Humane Society of Sarasota County

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Note: The organization did not respond to this question.

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.

Our Executive Director Anna Gonce is highly regarded in the animal welfare industry and serves on the Florida Leaders in Lifesaving Coalition's steering committee. HSSC is an active member of the Florida Association of Animal Welfare Organizations. We are a member of the BISSELL Pet Foundation's National Shelter Alliance, through which we deployed two of our senior staffers to a shelter in rural Louisiana to provide operational support. We are also a Best Friends Network Partner. We have a network of shelter partners, both inside and outside Florida, that we collaborate with to transport animals from high-kill, overcrowded shelters to our facility, where we have the space and resources to help them. We have built key partnerships with other nonprofits and private/public sector organizations, notably local schools, retirement communities, hospitals, child centers, and recreation centers, to help children, veterans, the elderly, and other vulnerable populations.

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.