Humane Society hits milestone anniversary with good news

The Humane Society of Southeast Missouri has been around for 40 years. The organization recently celebrated its anniversary with some cake, cookies, hot chocolate and adoption discounts.

The organization began in 1976 when Gynel Nickell was director and sheltered animals in her own home. That was two years before the facility was built near Route W in 1978.

The folks who work and volunteer at the Humane Society love animals, and do their best to make sure animals who come there can be adopted. And there's good news:

"We've gone from having really high euthanasia rates in years past to now we can call ourselves no-kill with dogs," director Tracy Poston told reporter Ben Matthews.

Matthews reported that adoption rates have steadily increased since the society's inception. Among the 3,150 animals received last year, 1,542 animals were adopted, 592 went to rescue, and 321 animals were returned to their owners.

We tip our caps to the local Humane Society. They do a lot of work on a tight budget.

"We work really, really hard to do what we do on a limited budget, and we all are here for the right reasons," Poston said. "We just care about the animals."

Here's to another 40 years with even more success.