TEXT BY JADRIAN KLINGER

All it takes is a quick tour of the facilities or a short conversation with a staff member to realize just how important the Humane Society of Harrisburg Area is to our community, and especially how utterly life-saving it is to all the dogs, cats, horses, rabbits, guinea pigs and lizards that have been given a second chance. 

There is no monetary profit to be gained in the business of saving and protecting animals. Like a volunteer fire company or any other similar organization that relies on the community for support, the Humane Society of Harrisburg Area (HSHA) runs on compassion. This compassion can be seen in the fact that every available space at HSHA – including what was once meant for administrative offices and conference rooms – houses a saved animal. The compassion can be seen in every cage or kennel that is home to a dog rescued from a cruelty investigation; or an older cat who once had home but its owner could no longer provide adequate care; or a stray that had been starving on the streets. And, most profoundly, it can be seen when a long-term resident finds a new home with a loving family.  

The HSHA covers all of Dauphin, Cumberland, Perry and Northern York Counties. Last year, the HSHA took in 6,000 animals. Currently, it provides shelter and care for more than 550 animals, which also happens to be their capacity. Pushing the limits of capacity is nothing new to HSHA. “Our conference room and additional office space has not been used as a conference room or office for more than three years,” says Kelly Hitz, Director of Public Relations at HSHA. “There will be times, especially in the warmer months when there’s more animals on the streets running stray, that we will get a dog in and have to hold it in the lobby until we can rearrange things to make space. Oftentimes I or another staff member will take an animal home for the night because of the lack of space. Foster families are a big help in these circumstances.”

There are many reasons for the overcrowding: the lack of spaying and neutering, the lack of funding, irresponsible breeding, the all-too-common cruelty cases and HSHA’s commitment to never euthanizing an adoptable animal. “We don’t use the phrase ‘no kill’ here,” says Hitz. “If an animal is too aggressive to adopt – even after extensive behavior care – or too sick where its quality of life is suffering, we will euthanize it. But, we will not put down any adoptable animal that can be reasonably treated. We don’t put animals down for lack of space or length of stay. They stay as long as it takes to find them a home.”

The “pit bull situation” – as it’s been termed – also exacerbates the overcrowding. The HSHA has a huge population of pit bulls. In fact, the majority of dogs housed at HSHA are pit bulls. Again, irresponsible breeding and the lack of spaying and neutering play a huge role in the large number of pit bulls, but other factors contribute to the situation. “Misperception about pit bulls is huge. The media often portrays pit bulls in a negative light,” explains Hitz. “You always hear about a pit bull bite, but if a golden retriever bites, you never hear about that. And there’s not nearly as many people coming here who want to adopt a pit bull. So they stay here the longest and we have the most of them.”

HSHA is unique in their approach and treatment of pit bulls, which goes far to explaining why they have so many pit bulls compared to other shelters. The HSHA prides itself on being one the most open shelters to the breed. “Most shelters will not accept pit bulls. Some shelters won’t even put them on their adoption floors. Even if they’re a good dog, they’ll put them down,” says Hitz. “But we embrace the breed, and we give them just as much of chance as we give any dog. Rather than being victim to the breed, we choose to educate people as to what great dogs they really are.”

In addition to housing so many animals, the HSHA provides our community with a number of programs, such as Crisis Assistance, Behavior Support, Veterinary Support and Cruelty Investigation. 

The Crisis Assistance program offers help in two ways: the Pet Food Bank and Safe Haven. The Pet Food Bank stores any excess of donated foods for needy pets in the community. Pet owners who may be struggling to feed their pets can access the bank. The HSHA also partners with AniMeals, an organization that distributes pet food to elderly pet owners who participate in the Meals on Wheels program. With the Safe Haven program, HSHA has partnered with Domestic Violence Services of Cumberland & Perry Counties and the YWCA of Greater Harrisburg to provide short-term emergency housing for dogs and cats owned by individuals or families in crisis within Central PA who are staying at a participating domestic violence shelter.

The Behavior Support program gives dogs who have challenging behavior problems that might impede adoption another chance at life by addressing and correcting these behaviors. HSHA also partners with PETCO to offer low-cost obedience training classes to adopters. The Veterinary Support program offers a variety of veterinary resources for pet owners, such as affordable Frontline and Science Diet products; low-cost vaccination and micro-chipping clinics; and spay or neuter clinics.

The Cruelty Investigation program investigates more than 3,000 animal cruelty complaints a year. HSHA in-house Humane Police Officer, William Sandstrom, has one of the most heartbreaking yet extremely rewarding jobs in society. To so many animals, Sandstrom truly is a hero in every sense of the word. “Ninety percent of my work is resolved through education and follow-ups on compliance,” admits Sandstrom. “More often than not individuals are just ignorant of the cruelty to animals laws.” 

While education is Sandstrom’s greatest tool, he has the authority to seize animals if a situation warrants it. “There will be circumstances where I get to a residence and I will see an animal that’s in serious life or death danger that demands my intervention,” says Sandstrom. “In these cases, I will seize the animal.” 

Most of Sandstrom’s stories are not for the faint of heart, but reality is sometimes hard to take. He tells his stories in the hopes that it will motivate public action and dissuade further animal cruelty. One story, in particular, has stayed with him because of the juxtaposition of terrible cruelty and a happy ending. “I once investigated a residence where I found a dog who was tied-up without food, water or shelter,” remembers Sandstrom. “Unfortunately, this is not uncommon. The extreme condition of the dog was what made it so startling. The dog was 20 pounds, but should have been 70 pounds. It was a walking corpse. I immediately seized the animal without much hope for its survival. By the time the case went to court – about 30 days – I had put close to 30 pounds back on the dog just by feeding it. He eventually survived and ended up in a really good home.”     

Sandstrom has seen more than his share of tragedy, but the cases where an animal is saved and justice (as described by Pennsylvania law) is brought to the offender make his job worthwhile. “Knowing that at the end of the day that I saved an animal’s life is the best part of my job,” he says. “To intervene and prevent an animal from dying is incredible. It’s really a great feeling.” 

That great feeling of helping an animal is what motivates HSHA. The community’s role in making a difference for animals is the most important factor in HSHA’s continual operation. “We are a privately funded, community funded organization,” says Amy Kaunas, Executive Director of HSHA. “We don’t receive funds from any national animal welfare organizations, and we don’t get state funding. Without community support, the HSHA does not exist.”

A famous philosopher once said that, “we can judge the heart of a man [or woman] by his [or her] treatment of animals.” By this standard, the staff members and supporters of HSHA and all the other organizations like it throughout the country can be judged to have enormous hearts full of compassion. Everyday, the HSHA makes a real difference in the lives of so many animals that want nothing more than to be loved. And it’s a good thing the people at HSHA have such big hearts because somehow they are able to provide all that love. All too often these big hearts go unrecognized, but fortunately for us, they get all the recognition they need from the animals they have saved. HBG