Click here to learn more about our spay/neuter services!

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2024: A Year in Review

2024 has been a whirlwind year for all of us at RVHS. We saw a huge increase in our services this past year, including:

58% increase in voucher requests

30% increase in pet food requests from our food bank

96% increase in spay/neuter for community cats

28% increase in pre-adoption spay/neuter

We know the coming year will bring more challenges and more demand for our services. The RVHS Team is thankful to be in a position to help the animals of our community and we try our hardest every day to do what we can to serve others. Thanks to each and every one of our staff, volunteers, donors, and fellow animal advocates for helping us in our mission to save lives–four paws at a time! You are what makes it possible to do the great work we do and are thankful for the continued support.

Thanks to Rogue Valley Classic Cruisers!

We would like to extend a HUGE thank you to Rogue Valley Classic Cruisers for selecting us as one of the recipients for the funds raised through the Fabulous 50’s car show this year! This donation makes a big impact and allows us to help even more animals. We are so thankful! Show them some love by attending their events and supporting the work they do for our community.

Oregon Community Foundation Partners with Rogue Valley Humane Society to Support Pet Food Bank and Community Cat Care

Grants Pass, Oregon – Rogue Valley Humane Society announced today that it has been awarded a $10,000 grant from Oregon Community foundation to support its pet food bank and increase spay and neuter surgeries for community cats in Josephine County.

“This award will support two important goals. It will increase our clinic’s efforts to address cat overpopulation in our county, and it will provide pet food to low-income families when they cannot make ends meet. Our shelter looks forward to expanding this work in our community, and we’re grateful for the generous support” said Margaret Varner, Executive Director of Rogue Valley Humane Society.

The funding included support from the Olsrud Family Fund of Oregon Community Foundation.

The Rogue Valley Humane Society opened its Food Bank in 2015. Relying on donations from businesses and the public, the program feeds an average of 690 pets each month and is designed to supplement the pet food pet owners already purchase each month. Varner sees visits to the RVHS food bank as an opportunity to help residents learn about adoption vs buying, low-cost spay and neuter vouchers, and other services low-income families might need.

Their Spay and Neuter program began in 2011 with animals waiting for openings in the surgery schedule of partner veterinary practices as part of Kitty Quick Fix, their spay and neuter voucher program for cats. With the addition of Red House clinic in 2018, the shelter became able to perform spay and neuter surgeries in-house and now alters over 1,200 animals per year, a fourth of them community cats. “Spay and neuter surgery is the humane way to control feline overpopulation, Varner adds. “This is an effort that takes place through collaboration between RVHS, local rescue organizations, and trained volunteers.”

About Rogue Valley Humane Society
RVHS is a no-kill, not-for-profit shelter serving the Rogue Valley region of Southern Oregon. Its uniqueness lies in the wide scope of high-quality animal services it offers, and the resources it has deployed to maintain a track record as a trailblazing organization. RVHS is one of two facilities in the state with a neonate kitten nursery, and in Southern Oregon it is the only shelter with a clinic and a part-time staff veterinarian, a trained emergency response team, a pet food bank and a humane education program.
For more information about Rogue Valley Humane Society, please visit roguevalleyhumanesociety.org

About Oregon Community Foundation
Oregon Community Foundation (OCF) was founded in 1973 with a big mission: to improve the lives of all Oregonians through the power of philanthropy. In partnership with donors and volunteers, OCF works to strengthen communities in every county in Oregon through research, grantmaking and scholarships. In 2022, OCF distributed more than $180 million, supporting 3,500 grantees and awarding more than 3,000 scholarships. With OCF, individuals, families, businesses, and organizations create charitable funds that meet the needs of diverse communities statewide. 2023 marks OCF’s 50th anniversary. Since its founding, OCF has distributed more than $2.2 billion in community investments, including grants to 10,850 nonprofits and 53,375 scholarships to students. Individuals, families, businesses and organizations can work with OCF to create charitable funds to support causes important to them.
For more information about OCF, please visit: oregoncf.org

Our 2024 Fur Ball Sponsors

Thank you to the following sponsors for helping make our 2024 Fur Ball at the Lindsay Lodge a success!

Pack Leader

Kevin and Lynn Reedy

Linda Barr

Cat’s Meow

Stedfast Plumbing

Purrfect Partner

Dennis and Deborah O’Donnell

Jennifer Murphy

Crystal Hesselink

238 Bar

Mini Pet Mart

Evergreen Bank

Grants Pass Toyota

Valley Animal Hospital

Caveman Heating and Air

Furry Friend

R.M. Lichtenstein

Gara Wegrich

Carol Christen

Wilken & Co. PC CPA

Fire Mountain Gems

First Community Credit Union

Met One Instruments

Grants Pass Automotive

Hart Insurance

2023 Statistics

All About Giving Tuesday 2024!

Giving Tuesday is coming up on Dec 2, 2024. Join in this global day of generosity by supporting our organization and our efforts to help the animals in our community lead better lives. Whether you become a faithful friend and sustain us as a monthly donor, donate items to our animals off our wish lists, volunteer your time to the homeless animals in our care, give one of our dogs or cats a forever home, or simply spread the word about our mission, we appreciate every single one of you!

Visit our social media pages on Facebook and Instagram on 11/28 to read more about the individual animals impacted by your generous support this year!

RVHS 2022 Accomplishments!

About The 2024 Misted Pines Opportunity Quilt

Each year the Rogue Valley Piecemakers create an Opportunity Quilt and offer an “Opportunity” to win it by raffle. The drawing was held May 11th, 2023 at our Rogue Valley Piecemakers Annual Quilt Show at the Josephine County Fairgrounds.

The pattern for the 2023 quilt, by Patti’s Patchwork, was a hit with our opportunity quilt committee because it reminded us so much of the place we live, the beautiful Pacific Northwest, and specifically the Rogue Valley.  We know this quilt looks great on your bed, a guest bed, or even in your summer cabin.

Pieced by our members Lannie Harkins, Ellie Hernández, and Carol Dickson, “Misted Pines” was custom longarm quilted by Carol Dickson and measures approximately 88 x 110.”

Sharon Garland was our “Quilt Mom,” and organized the selling of the tickets at various venues. Proceeds from our 2023 Opportunity Quilt were divided equally between the Josephine County Search and Rescue and the Rogue Valley Humane Society. Josephine County Search and Rescue volunteers avail themselves 24/7, with little or no cost to Josephine County, to assist the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office in conducting professional searches for missing individuals.

Thank you for helping us support other non-profits in our community!

RVHS 2021 Accomplishments!

The past couple years have been strange for most of us, but despite the challenges we have faced, we are proud to have made a positive impact in our community in 2021! This past year, we have made some adjustments in how we run in order to continue to take in animals from our community and provide necessary services such as spay/neuter and specialized medical care. This has included increasing the amount of transfers we do from our facility to partner facilities to create the space we need to continue helping more animals. We are so lucky to have such wonderful transfer partners that have the same philosophy as we do when it comes to the care of our fur friends and finding them excellent homes.

We have also focused a lot on TNR (Trap/Neuter/Return) of unsocial community cats who would otherwise continue to have kittens in the colonies they live in. As much as we love getting kittens, we know that most of them are coming in from moms and dads who live in colonies such as these, and we are doing our part to help with overpopulation so we (hopefully) do not see as many kittens come through our doors year after year.

In 2021, we continued to have a great need from individuals in our community who rely on our pet food bank and Animeals programs to help them get by during the month. This is made possible through wonderful donations of pet food from our supporters to help others in need.

The work we do at RVHS is important and much needed.  We receive no county, city, state, or federal funds to stay in operation. Ultimately, our doors remain open due to the generosity of individual donors and grants. We want to thank each and every one of you who have donated funds or goods, supported our thrift store, or participated in our events. Every year, we feel the love from our community and are humbled to serve you all and make a positive impact in the lives of animals…four paws at a time!

1/8/22 Hours Update

About Giving Tuesday

Every November, RVHS is participates in Giving Tuesday. This global generosity movement was created in 2012 as a simple idea: a day that encourages people to do good. During this season of giving, we invite you to consider supporting our mission in any way you can (adopt/volunteer/donate/spread the word about us!) as we make a difference in the lives of animals…four paws at a time! Check out our fundraiser on Facebook for more information on ways your donation this season will make a BIG difference! Facebook waives all processing fees for your donation so 100% of your donation goes directly to us! Please also check out our Donation page for ways you can donate towards the animals in our care this holiday season! Thank you all for donating to our cause. You are helping us save lives—four paws at a time!

6/22/20 Update

On behalf of RVHS staff and volunteers I want to thank all of you have donated money, food, items for the thrift store and other goods to help us through these challenging times.

I want to let you know that RVHS is still required by mandate to follow COVID 19 protocols to keep our employees, volunteers, animals and, most importantly, you safe. This means that we will follow protocols that are being utilized by shelters and humane societies throughout the country, i.e., adoptions by appointment, limited exposure and interaction with staff, staff wearing protective equipment etc. It is absolutely necessary.

Additionally, you should know because of loss of revenue (due to cancelled events), we have only opened with limited staff support. We are trying our very best to ensure that we can continue to keep our doors open.

We are NOT out of the woods with COVID 19 and this week alone, the numbers have increased. There is potential for our services to be shuttered, again, due to shelter in place orders.

We appreciate your help, understanding and patience. From a staff of 17 we are only 6 trying to maintain services and provide you with our standards of excellence. Clearly, it’s challenging during these times and many folks are losing their patience with protocols, government oversight etc. etc. We ask for your support and to please approach all staff and volunteers with kindness and patience. Together, we will get through this.

Sincerely,

Margaret Varner

Executive Director

3/2020 Update –

Dear RVHS Community,

I hope this letter finds you and your family healthy and safe during these uncertain times. It is with a sad and heavy heart that RVHS must join the millions of other businesses and temporarily close to the public as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic. It is essential we keep our staff and volunteers safe as well as do our part to minimize the spread of the virus. Being a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that relies on fundraising, donations and grants to serve our community, we are currently feeling the negative financial impact of this situation. We receive no Federal, State, County, or City funding….you, our wonderful community has been what has kept our doors open for over 55 years! If you find a little extra after your family is taken care of, please help us take care of our four-legged RVHS family members, they have no voice.

Sadly, businesses across our region are feeling the social and economic affects of the world wide health emergency. We will continue our fundraising efforts to help in the planning of our reopening. There will be even more reason to continue our services as a result of this crisis.

Although the majority of our employees will be laid off temporarily, we will maintain a skeleton crew. Staff will tend to the animals in our care that are not ready for adoption, our ani-meals program will continue for our seniors and phone calls will be answered to the best of our ability. Our services may be paused but we especially now, need your financial assistance to continue these essential services.

We understand that these are stressful times for everyone and wish you they very best. Again, thank you for your continued support and understanding. We will be back in business just as soon as feasibly and safely possible and with community support, we will be stronger than ever!

Margaret Varner

Executive Director

RVHS 2020 Accomplishments!

Your donations hard at work. Thank you to all of our supporters!

Upcoming Events

• June 23, 10:00 AM
  • Critter Camp- Session 1
• July 28, 10:00 AM
  • Critter Camp- Session 2
• August 23, 09:00 AM
  • Peddler's Faire 2025
• October 24, 05:00 PM
  • Murder on the Rogue 2025

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