Century Of Care From Horses And Children To Dogs And Cats, Spokane Humane Society Has Been Helping The Abused For 100 Years.

While Spokane scurried about its routine on a recent afternoon, two Old English sheepdog mixes were discarded at a local animal shelter.

The dogs’ owner was too old to care for them anymore; her adult children either couldn’t or wouldn’t take them in.

They brought the dogs to the Spokane Humane Society animal shelter at 6607 N. Havana.

Such heartbreaking dramas of shame and hope have unfolded daily since 1897 at the Spokane Humane Society.

This year, the nonprofit organization marks one century of sheltering dogs, cats, horses and other animals - some purebred, some mixed breed - that were discarded, abused or neglected.

“We took in 15,000 animals in 1996 alone,” said Diane Rasmussen, community relations coordinator for the society. “Fifty percent of what comes in goes out alive.”

Whether dropped off by former owners or found stray on the streets, animals brought to the society’s shelter are cared for by a small paid staff and a small but determined volunteer contingent.

At a bare minimum, the animals get food, water, a clean kennel or stall and a medical evaluation. Time and resources permitting, they also get exercise, emotional attention and grooming while they wait to be adopted.

Some are. Others are euthanized to make way for a seemingly endless flow.

“It’s the hardest part of working here,” Rasmussen said. “But being put to sleep kindly is better than living on the street or being chained and ignored.”

To commemorate a century of compassion, the Spokane Humane Society is hosting a gala benefit at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Met in downtown Spokane.

The event is a re-creation in period costume of the Gay ‘90s variety show the society held as its first fund-raiser in 1897 in the old Spokane Auditorium.

Like that show, the 1997 gala will feature performances by area schoolchildren and local musicians and singers. Scheduled numbers include the Sailors’ Hornpipe Jig, a maypole dance and the song “Old Dog Trey,” which will feature a shelter dog.

Spangle writer and artist Nona Hengen will sign her new book “In Pursuit of Compassion: A Centennial History of the Spokane Humane Society,” from 5 to 7 p.m. in The Met lobby. Book sales will be donated to the society.

“Attending the gala and buying the book are ways people not comfortable volunteering at the shelter can help the animals,” said Verla Rigsby, a 13-year member of the society’s board of directors. “Every drop of money we raise through the gala and book signing is truly for the animals.”

The Spokane Humane Society formed to prevent cruelty toward horses and children.

In 1897, cars had not yet been invented. Horses moved Spokane’s goods, building materials and citizens about town and throughout the Inland Northwest.

Charitable organizations working to prevent child abuse, much less animal abuse, were virtually nonexistent.

The society built stables for sick, dying and abused horses, and gathered evidence for animal cruelty and child abuse cases.

It even arranged for high society women from Spokane’s most exclusive neighborhoods to be deputized.

The theory - which worked - was that most men, no matter how poorly they treated their horses, would respect a well-bred woman making a citizen’s arrest in the name of animal welfare.

With the advent of the automobile and the emergence of other civic groups to champion children’s rights, the Spokane Humane Society turned its attention to dogs and cats.

The society provided Spokane its first dog catchers and in 1910 opened a large animal shelter at 704 W. Broadway.

Historical records are vague, but it appears in its first 15 years the society took in 20,000 stray dogs and cats.

More than half were killed, their bodies buried in what is now Spokane’s Audubon Park.

Eventually the responsibility for picking up stray dogs and cats was transferred to the city’s Refuse Department.

Today, the city of Spokane contracts with nonprofit SpokAnimal to pick up stray dogs and cats and respond to cruelty complaints within city limits.

Spokane County Animal Control handles those services outside city limits.

All three animal welfare organizations operate a shelter, although the size and objective of each varies.

Besides maintaining its shelter, the Spokane Humane Society continues its anti-cruelty and education missions.

Society personnel helped investigate the alleged Newport puppy mill. They give presentations about responsible pet ownership to schoolchildren throughout the Inland Northwest.

“We’re not going to convince 40- or 70-year-olds to change their minds, but the children can change how our society treats animals when they grow up,” Rigsby said.

Progress toward that goal has been steady but slow. More often, dogs and cats brought to the society’s shelter are already spayed and neutered.

Rasmussen said that’s encouraging. It means the message about pet overpopulation is starting to get through.

But the number of pets discarded for reasons of inconvenience or because they didn’t match the new carpeting is increasing.

“Now, we’re taking in almost as many owned dogs as strays,” she said.

America is a throwaway society. But what makes it so easy for Americans to scrap their pets as they do last year’s fashions?

“For a long time, we regarded animals as property, as chattel, as machines having no feelings,” said Leo Bustad, an emeritus professor of veterinary medicine at Washington State University and director of the People-Pet Partnership there.

Bustad said those attitudes might be slowly changing, but they are also deeply entrenched in the cultural psyche. Objectifying a life, he said, is probably as old as slavery, which is as old as the human race.

Dona Van Gelder, interim director of the Spokane Humane Society, said she hopes attitudes toward animals change before another century passes.

“We don’t want to be celebrating another 100th anniversary because our goal is to work ourselves out of business by promoting responsible pet ownership,” Van Gelder said.

“We’d love it if the only need society had for us was to care for the very rare stray or abused animal, which could stay at our almost empty shelter as long as it needed to, until the exact right home was found for it.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 3 photos

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: GALA INFORMATION What: Spokane Humane Society Centennial Anniversary Gala Benefit When: Wednesday, May 7. Book signing 5-7 p.m.; gala begins at 7 p.m. Where: The Met, 901 W. Sprague in downtown Spokane. How much: Tickets are $5 and may be purchased from any G&B outlet, at the Spokane Humane Society shelter or at The Met. Special notes: A silent auction, raffle and sale of Spokane Humane Society souvenirs will take place in the lobby before the gala. Anyone needing a ride to the event, or able to volunteer a provide a ride to someone in need, may call 467-5238.

Want to adopt a pet? Animals can be adopted from the Spokane Humane Society’s animal shelter Monday-Friday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Sundays from noon to 4 p.m. The shelter is located at 6607 N. Havana, just off Francis. For general information, call 467-5236. To check the society’s lost pet hot line, call 467-6463.