Member Spotlight: Sonoma Humane Society

My first impression walking into the adoption area of the Sonoma Humane Society was one of happiness and hope. The entire area was so bright and cheerful that it made me smile. It was immediately apparent that this was a team that truly cared about every sweet and loving animal that walks in their door.

The Sonoma Humane Society has been a hero to countless numbers of dogs, cats, rabbits and other companion animals. In 1931, a group of compassionate citizens came together for the purpose of providing better treatment for homeless animals. In fact, each year about 2,600 animals are provided a safe haven through their Santa Rosa facility. They are an independent non-profit funded solely on the generosity and compassion of the community. Executive Director, Cindy Roach is proud of the team that takes an individualistic approach to the treatment of the animals in their care. Roach explains that there is no one solution that works on every animal. Every animal receives full medical and behavioral care and all the time needed to find their new forever home.

I took a tour of the beautiful facility and am really impressed with their operations. They have a large hospital specifically for the treatment of shelter animals. Their fee for service operations also includes a public veterinary hospital, an extensive schedule of public behavior and training classes and a low cost spay and neuter clinic for the community. While all animals are spayed or neutered before adoption, their donor funded clinic provides an astonishing 3,500 spays and neuters each year for those pet owners who qualify as low income.

The Sonoma Humane Society depends on about 700 active volunteers. During the tour, I met a few friendly volunteers on their way to take dogs out to get exercise and cuddle with injured and shy cats. The shelter also relies on their foster and “fospice” volunteers. The foster program allows animals to live in a home to recover from surgery or illnesses or wait to be adopted. The fospice program is designed for elderly or very sick animals that need end of life care. The Society provides training, medicine and food and the foster and fospice volunteers provide love and open their homes to these animals most in need. They are seeking more foster volunteers as kitten season approaches. They expect 500 kittens starting in the spring through early fall.

There are a number of ways to help Sonoma Humane Society. The first is to volunteer. They are always looking for animal lovers to provide companionship and care to the shelter animals. The second is to help by adopting. There are many perfectly-imperfect animals waiting for a home. They also seek supplies for their Pet Pantry which provides resources for seniors and others in need of help keeping their pets in their homes. They are currently in need of dry and wet cat and dog food and flea treatment which can be dropped off daily. Also, they are gearing up for their annual Wags, Whiskers & Wine gala in August. All proceeds go towards support for their Shelter Medical Program. You will find more details about the gala and other programs at SonomaHumane.org.

If you have not, I recommend you visit. You may be familiar with their entrance on Highway 12. You will see the metal Big Dog sculpture by artist Patrick Amiot as you enter. They are open 7 days a week from 12-6pm. The Santa Rosa Metro Chamber commends Sonoma Humane Society for all they do for our animals in need. We appreciate your continued partnership and wish you much success!