We are going to leverage our expertise and resources to be a catalyst for the State of Idaho to decrease by 100% the number of healthy, adoptable animals euthanized in shelters by 2025.Mountain Humane Board of Directors
Mountain Humane is a “no-kill” shelter, which means that we will never euthanize an animal due to time or space constraints. We are dedicated to preventing animal suffering and cruelty, to providing safe animals for adoption, and to providing quality care for every animal entrusted to us.
Our success in making Blaine County a no-kill community is only the start – more than 10,000 dogs and cats are still euthanized annually in Idaho that we know of (not all shelters document and report their population numbers, so that number is likely much higher). This is a huge burden on the staff at these shelters and is a tragedy for the animals. No one wants euthanasia to be the solution for pet overpopulation but not all shelters have the resources or circumstances that allow them to become no-kill. And refusing to euthanize animals if you can’t house and care for them humanely, just to be “no-kill,” is not a humane solution.
Therefore, Mountain Humane’s board of directors committed in its 2017 strategic plan to leverage our “expertise and resources to be a catalyst for the State of Idaho to decrease by 100% the number of healthy, adoptable animals euthanized in shelters by 2025.” In other words, our goal is to help make Idaho a no-kill state by 2025.
The new 30,000 square foot animal adoption and humane education center is a critical tool for achieving this ambitious goal. Want to learn more about the facility? Click here.
A multi-pronged approach
There isn’t one secret ingredient to move the state towards no-kill. Instead, we must take a multi-pronged approach. One the involves as many people and organizations as possible and a multitude of programs. Spay/Neuter programs, Regional Outreach, and Humane Education are a handful of the big puzzle pieces we’re enacting here in Blaine County and our surrounding communities. But it’s going to take a team effort to make this possible. We’ve spearheaded the Idaho Shelter Coalition to make sharing resources, collaborating on tough problems, and more seamless transfers possible. So far, 21 animal welfare organizations have joined!
Free Community Spay/Neuter Clinics
Since 2006 Mountain Humane has been offering free community spay/neuter services to anyone with a pet in Blaine County. Since the start of the free clinics, the stray population coming into Mountain Humane has dropped by half!
Adoptions
Adoptions have been increasing at a steady rate year after year. Not only that – but the number of folks coming into the valley from other counties and states is consistently growing. In 2018, 34% of adopters came from outside of Blaine County to adopt from Mountain Humane!
Humane Education
Children are the leaders of tomorrow. Teaching humane education programs (which include the importance of spaying and neutering pets) is not only fun for the kids – but also sets the scene for a more humane future!