Finding homes for stray or unwanted animals has become a collaborative effort.

The annual meeting of the Humane Society of Beaufort County drew those collaborators to the Betsy Bailey Nelson Animal Control Facility in Washington on Monday night: animal control staff, shelter volunteers, nonprofit rescue directors, volunteer coordinators, rescue transport providers and more. They took turns introducing themselves and talking about what role they play in helping animals that find their way into the shelter find a way back out again. Each of them donate time; many of them donate their own money to help the cause.

“There’s not a job that we heard tonight that’s not important,” HSBC President and veterinarian Marty Poffenberger summed up.

The community effort has paid off over the past several years. According to an email written by Animal Control Chief Billy Lassiter, as recent as 2010 to 2012, the rate at which animals were adopted or rescued from the Beaufort County shelter was between 10 and 20 percent. Since, it’s risen dramatically: in 2013, the adoption/rescue rate of shelter animals was 43 percent; in comparison, 1,402 animals were euthanized. In 2014, the adoption/rescue rate rose to 60 percent; 950 animals were euthanized. This past year, the adoption/rescue rate rose to 68 percent; 646 animals were euthanized.

“With hard work, dedication, teamwork and cooperation from county management, volunteers, Humane Society and especially staff that works 365 days a year, we made fantastic strides in the outcomes of all the animals at the Betsy Bailey Shelter,” Lassiter wrote in the email to volunteers and county staff. “We have some of the best percentages last year and this year of any public shelter that I have ever seen.”

It takes work. For Paws and Love, Inc. founder Audra Grisham, that includes trapping, neutering and releasing feral cats that can be found in colonies across the county. For Karen Nethercutt, who created the ENC Shelter Dogs Facebook page along with four others, it means countless hours photographing, filming and editing introductory videos of the shelter’s dogs for potential adopters and rescuers. Stacy Pack trains shelter volunteers — the volunteers who worked 1,780.5 hours at the shelter in 2015, the equivalent of 44, 40-hour weeks. In February of each year, Poffenberger and other county veterinarians voluntarily drop the price of spaying/neutering animals as an incentive for pet owners, and to cut down on the number of litters being born, and ending up in the shelter.

“That’s what I love about this, is that we all do different things,” Poffenberger said.

But the growing collaboration is also in need of growing its list of dedicated volunteers.

“The interest is there, but the commitment isn’t,” Nethercutt said.

HSBC Vice President and volunteer coordinator Margaret Petersen said that last year, 105 people volunteered at the shelter. That number is now down to 39 active volunteers, though in 2015, 76 people took the basic volunteer class Pack teaches on the third Saturday of the month. The need for volunteers extends to fosters — those who can house a rescued animal in the short-term, from a couple of days to two weeks, until the animal can be transported, as well as those who’d be willing to transport the animal, according to Nethercutt.

“We desperately need fosters,” Nethercutt said. “We’ve got dogs that could leave (the shelter) right now if they had a foster.”

Poffenberger said many people say they avoid volunteering at the shelter because of the emotional toll. Her solution, she said, is to volunteer in other capacities like transports or fundraising for HSBC’s spay/neuter program, which provides financial assistance to pet owners who don’t have the money to pay for their pet’s operation.

In addition to seeking more volunteers, HSBC is hoping to expand the facility soon to accommodate shelter for farm animals.

Those interested in volunteering with the Humane Society of Beaufort County can call 252-946-1591.