Greenhill Humane Society volunteers log 33,775 hours helping animals in Lane County

Greenhill Humane Society said 754 on-site volunteers gave more than 33,775 hours in 2025, an amount of unpaid labor that would amount to roughly 16 full-time work years if the shelter had to replace it with paid staff. That help kept the Eugene shelter moving through dog walks, kennel cleaning, adoption support, medical tasks and outreach work at a time when demand for animal services remained heavy across Lane County.

The volunteer count came as Greenhill marked National Volunteer Appreciation Week, April 19 through April 25, and it underscored how much the agency leans on community labor to keep its daily operations running. Greenhill said volunteers were essential to maintaining its current level of service. The shelter, which says it has cared for animals in Lane County since 1944, operates the only life-saving animal shelter in the Eugene-Springfield area at 88530 Green Hill Road in Eugene.

The work is spread across nearly every corner of the shelter. Volunteers greet visitors at the front desk, help with adoptions, walk dogs, provide exercise and training support, clean and enrich spaces for cats, rabbits and guinea pigs, and handle laundry and facilities tasks. Others assist in the surgical suite, support outreach events, and help with photography and storytelling that connect animals with adopters. Greenhill’s 2025 Year in Review shows the scale of that operation: 51 staff members worked alongside the volunteers, while the shelter cared for more than 5,750 animals spanning 17 species.

Foster homes were another critical piece of the system. Greenhill said foster families temporarily housed 587 animals in 2025, giving kittens, puppies, rabbits, nursing mothers and animals recovering from surgery or illness a place to heal outside the shelter building. Foster stays could last from two weeks to several months, depending on the animal’s needs.

Greenhill’s year-end totals showed how that network reached beyond basic sheltering. The organization reported 4,000 total adoptions, 1,089 reunions with families, 1,583 community spay/neuter and other clinic services, and 3,720 total surgeries, including 1,290 community cats spayed or neutered and returned. The City of Eugene contracts with Greenhill, along with Lane County and the City of Springfield, to operate the public animal shelter, making the volunteer corps a key part of a broader public service system that keeps stray, abandoned and neglected animals moving toward homes, healing and reunion.