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Our History |
The history and the demographics of Western North Carolina control the destiny
of The Valley River Humane Society. Culturally, pet animals are not the pampered specimens stereotyped in the entertainment media. Dogs and cats were functional adjuncts to the mountain homestead. They pretty much
had to pay their own way as hunters, trackers and mousers in the "old days". Veterinary care was rare, but so was medical care! Spaying and neutering were foreign terms and the over population of pets was
left to Darwinian survival of the fittest. As the modern family became more mobile with the ubiquitous car or pickup truck, the excess cats and dogs could be taken off for dumping on a neighbor or another community.
Dumpster areas where household trash is placed for transfer to a land fill became a center of feral cats and dogs trying to survive on handouts and garbage raids. Excess "pets" were dumped like so much
refuse - sometimes inside the containers. Town eating places and grocery stores became part of the rounds for pan handling animals who had no formal home or owner.
It was natural that a humane society
evolved to cope with the problem. Perhaps it was also natural that the humane society was also beset by the vast difference in attitudes within the constituency. Local governments had no traditional resource to deal
with animal "problems", and no long term policy to ever mitigate it. Legally the sheriff was expected to handle animal cases. Realistically the sheriffs manpower was needed for human legal matters.
Eventually the county governments began to work with the structure of the humane society. The synergism was often strained as the government felt it was their obligation to "work the best deal" and bargain
for services below their cost, expecting the volunteer organization to subsidize the citizen neglect. |
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Valley River Humane Society Today |
| The Valley River Humane Society Inc. is the result of several phases of evolution, learning, and even revolution. Today there is a working
relationship with the county governments but over 40% of all efforts are subsidized by the Society Thrift Shop. The donations of citizens and members and the sweat of an all volunteer staff make the financial
difference between a facility that only kills unwanted animals, to a humane entity that stresses animal adoptions, spay and neuter of all pets, and prosecution of animal abuse. |
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Our Shelter |
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In an unbelievable example of serendipity, the Valley River Humane Society was bequeathed an endowment from a Florida native who had never been
to the area. One of her friends had visited the mountains however and was impressed by the help the Society had given in rescuing a stray dog she had encountered during her trip. Her memory of that event led to the
suggestion the Society be included in the will of her friend. At the benefactor's death, the Society found itself able to fulfill
its dream of building a larger modern shelter.
That dream is now a reality! We will still find ourselves without many of the resources needed for our task, but we are able to shelter a larger
number of dogs and cats, we have a facility that a potential adopter can visit without dismay, and our volunteers and employees have a safe, modern environment.
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SPAY - NEUTER - ADOPT |
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PO Box 658, Murphy, NC 28906 - 7450 US 19, Marble, NC 28905
5 miles East of the Murphy, NC Wal-Mart Super Center - Look for the
Black Mailbox with "Humane Society" in
white letters
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828-837-2304 |
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Thank you for your support in helping the Valley
River Humane Society help the stray, abandoned and abused animals of your community!
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