Humane Society of Central Oregon Spca

Because of this controversy, I had to schedule an interview with the Executive Director — Sabrina Slusser at the Humane Society of Central Oregon to ask some questions about the negativity that some people see them as. Below are my questions and her answers to hopefully clear up the false public presumptions about this great organization.
1. Who regulates Oregon’s Animal Shelters? Surprisingly, «there is no over-​site of shelters or rescue groups by any state agency.» Slusser.
2. Is the Human Society of Central Oregon state funded? Another surprising fact, «We are not state operated or funded, we are a private 501c3 Organization that serves the public and provides sheltering for local law enforcement agencies. Brightside also has funding from Deschutes County and Redmond for being the impounding shelter for the sheriff’s dept and police dept.» Slusser.
3. What authority actually determines an animal shelter from being a «Kill» or «No Kill Shelter?» Well according to Slusser, it boils down to the fact that for a group or shleter to be considered «No Kill,» it only has to place 90% of its animals via adoption, return to owner or transferring to another organizations.” She also discusses that shelters are asked by the community via «Nathan Winograd & his «No Kill Movement.» This became prolific in the late 70’s and continues today and according to Slusser, «Each Shelter does a calculation or multiple calculations, so it is difficult to compare apples to apples. We calculate 3 rates, Asilomar, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) and General Save rate which for us includes shelter directed euthanasia.
Note: Just so you all know and understand-​when talking about the percentages of the animals saved or euthanized is called…“Live Release Rate» and the percentage of the animals unfortunately not save are called «Euthanasia Rate.»
Currently, the Humane Society of Central Oregon is at a 92% «Live Release Rate» which would be considered a Non-​Kill Shelter because they are above the 90% mark!!! So the comments listed here by others saying that this organization is a high kill shelter is incorrect!
4. When interviewing Slusser, I asked about who makes these rules that animals shelters have to follow and she said, «Each state has their own Admin. Rules, each shelter can make their own policy and procedures.»
5. Again, to recap! «In order to be considered a kill shelter, an animals «Live Release Rate» would need to fall below 90%! ASPCA 92%, Maddies or Asilomar is at 90%.» Slusser.
6. What are examples of this 10% of animals being Euthanized I asked? Let’s look at this!
*Health problems (meaning they will suffer if kept alive)
*Un-​treatable medical issues
*Shelter directed
*Veterinarian directed
*Certified Animal Behaviorist
*Court Ordered (e.g., putting down an animal that kills or injures another human being) and just to let you all know Slusser says that even though an animal injures or kills another human being people believe that the animals should still be kept alive?
*Owner Requests (e.g., such as my personal cat Little Miss Priss. She was dying of old age and I decided to have the Humane Society of Central Oregon put her down because I did not want her to suffer anymore. It was hard of course but it also was the humane thing to do.
*There is another example, one that is not so nice. Slusser tells me one day a woman came in to the human society to have her perfectly healthy dog euthanized. The staff their were scratching their heads thinking there is something wrong here, so they researched it more and lo and behold the dog had a chip where they were able to locate the dogs real owner. The story here was that the owners dog broke up with his girlfriend and she was not happy, so she decided to steal her ex-​boyfriends dog, take it to the human society to have them put it down out of revenge. This is a true story and if the Humane Society did not do their research like they did, this animal would have died. To me, this is a success story that we all never really get to hear. We seem to only hear about the bad stories or about people who are either un-​educated or jealous of this organization because they wish to have donated funds go to the shelter they go to and like. Credibility is key verses taking someones random words at face value. We are all smarter than that!
* The Human Society of Central Oregon is an EXCELLENT organization that cares about the animals and people within it’s community.
*All of these examples are calculated in their 10% Euthanasia calculations. Think about that!!!
7. Where does the majority of their revenue come from, one may ask? Surprisingly, their thrift store! «45% of our organizations REVENUE COMES from the Thrift Store Sales.» Slusser.
8. Where else do you receive revenue from? Out of a 2 Million dollar budget, the Human Society of Central Oregon receives a COMBINED total of $ 120,000 annually from both Deschutes County and the Bend Police Dep

How about no…
I felt that the staff members were rude and disrespectful. They judge you the moment you walk in the door. I was treated very poorly when I went in looking to get a dog.
I am young, but very educated when it comes to animals. I have been raised around dogs my whole life, and have done apprenticeships for dog training. I work from home, have a full time job, and my own house, and they still were being very difficult to work with. There was a staff member that rolled their eyes while talking to me, and that does not set well with me.
What I feel is most concerning is that if these people treat other humans this way, how do they treat the animals that they’re «trying» to re-​home?
If you’re looking to get a wonderful pet, and have spectacular customer service go to Three Rivers Humane Society in Madras. I ended up adopting a beautiful bull breed mix from them and I’ve had her for almost a year. They are so welcoming, respectful, and a delight to work with. You’ll be greeted with a smile verses a look of «I smell cow shit» cause I’m a stuck up Bitch…

This is a High Kill Shelter. The other three shelters in Central Oregon, HS of Ochocos in Prineville, Brightside in Redmond and Three Rivers in Madras are No-​Kill and very Low-​kill. Bend Humane Society will euthanize animals before they are often given a chance at adoption. HCCO spends a lot of money on PR, but very little to house animals. This is a well known fact among the shelters and I’ve volunteered and supported a few of the No/​Low-​Kill Shelters in Central Oregon. The best thing you can do is raise up your voice against this animal shelter! If you have any doubts just look at how many animals are up for adoption and how few pit bulls (if any) you’ll see for adoption. The facility is large, and empty.
Support on the other shelters instead!

I have to write this because of the other misleading reviews. I volunteer for this group and know that they do a good job. The other reviewers talk about this being a «high kill» shelter but this is just not true. Anyone can get the numbers for this or any other non-​profit shelter. In the case of HSCO their live release rate is approximately 98%. That would correspond to a «kill rate» of about 2%. Now let’s look at that 2% that are killed. HSCO has a deal with the county where the dogs/​cats that the county picks up are brought to their shelter. This means strays, animals that have bitten people or livestock or animals that have been hit by cars. That’s where that «high kill» rate of 2% primarily comes from. Many times injured animals must be put down and in the cases where animals have bitten people or livestock the courts decide the fate of the animal. Sick animals may also need to be put down. That’s most of the 2%.
On the rare occasions where healthy animals are euthanized because their is no room for them and foster homes cannot be found it requires the OK from the Executive Director before it is done. A couple of years ago when I inquired about it there had been a grand total of 6 healthy animals that had to be put down in the preceding calendar year. And while 6 healthy animals is 6 too many for a perfect world we don’t live in one. By the way if the people that were complaining about the «high kill» rate of the HSCO had volunteered to be foster homes those 6 might have been saved too.
Bottom line is that the HSCO does a damn good job especially compared to other shelters in America.