February 2020
Golden Belt Humane Society
The Golden Belt Humane Society received the donation from 100+ Who Care at the February meeting in 2020. They used the funds to help them purchase a new vehicle specially equipped to help them in their mission.
-Heather Acheson, GBHS Director-
What does your organization do?
The Golden Belt Humane Society is a nonprofit organization dedicated to animal welfare that provides temporary housing and medical care for unwanted pets. This includes caring for stray animals and owner-surrendered pets, assisting law enforcement agencies with animal cases that requires housing, and transferring in animals from high-kill shelters.
Golden Belt Humane Society serves as the Animal Control Authority for the City of Great Bend as well as the unincorporated areas of Barton County, and holds limited impoundment contracts with Claflin, Ellinwood and Pawnee Rock.
The average number of animals served each year is nearly one thousand with a 93-96% live release rate of dogs and a 75-80% live release rate of cats. We have worked to become a no/low kill facility over the last ten years, and this includes upgrades to the shelter kennels, vaccination protocols, behavior assessments, spaying and neutering, promoting out pets in the community, and being a bit more present on social media platforms.
Staff and volunteers work to keep the animals healthy and adoptable by providing daily necessities, a clean and sanitized living space, play time in the yard for socialization, bathing and nail trimming, clean bedding, toys for enrichment and so much more!
What prompted you to get involved with 100+ Who Care?
Golden Belt Humane Society was one of the first groups to be nominated and present at the very first 100+ Who Care meeting. Though not a winner the first time presenting, we would go on to present a few more times before becoming a winner.
What was the project or request that you presented to the group?
Golden Belt Humane Society had many ideas but presented two different projects at different times. The first presentation was for disaster preparedness by purchasing and installing emergency backup generators to keep the water source and electricity on during power outages. When this subject matter didn’t seem to fit the ideal need, we switched to a more specific need.
The second project presented was the need to purchase a new Animal Control vehicle to replace the older one. This would include the truck and the animal box with more storage, more seating, and a lift to help get the larger animals loaded without causing injury to the animal control officers.
How did you use the funds after receiving the donations?
Golden Belt Humane Society used the winning funds to help purchase a new Animal Control vehicle and box in the spring of 2022. We were able to introduce the truck and the new box wrap to the community in December of 2022.
What was the short- and long-term impact?
The short-term impact was the excitement of winning funds to put towards the purchase of a new vehicle. This absolutely boosted the excitement and morale of the Animal Control Officers, knowing they would no longer have to figure out how to load large animals on the truck by themselves and that didn’t really want to cooperate. The truck was a bit friendlier looking with a colorful and inviting wrap on the dog box. We really wanted something to grab the attention of the community and be inviting.
A long-term impact Golden Belt Humane Society has had is the use of the much-needed new animal control vehicle and the electric lift itself. Officers are now able to lower the lift for loading larger and more challenging animals into the truck for safe keeping. Plus, upgrading with a new truck all around will help keep animal control in service 24-7, 365 days a year.
What was your experience overall in working with the 100+ Who Care group?
The overall experience working with the 100+ Who Care group was very easy, smooth and exciting to hear other organizations present their needs.
How did you prepare for your presentation to the group?
Preparation included gathering statistics and inviting a volunteer/adopter to talk about the shelter needs.
Where can people go to learn more about your organization?
For more information about Golden Belt Humane Society, please visit our website at www.goldenbelths.com or our Facebook Page at facebook.com/goldenbelths.