“When you think of a humane society, you look back to your own childhood and remember it’s where you go to adopt a pet,” said Bill Hutchison, interim director of Manatee County Animal Services.
The Humane Society of Manatee County, which regularly takes animals from the crowded MCAS shelter in Palmetto, is that and more.
HSMC’s mission is four-fold: to offer low-cost and free spay/neuter clinic, rehabilitation and adoption, trap-neuter-return of feral cats and pet-owner support.
Twenty-two HSMC employees and more than 100 volunteers work from a campus at 2515 14th St. W., Bradenton.
Executive director Amy Van Dell is looking forward to HSMC’s facilities expanding into the building next door. HSMC purchased the old Salvation Army building in November 2013 for $400,000, according to property records.
Construction for remodeling starts soon and the clinic is expected to move in July, “opening up space to work with animals and adoptions,” Van Dell said.
“We’ve been really crunched for space,” she added, noting that HSMC is in the final stages of a grant with PetSmart charities to fund the surgical equipment.
HSMC’s staff includes full-time veterinarian-medical director Julie Hollifield, vet assistants and vet techs, as well as animal-care specialists and adoption manager Travis Jones, who assesses animals at MCAS before transfer.
Jones said she looks for “a mix of animals” that fit into HSMC’s limited space.
The nonprofit’s current facilities have evolved over the years. Founded in 1970, it did not have a facility until 1978, when it opened its doors in what is now the cat cottage.
HSMC moved to its main building, built in 1947, in 1986. Pets, owners and potential owners are greeted in a reception area.
Through one set of doors, there’s a full-time clinic, where vet and vet assistants treat animals.
Through more doors: 24 kennels contain dogs of various breeds and sizes barking heartily, awaiting adoption. Upstairs are the administrative offices.
Across a courtyard, there’s a cat cottage with a fenced exercise area for canines.
HSMC vet clinic
The clinic opened in April 2009.
Within two years of its opening, the county’s animal services’ intake of pets dropped by 20 percent, according to the HSMC website.
And in 2011, a trap-neuter-return partnership was forged between the humane society, animal services and Gulf Shore Animal League of Bradenton.
The partnership allows MCAS officers to bring feral cats to the clinic, which provides spay/neuter operations, tips one ear, micro-chips and vaccinates the cats. Gulf Shore returns the feral cats to where they were found.
Since the clinic opened, Van Dell estimates there have been more than 30,000 spay/neuter surgeries.
In 2012, there were 5,539 spay/neuter surgeries. In 2013, of 5,101 surgeries — more than 2,800 were subsidized or free. In 2014, more than 4,800 cats were entered in the trap-neuter-release program, about half of them free or discounted, according to the HSMC website.
Hutchison said HSMC and MCAS haven’t always had the same priorities — for example, when HSMC decided to take on the no-kill TNR emphasis in 2011, and MCAS desperately needed relief in its shelter.
However, he described their relationship as working well now but, like an “old married couple,” they argue, make up and always love each other. He applauded the TNR program.
Van Dell and Hutchison agree the TNR is the humane way to control cat overpopulation.
Anyone can bring a feral cat to HSMC for clinic neutering and other services, said Van Dell.
She also explained that after the neutering, the left ear is tipped so “people know there’s no longer a need to trap them, that the cats won’t be reproducing.”
Intake and Adoption
“More dogs and cats are coming out of the county shelter alive than ever before.” The efforts of volunteers, rescues and shelters working together is paying off, Van Dell wrote in a recent HSMC newsletter.
Although HSMC’s website supports the no-kill concept, Van Dell said Feb. 5, “We’re trying to move away from talking about no-kill. It’s very confusing. It’s not no-kill — it’s no killing of healthy or treatable animals.”
HSMC receives dogs and cats three ways: owner surrender, neighborhood strays and rescues from the MCAS shelter.
“We take the largest number of animals from Manatee County Animal Services of all the agencies,” said Van Dell. And 2014 county records bear this out, with 175 dogs and 685 cats transferred to HSMC.
After intake, adoption to forever homes is the next step at HSMC.
On Feb. 11, 19 dogs and 29 cats were available for adoption, a number that fluctuates.
Adoptions were up 19 percent between 2013 and 2014, with 877 dogs and cats finding new homes, according to HSMC records.
Owner support
HSMC supports the community with educational and financial outreaches to pet owners.
It encourages proper care and discourages surrender by sponsoring events, offering free vaccines, heartworm positive treatments and updated rabies shots.
A pet food bank is available for owners experiencing financial difficulties.
If affordable food for a pet is the reason for surrendering a pet, HSMC offers free food, said Van Dell.
HSMC’s most recent educational outreach program is Pets 4 Life, targeting neighborhoods where MCAS picks up the most stray and endangered pets.
HSMC hired a bi-lingual outreach coordinator, Alex Torres, in January with a $70,000 grant from the Bill and Mary Ann Vinall legacy fund, managed by Manatee Community Foundation.
Torres is gearing up to relay the message of “we’re here for you” to provide low-cost and free services to the Hispanic community.
HSMC is run by a board of 14 directors and led by president Rebecca Neal.
Part V of The Islander’s Manatee County Animal Services series will look at the county’s animal enforcement efforts.