Mounds Warm Fuzzy/Success Story

Rock County Humane Society (RCHS) is a private, charitable animal shelter that cares for approximately 3,000 lost, abandoned, and homeless companion animals annually. Whether it is to help the lost dog that just needs a safe spot to rest before going home to a worried family or the abandoned cat who just wants to find a forever home, our shelter provides the love, compassion, and care to make happy endings possible. We receive many cards, letters, emails, and photographs telling us about those happy endings. We can think of no greater reward than to hear that a former shelter resident is safe and loved and, in the process, has enriched the lives of his or her new family.
We also work hard to counsel people before animals become homeless in the first place. Giving people resources like training and behavior advice, rescue alternatives, or even supplying food to help feed their pets all result in fewer animals being abandoned in the first place. We donated over 5,000lbs of pet food to the community in 2011 to keep pets in their homes.
Our own shelter animals enjoy the generous donation of Mounds Pet Food Warehouse’s premium brand foods, Mounds Dog Power and Mounds Purrfect Cat. The quality and consistency of Dog Power and Purrfect Cat make all the difference in keeping our shelter pets healthy and happy! Mounds is a wonderful corporate partner: In addition to their food donations, they routinely sponsor shelter events and provide the Rock County Humane Society Satellite Adoption Center at their Janesville store location. Through our Satellite Adoption center at Mounds Janesville, over 1,100 fabulous felines have found their forever homes.
A very large issue we are facing is our crumbling facility. Our current private shelter was built in 1976 and was never constructed to serve as a stray receiving and holding facility, and we lack the proper isolation, quarantine, holding, and medical areas that are imperative for proper stray animal control and care. Without suitable infrastructure, we simply cannot provide a service that we physically cannot provide, no matter how much we want to. Another huge hurdle is the fact that there is currently no county-wide solution or even consensus on what the stray animal issues are or how to best address them. We have always maintained our strong desire to continue serving the stray animals and the communities within Rock County. It has never been our desire to discontinue stray animal control service as we believe we can best serve the many complicated medical, behavioral, and legal needs of animals during their stray hold as well as give them an opportunity at a new, loving home should they not be claimed by their owners. We very much want to partner with all municipalities within Rock County to provide the public health services that people expect and the humane care and compassion that pets deserve.
Fun things are afoot at RCHS as well! While our building may be old, our creativity is fresh! We have spruced up our community cat rooms as well as our visiting rooms. “Pounce House” is our community kitten room where kittens can socialize and play while “Cat Towne” provides the same benefits for our more mature feline residents!
How we treat animals says a lot about who we are and what quality of life we expect. In return for the trust animals have in us, we owe them the responsibility of caring for them. The community shares this responsibility as a local animal shelter is only as strong as the people who support it. The best shelter is truly a humane community. Kindness to animals builds a better world for all of us.
If you would like to donate or get more information on volunteering, shelter news and events, and current listings of adoptable animals, please visit www.rockcountyhumanesociety.com.