Avery County Great: Avery County Humane Society
What makes Avery County great?
Most Avery County residents know that our county is a great place. The people, the landscape, the serenity and much more make Avery County a great place to live, work, learn and play. At The Avery Journal-Times, we believe that a big part of what makes Avery County great is the people, businesses and organizations that work throughout the county to keep our communities vibrant, engaging, wholesome and safe. Every two weeks, The Avery Journal-Times will feature one such exceptional group or person to spread the word on the good work being done throughout Avery County.
Few organizations in Avery County touch as many lives as Avery County Humane Society. Of course, there are hundreds of families for whom ACHS has provided loving pets through its adoption program, but every person who resides in Avery County also benefits in ways that might not be evident.
How would Avery County be different without ACHS? According to Rachel Deal, who sits on ACHS’s board of directors, the answer is fairly straightforward.
“You would be covered up with dogs and cats,” said Deal. “I have worked with Avery County Humane Society for 30 years. You can ask a lot of people in the county, you used to see stray dogs and cats all over the roads. Some of them had been hit and killed. Now, you see very few animals on the road.”
According to Laurie Vierheller, ACHS’s executive director, the humane society provides a unique tool for ensuring the health of pets and animals in Avery County.
“The humane society’s goal is to make sure that animals are healthy and are in good homes,” said Vierheller. “Without the humane society, you would have no vehicle in Avery County to make sure that happens.” Further, added Vierheller, the benefits of pet ownership go beyond companionship.
“We know that when people have animals in their lives, they are healthier. Many studies have shown us that animals are good for encouraging people to exercise, good for people’s blood pressure and good for people’s cholesterol,” said Vierheller, explaining that by keeping animals healthy, ACHS helps keep Avery residents healthy. “Our goal is to do everything we can to make animals healthy and make our community healthy.”
Even for pet owners who did not adopt a pet through ACHS’s adoption program, ACHS provides a valuable service by keeping infectious diseases under control.
“Right now we take in homeless or abused animal,” explained Vierheller. “We treat them for any medical issues. We make sure they are immunized. We make sure they have been wormed. We give them rabies vaccinations. We also vaccinate them against other types of diseases like distemper and parvo. Those diseases are contagious. So, by immunizing that animal, we are not just helping that animal. We are preventing that animal from contracting diseases that they could spread to other animals in the community.”
By keeping stray populations under control and preventing the spread of diseases, ACHS benefits everyone in Avery County, but the most direct beneficiaries are always those who adopt dogs or cats through ACHS’s adoption program. Pets in the adoption program are not simply handed out, however, each pet is vaccinated, spayed or neutered and observed to ensure an ideal match for each dog or cat.
“We assess them for behavior issues that could make them a risk to adopting families,” said Vierheller. If behavior issues are a concern, she explained, then the ACHS staff members take it upon themselves to help train the animal as much as possible to help address those problems.
The adoption program is the front-runner in a long list of services ACHS provides, including assistance with the cost of vaccinations, spay/neuter and other medical needs for pets whose owners may need financial assistance in keeping their pets healthy.
The future looks bright for ACHS, as a number of new programs, including a program to control feral cat populations by trapping the cats, spaying/neutering them and releasing them, are on the horizon. The brightest point on the horizon for ACHS, however, is the impending opening of its new facility located behind Ingles in Newland. According to Vierheller, the new facility will not only allow ACHS to help more animals, but provide a broader range of services for pet owners and educational programming for the community.
“It’s a good location because all of Avery County can come to the new center,” said Deal. “It will be very accessible now that it is in the center of the county.”
Vierheller emphasized that the new center has been made possible thanks to the cooperation and assistance of Avery County Board of Commissioners, which leased the land to ACHS for it to construct the new facility. While the lease is slated for 99 years, the drop in the economy has put ACHS into a position where it will need to borrow money to complete the new facility. In order to do so, ACHS will need to own the property to qualify for a loan, according to Vierheller. Because of this, ACHS has begun negotiations with the county to purchase the land, which includes approximately four acres.
When the new facility opens, Vierheller emphasized that the new facility would require a substantial volunteer force to operate at full capacity. According to Vierheller, each hour of volunteer time saves ACHS approximately $20. This means that volunteering only one hour each week is equivalent to a financial contribution of $1,040 over the course of a year. Further, volunteers can help with any number of tasks, from caring for animals to office work to fundraising.
Anyone interesting in contributing to ACHS by volunteering should click to http://www.averyhumane.org or call (828) 733-6312 or (866) 473-6312.
Do you know of a business or group that makes Avery County great?
If you know of a business or organization that does its part to help make Avery County great, and would like to see it featured in a future edition of this section, send an email to (matthew.hundley@averyjournal.com) with the name of the business or organization and an explanation of 100 words or less that describes what that group is doing to help make Avery County the wonderful place it is.
Most Avery County residents know that our county is a great place. The people, the landscape, the serenity and much more make Avery County a great place to live, work, learn and play. At The Avery Journal-Times, we believe that a big part of what makes Avery County great is the people, businesses and organizations that work throughout the county to keep our communities vibrant, engaging, wholesome and safe. Every two weeks, The Avery Journal-Times will feature one such exceptional group or person to spread the word on the good work being done throughout Avery County.
Few organizations in Avery County touch as many lives as Avery County Humane Society. Of course, there are hundreds of families for whom ACHS has provided loving pets through its adoption program, but every person who resides in Avery County also benefits in ways that might not be evident.
How would Avery County be different without ACHS? According to Rachel Deal, who sits on ACHS’s board of directors, the answer is fairly straightforward.
“You would be covered up with dogs and cats,” said Deal. “I have worked with Avery County Humane Society for 30 years. You can ask a lot of people in the county, you used to see stray dogs and cats all over the roads. Some of them had been hit and killed. Now, you see very few animals on the road.”
According to Laurie Vierheller, ACHS’s executive director, the humane society provides a unique tool for ensuring the health of pets and animals in Avery County.
“The humane society’s goal is to make sure that animals are healthy and are in good homes,” said Vierheller. “Without the humane society, you would have no vehicle in Avery County to make sure that happens.” Further, added Vierheller, the benefits of pet ownership go beyond companionship.
“We know that when people have animals in their lives, they are healthier. Many studies have shown us that animals are good for encouraging people to exercise, good for people’s blood pressure and good for people’s cholesterol,” said Vierheller, explaining that by keeping animals healthy, ACHS helps keep Avery residents healthy. “Our goal is to do everything we can to make animals healthy and make our community healthy.”
Even for pet owners who did not adopt a pet through ACHS’s adoption program, ACHS provides a valuable service by keeping infectious diseases under control.
“Right now we take in homeless or abused animal,” explained Vierheller. “We treat them for any medical issues. We make sure they are immunized. We make sure they have been wormed. We give them rabies vaccinations. We also vaccinate them against other types of diseases like distemper and parvo. Those diseases are contagious. So, by immunizing that animal, we are not just helping that animal. We are preventing that animal from contracting diseases that they could spread to other animals in the community.”
By keeping stray populations under control and preventing the spread of diseases, ACHS benefits everyone in Avery County, but the most direct beneficiaries are always those who adopt dogs or cats through ACHS’s adoption program. Pets in the adoption program are not simply handed out, however, each pet is vaccinated, spayed or neutered and observed to ensure an ideal match for each dog or cat.
“We assess them for behavior issues that could make them a risk to adopting families,” said Vierheller. If behavior issues are a concern, she explained, then the ACHS staff members take it upon themselves to help train the animal as much as possible to help address those problems.
The adoption program is the front-runner in a long list of services ACHS provides, including assistance with the cost of vaccinations, spay/neuter and other medical needs for pets whose owners may need financial assistance in keeping their pets healthy.
The future looks bright for ACHS, as a number of new programs, including a program to control feral cat populations by trapping the cats, spaying/neutering them and releasing them, are on the horizon. The brightest point on the horizon for ACHS, however, is the impending opening of its new facility located behind Ingles in Newland. According to Vierheller, the new facility will not only allow ACHS to help more animals, but provide a broader range of services for pet owners and educational programming for the community.
“It’s a good location because all of Avery County can come to the new center,” said Deal. “It will be very accessible now that it is in the center of the county.”
Vierheller emphasized that the new center has been made possible thanks to the cooperation and assistance of Avery County Board of Commissioners, which leased the land to ACHS for it to construct the new facility. While the lease is slated for 99 years, the drop in the economy has put ACHS into a position where it will need to borrow money to complete the new facility. In order to do so, ACHS will need to own the property to qualify for a loan, according to Vierheller. Because of this, ACHS has begun negotiations with the county to purchase the land, which includes approximately four acres.
When the new facility opens, Vierheller emphasized that the new facility would require a substantial volunteer force to operate at full capacity. According to Vierheller, each hour of volunteer time saves ACHS approximately $20. This means that volunteering only one hour each week is equivalent to a financial contribution of $1,040 over the course of a year. Further, volunteers can help with any number of tasks, from caring for animals to office work to fundraising.
Anyone interesting in contributing to ACHS by volunteering should click to http://www.averyhumane.org or call (828) 733-6312 or (866) 473-6312.
Do you know of a business or group that makes Avery County great?
If you know of a business or organization that does its part to help make Avery County great, and would like to see it featured in a future edition of this section, send an email to (matthew.hundley@averyjournal.com) with the name of the business or organization and an explanation of 100 words or less that describes what that group is doing to help make Avery County the wonderful place it is.