The Humane Society of Southern Illinois served the Jackson County community for nearly 70 years. They announced that they will end all animal intake though they will be continuing their mission to support animal welfare in a press release. 

In February, the county board had been given notice that The Humane Society of Southern Illinois would be closing because they are the animal control facility of Jackson County. HSSI announced on July 30 to the public that the shelter would be permanently closing on Aug. 1. They are no longer taking animals into the shelter and they are currently working on relocating animals.

Advertisement

The county faces overpopulation with stray, hurt and running at large animals. The humane society was a place where those animals could go. They were also in charge of animal control for the county. 

“Closing the shelter was a hard decision to make. Many things contributed to this decision. Although we are closing the shelter, we are committed to finding placements for the animals that are still at the shelter,” HSSI board member Casey Parker said. 

The county board met on Tuesday, Aug. 20 for their monthly meeting and the closing of the Humane Society was discussed. The Public Safety Committee members of the board are working to find a new animal control center. This group is made up of seven members and brings their decisions to the full board for voting when they make a decision. 

Advertisement*

“I know the public wants us to act immediately, but it’s not that easy to act like that. Any animals that we do have to take, any injured bite dog, reckless dog or vicious dog, we do have arrangements for those dogs to be taken in,” District 1 Board Member Tonya Krust said. 

The Public Safety Committee is currently working on finding a center for animal control for Jackson County. 

“We just have to, by law, take care of whatever we’re required to by a law. Now we are weighing options of purchasing something. We are weighing the options of leasing something. We are weighing the options of possibly building something, and we’re also weighing the options of going into a contract with another entity,” Krust said. 

There are several operating animal shelters in Jackson County that the board is looking to partner with if they decide to go that route. St. Francis Care and Wright-Way Rescue Shelter in Murphysboro are both options that the board is considering. 

“We have several options that we can do. There’s four main options we can find someone to do a contract through, like we did with the humane shelter that would take any animals that we would take in, they would come and hold them for us from seven to ten days, in hopes that we find the owners or we get them taken care of,” Krust said. 

“We have not done a good job of population control for the county. I think not necessarily, personally, opening up a shelter or something that is going to fix that problem,” she said. “We have to enact some kind of population control ordinances to get this under control.”

The humane society is currently working on getting the current animals in the shelter adopted. 

“We are updating things daily. Animals are going to rescues, getting adopted, or going to foster to adopt homes, daily. As stated above, we are working with rescues that are willing to accept the animals we still have. We are also still adopting animals out. Our adoption fees are $50,” Parker said. 

Several humane societies outside of Jackson County have been reaching out to adopt animals still left in the shelter. They are currently in contact with several people and other organizations.

“We don’t have a date that we have to end caring for these animals. We just aren’t accepting new animals, and are working to get every animal placed somewhere. For instance, Quincy Humane Society just accepted 15 animals on Friday, and will most likely take more. We have also had folks from Chicago, Wisconsin, and St. Louis reach out,” Parker said.

After the current animals have left the shelter, the building is going to be used to continue some of the current programs that the humane society takes part in. They are also looking to expand the building to new programs.

“We are also committed to continuing the Pennies for Pets Spay/Neuter Voucher Program, and hopefully, starting new programs that do not involve housing animals. We will not have a physical location, but have a mobile unit that will sell vouchers, etc,” Parker said.

On August 24, the shelter held a fundraiser at Starview Vineyards to raise money for Pennies for Pets and to ensure that animals at the shelter found homes. Pennies for Pets is a program that HSSI offers at the beginning of each month. It covers the cost of spaying or neutering pets. 

“In addition to the Pennies for Pets Program, HSSI will maintain its commitment to

education and outreach efforts aimed at promoting responsible pet ownership, spaying

and neutering, keeping animals in loving homes, and advocating for animal rights,” Parker stated in the press release.

The shelter still has animals that are up for adoption, and they can be reached at 618-457-2362 for appointments.

“We want to reassure our supporters and the community that while our shelter doors may

be closing, our dedication to improving the lives of animals remains,” HSSI President Lisa Porter stated in the press release. 

Advertisement