Partner Spotlight: Montgomery County Humane Society

Since opening our office in Gaithersburg, Maryland, 123JUNK has been building relationships with various charitable partner organizations. This month we’d like to feature the Montgomery County Humane Society which just celebrated its 60^th anniversary in May 2018. (Help them celebrate at their September 22, 2018 gala event at the Lakewood County Club, Rockville, MD. Tickets available online.)

The Montgomery County Humane Society (MCHS) is a private, no-kill rescue organization whose mission it is to end animal homelessness through education, outreach and adoption, while saving animal lives and supporting the bond between pets and their families.

The MCHS rescues dogs and cats from public shelters and tests to determine serious medical conditions such as heartworm disease. When they identify a disease that needs treatment, they provide that care, as well as basic vaccines and other preventive treatments. All rescued animals are spayed and neutered as well.

“We pull animals from overcrowded shelters, mainly in rural areas where they don’t have the resources to care for or treat them, especially with medical care, then we bring them back our community for adoption. This both helps the rural shelters and provides highly-adoptable animals for our own community,” said Ms. Cris Bombaugh, MCHS president and CEO. More than 650 cats and dogs were rescued and adopted out in 2017.

MCHS Outreach and Education Programs

“We support animal homelessness through adoptions, but also through education and outreach,” Bombaugh continued. “We want to help people become more aware of a pet’s emotional life, how we can help them be happy pets, and how they can help us, too. A healthy human/animal bond is good for everyone and makes our community more humane, as a whole.”

Reaching into the community, the MCHS provides programs about animal welfare, what it means to care for a pet, and how to keep pets happy, healthy and out of shelters. A lot of that education happens right there at the Humane Society. “When people come in to adopt an animal, it’s an ideal educational opportunity. Some have never had a cat or dog, and we can help families choose the pet that is the optimum fit for their family. Sometimes folks come in with a conception of what they want, but it turns out that what would work best is either a different animal, species or age,” Bombaugh explained.

When people are afraid of animals, the shelter staff gently introduces them to the ambassador dog or the two guinea pigs. Children learn how to touch and pet animals and not be afraid of them. Programs also include wildlife, and how to be humane to all animals.

Although it generally does not accept animals directly from the public, the MCHS provides many services, including fielding approximately 60,000 calls about animal welfare per year, like, “I found a nest of baby bunnies in my yard,” or “I’ve lost my pet…what do I do?”

Visit the Wagging Tails Thrift and Gifts Store

The Montgomery County Humane Society is 100% privately funded; it does not receive funding from any government agency. Although much of its revenues come from private donations, the MCHS raises money through its programs, adoptions and the Wagging Tails Thrift and Gifts store. Located at 1310 East Gude Drive, Rockville, MD 20850, the 12,000-square-foot thrift store offers clothing, jewelry, household goods, furniture, appliances, books and records, art, holiday items, and much more. Donations are welcome!

How 123JUNK Helps

123JUNK hand-picks its partner organizations, choosing those whose mission of doing good for their community aligns with ours. We are proud to provide the Montgomery County Humane Society with items like furniture and household goods that can be repurposed to people who want and need them. For sale in their thrift store, these items help create the much-needed funding to support the goal of reducing animal homelessness.

If you’d like to schedule either a donation or a junk haul-away pick-up in Maryland, please contact 123JUNK.