The Wells County Humane Society
Updated 18 September 2000 URL is http://our.tentativetimes.net/city/humane.html
If you are stuck in a frame at another site, click on this line to break freeThe Wells County, Indiana, Humane Society
Post Office Box 214, Bluffton, Indiana 46714.
This Society is merely an educational endeavor. Due to lack of volunteers, we have been forced to disband. The moneys will be administered by the Wells County Foundation, to benefit the fine new organization, Friends of the Shelter
The information below is from November of 1998. Things didn’t get better, volunteer wise. We were very grateful for a donation from the Hulda Higgins estate. That money will indeed be used to further Humane Education in Wells County, through Friends of the Shelter. The Friends need people to present a simple flannelboard talk in the Kindergarten and first or second grade classes in this county. A pet to accompany a presenter is a huge plus! But anyone who enjoys children will enjoy showing them how to care for a pet. We need to reach the children early in life. We hope they will then influence their families to care for animals with kindness and concern.
When Friends of the Shelter has a web page, I will link to it here. This is a dynamic group led by Suzanne and David Feeback of Bluffton, Indiana. We are overjoyed to have a fine director of our city/county shelter, Tina Fate, and her awesome assistant, Dennis. The adoption program is going great guns, the odor problem is greatly abated, and it has become a pleasant experience to visit the shelter. Adoptions are no longer limited to Wells County. People have come from all the surrounding counties to find a wonderful pet.
Shelter hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The phone number for the shelter is (219) 824-6063. It is located in front of our new sewage plant just west of State Road 1, the main drag in Bluffton). The mailing address is Animal Shelter, 702 North Main, Bluffton IN, 46714. The shelter is hidden behind the Clark station north of Hires Auto Parts, but across the little road.
Call to find out what animals at the city shelter can be released for adoption. It is important that these animals be suitable for your unique household. Tina and Dennis can guide you. They can be called out on a run unexpectedly, so call ahead.
OLD OLD PAGE CONTENTS
- The Wells County Humane Society explained
- Rules about stray cats (humor)
- Links
Wells County Humane Society History
Prosecutor Michael Lautzenheiser was the first President of the Wells County Humane Society (WCHS.) Mayor Bill Fryback and his wife Dotty were the first registered members. The society was founded in 1979 by a concerned core of citizens. Jerry Dillon did all the work to make us a non-profit society. The rules for this have chaged a lot since that time. Right now, an organization needs a CPA to back up its financial records. Our society has three dues paying members, who each pay $5.00 a year. This does not allow for hiring a CPA.
At this time the society needs members who will put in a few hours on projects.
Visit our exhibit in
the Bluffton Free Street Fair tentWe can’t staff it all the time, with so few people. Notice the many visitors we could reach if we could staff the booth full time! Think about how simple it would be to sit there for two or three hours, answering questions. All the answers are in the pamphlets. This year we have bereavement cards you can buy, to send to friends who have lost a pet.
Update: Friends of the Shelter will occupy our booth in 2000.
Who Are We?
The current WCHS consists of
- Sandra Weinhardt….President (update, resigned)
- Joy Hann……………….. Vice President
- Sandra Weinhardt…….Secretary (update: resigned)
- Liz Ilnicki…………………Treasurer (update, resigned after moving away)
- Sandra Weinhardt……co-Treasurer (update: resigned)
- Betty Debels…………..Membership Chairman (update: resigned)
- Barbara Pittenger……Board Member
- June Grove…………… Board Member
- Jerry Oswalt………… Board Member
Sometimes we meet in local restaurants and eat a bite together as we hold a meeting. Sometimes we just meet in the President’s home. (Update: Joy Hann set up two meetings at the Presbyterian Church. At one, only the threemembers came, and the speaker. A second try with the same speaker brought out several new people.
But what exactly are our projects?
- Currently we would like to be able to provide subscriptions to Kind News for local elementary schools. Fort Wayne is able to provide a copy for every school child, of this monthly newspaper. Here in Wells County, we pay for one subscription per school, which is 20 copies per month per school.
- We have a tiny fund for spay/neuter assistance for financially challenged senior citizens. No-one seems to know about it.
- We have videos to present to the library and to the schools, once we evaluate them for age-appropriate ratings.
- In the past we have given the Sharing Sam flannelboard talk to Kindergartens and first grades in all the schools in the county. New volunteers could enjoy this opportunity.
- We held a poster contest one year which drew many entries. The posters were displayed in the city building at Street Fair. New volunteers could run a poster contest every year.
- New volunteers could take pets to visist in the nursing homes in the area.
- New volunteers could start a club for elementary students based on the principles of Humane Society education about pets.
- We contact the public at Street Fair and try to answer all the questions we can. Volunteers are desperately needed for all of these activities.
But what about the Shelter?
In the founding years, the WCHS raised a great deal of money and promoted equipment for the Bluffton-Wells County Animal Shelter. The Shelter is designed to prevent rabies, by catching and disposing of stray dogs and cats. Some pets are found or turned in to the shelter, and a few of these are adopted out. Animal Control is not the same as a Humane Society. In some places, a Humane Society does run a shelter. It is not practical in Wells County.
The shelter should have at least four full-time employees, based on the size of the county and its population. Currently only one full-time employee has the burden of catching, bathing, cleaning, feeding, euthanizing and publicizing. There is one assistant worker who handles adoptions and works very hard at eveything he is asked to do. This shortage of workers does not give Tina any time for in-service training, a basic necessity of shelter workers. It is gloomy, depressing work and the workers need all the support we can give them. It would be nice if this could be made clear to everyone. Perhaps a volunteer who is good at persuasion will get involved.
Our Humane Society does not catch or transport wild animals. We don’t have a building. We try to promote the humane treatment of all animals. Your time and talents would be welcomed!
What’s New Today
Here are some links I want you to know about.
Joy Hann just lost her SnuggleBug to antifreeze poisoning. Learn how to protect your animals on Joy’s page.
Blood sport for a children’s hospital. Help stop the agony of raccoons being hunted as a fundraiser for St. Jude’s hospital. The hospital should not accept this blood money. Killing in the name of St. Jude’s hospital is unacceptable.
Please go to Twinkskitty’s for very helpful advice about alarming problems facing our felines. If it is slow to load, it is worth the wait.
Be sure to go to the story of Ninja to find out how black cats are especially endangered around Halloween. All black (and any color) cats should be kept inside, but especially around Halloween, as evil people steal them for despicable purposes.
Please visit the links at the bottom of Ninja’s page. They are vital.Tell your friends about Brutus, a great site about Jeffrey Lappin’s well-loved dog and how to care for one. Click on the Brutus link from Jeffrey’s opening page, please.
Strict, Unbending Rules For Dealing With Stray Cats
1. Stray cats will not be fed.
2. Stray cats will not be fed anything except dry cat food.
3. Stray cats will not be fed anything except dry cat food moistened with a little milk.
4. Stray cats will not be fed anything except dry cat food moistened with warm milk, yummy treats and leftover fish scraps.
5. Stray cats will not be encouraged to make this house their permanent residence.
6. Stray cats will not be petted, played with or picked up and cuddled unnecessarily.
7. Stray cats that are petted, played with, picked up and cuddled will absolutely not be given a name.
8. Stray cats with or without a name will not be allowed inside the house at any time.
9. Stray cats will not be allowed inside the house except at certain times.
10. Stray cats will not be allowed inside the house except on days ending in "y".
11. Stray cats allowed inside will not be permitted to jump up on or sharpen their claws on the furniture.
12. Stray cats will not be permitted to jump up on, or sharpen claws on the really good furniture.
13. Stray cats will be permitted on all furniture but must sharpen claws on new $114.99 sisal-rope cat-scratching post with three perches.
14. Stray cats will answer the call of nature outdoors in the sand.
15. Stray cats will answer the call of nature in the three-piece, high-impact plastic tray filled with Fresh’n’Sweet kitty litter.
16. Stray cats will answer the call of nature in the hooded litter pan with a three-panel privacy screen and plenty of head room.
17. Stray cats will sleep outside.
18. Stray cats will sleep in the garage.
19. Stray cats will sleep in the house.
20. Stray cats will sleep in a cardboard box lined with an old blanket.
21. Stray cats will sleep in the special Kitty-Komfort-Bed with non-allergenic lambs wool pillow.
22. Stray cats will not be allowed to sleep in our bed.
23. Stray cats will not be allowed to sleep in our bed, except at the foot.
24. Stray cats will not be allowed to sleep in our bed under the covers.
25. Stray cats will not be allowed to sleep in our bed under the covers except at the foot.
26. Stray cats will not play on the desk.
27. Stray cats will not play on the desk near the computer.
28. Stray cats are forbidden to walk on the computer keyboard on the desk when the human is using it.You are encouraged to bookmark this page
Thank you for visiting our page and lending a shoulder to cry on. Remember, animals have (most of) the same emotions you and I do. Please help the defenseless animals.