Oconee Regional Human Society (ORHS) is thrilled to introduce Diane Robinson as the 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.

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. 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.  

She moved to Mississippi as the Director of Jackson County’s animal shelter, where she oversaw daily operations and turned around the county shelter with annual intake of 5,000 cats, dogs, horses and assorted farm and small animals. She moved to become the director of operations in the Atlanta Humane Society–Mansell campus which is a large limited admissions shelter (like ORHS) where she was able to increase the lives saved per year by 43%.  She also assisted in the development of a state disaster plan and lead 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.  

So, what brings her to ORHS? Glad you asked.  It’s the vision to grow into a community center offering programs that improve the lives of our pets and their humans. Diane was excited to take the reigns of ORHS where she can still be hands on with the animals and implement policies to help the community directly. 

In case you don’t know much about us, ORHS is a non-profit animal welfare organization serving Greene, Putnam, and surrounding counties. We are dedicated to reducing pet homelessness and helping pets and their caregivers have the best quality of life available. Our programs of rescue & 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. 

Help by donating monetarily or by donating valuable time and talents. Visit Orhspets.org to contribute and/or sign up!