OUR GOALS FOR THE FUTURE: THE 2007 PLAN

Richmond City Council adopted Partners for a Humane Community in July 2000. The partnership was dedicated to achieving no healthy, homeless animal dying in the City of Richmond by 2008 through an emphasis on education, adoption, pet retention, Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR), and high volume, no- and low-cost spay/neuter programs. The Richmond SPCA, together with Richmond Animal Care and Control, accomplished this goal two years ahead of schedule, in 2006.

We have continued to be guided by the principles of this plan, and in 2007 our board of directors and leadership team, with input from employees, volunteers and others who care deeply for the welfare of our community's animals, met to create a new strategic long range plan. The adoption of this plan over the next 3 to 5 years will promote our core purpose to promote and practice the principle that every life is precious.

Our decisions and programs will be guided by these shared values:

• Excellence in all that we do,
• Integrity by acting consistently with our core purpose and values,
• Uncompromising care for the animals,
• Commitment to the authentic principles of the no-kill philosophy, and
• Leadership in the Richmond community and the humane community.

These shared values will be demonstrated by the following commitments:

• At all times and in every way, we will be advocates for animals.  
• We will provide for their safety and comfort, strive to alleviate their suffering and work to place them in homes that will provide a responsible lifetime commitment to them. 
• We will discourage all forms of animal cruelty and promote spaying and neutering to achieve and retain a no-kill community. 
• We will endorse a philosophy of animal welfare that discourages the taking of the lives of healthy and treatable animals to control their numbers. 
• We will provide services that promote responsible pet ownership and humane attitudes toward all life. 

Overview of our long range plan

The overarching vision of the plan that follows and each of its components is to faithfully advance the core purpose and mission of the organization and, above all, its dedication to a no- kill philosophy and to making ours a no-kill community.

The successful public/private partnership adopted in our first strategic plan between the Richmond SPCA and Richmond Animal Care and Control must now be extended to the surrounding counties to achieve a no-kill community. 

To ensure the success of that effort, we must:

• Create working partnerships with the counties.
• Educate and inform our community so that they better understand the core issues affecting companion animal homelessness and their personal role in resolving those issues. 
• Continue and expand the services that will be the most effective in reducing the number of homeless animals. Pet retention support, low cost veterinary care (which is integrally related to pet retention) and spay/neuter services have been identified as being the crucial services to be provided by this organization to reach the no-kill community goal.

It is also essential to the fulfillment of our core purpose and mission that we clearly acknowledge our commitment to actively promote and support the adoption by other communities of the no-kill model that has been so successful in Richmond. Since it is well demonstrated that this model vastly reduces the loss of life of homeless animals, it is incumbent upon us to not only extend it throughout our entire community but also to mentor and support others to adopt it elsewhere. 

Organizational goals of the long range plan include:

Increase in Public Awareness and Understanding of Core Humane Issues and the Mission, Role and Nature of the Richmond SPCA

This goal will be accomplished by:

• Achieving a significant increase over the next three years in our community’s understanding of core humane issues and the individual and collaborative means by which those issues may be addressed;
• Providing public messages that will inform our community as to why they should, and how they can, utilize our services and will increase their understanding of how their personal behavior directly relates to the successful creation of a no-kill community; and
• Engaging in advertising, outreach and public relations campaigns that will make our community aware of the identity and appropriate animal welfare role, mission, location, programs and services of the Richmond SPCA.
• June 2009 Update: We provided more than 17,000 hours of children's humane education and more than 8,000 hours of adult education in 2008. A study on public awareness of key humane issues and the programs and services of the Richmond SPCA was conducted to create benchmarks for the results of educational and outreach programs over the next 3 to 5 years. In addition, we have been at the forefront of legislative and other activities designed to promote core humane issues. We are on track to continue the same level of humane education and community outreach in 2009.
• October 2009 Update: We have made significant inroads with local businesses in their response to and humane management of feral cat colonies, and have continued to provide support for feral cat caretakers. We also completed an adoption advertising campaign which resulted in a 7% adoption increase, and Richmond SPCA CEO Robin Starr penned a series of Richmond Times-Dispatch editorials focusing on humane issues. In addition, the Richmond SPCA's blog now serves as a forum for key humane issues and programs and services that help homeless animals. Last but not least, in Fiscal Year 2009 (October 1, 2008 to September 30, 2009) we provided 17,044 hours of children's humane education and 11,300 hours of adult education and training, an increase over the number of hours of education provided last fiscal year. We also fielded 1,800 free behavior helpline calls, an increase from 1,457 calls last year.
• June 2010 Update: We are on track to repeat the hours of humane education completed in Fiscal Year 2009 and maintain a busy roster of training classes, inbound tours for youth and adult groups, and outbound tours to schools and other locations. In addition, we have significantly expanded our social media presence and are using Facebook (www.facebook.com/richmondspca), Twitter (www.twitter.com/richmondspca) and our blog (www.richmondspca.typepad.com) to communicate important messages about our mission and lifesaving services. 

Provision of Effective Pet Retention Programs for our Community

This goal will be accomplished by:

• Expanding our current pet retention programs (Project Safety Net) to significantly reduce the number of owner surrenders in our community and to reinforce the human/animal bond; and
• Getting out clear and effective messages to the public so that they understand and make use of these resources.
• June 2009 Update: We have put in place several new pet retention Project Safety Net programs to meet the needs of pet owners, including low-cost Wellness Clinics, Pet Pantry Food Assistance, PAATH low-cost boarding for pet owners experiencing a housing crisis, and more. Demand for these services has been immediate and continues to grow. Learn more.
• October 2009 Update: Due to high demand the frequency of low-cost Wellness Clinics has been expanded. We now see clients every Monday. We have also begun holding low-cost microchip clinics and, as of October 1, 2009, all pets adopted from the Richmond SPCA will be microchipped.
• June 2010 Update: Demand for Project Safety Net programs remains high and we will continue to devote resources to programs that keep animals out of shelters and in permanent, loving homes. Utilization of our Pet Pantry food assistance program increased by 50% in early 2010. A focused effort has been made in 2010 to get the word out about these programs using a variety of tools, including veterinary office education, social media, and an improvement in self-service web tools that can be used to apply for assistance.

Provision of High Volume and Targeted Spay/Neuter Programs and Services

This goal will be accomplished by:

• Continuing and expanding our low- and no-cost spay/neuter services beyond current levels;
• Seeking to provide approximately half of those surgeries to particularly needy constituencies on a no cost basis in order to achieve our goal of a No-kill community, and
• Appropriating the financial and other assets and resources necessary to fully support and achieve this goal.
• June 2009 Update: We completed more than 13,000 low- and no-cost spay/neuter surgeries in Fiscal Year 2008, a significant expansion of our previous goal of 9,000 surgeries per year. The majority of these surgeries were performed for pets of constituents who qualified for free surgeries. We are on track in 2009 to meet or surpass our 2008 numbers.
• October 2009 Update: More than 14,250 surgeries were performed at our clinic in Fiscal Year 2009 (October 1, 2008 to September 30, 2009). This represents a 13% increase over last fiscal year. Of these 14,250 surgeries, 8,514 were performed for free for the pets of low-income families - a 23% increase over last fiscal year. 1,839 of the 14,250 total surgeries were performed at no charge for feral cats - a 37% increase over last fiscal year.
• June 2010 Update: Our clinic continues to offer high volume, free and low-cost spay/neuter services. In addition, we have removed geographic restrictions for our low-cost surgery services so that more pet owners may gain access to affordable care for their pets.

Summary

We recognize that there are, and will continue to be, many valuable activities of the Richmond SPCA that are not mentioned in the goals set forth above. These stated goals will be priorities for achievement and for funding by this organization during the term of this plan. 

We are committed to:

• Raising the funds needed to achieve these goals,
• Allocating the resources needed to provide these services, and
• Lobbying at all levels of government when it is consistent with and supportive of our mission, the goals of this plan and the best interests of animals.

Questions about our long range plan? Please e-mail us.