TUBA CITY HUMANE SOCIETY INCORPORATED

To end animal homelessness and suffering, to improve the lives of animals and people on the western Navajo Nation by rescuing/fostering/rehabilitating/adopting, and through partnership with other animal rescue organizations, and by providing low-cost spay/neuter and vaccination options to the public for dogs and cats, and by community engagement and increasing education and awareness of animal welfare resources, animal-related public health issues, and responsible pet care.

Transparent communication with the public and supporters via our web site, social media, and twice-yearly newsletter about the challenges and needs in our area. We have no animal shelter, but receive almost 500 requests for help via phone, text, or Facebook messenger.

We have a small hand full of foster homes in Tuba City and in Flagstaff, AZ. We work closely with our main veterinary services provider, Dr. Carol Holgate, in Tuba City, the only private veterinarian in Tuba City, and we also bring a very accessible mobile spay/neuter provider for services. We respond as much as we are able to requests for help.

In 2017, we rescued and helped 408 animals, more than twice as many as a previous "normal" year for Tuba City Humane Society. We are slowly growing the number of foster homes, and through that are able to take more animals through to adoption. We also transfer a lot of animals to partner rescues, in order to help as many animals as possible.

2018 was another very busy year, and we ran way behind with our veterinary bills for rescued animals. We have helped several very sick and injured animals this year, including animals needing amputation, FHO surgeries, and treatment of animals hit by a car. This year, things have also evolved to where we are fostering through to adoption about 1/3 of the animals we are rescuing. We still only have a hand full of foster homes in Tuba City and in Flagstaff. In 2018, we helped 391 animals. We had other leadership changes with Deb Franklin and Kim Murdza becoming officers of Tuba City Humane Society and we participated in numerous adoption events around Flagstaff and also received some stellar business support.

In 2019, our intake was 412 animals. We had another very busy year! We adopted out 101 animals. Almost every puppy and adult dog rescued this year was anemic, with most having one or more tick diseases. We ended up having to hold puppies much longer, to get them healthy, and therefore, we had fewer adoptions this year. We also had many dogs and pups with skin diseases, including ringworm, Sarcoptic mange, cheyletiella, and even dog lice, at the end of the year. We have never had so many pups with ringworm as this year, which we attribute to more moisture in the climate.

We responded to hundreds of requests for help this year. We were able to continue our spay/neuter program year round, with the support of grants from Arizona Pet Friendly License Plates, and the Tuba City Community Fund. We also were grateful to receive some grant funding through the Petco Foundation, and Reservation Animal Rescue – Partnership With Native Americans. Our biggest help and support was from individual private donors, who helped us to continue our work. We are very grateful!!

2020 has been a very busy year. We helped 646 animals. We were down to just a few foster homes in Tuba City, and we really need more volunteers. COVID-19 has of course impacted everything, except for more requests for help! Many other services were closed for the year, resulting in more animals dumped. We are grateful to everyone helping, those who support our efforts, and rescue partnerships which help us to extend what we are able to do.

2021 we rescued 775 animals, and provided 7 weekend very low-cost spay/neuter/vaccination clinics. We paid for or subsidized more than 750 spay and neuter surgeries and dispensed more than 2800 vaccinations. The animal overpopulation is the worst we have ever seen, due to the effects of many services being shut in 2020. We responded to almost 500 requests for help.