Lynchburg Living

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By Carrie Williams

A stray or lost animal raises many questions: Where did it come from? Does it have a home? Where will it go? Sometimes the situations are dire, while other times there are happy endings.

Embracing the struggles, the Lynchburg Humane Society (LHS) has focused its mission and vision for over 50 years on coming up with innovative responses to these questions. For instance, the shelter has been pursuing a “No Kill” operation model for the past year, drastically improving the quality of animal control in the area.

It all began with a book.

Shelley Stone, an LHS board member, happened to pick up and read “Redemption: The Myth of Pet Overpopulation and the No Kill Revolution in America” by Nathan Winograd. As is obvious from the title, Winograd is a huge proponent of “no kill.” After bringing the topic to the table, the LHS board decided that it was time for the shelter to start moving towards the “no kill” ideal.

Makena Yarbrough has been a central figure in this recent transition for the shelter. Originally brought on to consult, Yarbrough ended up soon after with a full-time position as Executive Director for the LHS.

“This is the fastest I’ve seen a community go ‘no kill’–We’ve just gotten so much support. It took Richmond years to get where we are,” Yarbrough said.

She would know. Yarbrough has been an instrumental proponent of two other “no kill” animal shelters, first in Richmond and later in Charlottesville. She is the first executive director for the LHS and has already shown that it is possible for a community to embrace and facilitate a massive reduction in the number of shelter animals euthanized each year.

“It’s very possible. You just have to trust the community to be helpful and you have to communicate what you need,” Yarbrough explained. “And that’s just what we did! We made an effort to say ‘We need your help’ and we got it.”

The board gave the Humane Society five years to completely transition to the “no kill” operation; a typical schedule for the change. The easiest way to see how this monumental decision has affected our community’s pet and animal population is to take a look at the statistics of their “Save Rate.” This is the amount of animals the LHS has been able to foster, transfer, adopt or re-home.

In 2008, the LHS was able to save 49 percent of their animals, but that percentage went up to 65 percent the following year. Since the “no kill” transition started in 2010, the save rate has risen to 84 percent. Traditionally, a shelter is considered “no kill” when they reach a save rate of 90 percent. Based on the numbers, the LHS is well on their way to joining the proud ranks of other “no kill” shelters in our nation.

But what does it take to become “no kill”? A transition of this size cannot develop without the simultaneous expansion and creation of more traditional programs like fostering and spay/neuter education.

Yarbrough isn’t going to beat around the bush when it comes to shelter life. Simply put, the environment isn’t ideal for the daily care of animals. Despite the attention tirelessly put forth by staff, the LHS is feeling the pressures of overcrowding. With that said, fostering is easily the best solution for surrendered and stray animals.

“Many diseases come through and, even though we do a very good job with keeping those down, the foster home is a better place for healthy, one-on-one care,” Yarbrough said.

For those looking for the most basic and fundamental way to help the shelter, Yarbrough’s simply stated reply is to “please spay and neuter your cats.”

According to the Web site for the Humane Society of the United States, an estimated 6 to 8 million animals are surrendered to shelters each year. Spaying or neutering your pet is the very first step in reducing that astronomical figure.

Whether your family is pet-free or includes several, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone whose heart doesn’t go out to an animal in need. While generous donations and grants from larger corporations and businesses like PetSmart, the YMCA and AREVA are making a lot of the shelter’s work possible, the surrounding community is instrumental in getting the word out and taking action.

“The community has shown itself to be the extra support this new policy structure needed,” Yarbrough said. “In my mind, the programs have elevated the status of animals in the community–it really shows just how much they love their pets. The community is doing the work and we are just the avenue.”