October is Adopt a Shelter Dog Month

At the Beatrice Humane Society, October is known for a different kind of change — it’s Adopt a Shelter Dog Month, a time when shelter dogs transform or “fall” into their roll of adopted, loved, and cherished family members.

Adopt a Shelter Dog Month is a great time to celebrate all of the amazing adoption successes, but it’s also an opportunity for us to reflect on a sobering reality: the euthanasia of healthy and treatable pets in shelters across the nation. We are fortunate to live in Gage County, which is an amazing bubble of animals lovers who support our mission and our work to stay well above the standards to call ourselves a leader in animal welfare and a no-kill shelter. Despite our amazing community, pet overpopulation is still a nationwide problem and until the nation works together and we all accept it as “our problem too” we will never beat it. Every unplanned litter of puppies, even here in Gage County, is one more dog or puppy that can’t be helped from surrounding areas that are not supported by our amazing community. It’s a stark reminder of the overpopulation problem and the urgent need for affordable spays and neuters to prevent pet overpopulation, but also for potential adopters to hear the call. There is no better time to save a life AND meet your new best four-legged friend than right now.

The Beatrice Humane Society, along with shelters everywhere, knows that decreasing pet overpopulation through affordable spay and neuter procedures, along with promoting adoption, is the most effective way to minimize shelter euthanasia across the country. Its one of the reasons we opened our Low Cost Spay and Neuter Clinic in 2023, which has already helped spay and neuter more than 4,000 cats and dogs. If your pet is in need of a spay or neuter, appointments can be requested on our website or by calling the Beatrice Humane Society at 402-228-9100 and selecting Option 2 when prompted. We will continue to provide this invaluable pet overpopulation prevention service, while also continuing to provide the best adoption process, we can so we can help as many animals as we can in our community and beyond.

With October being Adopt a Shelter Dog month, we think it’s important to educate the public about the plight of shelter animals and the importance of adoption. Sometimes we have to pause to dispel myths about shelter dogs, such as the misconception that they are damaged or problematic. In reality, these dogs often end up in shelters through no fault of their own, due to reasons like owner surrender, lack of space or financial constraints. Since the pandemic, the No. 1 reason pets have been relinquished to shelters across the country has not been behavioral or even medical; it has been because of a decrease in the availability and affordability of pet friendly housing coupled with financial stress. None of which create bad or unadoptable dogs.

Take Shiba for example, she is a young adult couch potato. She can’t wait for a home that will take her on leisurely walks and then curl up to watch TV all night. She would thrive in almost any home as long as there are no little critters (mice, rats, rabbits, small kittens, squirrels etc.) to torment her. She will be an amazing dog in almost any home, and she can’t wait to find that forever sofa to nap on.

At the Beatrice Humane Society, we take pride in our thorough adoption preparation process, which includes health checks, vaccinations, spaying or neutering, and other preventative care. We also take pride in our unique dog adoption match-making process. While many shelters (historically us, too) allow people to walk through the dog kennels and pick dogs based off of looks and kennel behavior, we found a silver lining during COVID. With our dog kennels closed to walk-thrus, our dogs slept and played and chewed on bones in their kennels rather than spending the whole day stressing and barking at strangers.

But wait … if the public can’t walk through the kennels, how do you know who to adopt? Its easy — scroll through the photos and bios on our website. Make a list of dogs that fit your basic size, gender or breed criteria. Put in an application on any one of the dogs you are interested in, then give us a call. We will schedule a time for you to come in with your family, including children and any resident dogs, to meet the dogs on your list. You will spend time one-on-one getting to meet the dogs you are interested in, talking to our adoption counselors and learning all you need to know about the dog you are wanting to take home. Then take it home — almost all of our dogs are available to go home the same day.

We are so thankful to live in a community that supports our organization and the animals we care for, all the way to their mental health. But we get it; some people want what they want and want to walk through the dog kennels just to look even though it is not as good mentally for the dogs. We highly encourage those potential adopters to visit our rescue partners, Nebraska Humane Society in Omaha and Capital Humane Society in Lincoln, or any other shelter or rescue. We support adopting wherever you find the perfect match.

Let’s make a difference this October and beyond. Adopt, don’t shop, and join the movement to save lives and create happy endings for shelter dogs everywhere. Together, we can work towards a future where every pet has a place to call home. For more information on how you can get involved, visit the Beatrice Humane Society’s website or stop by in person to see the positive impact you can make.

P.S. Best Friends Animal Sanctuary says that if 15% of people that will buy a dog next year, adopt a dog instead, every single dog in shelters will be able to be adopted and not euthanized for space. What an amazing world that would be to live in.