Humane Society of Tuolumne County

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We do not euthanize an animal unless our team agrees its quality of life is critically compromised. In other words, the animal has to be a danger to itself or others, or have a non-curable disease. One person does not make this decision. A Review Committee, which includes the Shelter Manager and the Kennel and Cattery Managers, as well as members of the Board of Directors and volunteers in good standing, explore every other option before the decision is made. We have a 97% success rate at our shelter.

During County-wide emergencies our crew of staff & volunteers assist Animal Control with pet rescue and providing temporary shelter during evacuations. We also provide FREE DOG AND CAT FOOD to low income pet owners.

We are actively involved in county wide Humane Education-promoting resonsible pet ownership. We provide classes free of charge to children, teens and adults. To arrange a class/presentation, please call our shelter during the business hours of 9am to 3pm Monday through Saturday or email us at shelter@hsotc.org

We work closely with animal control in that we bring over adoptable dogs from them to adopt out from our shelter. This is after the animal has gone through the steps necessary by law to become adoptable, and once we agree the animal is adoptable as well. Our few employees' salaries are paid SOLELY by donations and supporters. This is why we rely heavily on the generosity of our local community and volunteers to assist us with the daily operations of the shelter.

Every adoption includes a FREE visit with a participating Vet, a FREE bag of food, animal’s medical history and plenty of educational material on building your relationship with your new best friend. We offer a 4-day medical guarantee ensuring you a healthy pet.

We have a net loss of $205 on every dog and $80 on every cat adopted out. This is because we spend money to care for each of our animals, including vaccinated and spaying or neutering them. It costs $100 to adopt an altered dog, and $55 to adopt an altered cat. Local veterinarians in Tuolumne County assist us with spaying and neutering.

We accept as many animals for adoption that our donations and volunteers can support. There is no limit on how long an animal stays in our shelter. Most pets are adopted within a few weeks of arrival. We are a "limited intake" shelter-which means we choose which animals enter our shelter, and to whom we will adopt them.

There are in excess of 60,000 people living in Tuolumne county. Over 90% of them have pets, yet we only have 1,100 members-a mere 1% of our county population. Becoming a member of the Humane Society has nominal annual fees, yet makes a vast difference in our ability to care for the homeless animals in our shelter. Being a member also has many other benefits. To become a member, log onto our web site at www.hsotc.org and click on the REGISTER NOW LINK on the left.