Dear Friends of Avery County Humane Society,

     Many exciting things have been happening at the shelter in the past month. Recently, we put Test Drive, our newest innovative program into effect. Frequently, folks are reluctant to add a new pet to their household because they are not sure how the existing pets will react. People can now "Test Drive" any animal over four months old to see how the animals get along and how that work out for all.

    We started 2013, with a waiting list of 33 animal intakes, some people with multiple dogs to waiting to surrender. We've made a few changes in order to help those dogs in need and managed to reduce the waiting list to only 12 animal intakes so far. Furthermore, we created a shelter exchange program that takes puppies from crowded shelters or high kill shelters and placed them in a shelter with space and high adoption rates. We have exchanged some of our adolescent puppies to shelters where they were quickly adopted.

     We presently have a February Valentine Promotion called "My Furry Valentine". All black cats, kittens and black adult dogs are fee waived. Please remember to stop by the shelter and buy a Valentine for $1 and personalize it for your favorite shelter friend.

The new 2013 Membership Drive has started and memberships are beginning to arrive. Thank you to all that have signed up and contributed to our 2013 Membership. Last, but certainly not least, a special thanks to our dedicated volunteers. In December and January, we have seen an dramatic increase in volunteer hours worked from the previous months. We could not be successful without the devoted help of our volunteers who socialize our animals to make them ready for their new homes.

Bruce Malfatone

Executive Director

 P.S.