community
march1
2018
Columbia Humane Society Surviving
dog walker, and then as an employee cleaning kennels,
working her way up the chain of responsibility in one
capacity or another. She became certified as an Animal
Control Officer and worked for both Columbia County
and the Humane Society for several years, so she has
seen both sides of the operation. She took a six month
break at one time and worked training dogs, but then
returned to Animal Control and the Humane Society.
She recently took over as Executive Director.
Beggio says CHS had already changed their
model of how they were adopting out animals even
before the County canceled the contract. Beginning
in March of 2017 CHS had closed their kennels to the
public and only allows people interested in adopting an
animal to meet the animal following an appointment
with CHS staff. Previously, anyone could wander
through the kennel area to see what animals were avail-
able for adoption. Beggio says CHS made this change
for several reasons.
“It’s very disturbing and stressful to the dogs to
have strangers in their area where they live,” explains
Beggio, “Our first and foremost goal is the health and
welfare of the animals that we have in our care. We
did a lot of research and there are two other kennels in
Portland that use this same model. We were met with a
lot of opposition from the public, but now our dogs are
much happier, healthier, and quieter. It’s really been
great for our pets.”
Beggio says the new model is also working
better for their human adopters. All animals available
for adoption are listed online and the interview process
allows staff to get to know more about potential adopt-
ers. “We spend time with them and get to know them,
their family, and their household, and what they are
looking for in a pet,” says Beggio. “By making good
matches we can find a long-term home for the animals
and a good fit for the family.”
Following the interview adopters are able to
meet the pets and are encouraged to spend as much
time with any dogs they are considering making part
of their family. Beggio says they will hold a dog if a
family needs time to make a decision. They will also
search for a particular type of dog or a certain personal-
ity type if they don’t have the right dog at the time of a
visit. “They’re not buying a jug of milk, they’re buying
a pet that I want them to take care of for the rest of its
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continued from page 3
life, and I want people to be sure before they take them
home,” says Beggio. Beggio notes that the rate of ani-
mals at CHS being returned because they don’t work
out is very low.
Beggio also says limiting access to the kennels
cuts back on potential liability. “This is a way that we
can protect ourselves,” says Beggio.
Beggio says volunteers work with dogs that
may not be best suited as family pets, which are often
sent for additional training to be working dogs; dogs
from CHS have gone on to work in youth corrections
facilities, as search and rescue dogs, and as drug dogs.
“We just had a dog graduate from the national search
program who will be deployed internationally,” says
Beggio.
CHS will also continue to provide some out-
reach and services for the communities they service.
Their vaccine clinic in January was a huge success, with
over 100 dogs receiving discounted vaccinations. They
will host a vaccination clinic at the Vernonia Fire Sta-
tion on Sunday, March 4 from 12:00 - 4:00 pm.
Beggio says she hopes by spring to have a bet-
ter handle on the financial impact the contract cancella-
tion will have on operations at CHS, and says
the facility may be able to start adding back
staff and possibly hours. “Ideally we’d like
to stay open later into the evening, especially
in the summer,” says Beggio.
While Beggio says she has a lot of
volunteers to help around the shelter, one po-
sition where they are always looking for help
is on their Board of Directors. The program
is run by a 12 person Board and Beggio says
she has several positions open and would like
to add members from each of the communi-
ties in the County the shelter serves. “It’s a
pretty easy commitment, just one meeting a
month here in St. Helens,” says Beggio. “We
would like to be able to hear from all over
the County about what people need from us.
There are actually a lot of people around the
County that don’t even know we exist.”
For Beggio the real frustration with
the change to how the County handles their
Animal Control program is about the ani-
mals. Beggio says that shelters in the Pacific
Northwest have really embraced the idea of spay and
neuter as a way to control the population of unwanted
pets. Shelters in other areas of the country have not
done so and end up with too many animals and often
have to resort to euthanizing hundreds of dogs every
day. CHS will often transfer dogs, space permitting,
that have run out of time at other shelters, and then
work to find them a home here. The loss of 14 kennels
to the County has severely restricted CHS’s ability to
help more dogs. “I get a kill list every day from shel-
ters down in California, asking us to take these dogs,”
says Beggio. “That’s a big part of my problem with
the County coming back into this building - because
many of their kennels are currently just sitting there
empty. And I know there were 14 dogs that died today
that could have been saved. We have a great resource
sitting here and it’s sitting here empty. That’s just sad
and heartbreaking.”
The Columbia Humane Society is located at 2084 Or-
egon Street in St. Helens. You can reach them at (503)
397- 4353, or go to their website at www.ColumbiaHu-
mane.com. You can also find them on Facebook.
Year of the Dog
Natural Path to Health:
Winter Flues continued from page 9
ive. These are all antioxidants and will provide an
array of different nutrients to fight off illness.
At my office I have an elderberry + im-
mune syrup that has helped many through the
season. Feel free to come by and ask questions.
Classes will be held at the local Grange to show
how to wildcraft and make your own medicine to
help yourself stay well through the season. Just
rest, take time, eat well, hydrate, and recognize
the beauty of what your body can do. Science is
always learning… maybe it could learn something
from something we already know. Nourishment it
key! Nourish yourself and your children and see
what happens.
Thanks for joining me. Be well~
Vernonia’s Voice is published
on the 1st and 3rd Thursday.
Look for our next issue
on March 15.
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