Welcome!
The Humane Society of the Nature
Coast is a membership-supported, no-time limit organization. We
invite you to learn more about who we are, where we are, and how you
can be a part of our mission to promote animal well-being. But most
importantly, we invite you to take a look at the
wonderful pets that
are waiting for adoption! We hope you'll visit us regularly - online
and offline!
Our Mission
Statement:
"To provide a
safe haven for homeless, neglected and abused animals while
promoting pet welfare and sterilization to achieve a no-kill
society."
History
of the Humane
Society of the Nature Coast, Inc.
The Humane Society
of the Nature Coast, Inc. is a non-profit 501c3 organization dedicated
to the rescue, health and re-homing of orphaned and abandoned pets. We
work diligently to locate and work with specialized rescue groups from
ferret rescue to wildlife organizations.
In November 1964, the Humane Society of Brooksville, Inc. was founded in
Hernando County, Florida. The name was changed in 1985 to The Humane
Society of Hernando County, Inc. Due to the ever-expanding area that the
Humane Society now services, in 2004, we changed our name to The Humane
Society of the Nature Coast, Inc.
The land we occupy was part of a bequeathed estate for the pets of
Hernando County for as long as the land is utilized as a pet rescue or
sanctuary. We purchased an additional acre of land located on the north
border of the property which will allow for expansion.
In 2003, a six-phase plan was initiated, with the first phase to consist
of recruitment of a diverse and professional board of directors. Our
current board consists of: an engineer, a business owner, an auditor,
several law enforcement professionals, a retired business owner, a bank
manager, a 17-year Wal-Mart Logistics associate, a technology business
owner and an insurance agent.
During the growth of 2003, the Board President had the good fortune to
meet the former president of the SPCA of Dallas who now serves as an
advisor and has secured funding from a generous donor. This donor has
helped us to grow and improve the conditions for the pets of our
community. This donor's first donation made it possible for us to
initiate renovations to the cat cottage, which was needed for many
years.
In 2004 and 2005, we were awarded, by the Greater Hernando Chamber of
Commerce, the “Community Service Organization of the Year” award. We are
the first organization to win the award two consecutive years! In
October 2006, then Board President was named the first Humane Volunteer
of the Year for the State of Florida by Governor Jeb Bush.
We successfully partner with many non-profit and community
organizations. Through these partnerships, we have implemented several
successful programs. Working with the Hernando County Sheriffs
Department and The Dawn Center, a pioneer program called Safe Harbor for
Pets was created for victims of domestic abuse, in which families
anonymously foster the animals belonging to these victims so they are
not left behind.
We instituted a food bank program which provides families in financial
need free dog and cat food that has been donated to us. This enables
pets to stay with there families and still be well cared for.
Our military foster program is one we are very proud of. This program
places pets from men and woman serving our country overseas into loving
foster homes for as long as needed if they have no one to care for there
pets while serving.
For the last seven years, a very important aspect of our shelter has
been educating the public on animal population and welfare. Youth
involvement is at the top of our list and several years ago we proudly
created a junior board of directors, consisting of middle through high
school age children who hold monthly meetings and help implement many
successful ideas and programs into the shelter, as well as inspire and
encourage more youth to have hands on involvement in their community. We
truly believe that these children are who will lead the way in the
future and make great strides in animal and human welfare.
Our shelter has 12 dog kennels, five (5) isolation units, and a cottage
that can house up to 60 cats.
We receive no operational funding from local, state or federal
governments or from the Humane Society of the United States. Operations
are entirely funded by donations and fundraising events held throughout
the year.
Several years ago, a strategic plan and fundraising campaign were
implemented and engineering plans were donated for a larger facility
that would one day be built on the existing property. The new facility
will be built to withstand a minimum of a Category 3 Hurricane. It will
serve as a Florida hurricane evacuation center for pets in our area. The
facility will also provide several indoor play yards and adoption areas.
While we maintain the highest level of care, compassion, dedication and
love to the homeless animals of the nature coast, our facility has a
long way to go to meet the needs of our ever-growing population. With
the continued support and dedication from our community and donors, we
will continue to save as many lives as possible, in hopes that one day
we will live in a world in which our services are no longer needed.
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