Honored for fostering compassion and respect for animals through education and collaboration

The Humane Society of Manatee County, Inc. was named the Nonprofit Business of the Year by the Manatee Chamber of Commerce.

Founded in 1971, the Humane Society of Manatee County operates an animal shelter at 2515 14th St. W. and adopts more than 1,000 dogs and cats into new homes annually.

The Humane Society also serves the community with a low-cost veterinary clinic and a full-service, high-volume spay neuter clinic, performing more than 6,000 surgeries annually at little or no cost.

The Society distributes more than 2,000 pounds of food annually to economically challenged pet owners.

Operating on an annual budget of $1,993,047, the Humane Society has a staff of 26 full-time and seven part-time employees. Funding is primarily through grants and contracts, charitable gifts and service fees.

The mission of the Humane Society is to lead Manatee County in fostering compassion and respect for animals through care, education and collaboration.

The goal is to reduce the number of animals and euthanasia as a means of population control and reduce the number of animals entering Manatee County’s overcrowded shelters.

The Society partners with Turning Points to assist clients who have companion animals and no means to vaccinate them. Three off-site vaccination clinics hosted by the Society served hundreds of animals that would otherwise not have been vaccinated.

“A healthier animal population leads to a healthier human population,” Society officials say.

The Humane Society of Manatee County partners with local animal rescue organizations to reduce the number of feral and free roaming community cats around businesses. By providing low-cost services to trappers involved in trap, neuter, release programs, cats that have been considered a nuisance are spayed and neutered and given vaccinations.

As a result, the cat population will dwindle as their reproduction cycles have been halted and the businesses no longer aoverrun by cats.

“The need got low-cost, high-quality veterinary care is evident in the hundreds of calls we receive on a daily basis from pet owners desperate to provide their beloved companions the medical care that is so necessary for a long and healthy life. We serve close to 15,000 dogs and cats annually, many who have never seen a veterinarian or received any vaccinations,” the Society said in its small business award application.

The Society also partners with law enforcement to evaluate and house animals that have been seized in abuse or neglect cases, providing the medical care the animals need to recover from the trauma they have experienced.

“Collaboration is the key to success and our formation of the Southwest Animal Alliance shows our commitment to the animals. Working with six other animal rescue groups, the goal is to develop programs designed to keep companion animals in their homes. This includes low-cost/no-cost spay/neuter surgery, micro-chipping, vaccines and pet food pantries,” the Society said.

For more information, call 941-747-8808 or visit https://www.humanemanatee.org/about-our-shelter.