On August 10, the Humane Society of Pagosa Springs invites you to join in celebrating four decades of compassion and dedication to animal welfare in Pagosa Springs at our upcoming 40th Anniversary Luau.
The evening’s events will include stories from the early days of the Humane Society of Pagosa Springs, Polynesian luau dancers, Tahitian drummers, a fabulous dinner by a local caterer, live and silent auctions, and other fun activities.
Visit PagosaHumane.org to purchase advance tickets by August 1. Early bird ticket price is $110.
The Humane Society of Pagosa Springs was established in 1984 by founder, Debra Rinker-Brown. She was passionate about incorporating sustainable animal welfare into a community that had very little animal support. After learning how to care for her own flock of animals by volunteering at the local veterinarian’s office, Rinker-Brown embarked on her journey of building our local Humane Society.
Though she was told she wouldn’t succeed, the fierce passion that motivated Rinker-Brown to care for these animals and the community propelled her forward. She and her husband took the gold Krugerrand they inherited from her mother and launched their first fundraiser by selling raffle tickets.
Rinker-Brown knew that her dream was about to be realized when Dan Fogelberg, a famous (and local) songwriter, offered to help her cause by putting on a local concert to raise money for the shelter.
Forty years later, Rinker-Brown’s passion is still very much alive in all that we do at the Humane Society of Pagosa Springs.
Currently, we provide shelter to more than 700 animals annually and have records of sheltering more than 17,000 pets since 1984. We’ve helped keep countless more animals in their homes.
As we continue to see the population rise in Archuleta County, the Humane Society of Pagosa Springs continues to increase the number of animals we rescue each year, the number of community cats that are spayed/neutered and vaccinated, and the number of pets and their humans that are supported through the community programs we operate.
Our mission is to provide a safe haven for animals in need, promote adoptions, humanely reduce pet overpopulation through aggressive spay/neuter programs, support lifelong pet ownership and to educate the community.