About Us

Our Mission

At UVHS, we envision a world in which every pet is loved. We seek to inspire compassion for all living creatures and strengthen the bond between animals and the people they love. We work toward this by carrying out our three-part mission:

We provide the Upper Valley with a compassionate, innovative animal shelter and companion animal resource center.
We enhance quality of life for animals in the Upper Valley through programs and services for companion animals that reduce suffering, support wellness, and foster compassion.
We promote the well-being of our employees and their development as animal welfare professionals.

picture of executive director — *Executive Director,*
*Nikki Grimes*

Commonly Asked Questions…

Our History

For over 50 years, UVHS has provided services to pets and families across communities in New Hampshire and Vermont.

The first meeting to organize the Upper Valley Humane Society was held in 1959, which resulted in a temporary shelter being set up at the home of the President, Frank Sanborn. For the next dozen or so years, animal housing was at various people’s homes. Then, in 1972, Betty Farnsworth helped raise funds to purchase UVHS’ first property for $36,000. The property consisted of the Doggie Motel, a house, barn, and 6.39 acres of land.

Not much has changed – except the cost of real estate! 60 years later, UVHS’ current location in Enfield, New Hampshire consists of two main buildings – in many ways still a doggie motel, a house, a barn and land. The Adoption Center houses the majority of the animals, including 28 kennels for dogs, 75 condos for cats and several hutches for rabbits. UVHS also periodically shelters guinea pigs, birds, iguanas, and other pets. Even a stray duck or rooster!

Betty Farnsworth (left) poses with her daughter and granddaughter at a UVHS Benefit Auction.

As one of the first animal welfare organizations in the country to provide positive reinforcement training and behavior resources, UVHS’ sheltering strategies provide mental stimulation, socialization, exercise, improved nutrition, and a reduced stress environment for all animals in its care. To help ensure success with new adoptive families, every animal is behaviorally evaluated to determine the best home setting and each shelter dog’s tailored behavior and training program helps build skills and overcome challenging behaviors.

UVHS has worked to create a compassionate and humane community with innovative and leading edge strategies and has received national recognition from American Humane, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and the Humane Society of the United States. UVHS is proud to be at the forefront of a growing movement in animal welfare by serving our communities through care and resources for companion animals and families.

Our Policies

Privacy Policy

The Upper Valley Humane Society respects the privacy of our donors. We do not sell or exchange any personal information about our donors with any organization.

Euthanasia Policy

At the Upper Valley Humane Society, we seek to meet every pet in their place and time of need. While we recognize the need for humane euthanasia in extreme cases, we treat this philosophy with a high level of respect. Each pet comes with their own unique set of circumstances and these circumstances combined with their response to a shelter environment can drive our individualized compassion-filled approach to our time with them.

Pets are given the chance to settle in, have any and all appropriate medical treatment, be evaluated behaviorally, and are provided every opportunity to succeed in their journey to a new home. Occasionally, the team that works with these pets feels it is in the pets’ best interest from a quality of life standpoint or the community’s best interest from a safety standpoint to humanely euthanize the pet. The decision is never easy, nor taken lightly but in our desire to responsibly care for the lives entrusted to us, UVHS recognizes this need does exist and we seek to meet that need for the people, communities, and pets that we serve.

This policy serves as a guiding document for the team that makes humane euthanasia decisions as well as the staff that influences those decisions. However, each pet is considered on a case-by-case basis to ensure the best care possible.