Oliver the Kitten

Second Chance Humane Society is celebrating its 15 Year Anniversary this year!!  In preparation for the formal celebration that we are planning to mark 15 years of second chances for hundreds of homeless pets we are revising our mission statement.

As an organization grows and transforms, so must the mission statement to best reflect organizational and community changes, while maintaining relevance to the animals and community that the organization serves.

The evolution of Second Chance has been toward a broader approach to animal welfare issues – well beyond just sheltering pets.  Our focus now encompasses a greater emphasis upon education and prevention, recognizing that in order to accomplish our overall vision of “Loving Homes for All Pets” we must transform and strengthen the human –animal connection altogether. 

Recently, in reviewing and revising our mission statement, we felt it needed to be more succinct and memorable – something that a person could walk away from and still remember.  Thus, our mission statement, last updated in 2007, has evolved from this:

To fulfill the vision of loving homes for all pets through temporarily sheltering, nurturing, and treating orphaned pets until quality homes are secured, while additionally decreasing pet overpopulation through the education and promotion of responsible pet ownership and the human-animal bond.

To the draft statement below, no longer reflecting specifically what we do, but the difference that we make:

Honoring the human-animal bond by promoting responsible pet parenting.

This revised mission statement draft still reflects our purposes, hopes, and dreams.  We also intended it to link to our values, which were re-defined during the development of this new mission statement.  These values consist of four main categories: Animals, Community, Organization, and Ethics and are specified as follows: 

We Value Animals through:

applying an individual approach to pet rehabilitation within a positive nurturing environment

assuring that all adoptable pets are spay/neutered, vaccinated, and micro-chipped

employing a variety of resources to match every adoptable pet with the right home

investing in humane and preventative measures to reduce pet overpopulation issues

We Value Community through:

involvement with and integration within an empowered community

promoting an educated and animal-sensitive community

generating community, private foundation, corporate, and government support

growing volunteer support

greater effectiveness based upon communication and collaboration

assuming environmental responsibility

gratitude for all financial, in-kind, and other support

We Value our Organization through:

developing trained and professional staff and volunteers

promoting teamwork and collaboration

pursuing self-sustainability and fiscal and environmental responsibility

assuring transparency

inspired leadership

efficient operations with defined processes and measurable goals

We Value Strong Ethics through:

being trustworthy

assuring transparency

operating with integrity

honoring diversity

respecting animals, community, and each other

We hope to gain community feedback on this new mission statement and values, so please consider contacting us with your thoughts and ideas, as it is important to us that our mission and values inspire our service community as much as us.

My name is Oliver and I am a 10 week kitten here at the Second Chance Shelter waiting for my new forever home.  There are several of us  kittens “in-waiting” here at the shelter – it is kitten season – so in addition to promoting myself for adoption I want to remind you to spay/neuter your cat!

Call the Second Chance Helpline at 626-2273 to report a lost pet, learn about adopting a homeless pet, or about the SCHS Spay/Neuter Financial Assistance, Volunteer & Foster Care, or other Programs.  Visit our shelter pets online: www.secondchancehumanesociety.org.  Direct Pet Column questions to:  kelly@secondchancehumanesociety.org.  Photo by Real Life Photographs.