Woods Humane Society - Shelter Tails 2023

Jonah’s Journey: Into and Out of the Woods

A New Schedule for Saka: Behavior & Training Expansions

Rags to Riches: Lover Boy Finds His Forever Throne

From The CEO

After the darkness of the pandemic, 2022 was in many ways a jubilant return to normalcy. In the spring, we were able to reopen for public shelter hours, reinstate our transports with shelter partners, and even hold two free pet vaccine clinics. Safety guidelines allowed us to gather once again for our Tails Gala and our Wiggle Waggle Fall Festival, and by winter, thousands of animals had come through our doors.

The year did, however, carry a shadow of the pandemic. We saw a larger, more urgent need for transports from overcrowded shelter partners. Meanwhile, across the industry, the average length of stay grew in 2022—due in part to the fact that so many people had adopted in the two years prior. This put a higher burden of shelter medicine, care, enrichment and training on our team, which was also experiencing the challenges brought about by a national labor shortage.

However, as Francis of Assisi said, a single sunbeam is enough to drive away many shadows, and luckily, we have a very sunny home here in SLO County. Thanks to the devoted support of this community, we managed to increase our transports and find loving homes for 2,700 animals. Our Behavior & Training team expanded to address the need for a more robust shelter enrichment program. Finally, our dedicated volunteers and staff made sure that 5,400 animals could be spayed and neutered, hundreds of pet owners could access affordable training and vet care services, and so many dogs and cats could receive the medical treatments that would forever transform their lives.

Each year brings its challenges but, with the support of our Sunbeam Team, we know we can continue to help more and more homeless pets. Thank you for shining a light for dogs and cats in need.

Sincerely,

Neil Trent Chief Executive Officer

Board of Directors

Neil and Rosie

Kandy Noel • Dr. Jo Campbell • Marcia Torgerson

Robert M. “Grigger” Jones • Bruno Giberti

Autumn Clark • Lisa Adams • Wyatt Lewis