Leader of the Pack

Oconee Regional Humane Society welcomes new executive director to guide future growth.

STORY BY TIA LYNN IVEY

Sometimes, going in a new direction requires a new leader to guide the way into a brighter future. That’s the hope of the Oconee Regional Humane Society (ORHS) as they announce a new executive director to lead the non-profit organization into a new chapter of finding forever homes for rescued animals. ORHS envisions a major expansion of community programs and resources to broaden its mission and scope of animal care.

“ORHS is thrilled to introduce Di- ane Robinson as our new Executive Director. Diane brings unprecedented experience in animal welfare over the past 20-plus years, and was excited to join ORHS to help expand and grow its partnership with the residents of the lake country,” says Bob Hartman, who sits on the board of ORHS.

Robinson is up for the task, ready to utilize her expertise to grow ORHS into a bigger and better organization committed to animal welfare.

“I have been fortunate in my career to work with some amazing and highly skilled people within animal welfare and animal disaster response who have shared their knowledge and skills and supported me throughout my career. All of this past experience helps me in my role as ED for ORHS,” says Robinson.

The ORHS, too, believes Robinson is the perfect person to lead ORHS into this new era.

“It’s our vision to grow into a community center offering programs that improve the lives of our pets and their humans,” says Hartman. “Diane was excited to take the reins of ORHS where she can still be hands-on with the animals and implement policies to help the community directly.”

The ORHS selected Robinson to take the helm due to her long history in animal advocacy.

“Diane hails from Pennsylvania and is a graduate of Penn State University. She received a Masters in Physical Education and a teaching certificate from the University of Northern Colorado. Her transition into animal welfare began in Colorado as a search and rescue team member, where her skills as a wilderness first responder and climber were invaluable,” explains Hartman. “She moved full-time into animal welfare as the training manager for the American Humane Association / Red Star animal emergency services focusing on animal disaster response.”

According to Hartman, Robinson eventually moved to Mississippi, where she became the Director of Jackson County’s animal shelter, overseeing daily operations.

“She turned around the county shelter with an annual intake of 5,000 cats, dogs, horses and assorted farm and small animals,” says Hartman.

From there, Robinson moved on to become the director of operations in the Atlanta Humane Society’s Mansell campus, which is a large limited-admissions shelter just like ORHS.

“She was able to increase the lives saved per year by 43 percent. She also assisted in the development of a state disaster plan and led the response team to establish disaster shelters during Hurricane Irma at the request of the State of Georgia. From there she moved on to become the program manager for disaster response for the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), where she drove the development and implementation of HSUS disaster program, with a focus on leading the team of responders assisting communities impacted by natural disasters,” says Hartman.

Robinson intends to build better partnerships with surrounding animal shelters and expand facility space and services to better house animals in need and reduce the rate of reproduction in stray animals.

“The number of animals entering local shelters and rescues exceeds the space and resources we have available. All of us, animal control, shelter and rescue groups, working together help a lot of animals and people, but we (ORHS) want to have a larger impact with a larger space for more animals to be treated for medical needs, spayed and neutered, and adopted out as well as expand our community outreach programs to keep many animals from entering shelters,” says Robinson.

“ORHS’s mission goes well beyond adopting animals. There is a lot of need throughout the region. We want to continue to support and grow with pet food distribution at food banks and the ORHS Center, low cost spay and neuter, and assistance with medical needs of pets whose owners are challenged to pay for. We, eventually, hope to find a larger space that will accommodate the growth of our pet adoption and community programs and additional programs with a community center focus.”

Located at 1020 Park Avenue in

“We are dedicated to reducing pet homelessness and helping pets and their caregivers have the best quality of life available. Our programs of rescue and adoption, pet food distribution, low-cost spay/neuter, and limited medical treatment are how we improve the quality of life of our pets and community. With a very limited staff, we utilize more than 150 volunteers to help run our shelter and programs,” says Hartman.

You can help by donating monetarily or by donating your valuable time and talents. Visit Orhspets.org to learn more.

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