A LEGACY IN THE MAKING
HISTORY
history
Our Story Begins With Two Women Who Cared
It started simply: two neighbors who couldn’t look away. In the late 1950s, Ellen Holbrook Porter and Olive Smith saw stray animals suffering on the streets of Rutland County and decided something had to be done. They gathered their community, found an ally in Pittsford farmer Ed Wheeler — who opened his land to give those animals a safe place to land — and planted the seed that would grow into what you know today as Rutland County Humane Society.
hope to REALTY
A New Home for Hope.
On April 29, 1959, the Rutland County Humane Society was officially born. Land was purchased from the Stevens Farm on Stevens Road in Pittsford — the very ground our shelter still calls home — and in October 1966, we broke ground on something transformative. The doors opened October 1, 1967, on a $45,000 building that represented an entire county’s belief that animals deserved better.
The years that followed brought growth at every turn: a stable for large animals in 1975, renovations in 1998, and a 2009 addition that brought our administrative team fully into the fold alongside an upgraded HVAC system and a more efficient animal intake area.
Doesn’t anybody want us? — Jinglebelle, the kitten, discusses the plight of being unwanted, a subject so hard to bear, that snowflake the pup turns away. These are animals housed at the Rutland County Humane Society Animal Shelter, and like others of their friends, would like to be adopted as a Christmas gift in a home where love and kindness abounds.
~ Rutland Herald 1967
CONTINUING THE LEGACY
More Than 65 Years. More Than 125,000 Animals.
Over our history, we’ve had the honor of caring for and supporting more than 125,000 animals — dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, birds, and in the early days, an unexpected cast of characters including skunks, loons, fawns, goats, and horses. Every single one of them mattered.
Through fundraising events, humane education, youth programs, pet therapy, spay & neuter initiatives, dog training, and so much more — this organization has been shaped by the generosity of individuals and businesses across Rutland County who showed up with donations, supplies, time, and heart.
That legacy lives in everything we do at Tails of Hope today. And we are embarking on a new chapter in 2026!