Albany Humane Society receives $10,000 in matching funds

ALBANY — Two anonymous donors pledged to contribute $10,000 in matching funds to the Albany Humane Society for its first “Dog Days of Summer” fundraising campaign.

The two donors will match any donation made until the Humane Society reaches its $10,000 goal — automatically doubling funds raised to $20,000. Donations are about $500 away from reaching $5,000, so the Humane Society will extend the fundraising initiative past August, Samantha Threadgill, the organization’s development director, said.

The $10,000 donors, who are remaining anonymous, said they saw the work that Albany Humane was doing and believed in its efforts, Threadgill said. They wanted to help serve the south Georgia area. The donation comes at a time where the Humane Society is developing its fundraising plans. Threadgill was brought on in April to help with these efforts, she said.

Most of the funding for the shelter came from grants as well as its partnership with two animal control units. The last fundraiser happened in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic.

“They’ve never really had a fundraising plan before,” Threadgill said. “We’re looking to essentially keep our doors open, and we can only really do that through donations.”

Threadgill said staff at the Humane Society say they are excited about the support, especially for what is the organization’s first campaign of this type. These fundraising efforts will go directly to the care of the animals for things like toys, food and treats, but also to help the facility itself with air conditioning, electricity and more.

“We hope that it will bring to light the need to more people in the community,” Threadgill said.

The “Ambassadog” for the campaign is Monroe, who came to Albany Humane about four months ago. The 2-year-old dog was brought in by animal control after he was found wandering the streets. Monroe had injuries on his face and his ribs were sticking out of his sides.

“We don’t know what happened to him, but clearly something traumatic had happened,” Threadgill said.

Monroe’s in foster care now and is doing a lot better, she said, but cases like his aren’t uncommon.

“He was just an example of animals that come into the shelter, really on a weekly basis,” Threadgill said.

Not every animal comes in with injuries as severe, but there are a lot of them. Albany Humane rescues more than 2,700 animals from all over south Georgia each year. Taking care of each individual animal is expensive, Threadgill said. Donations keep the Humane Society afloat.

“We just are really hoping the community will rally together and help us reach that ($10,000) match,” Threadgill said.

Albany Humane plans to make “Dog Days of Summer” an annual campaign each August. People can expect more events like it as well, she said.

Staff Photo: Lucille Lannigan[email protected]