Pet Therapy
Pet Therapy is a therapy technique that uses animals to help people. Pet therapy is a guided interaction between a person and a shelter animal. The goal of Pet Therapy is to improve social, emotional, or cognitive functioning. Pet therapy builds on the pre-existing human-animal bond. Interacting with a friendly pet can help many physical and mental issues. It can help reduce blood pressure and improve overall cardiovascular health. It can also release endorphins that produce a calming effect. This can help alleviate pain, reduce stress, and improve your overall psychological state. Residents at area nursing homes and DDSO homes are among those who enjoy our pet therapy visits.
Foster Parents
Fostering is simply nurturing a shelter pet in your home for a period of time. The majority of animals fostered are litters of kittens. Kittens and sometimes puppies come to the shelter stray or abandoned and are too young and fragile to be placed in permanent homes. They need the security of their litter mates, they need special care, and they need to learn important lessons from each other.
Just like kids, kittens and puppies learn to get along with each other by playing. They learn limits, they learn tolerance, and they learn not to hurt each other — too much! This littermate interaction is essential for the healthy development of puppies and kittens. Fostered litters also learn about the home environment — other cats, dogs, and kids. When they return for adoption, they are often the most outgoing, confident animals in the shelter.
PetSmart
PetSmart’s goal is to end pet homelessness for good. They’ve helped more than 6 million pets find forever homes. That’s 1 out of every 10 adoptions in North America. Several of our shelter cats live at PetSmart in Consumer Square, New Hartford and can be adopted from there. We also bring adoptable dogs to each PetSmart National Adoption Weekend held throughout the year. Stop by and be part of the solution by adopting from PetSmart.
Community Education and Outreach
Community education and outreach is about promoting compassion, respect, empathy, and the value of the human-animal bond. Animals become happier and safer and the young people who love them gain new insight into what it means to be human.
Our humane education programs include:
Scout Programs
The Humane Society offers programs for Girl Scouts and Cub Scouts! Badge programs are designed for Daisy, Brownie, and Junior Girl Scouts.
School and Community Service Projects
Help with school assignments and ideas for community service projects.
Off Site Adoptions
In order to save more lives, the HSR partners with many other organizations and businesses so that we can reach even more people interested in adopting. These locations allow us to bring our pets closer to adopters throughout the region.