History of the Humane Society of Yuma, Part II

Originally published in the Fall 2009 issue of the Humane Society of Yuma's Paw Prints

In January of 1963, jurisdiction of animal control in Yuma County was transferred from the Yuma County Sheriff ’s Office to the Public Health Department. There were two humane officers stationed in Yuma and a third in Parker (La Paz County was part of Yuma County until 1983). At thattime, the Public Health Department operated the local dog pound.

By today’s standards, the city-county pound that had been built in 1953 in the city dump (present-day West Wetlands Park) would never have been acceptable from the day it opened.

In the summer of 1963, community disgust with the condition of the city-county pound spilled onto the Yuma Sun’s opinion page. A flurry of letters recounted horrible scenes. One writer described the shelter as having “rotting, tick-infested, ten year old lumber.”

In June, the Yuma Sun ran a story headlined “Clarification of Dog Pound Problem May Take the Bite Out of Issue.” The article noted that the subject had become one of the most controversial in the Yuma area. The article allowed Bill Rice, head of the City-County Humane Unit of the Public Health Department, an opportunity to alleviate public concern by speaking directly to the Yuma Sun’s readers. One of the more notable quotes from the department head: “No dog is in that pound unless it or its owners violated the law or did something wrong. It is a jail or a prison for the animal. Some people would have us make conditions better there than in their own homes.”

Ironically, the article reinforced the issue: Yuma needed a modern animal shelter. One reader responded that the article “is not taking the bite out of the issue since too many people know the facts of this ‘hell hole’ for dogs.”
Another reader, who visited the pound in response to the article, reported that most of the animals were “half-dead of starvation... some so weak they couldn’t walk.”

First meeting

Meanwhile, by 1963, the Yuma County Humane Society of the 1950’s (which existed completely separately from the dog pound) had become inactive, but this is not to say that there were no local champions of animal welfare. In May of 1963, Margery Gordon (who would, in a few months’ time, become a charter board member of the newly incorporatedYuma County Humane Society) was the local representative for the Arizona Humane Society’s recognition of “Be Kind to Animals Week.”
By August of 1963, a group of local citizens organized a meeting to discuss the formation of a new Yuma County
Humane Society. Max Finch, general manager of the Arizona Humane Society, and Mr. and Mrs. Henry A. Faure, who were instrumental in the formation of the Coconino Humane Association, were guests of honor at this first meeting. Both organizations had recently opened their own animal shelters in their respective cities of Phoenix (1957) and Flagstaff (1958).
At this meeting, the local group decided to model its articles of incorporation and bylaws after Arizona Humane. It was also at this meeting that the not-yetincorporated Yuma County Humane Society received its first donation, a one hundred dollar check from the Yuma Kennel Club. (Incidentally, the Yuma Kennel Club is the major sponsor of this year’s Fur Ball.) In the following months after the meeting, it appears that Max Finch made frequent trips to Yuma from Phoenix, lending invaluable expertise to the local upstarts.

Incorporation

The Yuma County Humane Society,Inc. was incorporated on October 20, 1963, and held its first meeting as such on October 23rd. Charter board members were Elsa D. Cole, L. R. Foos, Ray Carroll, Ronald Wilson, Richard Lackey, Margery Gordon, and Les Hellman. Soon after, the group received a $500 check from a Phoenix area philanthropist. This became the first of many infusions of support from outside of Yuma received by the newly incorporated organization on its long road to building its
first shelter.

At the start of 1964, the humane society had been raising small amounts of money from various fundraisers and
memberships, but donations lagged. The organization then received word that E. DuBois, a Phoenix-area animal welfare philanthropist, would match dollar-for-dollar funds that the Yuma County Humane Society raised.

The idea surfaced to hold a telethon on KBLU-TV (renamed KSWT in 1991). The event, which was planned from May 16-17, was the first telethon in the country to benefit a humane society. The event was heavily publicized by Hollywood starlet Pamela Mason on both her television show and within her social circles. For the telethon, several Hollywood celebrities came to aid the cause of building a new shelter for Yuma. Most notably among these was Jon Provost, who starred as Timmie in the television show, Lassie. The telethon, held at the Yuma County Fairgrounds, ran televised around the clock. A July newsletter reported that
total proceeds of the telethon, including a $1,000 donation by Pamela Mason, amounted to $4,000.