Intake, adoptions at OCHS different in 2020
Getting a pet for the holiday is not uncommon, so the Oktibbeha County Humane Society wants to remind the people of Starkville that there are dogs and cats that need a new home.
OCHS Director of Development and Community Relations Martha Thomas said intake and adoption percentages were different this year.
“Like many local businesses and non-profit organizations, we’ve seen a drastic change to our operations since the pandemic started,” Thomas said. “That change including closing completely to the public, except for intakes, for a period of time. We stayed open for intake in case somebody needed to surrender a pet or if they find a stray animal, we continue to accept pets.
“In terms of adoptions, specifically, we have had a decrease in the number of adoptions. We actually look at statistics from November to
October of each year, so November to October of the year prior, we have had about 903 adoptions, and for this year, we have had about 752 adoptions. That’s about a 20% decrease in the number of adoptions. With that, we’ve actually had a decrease in the number of intakes, as well.”
Thomas said that OCHS has a number of theories as to why there has been a decrease in their intake and adoptions.
“It may be that people are home more, and kept better tabs on their pets so that they weren’t getting loose and having unwanted litters with neighboring pets,” Thomas said. “There are a couple theories we have as to why we’ve had a decrease in intake, but it’s pretty much corresponding. We’ve had a decrease in both adoptions and intakes this year.”
As 2021 begins and 2020 is left behind, Thomas hopes that their
adoption percentages return to normal soon.
“I do hope that as things return to ‘normal,’ (and) that we see more people at the shelter considering adoption as their best way of getting a pet,” Thomas said.
Thomas also gave gratitude to the community for supporting OCHS through the difficult times that the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has brought everyone, on behalf of the shelter.
“It is because of them being so supportive of OCHS and other non-profit organizations that serve our community that we have continued to remain open to accepting animals, and open to caring for our community’s helpless pets,” Thomas said of the community support. “Without that support, things would be drastically different. One thing I will mention about our statistics for this year, we have what’s called a ‘life-saving percentage,’ which means that all of the pets that come into our care at the shelter, and the percentage of those that get adopted out, returned to their owners, or transferred to our partner organization, that percentage saw a 94.5 increase over last year. It’s because of the support of our community. Whether it be donations, adopting, or interacting with us on social media, it’s because of that support that we were able to have that huge 94.5 life-saving percentage.”