Growing up in Germany, Beata Liebetruth, the new shelter manager of Home at Last Humane Society, had never heard of a kill shelter.
“We do not have kill shelters in Germany or Europe,” Liebetruth said. “That’s an American thing, unfortunately, so that’s how I became involved in animal welfare. It has become my passion in life.”
Liebetruth’s work with animals began in 2001 when she moved to Kanab, Utah to join Best Friends Animal Society, the nation’s largest no-kill animal sanctuary and one of the largest national animal welfare organizations in the country.
In her first year at Best Friends she worked as a veterinary technician and then moved on to become a community outreach programs specialist.
For the next seven years, her role enabled her to work with individual pet owners and animal rescue groups, as well as municipal animal shelters from all over the country and even from abroad, including animal hoarding situations, feral cat project management and cruelty investigations.
Liebetruth also managed an outreach program to work with local Native American communities, coordinating and conducting educational programs to engage and encourage the community to care for animals responsibly.
In 2007, Liebetruth relocated to Reno, Nev., to help initiate and organize the Animal Help Desk at the Nevada Humane Society. She responded to an average of 400 calls and emails per week and helped turn the shelter, which killed animals on a daily basis into a no-kill shelter within three months.
“It was a lot of work, a lot of hours,” Liebetruth said. “There were times when we were sitting on cages on top of each other in the offices but we managed to do it. To create a no kill community, it’s not enough to have a shelter, you really have to have the community on board to be part of the solution and the community was ready for a change so we had a lot of support.”
When Carson City, Nev. reached out to the Nevada Human Society to take over management of its pound, Liebetruth became the director and was able to increase the live release rate from 52 percent to 96 percent in only six months.
“Again you can only accomplish that if you surround yourself with the right people, the right staff,” Liebetruth said. “They have to be on board with the no kill philosophy and the no kill mission.”
While Home At Last is already a no-kill shelter, and Liebetruth wants to bring that same general idea to Wasco County and encourage the community to become part of the
solution.“The right to live is every dog’s and cat’s most basic and fundamental right,” she said. “Shelters should always be places of last resort. For homeless dogs and cats our mission at Home At Last is to provide a true safe haven for these pets until a new home can be found.
“No dog or cat will be put down just because they’re homeless.We know most in the community shares these values and we look forward to their support.”
Liebetruth moved to the area last week.
“I always wanted to move to Oregon,” she said. “I love the area. I love a challenge and I think we have a huge opportunity here.”
Liebetruth isn’t the only new employee at HAL. John Wong, volunteer coordinator, has also been on staff for just a week and said the shelter is always looking for volunteers.
“There’s an infinite amount of work,” Wong said.
HAL needs help with everything from constructing a new sign, making follow up calls, cleaning, yard work, graphic design, photography and grant writing to walking or fostering dogs.
“Whatever the person feels comfortable to do, we’ll find a job for them,” Liebetruth said.
HAL currently has 34 cats and 13 dogs listed on its website for adoption.
For more information, visit homeatlasths.org or call 541-296-5189.
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