Davie County Humane Society will close if it doesn't raise $50,000, staff members say (2024)

The Humane Society of Davie County is facing dire financial hardship and will soon close if it does not raise $50,000 to support its operations, according to its staff members.

Janis Mayers, the organization’s director of operations, told the Journal that their three part-time staff members receive around 50 to 70 calls a week from people who are giving up their pets, looking for help with veterinary bills, or dealing with sick animals.

“We can only help with a fraction of those,” Mayers said.

“To me it is heartbreaking,” said Jennifer McBride, who has volunteered for the humane society and now sits on its board of directors. “So many animals will die either by euthanasia or by getting sick or attacked while they’re outside. It keeps me awake at night.”

Though McBride doesn’t live in Davie County, she began volunteering with the humane society in 2020 because she saw a great need within the rural county for animal rescue.

Over the last few years, staff at the humane society say they have watched as prices for food and medical supplies for animals have risen by as much as 50%. Now, the nonprofit’s savings, which were raised by selling a previously owned building to Davie County, are dwindling. The humane society was able to buy a storage building in Bermuda Run where it runs a low-cost food pantry to help families pay for pet supplies.

“People have asked what happened to that money,” Mayers said of the previous buildings’ sale. “It saved a lot of animals. We were trying to get to a no-kill status, and we got there. But it took a lot of money.”

Their current headquarters is a tidy-but-small space stocked with shelves of pet toys, harnesses and a pantry of pet food. Donations range from blankets and cans of food to items like a 3-foot-tall balloon pet sprinkler that sprays water at dogs. Pet owners or people with concern for animals appear at the door of the storage building, where Mayers or another staff member greets them and listens as they describe an issue with an animal that needs fixing.

On Friday, Mayers helped find a muzzle for a woman whose dog fell down a set of stairs. Another man came in and told Mayers about how his family was moving and needed help relocating rescue dogs.

Joshua Gregerson, who has fostered animals with his wife in both Davie and Forsyth counties, told the Journal about how he fostered a 1-year-old pitbull mix named Paul, who stayed at Davie County Animal Services shelter for 200 days and was almost euthanized. He’s now up for adoption.

“He’s a people-pleaser,” Gregerson said. “All he wants to do is please.”

When Paul was rescued by the animal shelter, he couldn’t walk, Gregerson said. After the shelter helped rehabilitate the dog, Gregerson decided to foster Paul.

“I believe he chose us,” Gregerson said. “He ran up to me and buried his head in my lap.”

‘Just to survive’

In Davie County, the humane society is one of three animal-rescue organizations available. A fourth, Cedar Farm Rescue, closed down two years ago, according to Mayers.

Another active rescue organization, Godbey Creek Canine Rescue, will close in September and is attempting to raise $20,000 in order to find homes for all the dogs in their rescue before they are euthanized.

Lisa Nielsen, director of Davie County Animal Services, which also is a rescue organization, said she was very worried when asked about the humane society’s struggles.

“We would definitely be taking more animals into the shelter,” Nielsen said. “It would have a significant impact on us.”

If the humane society were to close, its staff say that there would be a large increase in animals without a home in the county. Last year, Davie’s humane society spayed and neutered about 500 dogs and cats and found homes for hundreds of animals.

The biggest impact of the humane society closing could be a number of animals that would be euthanized at the Davie County animal shelter. Nielsen told the Journal that the shelter depends upon the humane society to offer an alternative to euthanasia for stray animals. About 38% of the 173 cats that Davie County Animal Services have taken in have been transferred to the humane society.

On June 17, the humane society took 77 cats and kittens on a transport to Maryland, where there are more strict laws against euthanasia as well as less overpopulation of animals, according to a Facebook post the humane society made.

“The transport has reduced our cat euthanasia rate significantly,” Nielsen said.

Mayers said that often times when animal shelters in Maryland are low on animals, the Davie County humane society will send stray cats. During one trip to Maryland two years ago, they were able to transport 176 cats and kittens in order to avoid euthanizing them.

Nielsen, who has been living in Davie County since 1996, said that it would be a huge change to the county if the humane society were to close. There is a reason why operating a rescue organization is so difficult though, according to Nielsen.

“It costs way more to vet an animal than anybody gets in adoption fees,” Nielsen explained. “Unless you’ve got a funding stream other than adoption fees, you’ve got no way to stay in business.”

In the past, Davie’s humane society has relied on individual and private donations that have been decreasing in recent years. The organization does not receive any government funding but applies for grants, such as funds to help with their spay/neuter program. It costs the humane society about $10,000 a month to operate.

Mayers said the humane society’s staff members are in the process of putting together a proposal to ask for funds from Davie County.

So far, about $32,000 has been raised for the humane society in their four-week process to reach $50,000. The fundraiser will last until June 30, which is the end of Davie’s humane society’s available time to plan for the next fiscal year. If they raise $50,000, the humane society would still need more to continue their operations long-term, according to Mayers.

“We don’t need $2 million,” Mayers said. “We just need a couple hundred thousand just to survive. One of our long-term goals is having a shelter.”

Davie’s humane society has received community support that exceeded the expectations of its staff. Davie Tavern, a restaurant in Advance, is set to host a dine-in event in which the tavern will donate 20% of the proceeds to the humane society. Other businesses across the county have donated tips, percentages of online sales, and have put on raffle events.