In 2005, The Board of Directors of The National Humane Education Society (NHES) created the NHES Alliance Partner Program, which works collaboratively with and provides major funding to a select group of other deserving humane organizations, whose work embodies the successful implementation of NHES’s mission and/or one of NHES’s Guiding Principles. 

The Potomac Highlands Animal Rescue (PHAR) exemplifies NHES’s 11th Guiding Principle:  “To provide for the rescue, housing and feeding of lost, stray or abandoned animals until suitable homes are found.”

NHES first became involved with PHAR in 1995 when Linda Scott, president of PHAR, contacted NHES seeking placement assistance for two chained dogs, which we were able to accept.  PHAR is worthy of distinction because of its volunteers—a handful of humane-minded individuals—who, in 1993, banded together to combat animal neglect, uncontrolled breeding, and lack of routine veterinary care that was prevalent in the Potomac Highlands of West Virginia.  Even today, it is not unusual to see dogs chained to a tree or stake—with little or no shelter, food or water—only 50 to 100 feet from their “guardian’s” house.

The majority of the dogs and cats that are rescued by PHAR come from a five-county area on the eastern border of West Virginia, and portions of Virginia and Maryland.  PHAR volunteers drive literally thousands of miles each month to feed, rescue, and transport animals from the Potomac Highlands to animal care facilities in the more populated areas of Virginia, West Virginia, and Washington, DC, where these deserving animals are afforded an increased opportunity to find new and loving homes.  From 1993 through 2006, PHAR has successfully rescued over 7,500 cats and dogs.