The Humane Society is a nonprofit organization founded in 1954 that works to end animal cruelty and find animals safe and loving homes.

All Humane Society shelters across the United States are independent, so they have their own rules and regulations.

The animal rescue helps thousands of animals every year through its sanctuary work and animal care services. The mission of the Humane Society is to build a stronger animal protection movement and create positive changes for all animals.

Destiny Vandeput, director of communications, marketing and public relations at the Humane Society of North Texas said the Society is a kill-free shelter that works hard to ensure animals are placed in homes with caring families. 

“We have so many community outreaches that we do that I really think makes us stand apart,” Vanedput said.

One of Vandeput’s favorites is called ‘Rae of Hope.’

“We looked up the most under-served ZIP codes in the Fort Worth area and said that we will provide free vet care to any senior citizens who are in those areas.”

Vandeput added that the Humane Society of North Texas is 100% funded by the public and does not receive any money from the city of Fort Worth.

“The donations are literally what keeps our door open,” Vandeput said. “It keeps our staff paid.

Other than monetary donations, the organization depends on items that help the animals they take care of.

“We have so many people who will come by and donate newspapers, magazines and old towels that we use for the puppies,” said Vandeput. “There’s so many different ways that you can donate. Donate your time, volunteer here. We wouldn’t exist without our community donating either time, money or resources.”

Vandeput spoke of how the Humane Society of North Texas is not exclusive and the overall goal is to see pets placed and they will do whatever it takes to make that happen. She added that partnering with other organizations helps to assist with the adoption process and to achieve their goal of finding animals a home.

“One of our partners is PetSmart and they provided us a grant of $4,000 to be able to help subsidize adoption fees so this week and this weekend all of our pets at those PetSmart locations are only $20 to adopt,” Vandeput said.

Jannie Miller, foster and volunteer manager at the Humane Society of North Texas explains how the rescue does the adoptions with help from those organizations that they partner with and the resources they obtain. 

“We have four offsite adoption centers that only focus on adoptions, which is amazing,” Miller said. 

The organizations host adoption events at local pet stores like Petco or PetSmart every weekend.

They also reach out to rural areas to help animals that may not have easy access to shelters.

“I love that we have a rescue and relocation manager onsite at this facility so often times we’re actually able to help even rural shelters in the area that don’t have the resources we do,” said Vandeput. “So we’re able to pull animals in and get them out maybe on flights that are going up north to shelters that have capacity and adopters that are waiting.”

Adoption is not the only option for people wanting to help. Fostering is an option if a person does not feel ready for the responsibility of owning an animal or if one simply wants to provide care to an animal who is waiting to be placed in a forever-home. 

Miller spoke of how volunteering is another helpful way to assist the shelter and that as long as a person is 18 or older, they can do any volunteer work across the shelter. She added that the Humane Society of North Texas has a lot of college students who come in to walk dogs and play with them.

“We go through waves with college kids, but we actually love them for foster program and the main reason being, college students have the energy to play with puppies to keep them enriched and you know, puppies take a lot of work,” Miller said. “But a lot of college students are in homes without other dogs, which is an ideal situation for us because we don’t have to worry about any illness spreading in those homes. We don’t have to worry about maybe meet-and-greets with household pets, that sort of thing. Those animals are getting the full attention of those students, so we love college students.”

Miller adds that many of the donations that the shelter receives deals with fostering and the Humane Society of North Texas tries to make fostering an easy process for people.

 “One of the huge components of this program, for me, that kind of sets us apart from other shelters is we provide all of the supplies for our foster families,” Miller said. “Many other organizations just send the animals out with them and they kind of fend for themselves when it comes to beds, food, vet care, that sort of thing. We provide everything.”

Miller believes donations can be in the form of many different things and the public can help provide even through small acts of donations or volunteer work.

“The biggest things for us are enrichment items, dog beds,” Miller said. “Dog beds that are on clearance are a great donated item. New rolled blankets. We love sending those with our foster families.”

Vandeput even talked about how college pride sneaks into the shelters.

“We also have a lot of college groups that will even get together and they’ll do like a T-shirt drive just with old T-shirts,” Vandeput said. “We can provide resources to show you how to turn old T-shirts into dog toys for puppies.”

Miller spoke of how the Humane Society is a community-oriented organization that is not just a one-stop shop and that they are thinking of the animals from the inside-out. The ultimate goal is to educate the public when it comes to every aspect of adoption, fostering, volunteering and donating. 

“In my mind, helping the community,” Miller said. “It’s right there in our motto. Pets and people saving each other. Truly, that’s what we’re doing. It’s not just about adoptions. It’s education at the front door,” adding that the organization tries to help combat issues that the community is facing and not just be a band-aid.