About US

About FCHS/history

Our mission:

The mission of the Franklin County Humane Society is to promote humane treatment of all animals and to reduce both pet overpopulation and the resulting euthanasia of healthy, adoptable pets through progressive adoption, education, sheltering and spay/neuter programs.

 

Who We Are   FCHS is a smaller, privately run non-profit organization dedicated to serving the homeless, abandoned, and lost companion animals in our area.  We operate an open-admission animal shelter, refusing no animal in need, and providing the possibility of adoption for these unwanted animals.  We strive to reduce pet overpopulation through promoting spaying and neutering and altering all pets adopted from our shelter, and we return lost pets by researching ownership and providing better identification.  Like many small shelters, we receive no state or county tax support and no funding from other humane organizations or the United Way, nor are we related to the St. Louis Humane Society.  While we receive fees and occasional donations for surrendered animals, we are dependent on private donations from our community.  It costs about $1,200 per day to keep our doors open!  We serve Franklin County (75%), but also 13 other counties because there are no other open-admission shelters in our immediate area.  We make a huge impact in east central Missouri.

 

• What We Do - We offer a safe, loving environment for 2,000 to 3,000 lost, abandoned or unwanted dogs and cats each year.  About 45% of all animals we receive are litters of babies, and about 1/3 of all animals we receive are owned pets whose owners can no longer take care of them.  We provide shelter, nourishment, love and health care, and try to place these animals in loving homes or transfer them to rescue groups.  Some of the adoptable animals stay with us for several weeks or months until the right home is found.
• History - After operating as a network of foster homes for many years and raising private funds to purchase a building, our shelter was established in Union, Missouri in January, 1994 to serve an unmet need in our area.
• Staff - We have an excellent core staff of 18 full-time and part-time paid workers to be able to care for our animals 365 days each year.  Our volunteers help fill in to get the job done - we always need more volunteers!