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HISTORY:
In 1958 Mrs. Dorthy Blake and Mrs. Kay Brown, along with Mrs. Owen
Lutz, and Mrs. Janet Irwin founded the Randolph County Humane Society.
A man in Highland Park gave some space in either a barn or an outbuilding
to the group. In 1959 with the help of attorney Keith Cunningham,
Mrs. Blake purchased property on Weese Street, the current location
of the shelter.
Mrs. Blake seems to have been the driving force along with Mrs.
Brown. Mrs. Brown was a vigorous supporter of animal rights, often
going out herself to investigate reports of abuse. In the mid 1970's,
Patty Gow started volunteering.
Phyllis Huffman was instrumental in keeping the shelter in operation
during the 1970's.
She got involved in 1973, and was good friends with Kay Brown, another
of the early
RCHS leaders.
During a time when money was not forthcoming for operations, Mrs.
Huffman did everything
from mucking cages, writing press releases, assisting with euthanization
of sick animals,
hiring the onsite shelter custodian, remodeling the house where
the custodian lived, and in
general making the Humane Society more visible in Randolph County.
Phyllis Huffman came to Randolph County from Virginia where she
had founded
the Allegheny County Humane Society. She was quite vocal for animal
rights, at
a time when it was not as well accepted. At one time, there was
so much buzz
about the shelter, Phyllis joked that her picture was in the paper
more than Patty
Hearst's (it was the height of the Symbionese Liberation Army's
notoriety).
Unfortunately, Phyllis was later diagnosed with multiple sclerosis,
and this shut down
her ability to continue volunteering. Phyllis Huffman passed away
in January of 2003.
(RCHS thanks Phyllis Huffman's daughter, Nechamah P. Singer, for
providing the above
information.)
In 1987 Sara Chua, an Elkins Junior High School student asked Marilyn
Lowe and Marty Brewster to focus recycling efforts on helping the
Shelter. Cans For Canines was born. Late in the 1980's, both Marty
and Marilyn became more involved in volunteering and Marty adopts
another dog. In the early 1990's, Marilyn and Marty help reorganize
the board of directors, and began a program of part time high school
workers.
In 1997, Jane & Bruce Dillon took over the Cans For Canines
Program at Elkins Middle School. The focus of the program changed
from recycling at the school to volunteering at the shelter.
In 1999 with the help of Meer.net ( Tim Wicinski and Laura Heuchan
) and Chris Adams, the RCHS Web Site was born.
SERVICES:
By State law, counties and municipalities must pick up and care
for stray dogs for five days. Randolph County has a local Dog Warden
to rescue stray dogs & Cats. Both Randolph County and the City
of Elkins contract with RCHS to provide shelter for the stray animals.
The Dog Warden also brings pets to RCHS whose owners have been charged
with abuse, have been arrested, have been evicted, have been hospitalized,
or have died.
Animal Cruelty cases are handled by the Randolph County Sheriffs
office.
RCHS also accepts
dogs, cats, kittens and puppies turned in by the public. Some are
strays; some are turned in by their owners.
RCHS adopts out suitable animals to the public. It holds stray dogs
for five days before they are available for adoption.
FUNDING:
RCHS is funded through various sources.
It relies primarily on adoption fees, membership dues, public donations,
bequests, and payments by the county and municipalities, The adoption
fees and fees for reclaiming pets do not even cover the actual costs
incurred. It costs approximately $ 65,000 to operate the shelter
annually.
ORGANIZATION:
RCHS has a Board of Directors which meets generally
on the last Tuesday of every other month. The public is invited
to attend all meetings to provide suggestions and input.
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