Our goals include the following: To educate the public about the importance of having their pets spayed or neutered, and to provide low or no cost surgeries for those in need. To shelter and provide care for stray, abused, or relinquished animals. To provide a kind death when necessary. To educate the general population about the seriousness of pet overpopulation. To end euthanasia as a means of controlling pet overpopulation. To find good homes for the animals in our care. Our hope for the future is that there will be no unwanted, unloved or abandoned pets. We will continue with our aggressive spay/neuter campaign and our owner education programs in the hopes that any pet ever adopted will find a permanent, loving home. We also pray that in our lifetime we see the need for shelters and animal welfare organizations cease to exist. HISTORY
The Humane Association of Wilson County, Inc. (HAWC) was formed in July 1978, by a group of caring individuals dedicated to end the suffering of abandoned and unwanted pets in Wilson County. Our first meeting was attended by over 200 residents interested in the same mission. All who attended confessed to feeling helpless when finding animals dropped at or inside the local dumpsters. There was no place for them to go - no shelter or pound, with veterinarians simply doing all they could to find homes for the few they could take in.
In October 1978, we became incorporated and began our goal of obtaining funds to build an animal shelter. Our 501(c)3 status was granted on May 28, 1980. This came shortly on the heels of our winning the referendum for a domestic pet tax in the county. For this measure, a private act had to pass the Legislature, after which the referendum could be added to the ballot and voted on by the general population. It was the first time the citizens of Wilson County had voted themselves a tax. We now receive $2.00 per animal vaccinated for rabies in our county.
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In late 1982, we began our plans to build the shelter, after the Wilson County Commission, Lebanon City Council, Mt. Juliet City Council and Watertown City Council voted to allot us $1 per capita, amounting to $40,000, $12,500, $5,000 and 1,250 respectively. Our goal had been to open the shelter with no excess baggage of loans and mortgages. With additional fundraisers, we opened in July 1983 with only $5,000 owing on the building. With the help of volunteers, we completed the inside by building the necessary animal runs and purchasing steel cages, along with a small amount of used office furniture. Now in 2003, we are planning a new home for the homeless. Click here for more information.
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THE HUMANE ASSOCIATION OF WILSON COUNTY
P O Box 247
507 Jim Draper Blvd
(off Baddour Parkway)
Lebanon, TN 37088-0247
(615) 444-1144Â Â Â Fax (615) 444-4997