The Humane Society of Huron Valley at the moment, is just shy of 500 animals in their custody. Humane and adoption facilities are always present in society, whether being connected to the state, a chain, or other. But this separate Humane Society, or HSHV is a stand alone organization.

“HSHV has been there since 1896 in some form or other.” Says Kaire McMahon, the woman in charge of animal intake at the Humane Society of Huron Valley. “And I don’t know all the incarnations of it, but when I started working there in 2009 we were in the old facility, which was a very small set of kennels and cages. It was very run down and dark, and we had three different buildings, there was a small adoption center and then a house, which is where all the administrative people worked, like our business manager and finance director and marketing director and those folks. We built the new building behind all of that, it was actually going up when I started working there. We built a new one and then tore everything down and that’s where our parking lot is now.”

HSHV is a stand alone humane society and does not receive funding from any other organizations, such as the Humane Society of the United States or the state of Michigan. All of their money comes from donations from the public. “We have contracts with Washtenaw county,” Says McMahon. “and a couple other places, that do provide some money, certainly not as much as we deserve for the services we provide, but all of the other money is from donations.”

Volunteers are always welcome at the humane society, providing the animals with social interaction and friendly faces. Volunteers help over 10,000 animals a year find new homes, and get to experience different animals with different tastes and attitudes.

Reptiles are not as common at the humane society, as they require specific needs such as temperature and food. On occasions though, the humane society has come across and taken in a few odd specimens. “I think the oddest thing i’ve ever gotten was a stray…hermit crab. Someone found a hermit crab, walking down the sidewalk and brought it in. But we get iguanas from time to time, and tortoises.” Says McMahon. “We get the occasional livestock like goats and pigs. We got a tame arctic fox once. And we do wildlife as well, so we see owls and hawks and cool stuff like that. Unfortunately the arctic fox is a legal pet to have. There are certain exotic animals that are legal in Michigan, and arctic fox is one of them. He was not completely tame of course, and he did actually bite someone, that is how he came to be with us. We found a rescue for him.”

Kaire McMahon does her job because she likes reuniting lost pets with their owners, as well as finding stray animals loving families. “The saddest part of my job is animals having to be put down. But I make up for it with all the new homes I can give to the other animals at the Humane Society.”

If you would like to support the humane society of huron valley, please contact (734)662-5585, or visit http://www.hshv.org/