Henderson County is in a rural area in the western part of Kentucky. The county contains the eponymous city of Henderson, which has a population of about 28,000. The combined population of city and county is about 46,000. The Ohio River separates the county from Evansville, Indiana, a city of about 117,000 people.
The Humane Society of Henderson County (HSHC) is a private non-profit that has the animal control and sheltering contract for both the city of Henderson and Henderson County. The shelter also accepts owner surrenders from its jurisdiction, with no conditions.
In a recent article, a reporter interviewed Josh Cromer, who was hired as the director of the shelter on October 3, 2011. Cromer discussed his first year with the shelter, and stated that the euthanasia rate for the first nine months of 2012 was only 5%, compared to 40-45% in previous years. Cromer stated that his three greatest accomplishments during the year were getting a good team together, reducing the euthanasia rate, and creating a cage-free area for cats. He expressed disappointment at not being able to attract as many volunteers as he wanted, and listed several improvements to the physical plant that are planned or in progress.
The shelter posts statistics on its home page, listing its statistics through September 22, 2012 as intake = 1247, return to owner = 80, adoption and transfer = 998, and euthanasia = 65. This is a 94% live release rate under the method used by this blog.
Last year the county floated a plan to take over animal control and build a pound. Some people feared this would lead to the county simply killing the animals that were impounded in the new facility. Fortunately, the proposal for the new pound has been tabled, and there do not appear to be any plans at this time to bring it up again.
Henderson County, KY, is counted in the Running Totals as a 90%+ community.