Pets with Wings - Humane Society of STT

St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands.... known as “America’s Caribbean Paradise.”

However, St. Thomas isn’t a paradise to the countless number of stray and homeless dogs and cats living on the island. 

Thankfully, the Humane Society of St. Thomas (HSSTT) exists.  Founded in 1957, the HSSTT’s mission remains the same:

“Provide homeless cats and dogs with the highest quality of life and a second chance to find a forever family.”

In 2012, we moved into a modern new shelter facility which made it easier to perform our mission, so we feel that now is the time to raise the bar on our life-saving goals. The HSSTT recently committed to work toward making St. Thomas a no-kill community, which is defined as saving more than 90 percent of all adoptable animals entering our shelter.

The HSSTT cares for nearly 2,000 animals each year.  We are an open-admissions shelter and accept all animals that need our help. Through the first half of 2015, our save rate was 60 percent. Though this number has increased steadily over the past years and continues to improve, we need your help to reach our goal of a 90 percent save rate!

The HSSTT plans to achieve its goal over the next several years through a proven combination of innovative grassroots programs including:

- Spay/Neuter programs
- TNR programs (Trap/Neuter/Release)
- Promoting shelter adoptions
- Educating the community
- Holding major adoption events
- Working with large and small-scale animal rescue organizations on the mainland through our Pets with Wings program

However, we need your financial support now more than ever to implement these programs and achieve our goal.  Of note, the HSSTT is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization.  The HSSTT has no affiliation with the national group known as the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). We are a community-based shelter and the only shelter serving the island of St. Thomas.

We are launching this GoFundMe campaign now to reach existing and new supporters online to help us bridge our 2015 funding gap. 

Thank you.

The Humane Society of St. Thomas, U. S. Virgin Islands
Click Here to go to our website  for all of our contact information (www.hsstt.com)

Click Here to visit our FACEBOOK page, we update often!









Keep reading for more information on the good work we are doing and how your money can help us!

Here's a typical story....  (and please share you own)

Meet Bugsy, she was a feral stray island dog, likely the product of an unwanted litter herself. She was caught in a trap by a concerned citizen on the west end of the island who had spotted her around his property. She was trapped with the help of the HSSTT and a have-a-heart trap they lent him.  


It was estimated Bugsy was less than two years old, but probably had had at least two litters of puppies herself in the wild before being trapped.  There is a significant pet overpopulation problem on St. Thomas and a real need for access to low cost spay/neuter, which is a key goal of HSSTT.  There was no sign of any puppies, and as heartbreaking as it is to hear for us as animal lovers, and heartbreaking for her as a caring mother, all those puppies probably suffered and died. The vet said she had permanent signs of having over-nursed and been under-nourished herself.

Her new life started the day she entered the Humane Society of St Thomas, she was a lucky girl to have been saved. She was scared and not socialized, and she tested heartworm positive, they began to handle her and regularly walk her and nurse her back to health. It is too risky to treat dogs for heartworm while they are in the shelter, so the HSSTT had to find her a foster home or an adopter before she could go for treatment, which is also quite expensive. 

Despite the HSSTT efforts and care, Bugsy was a shy funny looking black dog with heartworm that didnt stand out and was passed over for adoption for many months.  She was a very good dog though, and very social, sharing kennels with several different dogs with no issue. As part of a creative new campaign to drum up interest and adoptions, the Humane Society featured Bugsy in the "30 in 30" promotion to adopt out the 30 dogs that had been in the shelter for the longest time, within 30 days. They hosted a walkathon where the public could sign the dogs out of the shelter for a group walk on waterfront.






The volunteer that was randomly matched to walk Bugsy  was not  planning at all to adopt a dog that day, but there was something so sweet and shy that made an impact on her, and she took Bugsy home to meet their other dogs. The rest was history.  Bugsy came out of her shell and became a loving pet within hours.  The volunteer agreed to foster Bugsy through her heartworm treatment, and after those few months, adopted her permanently.

It is also worth noting that the HSSTT found homes for all 30 of those dogs (THEY NEVER GAVE UP ON ANY OF THEM), and did not euthanize any of them.  They had all been at the shelter longer than 6 mths and a few of them for nearly a year. They were a wonderful group of dogs, very social, no aggression, it was a wonderful group of dogs that deserved the best chance of finding a home.  There are dozens of dogs just like this at the shelter right now waiting for their chance at a Happily Ever After like Bugsy.


The Humane Society of St. Thomas went above and beyond in the care of Bugsy, keeping her alive and healthy for ten months and never giving up hope that someone would eventually pick her... ten months.  The shelter staff really does try to save every animal for as long as it takes, they never give up,  And all of this of course COSTS MONEY.  Money they so desperately need to keep saving lives.

There are many stories like Bugsy...  if you adopted or fostered or transported a dog for the Humane Society of St. Thomas, please write here, and share your story too!!

 Here are some examples of what your donation can do:

$10 - Feed a shelter animal for a month

$50 - Provide vaccinations, heatworm preventative, deworming, and flea/tick treatment to an incoming resident

$100 - Purchase a large humane trap for feral dogs/cats like Bugsy

$200 - Pay an airline ticket for a lucky dog to get its wings through HSSTT's Pets with Wings  program

$250 - Sponsor care for a shelter cat for a year

$500 - Sponsor care for a shelter dog for a year

$1,000 – Provide life saving vet care for up to 10 shelter animals in desperate need

$2,000 – Spay/neuter up to 25 shelter animals

$5,000- 10,000 – Purchase much needed veterinary care equipment for our clinic