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OUR MISSION
The Cedar Valley Humane Society is dedicated to building healthy relationships between people and animals, and eliminating cruelty, abuse and overpopulation of animals through education, adoption services and inspiring compassion for all living things.
ADMISSION POLICY
The CVHS provides animal care and adoption services to more than 7,000 animals each year. Taking in homeless animals (strays), owner-surrendered animals, and rescued animals. The shelter team carefully evaluates the temperament and overall health of each animal, and then works to place each animal with an ideal family. The CVHS also works with many other organizations to provide services and to educate the public on a variety of animal-related issues including, but not limited to, the benefits of spaying/neutering pets, basic pet care needs, and lost pet prevention. It also hosts low cost dog obedience training classes, animal socialization programs, and other programming such as Pets for Vets, Cat Companions, Kids who Care Cat Tales, and low cost vaccine clinics that aim to ensure the welfare of animals in Eastern Iowa and beyond.
ANIMALS WE SERVE
The CVHS has spent more than 100 years working to be at the forefront of animal sheltering and welfare. It is also a regional leader in helping at-risk families with pets stay together. In the last two years, the shelter has helped over 8,000 animals that might otherwise be surrendered to a shelter through its low-cost vaccine clinics and free pet food bank.
It also provides many unique services such as the Humane Education Program. This program provides staff and volunteers the ability to educate students both in and out of the classroom and engage the leaders of tomorrow about the humane treatment of animals.
The CVHS provides animal control services to cities and towns in Linn, Johnson and Benton Counties as well as the unincorporated areas of Linn County. Bypassing the traditional “dog catcher” model of other shelters, the CVHS instead works closely with the communities it serves to quickly reunite lost pets with their families at a more economical cost than city or county-run animal control services.
HISTORY
The Cedar Valley Humane Society (CVHS) was established in 1901 as the Humane Society of the City of Cedar Rapids. The original shelter was located on Griffith Farm, and early cases involved cruelty and abuse of women, children, the elderly, horses, cattle, dogs, and cats. Investigations involving women, children, and the elderly were eventually dropped from society’s list of objectives, and in 1921, the organization changed its name to the Linn County Humane Society.
By 1923, the need for a permanent shelter became apparent, and a fundraising campaign began. In 1928, a property was purchased at 700 C Avenue NE for $3,000. This served as headquarters for the society until 1968, when the organization built its current facility at 7411 Mt. Vernon Rd SE.
In 1991, the organization changed its name again, this time to the Cedar Valley Humane Society.
Animal Services
The CVHS currently provides animal services to over 69,692 residents in the unincorporated areas of Linn County as the following cities:
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North Liberty
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Swisher
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Tiffin
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Shueyville
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Oxford
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Walford
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Solon
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Atkins
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Shellsburg
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Urbana
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Van Horne
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Walker
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Alburnett
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Central City
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Bertram Township
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Prairieburg
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Coggon
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Ely
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Fairfax
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Marion
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Hiawatha
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Lisbon
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Mt Vernon
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Palo
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Robins
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Springville
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Center Point
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Vinton
Cedar Valley Humane Society 2023 Impact
7,998
Volunteer Hours
3,696
Dogs Helped
3,778
Cats Helped
35,518
Foster Hours
179
Stray Pets Returned to Owner