History

The Santa Ynez Valley Humane Society was established in the early 1970s as an informal group of dedicated men and women who were concerned about the care and protection of animals in their local community. In the early years they served as independent individuals without an official entity or organization. Their objective was to rescue lost and unwanted animals and to find homes for them. This was largely accomplished with little or no outside financial support and by using their own homes to care for pets while they networked throughout the community to find homes for as many as possible. They served without any thought of personal gain or reward, motivated simply by their shared love of animals and a desire to serve their dependent friends and their community.

Recognizing the overpopulation of dogs and cats needed proactive solutions, they began picking up pets from Valley residents once a week and making the 100 mile round trip to the Santa Barbara Humane Society facility to have the animals spayed and neutered. The following day, they repeated the 100 mile drive to pick them up and return them to their homes. Later, they found a local veterinarian, in Los Olivos, to do the surgery, but these dedicated ladies continued to pick the animals up and return them to their owners.

By 1979 they had reached the point where they were able to establish a formal organization, and a non-profit corporation was formed in December of that year. They hoped this entity would provide continuity to carry out their mission and enable them to obtain financial support from the community.

Operating as the Santa Ynez Valley Humane Society, Inc., a private, non-profit California corporation, they continued their established method of using their own homes as havens to house and care for local pets and making regular trips to pick up and deliver animals for their spay and neuter program.

Shelter

In 1984, the volunteers mounted a fund raising effort and, with the generosity of two major donors, a parcel of industrial land was purchased in Buellton. The following year they completed construction of a 3,805 square foot building debt-free. This building continues to this day as the home of our small organization that had such humble beginnings in the homes of its directors and their friends.

The facility was expanded in 1998 adding an isolation and recovery area, in 1999 with the addition of a mobile caretaker's residence, and again in 2002 with the addition of 10 dog kennels. The facility has grown to total of 27 dog kennels and 14 cat cages, along with an outside covered area for cats. In addition to the kennels and cat cages, the shelter has a fully equipped veterinarian surgery and isolation rooms.

Nonprofit Status

The Santa Ynez Valley Humane Society is a 501(c)(3) private, non-profit organization governed by a Board of Directors composed of volunteers from the community who are dedicated to animal welfare. We are a local organization and do not receive state or federal government funds to run our programs. Donations to the Santa Ynez Valley Humane Society directly benefit the animals living in our community and are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.

As with most charities, the Santa Ynez Valley Humane Society cannot continue to operate on operational income alone and relies on financial support from fundraising events and donations from the community to keep our doors open. No funding is received from taxes or the government.

Mission and Vision

The Mission of the Santa Ynez Valley Humane Society, Inc. is to serve our community by providing and promoting humane, compassionate, and conscientious care of companion animals and preventing their overpopulation, and to further the prevention of cruelty to animals and the enforcement of the laws of the State of California pertaining to the prevention of cruelty to animals.

The Vision of the Santa Ynez Valley Humane Society is to be the companion animal resource in the Santa Ynez Valley by:

• providing people with the information and resources they need to raise happy, healthy, safe and socialized companion animals,
• providing our community with information and resources to successfully control the population of and improve the lives of feral and domestic animals, and
• providing companion animals with the chance for a brighter future.