Saving 1,000’s every year

HSHV’s Cruelty Investigators and Emergency Rescue staff operate solely on donations from the community. Please consider making a donation to investigate cruelty and provide emergency rescue.

Report a sick or injured animal: (734) 661-3512

If it’s an adult deer that’s been hit by a car, please call the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office (734) 994-2911 and HSHV (734) 661-3512. We do not pick up healthy stray animals. Please contact your local animal control or police department to report a healthy stray animal.

Report suspected animal cruelty: (734) 661-3512 or file a report online

Our Emergency Rescue staff rescues sick or injured animals in Washtenaw County. Every year we rescue more than 1,000 animals that would have had no other options. HSHV Cruelty Investigators protect those who cannot speak for themselves — the unwanted, beaten, hungry and hurt animals — by responding to reports of animal cruelty, investigating them thoroughly, and working with the Prosecutor’s Office for justice.

We do not pick up healthy stray animals. Please contact your local animal control or police department to report a healthy stray animal.

If you find sick, injured, or abandoned wildlife

  • In most cases, leave the animal alone. Contact us at HSHV or an appropriate agency (e.g., Friends of WildlifeHelp 4 Wildlife, or Bird Center of Michigan) for advice.
  • Never offer ANY food or liquid (including milk and water) to the animal without first consulting an expert.
  • If the animal appears to be an abandoned baby in immediate danger, it is okay to place it in a dark, warm, quiet place while you wait for advice from Emergency Rescue staff or wildlife rehabilitator.
  • Remember, it is illegal to keep/rehabilitate wildlife unless you are a certified wildlife rehabilitator. While you may mean well, animals that are rehabilitated without the knowledge of a certified wildlife rehabilitator will not survive when released back into the wild.
  • If it’s an adult deer that’s been hit by a car, please call both us (734) 661-3512 and the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office non-emergency dispatch (734) 994-2911.

Wildlife Rescue

Our partnership with wildlife rehabilitators has saved thousands of lives. If you have a general question or would like information on wildlife, please call the resources listed.

IMPORTANT: If you have a sick or injured wild animal, call HSHV first at (734) 661-3512!

What is animal cruelty?

Michigan law defines animal cruelty as any of the following:

  • Failure to provide an animal with adequate food, water, a shelter or medical treatment
  • Improperly tethering (or chaining) an animal
  • Abandoning or causing an animal to be abandoned without providing for the animal’s adequate care
  • Cruelly beating, torturing, maiming or killing an animal
  • Willfully or negligently allowing an animal to suffer unnecessarily
  • Transporting an animal in a vehicle in a cruel or inhumane manner
  • Either poisoning or exposing an animal to poison
  • The cropping of a dog’s ears or the docking of a dog’s tails, unless such cropping is performed by a registered veterinary surgeon while the dog is under anesthetic

If you suspect animal cruelty

To report suspected animal cruelty, call (734) 661-3512 or file a report online.

Tell us the address, with major cross streets, and a detailed account of what type of cruelty you suspect. Your name and phone number is also helpful, as we may need additional information, though if you want us to remain anonymous, you can indicate that on the report.