Humane Society of Sarasota County

OUR MISSION As the area's premier no-kill shelter, the Humane Society of Sarasota County engages the hearts, hands, and minds of the community to help animals. OUR VISION A community where all animals are cared for and loved. OUR VALUES We achieve our mission by providing compassionate care to our shelter pets, finding them permanent homes, and promoting responsible pet ownership in our community. Incorporated in 1952 as Sarasota's first nonprofit animal welfare organization, the Humane Society of Sarasota County (HSSC) has grown to be the area's premier no-kill shelter. A home is found for every adoptable pet in our care. We take tremendous pride in being the area's premier no-kill shelter, and with that comes the responsibility to lead by example. Our mission will always be focused on saving the lives of cats and dogs and enriching human lives along the way.

We envision a community where all animals are cared for and loved.

Goal One: To be a leader in animal welfare in the state of Florida and help turn Florida into a no-kill state.

Goal Two: Increase access to pet resources (especially veterinary medical care and temporary shelter) for socio-economically disadvantaged pet owners.

Goal Three: Maximize our newly expanded facility to help 3,000 animals each year and help more people and pets through our retention and education programs.

Staffing is one of the most critical areas of our organization, which is why HSSC takes staff retention, education, and leadership development activities seriously. We make a concerted effort to promote from within wherever possible, and we encourage employees to apply for open positions. We pay for employees to join professional organizations and attend workshops or trainings, especially for continuing education credits. We encourage senior leaders to be part of professional groups or coalitions, both local and national, and we take advantage of training or knowledge-sharing opportunities from partner organizations or groups. We recently created more leadership roles within our animal care and client experience departments to provide advancement opportunities for staff.

The Humane Society of Sarasota County opened our public Animal Clinic in 2016 to fill the need for affordable, quality veterinary care in our community. It was always a profitable program that helped thousands of owned cats and dogs each year. By late 2021/early 2022, in the aftermath of the pandemic and key staff turnover, the Clinic was struggling to meet demand and sustain its operations. We identified the internal factors at play, namely our service offering was too ambitious and not focused on the most-needed services (e.g., we were trying to be all things to all people). Moreover, we were at a crossroads with whether to renew our clinic's lease (at a cost of ~$10,000/mo) or find a new location. Externally, we were grappling skyrocketing costs and a national veterinarian shortage. More vets are retiring or leaving the industry than there are new grads to replace them. The resulting squeeze meant increased competition for hires and skyrocketing salaries. As a nonprofit, we could not compete with private clinics. There were parts of 2022 where we did not have a full-time veterinarian at the Clinic. The future of the Animal Clinic was a key agenda item at our Board and Senior Leadership team retreat in April 2022. Afterwards, we formed a task force to evaluate our lease options and test the feasibility of buying a new facility or building one or making space for the Clinic on our main campus. The task force chose the latter, and now we are only a month away from operating the Animal Clinic out of a previously under-used part of our campus. Meanwhile, we restructured our service offering with the help of Open Door Vet Collective and a third-party contract manager. To recruit veterinarians, we targeted newer graduates for whom the other benefits of working at HSSC (learning opportunities, flexibility, mission) subsidize their salary. The Animal Clinic is now profitable, we are helping the clients that need us the most, and we have a strong plan for the future.