Our History
Our Story:
The Humane Society of Western Montana was incorporated as a charity in 1963 as the Missoula Humane Society by the executive board of the society at that time, Thelma Peterson, Ruth Olson, Barbara Dahlgren and Alfred Phelps. Within a year of incorporating, the society built a shelter near the Missoula County water treatment plant on Clark Fork Drive, where it remained until it was moved to the renovated Moose Lodge on Highway 93, just south of Missoula, in November of 2005.Prior to our incorporation in 1963, our parent organization built an animal shelter in 1933 in Orchard Homes. Operations moved to a site on the McDonald's property on Highway 93 South in the 1950's. The sale of that property in 1963 allowed the construction of the shelter at the Clark Fork Drive site where the society remained until last year.
Historically, our shelter has seen as many as 15,000 animals a year. But through the efforts of those rallying for responsible pet ownership and spaying and neutering, these numbers have declined to around 1,500 animals a year with an enviable placement rate of 65 - 75%.