Oregon Humane Society and Willamette Humane Society announce merger

PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) – The Oregon Humane Society and the Willamette Humane Society, two of Oregon’s largest animal shelters, have announced a merger into one single organization.

The announcement came in a release Tuesday with both organizations confirming the merger will go into effect July 1. The entire process is expected to take somewhere between 18 to 24 months, however. Once merged, the freshly formed organization will continue operations under the Oregon Humane Society name with two campuses in Portland and Salem.

“The alignment of our missions and the work that we have already done together sets us up perfectly for this next step as WHS becomes part of OHS,” says WHS Executive Director BJ Andersen. “I anticipate that we’ll have even more resources available to care for pets and serve our community.

Both organizations said merging came after “years” of research and cited prominent human societies in San Diego, Wisconsin and Washington as leading examples.

“The challenges of the past two years have accelerated the need to be innovative and find new ways to be financially sustainable in order to meet the needs of pets and people long into the future,” says President and CEO of the Oregon Humane Society Sharon Harmon. “Communities from the two largest metro areas in the state (Salem and Portland) will benefit from the combined experience of some of the most skilled animal welfare professionals in Oregon.”

For more information on the OHS and WHS merger, visit the OHS website.