Humane Society of Chittenden County

Established in 1901, our humane society – which was known first as the Burlington Humane Society, then as the Humane Society of Greater Burlington, and since 1997, as the Humane Society of Chittenden County – has grown with the community to serve its changing population. HSCC primarily serves the most populous and fastest growing county in Vermont. Chittenden County’s 532 square miles are home to 146,500 people, almost 25% of the state’s total population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2001). In addition, HSCC serves as the principal sheltering organization for Grand Isle County, a neighboring county which consists of 83 square-miles and a population of 7,000 people, with no county humane society of its own.

HSCC welcomes approximately 1,500 animals annually, and anticipates that the number of visitors to our new Adoption Center will exceed 20,000 in 2003. Our success is achieved in a number of ways, including off-site adoptions at our Luv-a-Pet Center at PETsMART in Williston, pre-adoption behavioral training and consultation to address any potential issues stemming from either our animal’s background or personality or the potential adopter’s home life or current pets; careful screening of adopters to ensure a good initial match; follow-up support for new pet owners; widespread publicity donated by local media; and our commitment to keeping animals as long as it takes to find the right new home. We serve people and families from all income and educational levels. Two special reduced-price programs match pets up with older people and older pets with new owners.

Our current programs include: Spay/Neuter Program which ensures that every animal adopted from HSCC is spayed or neutered before going to their new home; Foster Care Program for animals who are sick, injured, or too young for adoption; Lost and Found Program, which in the past three years has re-united 126 animals with their grateful owners; Humane Education Program, is taught in the Winooski Elementary School, and to more than 100 students each month at HSCC, and; Humane Investigations, which responds to calls of concern in suspected cruel and inhumane treatment of animals in Chittenden County; Matchmakers, a service we offer wherein we maintain a list of customer’s wishes for a particular animal, in terms of breed, size, personality, and other characteristics , and then contact them when an animal who matches the description arrives; and our Good Neighbor Program, through which we partner with local human service organizations to provide shelter for beloved pets during times of stress and transition in the lives of their owners.

We benefit from the work and expertise of a very dedicated volunteer Board of Directors, and the hard work of nearly 200 volunteer animal companions, dog walkers, shelter aides, and administrative volunteers who provide over 5,000 hours of service annually to help us operate efficiently and effectively every day. We receive no county, state, or federal funding. We operate entirely through the contributions we receive from generous individuals, businesses, and foundations. For more information see How to Give.

Note: PO Boxes will not show correctly on the map below.