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(ARCHIVE PHOTO | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Landry, a Catahoula Leopard Dog available for adoption at the Humane Society of Young County in 2023. As the winter season is in full swing, the organization is asking for assistance from the community in the form of supplies and monetary donations.
While the holidays are around the corner and gifts will be given to many in the community, the Humane Society of Young County is seeking support to help the organization facing a high capacity of animals.
HSYC serves as the holding facility for the cities of Graham, Olney and Newcastle as well as for Young County. The shelter also serves as a last resource intake for owner-surrendered animals.
“Some of our larger challenges this year have been dealing with a longer length of stay for our animals than is ideal,” HSYC Director Shelby Brogdon said. “While intakes are always an issue, we've seen a lot of our nice adoptable dogs and cats, just sitting in the shelter even with all of our adoption events and featuring on line.”
The shelter’s capacity is 24 dogs and 51 cats and as of Thursday, Dec. 4 the organization was housing 36 dogs and 73 cats. The shelter is struggling to provide varied enrichment for animals at the shelter that are facing stress issues.
“This means getting them outside, working on cues/manners, feeding in creative ways, and giving treats in kongs, or other toys,” Brogdon said. “We also use scent enrichment (spraying animal safe scents diluted around the kennels) and play music in the kennel and cat room areas.”
The shelter also provides low-cost preventative care through P.E.T.S. Clinic from Wichita Falls that makes monthly visits.
“HSYC strongly encourages community members to spay/neuter and vaccinate their pets,” Brogdon said. “Spaying and neutering reduces the number of unwanted and roaming pets in our communities. Keeping vaccinations current reduces disease spread among pets and reduces the chances of animal bites and diminishes the potential spread of rabies.”
Those who see a stray animal should contact animal control or the Young County Sheriff’s Office in the county to safely handle the animal, scan for a microchip and return it home, if possible.
“The animal control officer is able to safely handle the animal, scan for a microchip and return the animal home if a chip is found,” Brogdon said. “Community members can pick up a stray and bring it to the shelter, but it is always safer to leave that to animal control.”
The shelter encourages potential adopters to fill out an adoption application prior to visiting for meet and greets with animals to get pre-approval and speed up the adoption process.
“Once the application is submitted, we try to get approvals done within 24 hours or so during the hours we are open. If we have a lot going on it might take a bit longer, but we do try to get them processed quickly,” Brogdon said. “The adoption fee is $125 for dogs and $75 for cats which includes core vaccines, rabies vaccine, heartworm or Felv/FIV testing, microchipping, deworming, and spay/neuter.”
The shelter accepts donations such as supplies, monetary gifts and gift cards as well as volunteer service.
“We've had children come out and read to the cats, adults help with our walk-in clinics, help walk dogs, play with cats, help with washing dishes and laundry and help prepare/distribute enrichment,” Brogdon said.
The shelter director said that the organization is operating in survival mode due to constantly being overcapacity and having fewer donations.
“Without HSYC, I am not sure where the hundreds of animals that come through our door yearly would go. It takes a lot to run a successful shelter and adoption center,” Brogdon said. “Our staff continues to attend training and classes to further our knowledge. We strive to do better for the animals in our care and to provide services in the community to help curb overpopulation at a cost that is affordable to pet owners.”
For more information about the shelter or to support their services, visit humanesociety-yc.org.
Shelter needs
• Wet cat food
• Puppy pads
• OdoBan disinfectant
• Fabuloso
professional cleaner
• Tough chew bones
and toys
• Small soft treats
• Small dog biscuits
• Bleach
• Cat scratching boards
• Peanut butter
• Plain can pumpkin
• Feeding puzzles
• Contractor bags
(55 gallon)
• Copy paper
• Disinfecting wipes
• Paper towels
• Blankets
• Gas cards
