Effective immediately, the Cedar Valley Humane Society will provide animal control services for dogs in the unincorporated areas of Benton County.





	 



	"We look forward to providing Benton County the same exceptional service we offer to Linn County and the municipalities that contract with us," says Lonnie Viner, executive director of the Cedar Valley Humane Society, adding that stray cats, farm animals, birds, wildlife and exotic species are excluded from the contract. 



	 



	County officials initially approached Viner in late 2014, and the service contract was finalized on February 24, 2015. Earlier this month, the City of Urbana finalized its contract with the Cedar Valley Humane Society, providing animal control services for both dogs and cats.



	 



	According to Viner, it is an industry best practice for animal welfare organizations to have formal agreements with the municipalities they serve.



	 



	If residents of unincorporated Benton County have a stray dog contained on their property, they should contact the Cedar Valley Humane Society at (319) 362-6288 during regular business hours, Monday through Friday noon to 7 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. 



	 



	If assistance is needed outside of regular business hours, residents should call the Benton County Sheriff's Department at (319) 472-2337. 



	 



	Residents of unincorporated Benton County may also relinquish their owned animals to the Cedar Valley Humane Society for $50 per animal, which is the nonprofit organization's standard surrender fee for pet owners residing within contracted municipalities. 



	 



	"Residents who bring us stray animals from within the city limits of a municipality without a contract in place will be directed back to their respective city halls for further guidance," says Viner. Residents bringing stray cats from unincorporated Benton County also will be redirected. 



	 



	According to Viner, in the absence of a service agreement, the Cedar Valley Humane Society is not permitted to shelter those animals.



	 



	Viner encourages other county and city officials to contact her to learn more about the Cedar Valley Humane Society providing animal control services in their areas. 



	 



	"As a local nonprofit organization, a large part of our mission is to help as many animals as we can in Eastern Iowa," says Viner.



	 



	The Cedar Valley Humane Society provides animal control services to unincorporated Linn County and its municipalities, with the exception of Cedar Rapids, Marion, and Center Point, which have other animal control services providers. The nonprofit organization also provides animal control services to North Liberty, Swisher, Tiffin, Shueyville, Oxford, Walford, Solon, and Urbana.



	 



	For more information, contact the Cedar Valley Humane Society at (319) 362-6288 or visit www.cvhumane.org.



	 



	About the Cedar Valley Humane Society



	The Cedar Valley Humane Society is a nonprofit organization dedicated to building healthy relationships between people and animals, and eliminating cruelty, abuse and overpopulation of animals through education, adoption services and inspiring compassion for all living things. Since the construction of its present facility in 1969, the open-admission animal shelter has cared for more than 100,000 animals. The Cedar Valley Humane Society provides animal control services to unincorporated Linn and Benton Counties, as well as contracted municipalities in Linn, Johnson, and Benton Counties. The organization's adoption services and other services are available to residents throughout Eastern Iowa. 



	 



	The nonprofit organization receives no federal or state funding, nor is it associated with any national organizations such as the Humane Society of the United States or the ASPCA. It relies solely on service fees and donations from the local community to enable it to offer vital services such as animal rescue and critical care for homeless, abandoned, abused, sick, and neglected animals.



	 



	The Cedar Valley Humane Society is located at 7411 Mount Vernon Road SE in Cedar Rapids. For more information, please visit www.cvhumane.org. 



	 



	'Open Admission'



	When asked about the CVHS and its status in relationship to "no-kill" shelters, Communications Director Jan Clarke replied with the following statement:



	

		We are an open-admission shelter, which means we must accept all animals within the service areas we are contracted for, regardless of health or temperament. Generally speaking, "no-kill" shelters can choose whether or not they want to accept an animal.

	

		Even as an open-admission shelter, we only euthanize for two reasons:

	

		1) Risk to the public.

	

		2) Medical conditions beyond the scope of our shelter, such as treatments that would be needed for cancer

	

		Once an animal is in our adoption area, they remain there until they are adopted. We DO NOT euthanize for space, unlike many open-admission shelters. Our "save" rate for 2014 was 94%, compared to the generally recognized national rate of 44%.

	

		We care deeply about animals and work very hard to help all the animals who come into our care.