My perspective on OHRS is as a volunteer for the morning dog walking services. This Humane Society is extremely well run and the volunteers go above and beyond in their dedication and caring about the animals at the shelter. The dogs and cats are well fed, clean, receive medical care and grooming as needed, get lots of love and attention – all to ensure that each one of them will be the best adoptable pet possible!
I was new to the area and looking for a place to volunteer. My love for animals brought me to ORHS 3+ years ago. The staff and volunteers are awesome. The love and care for the dogs and cats is immeasurable. The facility is very clean and welcoming. I would highly recommend visiting ORHS, you just might fall in love with one of the guests! My little guy has been with us for over a year, it was love at first sight and I’m grateful to ORHS for saving & helping him recover from a sad situation.
I've never volunteered this regularly in my life. The staff and volunteers at the Oconee Regional Humane Society are an inspiration! They love what they do and the helpless creatures they do it for every day. Working full-time, it's difficult for me to volunteer at any non profit, but ORHS makes it easy to jump on the schedule when you are available. I thought I was doing the animals a service, but really, it's the other way around. I am continually amazed by the love these dogs and cats generously give despite being mistreated by humans. It's wonderful to experience the dedication the staff and volunteers have at ORHS.
My family and I adopted these adorable pups from the Oconee Regional Humane Society almost three years ago. Our adoption process was done in a professional and compassionate manner. I was so impressed with this facility that I joined the organization as a volunteer. I help this organization by dog walking the shelter dogs and fostering. I am so impressed with the cleanliness and compassionate this shelter shows the animals that I recommend them to all my friends.
I was new to the community and decided to volunteer at the humane society in January of 2020. I received a call minutes after submitting my application and had a delightful conversation with The volunteer coordinator. My next step was to visit the facility and I was so impressed at how clean it was. I started walking dogs and made some great friends with other volunteers. Then Covid hit. I started fostering then and ended up a foster failure. Now I walk dogs and foster young puppies. My foster fail is the best foster dog mom. I can’t say enough about Oconee Regional Humane Society. I have learned so much from them. I’ve made great friends and I’ve been given the opportunity to love on so many precious dogs. I can’t thank ORHS enough for the love I receive and give to these precious babies. Thank you!
My spouse, son, & I had been a family for 21 years before we got our first pet. We adopted Rusty after a trauma deeply impacted our family and the shelter director worked with our son to find the bestest boy to help him. Were we nervous? YES! Did the exceptionally kind and continuously supportive staff and volunteers at ORHS help us every step of the way? ALSO YES! We could not believe how easy it was to housebreak and train Rusty, and we immediately experienced a love we’d not imagine and this dog (with the continued checking in from ORHS) helped us recover.
As a result, we became those people that wanted more dogs. So, we returned back to ORHS almost a year later and adopted our second dog (originally Patrick), Coal. I’ll be honest, I thought Rusty was a fluke and that we’d have an awful time training Coal. INCORRECT! Coal was just as beautifully trained or worked with as Rusty, and within two weeks, housebroken and walking wonderfully on a leash.
I believe that the staff and volunteers at ORHS are do dedicated to the pets of the facility that I’ve not heard of such young (I adopted both dogs around three months old) dogs so well prepared to join families and homes. I also appreciate still getting calls checking in on my boys, or engaging with them in social media. I will continue to recommend this organization for as long as I can, as well as know where all my future pets will come from.
Katherine Adams
Have adopted two wonderful dogs from the Oconee Regional Humane Society. Everyone at the society was very helpful throughout the entire process. Volunteers have continued to follow up with us. I would recommend this group of people to anyone.
This small but mighty organization is 100% heart! A small staff and many volunteers allow nearly 500 dogs and cats to be adopted each year. For three years I have been a member of a group of dog walkers who meet every morning to make sure the dogs in our care receive exercise, training, socialization and especially, lots of love and treats. Getting to know the dogs allows us to help get them adopted through telling their stories in social media postings. I also help on the publicity committee - working on fundraisers and special events. ORHS has become a very big part of my life in retirement!
I have volunteered for ORHS for the last 5+ years and I will say, it keeps getting better and better! The quality of care these animals receive is above and beyond—each person treating these precious dogs and cats as if they were their own, no one left behind or ignored. If we could, we’d save them all, but ORHS does a wonderful job of saving every furry soul they can! I’ve even taken home two of my own…our lives are richer for loving them.
Oconee Regional Humane Society is a very well oiled machine. Fellow volunteers are very knowledgeable, communication is key and we all know where and when we are needed. Dogs and cats are well cared for whilst waiting for their forever homes. Plenty of outside time and interaction with both humans and their own kind!
I really enjoyed my volunteering at ORHS, answering phones and welcoming people to the center. I learned a lot about their reduced-cost spay and neuter programs and felt like I was helping the community. The cherry on top was getting to play with all the cats and dogs that came through before they were adopted!
This is a great organization that cares for every animal that comes through the door.
I have been a volunteer for ORHS for the last four years. The first time I walked into the facility, I expected it to be like many other shelters I have been to....smell of dog pee, poop, maybe also a bit dirty. ORHS facility was the contrary. It was very clean and smelled actually very pleasant. There was a dog in the yard, enjoying the weather. They rotated dogs in the yard, so every dog got yard time during the day. There were also dog group play times. Now they have a dog walkers' group who walk the dogs every day. This is a place that takes very good care of the animals and does their best to find the best homes even if it takes a little longer.
I first visited ORHS 2 years ago after I lost my dog to a stroke. I have volunteered in pet rescue shelters in the past but was immediately impressed on the cleanliness and organization of the dog area. They walked me through, gave a description of all the dogs they currently had and took them out in their expansive play yard. Needless to say I adopted beautiful hound mix Chloe. After that experience I knew I wanted to volunteer there and become part of their amazing team. Such a rewarding experience to see our rescues find their forever home
I have been a volunteer at ORHS for the last 31/2 years. I have no idea how it was in 2014 but I do know how it is in 2022. This organization and it volunteers have great love and compassion for the dogs, puppies, cats and kittens that come through the door. From the first day I volunteered and I watched a grown man sitting on the floor, bottle feeding new puppies, I was hooked!
I have seen many dogs and puppies come and go over the years, I have seen the love for each one, the concern when one is sick and the excitement when one has found their furever home! They work very hard at finding the best fit for each dog. Yes, it doesn’t always work out, and when it doesn’t they are welcomed back with open arms as a new and better home is found.
As a volunteer, we are trained for our duties, supported by administration, given opportunities to volunteer in different areas, events and opportunities to attend training / enrichment classes.
The animals at ORHS are vetted, spayed or neutered and very well cared for. Lots of TLC happens at ORHS!
Incredible organization. Volunteers donate countless hours to make animals feel safe and loved until they are placed in a permanent home.
I have been lucky enough to get to volunteer with the dogs here. It has been an extremely rewarding experience! Every single volunteer goes above and beyond to make sure the dogs get extra attention and stimulation. We triple clean every kennel and floor space every single morning. We get a call from a kill shelter and try to take every dog we can.
ORHS is a horrible pet "rescue", puppy flippers is the more appropriate term. I know of 3 dogs that they have pulled from a local shelter only to be returned in a day or 2 stating the dog is aggressive. But, none of these dogs actually are. Thankfully the 3 that I know of have either been readopted, or pulled by another legitimate rescue. Even of they truly were as a rescue, you have an obligation to get them the professional help that they need. You don't just dump them. None of these dogs are allowed anytime to decompress and settle into their new enviornment, and none have had an evaluation by a professional trainer. They want perfect dogs that they don't have to sink any money or time into so they can make a quick profit. And if you adopt an animal from them and it's not a good fit for your home, don't expect them to take it back. You will be told to either euthanize it yourself or to take it to a shelter. I have been a foster mom for many years, and everything about this group of "caring" individuals is completely wrong! Go look at their dogs for adoption, you will see a lot of puppies and no mothers. They leave them behind, or take them and deem them as aggressive and then dump them back at the shelter. Pathetic excuse for a rescue group!