TUCSON, AZ – A local Tucson group of Good Samaritans left for Texas last week with a horse trailer full of animal supplies to help assist shelters in need in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.

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HSSA Chief Operations Officer, Brandy Burke,  encouraged the team to get in touch with the larger groups working in the Texas area (HSUS, ASPCA, Best Friends, etc.), to make sure they didn’t accidentally take dogs that may just be temporarily separated from their families. What the team found, when they arrived at the surrounding areas, was that most of the smaller Humane Society groups were inundated with existing pets, and no one was helping them. The team’s leader, Megan Rombalski, contacted a local animal hospital in Greenville, Texas, asking if they could help her team rescue a few dogs from some of the groups most in need.

Megan called around 10am on Friday morning, saying she had a trailer full of dogs and they were an hour outside of Tucson. She asked if HSSA could take some of them in, and of course the answer was yes!

Close to a dozen Texas dogs now call HSSA their temporary safety net, until they find new families here in Southern Arizona.

TUCSON, Arizona – On Tuesday, March 14, the Marana Town Council voted 5-2 to proceed with negotiations with The Humane Society of Southern Arizona (HSSA) to provide animal sheltering services.

Town Manager Gilbert Davidson says “The Humane Society shares the regional view of providing for the compassionate care and treatment of animals. The Town of Marana is looking forward to exploring how we can partner with them to provide the best possible service for our residents.”

“We are very proud to be considered by the Town of Marana to assist them in their efforts to have the best proactive animal care for their animals. HSSA transfers in around 1,600 animals every year from local communities, we take in another 1,200 or so strays from Pima County, and we take in 3,400 animals whose owners can no longer care for them. No matter how they enter our shelter, every animal we take in receives the best possible care,” says Brandy Burke, Chief Operations Officer.

The Humane Society of Southern Arizona expects to take in around 600 animals a year from Marana.

 “The services we’ll be providing to Marana will be absolutely in line with our mission and our No Kill philosophy. We practice the 11 tenets of the No Kill movement, which means we never euthanize an animal for space or time. We are 100% committed to every animal entering our care. We are honored that the Town of Marana would entrust us with this responsibility,”  says Christian Gonzalez, Director of Operations.

Currently the Town uses the services of the Pima County Animal Care Center (PACC) which contract  expires July 1. The new agreement with the Humane Society will need to be in place by that time and is expected to cost the town $212,000 per year according to estimates by town officials. Marana would then hire two animal control officers to pick up strays and deliver them to the Humane Society. Town officials were not available Wednesday to discuss any cost savings or changes to service the move would bring.

Tucson, AZ – The Humane Society of Southern Arizona (HSSA) is working hard on fundraising to complete its new Animal Welfare Campus at 635 W Roger Road in Tucson. The new 37,884-square-foot Campus broke ground on Wednesday, December 14th with a total price tag for the facility at $10 million ($264 PSF) with 5.27 acres of land; $7 million has been raised and about $3 million more to go.

This week, the HSSA also announced it was able to assist in a successful Animal Cruelty prosecution in Graham County, Arizona.

On August 26th, HSSA visited the Graham County Animal Control (GCAC) facility to transfer dogs to HSSA, in an effort to alleviate over-crowding at GCAC. Robert Hernandez, Graham County Animal Control Officer, showed HSSA staff three special dogs. These dogs had been found tied out in the desert and were picked up by GCAC officer. One of the dogs was in need of emergency medical care due to injuries to his head and ear. Another of the dogs was severely emaciated and the third had minor injuries.

Brandy Burke, HSSA Chief Operations Officer said, “As a humane organization, we understood the need for these dogs to receive emergency medical care and had them transported to the local veterinarian (Desert Cross Veterinary Hospital) to receive treatment, since CGAC does not have the facilities or resources to house and treat injured animals.” Once stabilized, the dogs were sent to HSSA for further care and housing.

The Animal Cruelty Investigation team at HSSA (also members of the Animal Cruelty Taskforce of Southern Arizona [ACT]), gathered evidence, veterinary statements and photographs to pass on to the Graham County Attorney’s Office. Scott Adams, Deputy County Attorney for Graham County, took on the case. This would be his first animal cruelty case. HSSA and ACT assisted Mr. Adams with putting together a successful prosecution case against the owner of the dogs. The owner pled guilty and received 24 months’ probation, the inability to house, own, or otherwise possess, any animals for the duration of probation, and was required to forfeit ownership of the three dogs at HSSA, as well as all other animals she currently owned.

“This is a huge step forward for the animal community. Smaller towns and counties are showing the public that animal cruelty is not acceptable no matter where you live, and that it will not be tolerated.” says Michelle Kleckner, HSSA Operations Coordinator and Animal Cruelty Investigative Assistant. “Mr. Adams, the Graham County Attorney’s office and Robert Hernandez, ACO, all worked diligently to get these dogs justice. I am eternally grateful.”

Two of the three dogs, now named Guinevere and Lancelot, have fully recovered and have already been adopted. Arthur, the dog with the facial injuries, is still undergoing therapy, as it was also discovered that he had a crushed hip which required surgery and physical therapy. He will not be available for adoption until he has been medically cleared, but will remain in HSSA’s care until that time.