The month of April kicks off our “busy season,” which lasts through November. Cold temperatures and less daylight play a role in the heat cycles of animals, so we get a very small break from December through March, and then it’s back to kittens, puppies, and more kittens!

Since our inception in 1974, Tri-County Humane Society has been trying to reduce the number of accidental litters in our community. In the early years, our adoption contract required adopters to spay or neuter their pets within a specific timeframe, but we didn’t have the resources to enforce compliance. In 2010, we opened an in-house surgery suite, and every dog, cat, and rabbit has been spayed or neutered prior to adoption ever since.

We’re making headway with dogs in the greater St. Cloud area, allowing us to serve other communities that need help; most of our puppies are transferred to us from rescues in Northern Minnesota. Cats are another story, though. As I write this letter, we have 8 cats with nursing litters in foster homes, and during our peak summer months, we often have over 100 animals (mostly cats) in foster care.

The solution is clear, and it’s within reach, but we need your help. Here’s what you can do:

• Adopt from Tri-County Humane Society. Adopted pets come fixed!
• Spay or neuter your pets. And please encourage those in your circles to do their part, too. Prevention is key! If cost is a barrier, the Minnesota Spay Neuter Assistance Program (MN SNAP) is a high-quality, low-cost, mobile spay/neuter clinic that comes to TCHS from April through October. Visit www.mnsnap.org.
• Become a foster. Our biggest need this time of year is for nursing moms and litters. Experience the joys of kittens and puppies while being part of the solution, not part of the problem!
• Donate toward shelter animal spays and neuters. We performed 3,002 surgeries in 2025 in our in-house surgery suite, with each spay/neuter surgery costing approximately $75. That’s an annual expense of over $225,000! Every donation, no matter the amount, helps.

We say this often, but it’s true: We wouldn’t be here for the animals without people like you. Thank you for caring, sharing, and helping in all of the ways that you do.

For the animals,