the Humane Association of Wilson County

Hours
Location
Adoption Fees
Mission Statement
Recent Changes
History
The Shelter Report

Hours

Monday - Friday 11am - 6pm
Saturday: 10am - 5pm
OR Adopt-A-Pet Sundays at in Mt. Juliet Providence center from 1 - 4pm.

Location

We are located on Jim Draper Blvd., just off Baddour Parkway.Our shelter is directly behind Pro Bowl West. (507 West Baddour Parkway) *please note this is our physical location, not our mailing address

Mailing Address:
Humane Association Of Wilson County
P O Box 247
Lebanon, TN 37088-0247
(615) 444-1144
Fax (615) 444-4997
Click here to get a map to HAWC!

Adoption Fees

If already spayed/neutered $75.00
If not spayed/neutered
adoption fee* $25. 00

*We will take these animals to the vet of your choice in Wilson County where you can pick your pet up after it has been spayed or neutered. The adopter is responsible for all veterinarian fees. All pets adopted from HAWC are spayed or neutered before going to their new home.

Mission Statement

The Humane Association of Wilson County is dedicated to improving the welfare of companion animals in our community through shelter, placement, spay/neuter, education and awareness.

Our goals include the following:

To educate the public about the importance of having their pets spayed or neutered, and to provide low or no cost surgeries for those in need.
To shelter and provide care for stray, abused, or relinquished animals.
To provide a kind death when necessary.
To educate the general population about the seriousness of pet overpopulation.
To end euthanasia as a means of controlling pet overpopulation.
To find good homes for the animals in our care.

Our hope for the future is that there will be no unwanted, unloved or abandoned pets. We will continue with our aggressive spay/neuter campaign and our owner education programs in the hopes that any pet ever adopted will find a permanent, loving home. We also pray that in our lifetime we see the need for shelters and animal welfare organizations cease to exist.

Recent Changes

Dear Members,

On March 18th, 2004, after reviewing the true mission of our organization, the board of directors of the Humane Association of Wilson County voted unanimously to move in the direction of becoming a limited admission shelter. We have decided that we will not continue to euthanize healthy, adoptable dogs and cats to make space for more. We will continue to help as many pets as possible but will not become hoarders, overcrowded or keep an animal in a cage for years. The changes will allow us to adopt healthier animals, do a greater number of adoptions, improve staff morale, attract and maintain more volunteers and develop more proactive community programs.

We will not use the term NO-KILL because we feel that it is misleading and offensive. We will still have to deal with euthanasia but on a much more limited basis. Because of a lack of animal control in our county in the past we felt it necessary to take on most of the animal related issues including the euthanasia of thousands of animals each year. Now that we have animal control programs in Mt. Juliet, Lebanon and Wilson County we hope to work together to achieve a common goal of eliminating the need to euthanize healthy pets to control the pet population.

On April 1, we made our future plans known to the Wilson County Urban Types Facilities Board. The county is aware that they will have to make some changes to their current animal control program including accepting strays. An animal control advisory committee is being formed that will include a representative of our organization. We hope this committee will be the first step in working together as a community regarding pet related issues.

Animal Control is a function of the local government and has a responsibility to their communities to protect both people and animals.

The Animal Control Management Guide states that an animal care and control program should:

Enforce laws related to public health and safety
Respond to nuisance complaints in a timely manner
Investigate complaints of abuse and neglect
Rescue mistreated and injured animals
Shelter stray and homeless animals
Work to reunite lost pets with their families
Place healthy, behaviorally sound animals in responsible homes
Euthanize suffering animals as well as those that are neither reclaimed nor adopted
Promote mandatory identification and spay/neuter of both dogs and cats
Create incentives for the public to have pets sterilized

Private organizations, like HAWC, must choose the path that they believe is right for them. Our supporters do not want us to use their donations to pay for a government service or to support the killing of animals. We believe that the most effective and humane way to address pet overpopulation is through aggressive spay/neuter and educational efforts. Euthanizing healthy, adoptable animals is not a long-term, effective method of solving the overpopulation problem. Addressing this issue in creative proactive ways is an investment in the future of our community.

The details of our change to a limited access facility will be worked out in the next few months and we will keep you informed. This is a complicated process and we will make changes that we feel will serve the community and the animals best. At this time we are still open admission facility, accepting any dog or cat from Wilson County residents that has not bitten and is not aggressive. Because we are still taking in a high volume of animals, and at this time, we are still euthanizing animals. Despite all our efforts, including 7-day-a-week adoptions, we can not place pets into homes as fast as people bring them to us.

Sincerely,

Board of Directors

HISTORY

The Humane Association of Wilson County, Inc. (HAWC) was formed in July 1978, by a group of caring individuals dedicated to end the suffering of abandoned and unwanted pets in Wilson County. Our first meeting was attended by over 200 residents interested in the same mission. All who attended confessed to feeling helpless when finding animals dropped at or inside the local dumpsters. There was no place for them to go - no shelter or pound, with veterinarians simply doing all they could to find homes for the few they could take in.

In October 1978, we became incorporated and began our goal of obtaining funds to build an animal shelter. Our 501(c)3 status was granted on May 28, 1980. This came shortly on the heels of our winning the referendum for a domestic pet tax in the county. For this measure, a private act had to pass the Legislature, after which the referendum could be added to the ballot and voted on by the general population. It was the first time the citizens of Wilson County had voted themselves a tax. We now receive $2.00 per animal vaccinated for rabies in our county.

In late 1982, we began our plans to build the shelter, after the Wilson County Commission, Lebanon City Council, Mt. Juliet City Council and Watertown City Council voted to allot us $1 per capita, amounting to $40,000, $12,500, $5,000 and 1,250 respectively. Our goal had been to open the shelter with no excess baggage of loans and mortgages. With additional fundraisers, we opened in July 1983 with only $5,000 owing on the building. With the help of volunteers, we completed the inside by building the necessary animal runs and purchasing steel cages, along with a small amount of used office furniture. Now in 2003, we are planning a new home for the homeless. Click here for more information.

THE HUMANE ASSOCIATION OF WILSON COUNTY

P O Box 247
507 Jim Draper Blvd
(off Baddour Parkway)
Lebanon, TN 37088-0247
(615) 444-1144 Fax (615) 444-4997

President: Melissa Richards
Vice President: Mark Streets
Secretary: Judy Wallace
Treasurer: Pam Denny

Board of Directors:

Pam Black
Sara Felmlee
Corey Gerulis
Bob Gibilaro
Sheri McCamish
Kathy O'Brien-Streets
Bobby Worrall

SHELTER REPORT

The Humane Association of Wilson County is a private, non-profit organization.
We are not run by the County.

We share our incoming numbers in hopes that people will see them and understand the tragic reality of pet over population in our own community. We also include our aoption numbers to show how hard we work to give so many homeless pets a second chance. However, there are not enough homes for them all. The solution to this problem is to spay and neuter your own pets, and to teach everyone you know about the benefits of pet sterilization. Your pet will be happier and healthier. You will also know that you have helped, rather than contributed to the problem.

1996	4,697 animals brought in 927 adopted 124 returned to owner
1997	6,192 animals brought in 1,238 adopted 255 returned to owner
1998	5,707 animals brought in 1,161 adopted 235 returned to owner
1999	5,601 animals brought in 1,380 adopted 180 returned to owner
2000	4879 animals brought in 1255 adopted 64 returned to owner
2001	4,598 animals brought in 1,366 adopted
2002	5,713 animals brought in 1,799 adopted
2003	5,012 animal brought in 1,778 adopted
2004	2,355 animals brought in 1,645 adopted
2005	1,649 animals brought in 1,431 adopted

*For many reasons, not all animals that have entered our shelter have been adoptable. For example, some come to us severely injured, temperamentally unsound, and some are reclaimed by their owners. Therefore, an accurate adoption percentage can not be calculated simply by using these numbers alone.

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