VHS News

Remembering Margie Cox

Feb 15, 2024

Remembering Margie Cox

Last week we lost a treasured member of our VHS family. Margie Cox volunteered and fostered for the VHS (along with her daughter Cheri) for more than 23 years. When we look back at our recent history, it’s very difficult to imagine without Margie. In fact, she and Cheri were there the day that we moved into our current facility in June of 2004. Our team of staff & volunteers moved cats first, and the plan was to go back the next day for the dogs. But someone from the group said, &...

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VHS Receives One of Six National HSUS Mentorships

Nov 13, 2023

The Vanderburgh Humane Society leadership team is incredibly proud to share that they have received a 2024 Humane Society of the United States Community Cat Mentorship. Only six organizations in the entire country received Mentorships for 2024: two organizations in each of the three Mentorship categories. According to HSUS, "These six organizations have displayed a strong commitment to their communities, and we look forward to working with them in 2024. Each will be diving deep into ei...

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VHS Receives $40,000 Petco Love Grant

Jun 01, 2023

The Vanderburgh Humane Society is thrilled to announce that we have received a lifesaving investment of $40,000 from Petco Love. This investment will help us retain compassionate, experienced, and knowledgeable staff that help make sure our animals are well cared for, and help us support the volunteers and foster families that enable us to save more lives!Petco Love is a national nonprofit leading change for pets by harnessing the power of love to make communities and pet families closer, strong...

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VHS and Animal Control Team Up To Save More Pets!

Feb 27, 2023

VHS and Animal Control Team Up To Save More Pets!

Vanderburgh Humane Society Teams Up with Evansville Animal Care & Control and Best Friends Animal Society to Save More Animals[Evansville, Indiana] — The Vanderburgh Humane Society is partnering with Evansville Animal Care & Control and Best Friends Animal Society as part of Best Friends’ Prince and Paws Shelter Collaborative Program with a goal of increasing a live release rate from 61% to 90% for dogs and cats entering Evansville Animal Care & Control. In all, Best...

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2022 In Review: The Numbers Are In!

Feb 08, 2023

The VHS’ annual infographic is here! We are excited to announce that the VHS reached a 93% save rate in 2022, placing the shelter above the national “no-kill” industry threshold and achieving our highest live release rate to date.Some Highlights:Adoptions slowed down significantly while Intakes remained about the same… which resulted in fuller shelters and longer lengths of stay for the animals. This has been the case for organizations across the United States.Despite it...

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VHS Clinic Completes 100,000th Spay/Neuter Surgery

Dec 13, 2022

VHS Clinic Completes 100,000th Spay/Neuter Surgery

VHS LOW-COST SPAY & NEUTER CLINIC COMPLETES MILESTONE 100,000TH SURGERYOn Tuesday, December 13th the VHS Low-Cost Spay & Neuter Clinic will perform its 100,000th surgery! This is an extraordinary milestone that the entire Vanderburgh Humane Society team is so excited to achieve! History & ContextThe Vanderburgh Humane Society moved into its current facility in June of 2004. At that time, the interior buildout for the future Spay & Neuter Clinic was finished… but it co...

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23 Cats Dumped on VHS Doorstep

Jul 11, 2022

The morning of July 11th, our first few staff members arrived to find four containers on our back porch containing TWENTY THREE cats total. Some are older, some are newborn babies. The photo at left is some of them.The photo at right is of our overflow room… ALREADY full of floor cages because we have no space, even prior to the 23 dumped cats. We will be honest: population levels have not been this unsustainable in over 5 years. Many other shelters nationwide are facing similar cris...

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Mutt's Morning Out

Mar 05, 2022

Mutt's Morning Out

The Vanderburgh Humane Society's Mutt's Morning Out program allows members of the general public to take a VHS shelter dog “out on the town” for a couple of hours! This canine enrichment dog day trip program is the first of its kind in our region and has been a huge success since its launch in 2019.Life in a kennel 23 hours a day can be very stressful on a dog’s psyche. It is emotionally upsetting for them, particularly when they have always been used to family life and...

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Animal Hoarding Case: 58 Cats Arrive at VHS

Dec 19, 2021

Animal Hoarding Case: 58 Cats Arrive at VHS

Harrison County Animal Shelter called us on Friday, December 17, to ask for assistance with an animal hoarding case involving 58 cats in a single-wide trailer home in Perry County. No other shelter had the capacity to take on this case, but after some scrambling, we said yes.Two hours later, all 58 cats arrived at our door. They are shaken and sick, but stable. Medical processing is ongoing, but our intakes team has already noted injuries requiring surgical correction, sympotms of neurological d...

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Work at the VHS!

Jun 04, 2021

Work at the VHS!

Join our team! The Vanderburgh Humane Society currently has openings for:FULL-TIME ANIMAL CARE TECHNICIAN (1)Physical/Mental Demands:Repetitive bending, scrubbing, daily exposure to cleaning and disinfecting agents (PPE provided)Daily laundry & dishes with use of chemicals & detergent such as bleach and Rescue disinfectantExposure to, and controlled handling of, various species of animals including:dogs of all sizes, breeds, strengths, temperaments, and energy levels (mostly large dogs)c...

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VHS Acquires Full Ownership of River Kitty Cat Cafe

Nov 20, 2019

VHS Acquires Full Ownership of River Kitty Cat Cafe

As announced at the press conference on November 20th, the Vanderburgh Humane Society and the owners of River Kitty Cat Café have entered into a purchase agreement. The VHS has assumed all ownership and operations of River Kitty effective November 18, 2019!River Kitty Cat Café at 226 Main Street opened in July of 2017 under the ownership of Annette Gries and Nancy Drake, two local cat lovers. They brought an international trend to Evansville shortly before it even reached major nea...

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