HT is thrilled to announce that we raised $6,000 in just 5 hours on World Spay Day (February 26th) to match a generous $2,000 grant provided by the Frederick S. Upton Foundation to support an intensive spay/neuter campaign that will kick-off in April in Fayette County, WV.

“Fayette County is HT’s longest shelter partner and sadly, even after more than 10 years of our help and that of other rescues, their euthanasia numbers are still incredibly high. Almost weekly their shelter fills up with highly adoptable dogs, cats, puppies and kittens and so many are euthanized because we simply cannot get them out quickly enough. Many animals don’t even make it on their website because they are euthanized before they get the chance they deserve. “The answer must be an aggressive effort to spay the animals in the County and stop the flow of unwanted animals,” says Sue Bell, HT Founder and Executive Director. “We needed to match this grant with an additional $2,000 in donations from the public and we felt the best day to kick off this effort was World Spay Day! We are beyond thrilled with the generosity of our HT supporters and that we more than doubled our goal!”HT chose to do this program in Fayette County based on our long-standing partnership and in response to the overwhelming need for a lasting solution to the animal overpopulation in the county. “We are reaching out to elected state and local officials in Fayette County as well as businesses, residents and media partners to really bring attention to what we are doing in hopes it will generate an ongoing effort, ” says Bell. “True success will be that we can use this money quickly to spay a large number of animals, create a list of residents needing this service and then get out there and raise more money to keep doing it. We know our loyal supporters will make this possible. A $25 donation automatically becomes $50 through this initiative and that is enough to spay one cat. A $50 donation becomes $100 and that spays one dog. We are so grateful to the Frederick S. Upton Foundation for this wonderful opportunity. We know we can make a big difference.”

HT will partner with the Fayette County Animal Control and the New River Humane Society to launch this program. Stay tuned for details on this exciting new venture!