
Foster Care
0
Comprehensive Adoption Programs
0
Pet Retention
0
Medical and Behavior Programs
0
Public Relations/Community Involvement
0
Volunteers
0
Proactive Redemptions
0
A Compassionate Director
0
Post your review of Humane Society of Southwestern Michigan

 

1. Feral Cat TNR Program

Many communities are embracing Trap, Neuter, Release programs (TNR) to improve animal welfare, reduce death rates, and meet obligations to public welfare.


Rate it:

Comments:


Post your review of Humane Society of Southwestern Michigan

 

2. High-Volume, Low-Cost Spay/Neuter

Low cost, high volume spay/neuter will quickly lead to fewer animals entering the shelter system, allowing more resources to be allocated toward saving lives.


Rate it:

Comments:


Post your review of Humane Society of Southwestern Michigan

 

3. Rescue Groups

An adoption or transfer to a rescue group frees up scarce cage and kennel space, reduces expenses for feeding, cleaning, killing, and improves a community's rate of lifesaving. In an environment of millions of dogs and cats killed in shelters annually, rare is the circumstance in which a rescue group should be denied an animal.


Rate it:

Comments:


Post your review of Humane Society of Southwestern Michigan

 

4. Foster Care

Volunteer foster care is crucial to No Kill. Without it, saving lives is compromised. It is a low cost, and often no cost, way of increasing a shelter's capacity, improving public relations, increasing a shelter's public image, rehabilitating sick and injured or behaviorally challenged animals, and saving lives.


Rate it:

Comments:


Post your review of Humane Society of Southwestern Michigan

 

5. Comprehensive Adoption Programs

Adoptions are vital to an agency's lifesaving mission. The quantity and quality of shelter adoptions is in shelter management's hands, making lifesaving a direct function of shelter policies and practice. In fact, studies show people get their animals from shelters only 20% of the time. If shelters better promoted their animals and had adoption programs responsive to the needs of the community, including public access hours for working people, offsite adoptions, adoption incentives, and effective marketing, they could increase the number of homes available and replace killing with adoptions. Contrary to conventional wisdom, shelters can adopt their way out of killing.


Rate it:

Comments:


Post your review of Humane Society of Southwestern Michigan

 

6. Pet Retention

While some of the reasons animals are surrendered to shelters are unavoidable, others can be prevented-but only if shelters are willing to work with people to help them solve their problems. Saving animals requires communities to develop innovative strategies for keeping people and their companion animals together. And the more a community sees its shelters as a place to turn for advice and assistance, the easier this job will be.


Rate it:

Comments:


Post your review of Humane Society of Southwestern Michigan

 

7. Medical and Behavior Programs

In order to meet its commitment to a lifesaving guarantee for all savable animals, shelters need to keep animals happy and healthy and keep animals moving through the system. To do this, shelters must put in place comprehensive vaccination, handling, cleaning, socialization, and care policies before animals get sick and rehabilitative efforts for those who come in sick, injured, unweaned, or traumatized.


Rate it:

Comments:


Post your review of Humane Society of Southwestern Michigan

 

8. Public Relations/Community Involvement

Increasing adoptions, maximizing donations, recruiting volunteers and partnering with community agencies comes down to one thing: increasing the shelter's exposure. And that means consistent marketing and public relations. Public relations and marketing are the foundation of all a shelter's activities and their success. To do all these things well, the shelter must be in the public eye.


Rate it:

Comments:


Post your review of Humane Society of Southwestern Michigan

 

9. Volunteers

Volunteers are a dedicated "army of compassion" and the backbone of a successful No Kill effort. There is never enough staff, never enough dollars to hire more staff, and always more needs than paid human resources. That is where volunteers come in and make the difference between success and failure and, for the animals, life and death.


Rate it:

Comments:


Post your review of Humane Society of Southwestern Michigan

 

10. Proactive Redemptions

One of the most overlooked areas for reducing killing in animal control shelters are lost animal reclaims. Sadly, besides having pet owners fill out a lost pet report, very little effort is made in this area of shelter operations. This is unfortunate because doing so-primarily shifting from passive to a more proactive approach-has proven to have a significant impact on lifesaving and allow shelters to return a large percentage of lost animals to their families.


Rate it:

Comments:


Post your review of Humane Society of Southwestern Michigan

 

11. A Compassionate Director

The final element of the No Kill equation is the most important of all, without which all other elements are thwarted-a hard working, compassionate animal control or shelter director not content to regurgitate tired cliches or hide behind the myth of "too many animals, not enough homes." Unfortunately, this one is also oftentimes the hardest one to demand and find.


Rate it:

Comments:


Post your review of Humane Society of Southwestern Michigan

Thank you for submitting your review!


Spread the word!

I just reviewed: Humane Society of Southwestern Michigan

www.nokillnetwork.org
In Michigan

Submit a Review
Rehome Your Pet
Report Lost or Found Pet

Comments

Post your comment on Humane Society of Southwestern Michigan

IMPORTANT: This form is only for public comments about the shelter. To contact Humane Society of Southwestern Michigan, please go directly to their website (link on previous page), this form will not send your comment to them.


To post Lost & Found Pets, go here >


To Rehome Your Pet or Adopt, go here >


Comment:



No comments. Be the first!
Post Your Comment
Rehome Your Pet
Report Lost or Found Pet

x

How Can We Help?

Do you need to find a loving home for your pet?

  • NoKill Network can help you responsibly rehome your pet or a homeless pet you have rescued.

Are you interested in adopting a pet in need?

  • If you are interested in adopting a pet in need, NoKill Network can help you find the perfect companion.

Reporting a Lost or Found Pet? Visit our Lost & Found Portal

x

NoKill Network is the #1 Resource for Animal Lovers. How Can We Help You?

Re-home a Pet See Adoptable Pets