Fayette Humane Society: A dog-gone good organization

As a volunteer dog coordinator for the Fayette County Humane Society (FCHS), Sherry Vernick has seen her share of animal mistreatment.

“I’ve been with the organization eight years and I’ve had a lot of heartache because of the abuse, but I’ve had a lot of heart-joy when an abused or abandoned dog is placed in a loving ‘forever home.’ That makes it all worth it.”

When the organization was first incorporated by a small group of local residents in 1973, they probably had no idea it would be in existence 37 years later. “We’d really like to be put out of business,” Sherry says, “but until people start spaying and neutering their animals, it may be a long time before that happens.”

This past year, the Fayette County Humane Society found homes for 242 dogs and 206 cats for a total of 448 adoptions by the end of October 2009. Expenses for the year at that point totaled $33,520 on the spay/neuter program and an additional $57,285 on medical costs. Kathy Taylor, the vice-president of the all-volunteer group, said the community might not be aware of the expenses involved. “People would be surprised to know how much it costs to run the organization. We have a few veterinarians who discount their services, which we greatly appreciate, but there are no free rides.”

“Perhaps just as challenging is that people sometimes confuse the Fayette County Humane Society with the Fayette County Animal Control,” Kathy says. “The people who work for the Animal Control are paid employees of the county, while we are a non-profit 501c3 made up entirely of volunteers. We are also a no-kill organization. However, we do work with the county to help find homes for some of the animals who are placed at the shelter.”

Both Kathy and Sherry agree that while there are several important aspects of the organization, prevention is what it’s all about. “One of our main missions is our spay/ neuter program. We are one of a few organizations in the south metro area that offers spay/neuter assistance to anyone who calls as long as our funds permit us to do so,” Kathy said. “We were lucky enough to receive a grant from PetSmart charities last year, to be used for low income families to spay and neuter their animals.”

In addition to needing financial donations, the organization is always in need of volunteers. “We don’t have nearly enough foster homes to allow us to help even most of the stray or abandoned cats or dogs we receive calls for daily,” Kathy says. “We always need more people to foster the animals until they are adopted out. The commitment involves bringing the dog or cat to the adoption event each week.” Pet adoptions are held every weekend, Saturday and Sunday afternoons, at the PetSmart in Peachtree City and once a month at Tack Trolley Horse & Pet Supply in Fayetteville. Kathy says, “We foster all sizes and breeds of dogs, and while many are lab or shepherd mixes, we also have small mixed breeds as well as many varieties of purebreds that sometimes come with registration papers.”

And if you happen to stumble on an animal roaming around, Kathy offers this advice: “The first thing to do is call animal control. You have to do everything you can to determine if that pet is owned, like put up signs and see if the animal is micro-chipped. If we are sure the animal isn’t owned and if we have a foster home available, we can take the animal into our foster network. We do appropriate testing, shots, spay and neuter. If we do not have a foster home, then we see if that home can temporarily foster it.”

Sherry, along with a couple of other volunteers, is well versed in temperament testing, training and working with the dogs. “We want to be sure they are good family dogs,” Sherry says emphatically. “I approve all dogs taken in only after they have passed our temperament testing. We will not take in dogs that are aggressive or that have bitten someone.”

“To be sure,” Kathy says, “the economy has had an affect on the organization. We’ve had a lot of calls due to foreclosures, loss of jobs and people who simply can’t afford to keep their animals. In those cases, we try to offer food or vetting services. We try to help in any way we can with what money we have and what services are available to us.”

“Anyone interested in adopting a dog or cat can start by checking out the website, www.fayettehumane.org,” Kathy says. “It’s one of the best ways to see what animals are available. And if someone wants to meet the dog or cat before an adoption day, we can often work that out.”

Next comes the paperwork, a pre-adoption questionnaire, which is also available on the website. Once that is done, someone from the organization gets in contact with the person and does a phone interview and determines if the dog or cat would be a good match with their family.

Kathy knows without volunteers and financial help, it’s a struggle to operate.

“We have a wonderful group of volunteers who work hard to make a difference in Fayette County and surrounding areas, but we can always use more volunteers, especially fosters, and financial assistance.”