H.E.L.P. The Animals/Wayne County Humane Society
2101 West Main Street
Richmond, Indiana 47374
765-962-6811

Dear Friend of HELP the Animals,
You may have recently encountered a variety of social media posts regarding the HELP Shelter.
As with all social media, some of what you may have read is true, some is not.
We want to share the events that have occurred as we understand them. We want you to hear
from us directly. We want to take responsibility for what happened. And most of all, we want to
improve our practices and move forward.
The HELP Shelter is a “no-kill” shelter which means that we do not kill healthy or
treatable animals even when the shelter is full, reserving euthanasia for terminally ill animals or
those considered dangerous to public safety.
A decision was made recently to euthanize several dogs. All of these dogs were classified as a
“bite risk”. Some had bitten individuals in their adopted families and had been returned; many
had also bitten shelter staff. These animals could be cuddly and loving one moment, and
unpredictable the next. We felt that we could not trust these animals and we would not, in good
conscience, put an adoptive family at risk.
Since 2012, the HELP Shelter has proudly adopted out 5602 dogs and cats. While it is always
extremely difficult to make the decision to euthanize an animal, in the past five years we have
had to euthanize a total of 19 dogs that were bite risks and 33 that were critically sick.
Due to the questions that have recently arisen, the Board made the decision to place the shelter
manager on temporary administrative leave. The Board is reviewing all of our procedures
including the in-take of animals, rehabilitation practices and end-of-life decisions.
We hope that you will join us as we move forward in advancing our mission. The Shelter is
committed to supporting the animals in our care and making every adoption successful.

Sincerely,
The Board Members of HELP