There is an overpopulation of pets in this country. In other words, there are more pets than there are homes for these pets. Some of these unwanted pets end up living on the street. Others get luckier and end up in a shelter. Regardless, all these pets want only one thing: a loving home. The Capital Humane Society seeks to find these homes.
Unfortunately, there are not enough homes for all the pets that are abandoned, left behind or tossed aside. This organization helps to provide care for these pets. The organization puts a lot of work into helping pets find Forever Homes. They focus on educating the public on spaying and neutering their pets, as well as taking other measures to help ensure there aren’t more unwanted pets in the future.
Capital Humane Society’s Background
The Capital Humane Society is located in Lincoln, Nebraska. It began as the Lancaster County Humane Society. It comprises the Pieloch Pet Adoption Center and a spay/neuter vet clinic. There is also an admissions and assessment center, which is located at the organization’s original location on Park Boulevard in Lincoln.
The organization takes in cats, dogs, and rabbits, all of which are spayed or neutered before they leave the facility to be adopted. The Capitol Humane Society focuses on getting the animals in its care homed with loving families. That can provide the animal with everything it needs for a happy life. It also works to educate the public about animal care and how to be responsible animal owners. The organization also acts as an advocate for animals within the community.
The organization also takes in lost pets and works to reunite them with their owners. It even serves as a boarding kennel for owners who face an emergency and need somewhere for their pet to stay on a short-term basis. This service is provided free of charge for those suffering from domestic violence situations or received help from law enforcement or the American Red Cross.
How the Organization Helps
Beyond offering general services and housing for animals, the Capitol Humane Society works hard to promote good pet parenting and loving homes for animals. It works with pet owners to help them in any way possible to ensure pets stay in the home and are not displaced.
One main program is the spay and neuter clinic that helps pet owners ensure their pet won’t accidentally add to the pet overpopulation issue. The organization also has a special low-cost program for cat owners. Requirements for this special program include:
- The cat must be unaltered
- The owner must be low-income
- The owner must live in Lincoln or Lancaster County
In addition, the Capital Humane Society also offers other services to pet owners in the program, including microchips, deworming, vaccinations, and treatment for fleas and ticks. Finally, owners in the program will receive a voucher one year after surgery to get additional vaccinations needed.
Organizing Special Adoptions
The organization also has a special cat adoption program. It is designed for cats that have behavioral issues and would ideally need to live outside instead of in a home. This program works to find good outdoor homes for these cats outside city limits. Suitable homes include some type of shelter the cat can get in and out of on its own, such as a barn.
Beyond the cat-specific programs, the organization also helps with finding lost pets of any kind and provides information to the public on a range of pet ownership and related topics. It also offers programs for pet owners, such as a dog behavior class, which is designed to help train dogs to improve their manners and respond better to commands.
Overall, the Capital Humane Society works hard to help find every pet in its care a home while also making sure pets already in the community are being treated well. It wants to ensure that the public is educated in pet overpopulation issues and strives to get every pet spayed or neutered.
Capital Humane Society’s Ratings
Charity Navigator rates the Capital Humane Society with three out of four stars. They’ve awarded them an 85.09 out of 100 for financial responsibility and 89.00 out of 100 for transparency and accountability. It appears the CN rating for this charity is lower than expected due to the lack of information about its financial status and leadership on its website.
Capital Humane Society’s financial data
Tax-exempt organizations, nonexempt charitable trusts, and section 527 political organizations are required to file a Form 990 or 990EZ with the IRS.
Capital Humane Society’s most recent IRS Form 990 or 990EZ available is for 2017. The following financial data was extracted from the organization’s most recent publicly available tax filing for their fiscal year ending December 2017. This financial statement can give you a clearer picture of how they use their resources so you can make up your own mind.
Percentage of donations spent on services
- Total donations and grants: $1,334,656
- Spent on services and grants: $1,914,374
- Percentage of donations toward grants and services: 143.34 percent
Percentage of revenue spent on fundraising
- Total revenue: $2,485,684
- Fundraising expenses: $354,593
- Paid to professional fundraisers: $0.00
- Percentage of total revenue spent on fundraising: 14.26 percent
Administrative and overhead costs
- Overhead expenses: $165,923
- Property assets: $6,147,279
- Investment assets: $2,561,300
- Paid to Officers/Directors: $110,026
- Highest paid officer/director: CEO $110,026
- Percentage of Total Revenue spent on Officers/Directors Salaries: 4.42 percent
Getting Involved
Because the Capital Humane Society is a non-profit organization, it relies on help from the community to stay running and on track with its programs. There are many ways that you can get involved with the organization.
You can adopt an animal. Adoption allows a pet to find a home while also opens space in the shelter for another needy animal to take. If the shelter is too full, it isn’t able to help any new pets. Adopting an animal requires paying a fee to help cover the medical costs of the services the pet received from the Capital Humane Society, such as vaccinations, spay or neuter, and disease testing.
The organization also has a special program to help senior animals find homes. Often, older pets are hard to find homes for because people may want younger animals. These older animals may require more care and are coming to the end of their lives, which is something some people do not want to deal with. The program helps to match senior dogs with senior citizens. Senior dogs are age 5 or older, and the adoption fee is discounted by 50 percent through this program.
Long term foster program
If you are not sure about making a long-term commitment but still would love to help the animals, you could become a part of the foster program. Fostering allows animals to live in a home instead of in the shelter. It also allows for more animals to be cared for than the physical restrictions of the shelter allow.
As a foster parent to a pet, you help prepare it for adoption. You work as a volunteer and take the animal into your home. You will be required to apply to foster and meet certain requirements before you can start taking pets into your home.
Volunteer
Some people cannot have pets live with them for various reasons. If this is your situation, then you may want to volunteer with the Capital Humane Society at its location. Volunteers are needed for various things.
The organization relies heavily on volunteers to keep things running because it is a non-profit. If you want to volunteer, you could help in many ways, such as:
- Spending time with the animals
- Helping to keep the grounds clean
- Assisting at events
- Providing education in the community
Volunteering is similar to a paid job where you have to undergo training before you start to work. You are assigned tasks and times to accomplish them. Though you are in control of when you work, the program does require a minimum commitment for volunteering — once a week for at least six months if you are working directly with the animals.
Donating
There are plenty of other ways to help that do not require a significant commitment of time or energy. These include donating supplies and needed items, giving money, and coming in to visit the animals. Some people even choose to leave money for the organization through their estates. The Capital Humane Society is also the right place for community service projects and even court-appointed volunteering.
It is only through support from people in the community that the Capital Humane Society can continue operations. The organization works hard to provide for animals in the shelter and those that have homes. To do this requires money and plenty of people putting in their time to ensure all the animals are well taken care of, and all the programs are run properly.
Pitch in To Help the Capital Humane Society
If you have a soft spot for animals. The work that the Capital Humane Society does probably will touch your heart. Fighting the issue of pet overpopulation is a battle that we may never win. But for every sad story, there are hundreds of good stories about pets who found loving homes. Only by providing proper education to the public and by offering free and low-cost spay/neuter services can people can end the problem of homeless animals.
Capital Humane Society works very hard to help ensure people who already own pets are best pet owners possible. They offer many programs and provide information to help people who may be struggling with their pets. They try to provide support so that pets can stay in their homes and not surrendered to the shelter.
Capital Humane Society also works hard to find good homes for the pets in their care at the organization. Animals are so precious, and they rely on humans to fulfill all their needs, from lovable kittens to senior dogs. This organization leaves no pet behind when it comes to working hard to find them a Forever Home. No animal should be subjected to a life without a loving home. The primary goal of Capital Humane Society to make sure that doesn’t happen to any animal in its care.