Northeast Missouri Humane Society receives $10,000 grant from Best Friends Animal Society

HANNIBAL, Mo. — The Northeast Missouri Humane Society recently received a $10,000 grant from Best Friends Animal Society, a leading national animal welfare organization working to save the lives of dogs and cats in America’s shelters.

The grant was awarded after the Northeast Missouri Humane Society completed Best Friends Animal Society’s ‘Return to Home’ Challenge, a 30-day initiative to increase the number of lost dogs successfully reunited with their families.

During this time, 39 lost dogs entered the Northeast Missouri Humane Society and 24 dogs were returned home. The shelter has been educating the community about the importance of microchipping along with offering a microchip clinic during the “Return to Home” Challenge.

In a press release, executive director Elise Blue said, “Reuniting pets with their owners is always one of our biggest goals at the shelter. Unfortunately, there are a lot of pets who come in to us not microchipped and don’t have any form of identification. We were so excited to be a part of the ‘Return to Home’ Challenge to try and reunite pets with their families. We will use this grant to help expand some of our current programs.”

According to data from Best Friends Animal Society, there has been a 26% national decline since 2019 in dogs being reclaimed after entering animal shelters. As shelters continue to grapple with an increase in dogs entering their facilities, reuniting lost pets with their families is more urgent than ever.

“We believe that pets belong at home with their families rather than waiting to be reclaimed at a shelter,” said Julie Castle, CEO of Best Friends Animal Society.  “We applaud the way Best Friends’ shelter partners stepped up to the ‘Return to Home’ Challenge and implemented operational changes to proactively ensure more pets are reunited with their families.”

Community members can also support their local shelter by helping more lost pets return home by ensuring their pets always wear collars and identification tags with up-to-date contact information. Since collars can come off, it’s also important to have pets microchipped and to keep that registration information current.

These proactive steps can greatly enhance the likelihood of a quick reunion if a pet goes missing and ends up at an animal shelter. Before bringing a found animal to a shelter, Best Friends encourages community members to follow these tips and actions to help reunite lost pets with their people before they are ever brought to a shelter.

Anyone interested in adopting a companion or volunteering can call 573-221-9222. 

Best Friends Animal Society is an animal welfare organization working to end the killing of dogs and cats in America’s shelters and make the country no-kill in 2025. For more information, visit bestfriends.org.