Humane Society of Vero Beach & Indian River County Inc.

The Humane Society of Vero Beach & Indian River County aims to enhance the quality of life in Indian River County through compassionate services to animals and people. Healthy companion animals make people's lives better which in turn makes our community a better place to live. We are the only open-door shelter in the county and we promise to accept all animals, regardless of age, health, behavior, or adoptability. We also promise to provide a full range of services to keep animals "out of the Shelter" and in loving homes.

We accomplish this aim in several ways.
1. By providing humane care and shelter for homeless animals. This includes food, safe shelter, routine, corrective and emergency medical care, round-the-clock medical monitoring and administration of medicines, foster family care for young and nursing animals, a barn and livestock area as well as kennels to house animals of all kinds.
2. By placing adoptable pets in permanent and loving homes. Our behavior team and animal socialization programs help animals improve negative behavior so that more animals can be safely adopted. Strategies include a daily play group for dogs; replicating home environments to familiarize dogs with home-life; and training our adoption counselors to make a match that endures.
3. By promoting spaying and neutering of companion animals through monthly low or no-cost spay/neuter clinics and outreach clinics.
4. By promoting responsible pet ownership and the respect for all life through humane education.
5. By protecting animals from cruelty through active partnerships with city, county and state law enforcement and animal control officers, and the appointment of an animal protection officer.

The Humane Society of Vero Beach & Indian River County is one of the oldest charitable organizations in Indian River County. As such we have a very well developed donor and volunteer base of support which generates more than $1 M in operating revenue annually. The donor base includes hundreds of dues-paying members who renew their support every year, dues-paying members of our on-site Dog Park, corporate sponsors, national, regional and local foundations as well as donors at all levels up to and exceeding $100,000.
We also operate two thrift stores which generate a combined total of $1 M in revenue.
We are located on a 38-acre campus with a facility built in 2003. The campus includes a barn for livestock, outdoor runs for dogs, indoor kennels and cat rooms, a receiving building for animal intake and assessment before they are allowed into the larger population, an adoption building for potential adopters to view and interact with the animals and an education wing for community programming.
Our staff have a reputation for being very well trained and the facility for being very well maintained and as a result, we are frequently called upon to assist with rescue cases and emergencies and to take in overflow from overburdened shelters.
Our Director of Operations has nearly 20 years in the animal care arena; our Chief Financial Officer has an MBA, our Executive Director has a J.D. and has managed an international law firm and our Director of Development has raised millions of dollars in more than 25 years in fundraising. The Board of Trustees includes successful business owners, financial executives, attorneys, certified public accountants, as well as philanthropists.

In 2019 we were able to provide shelter to nearly 4,000 lost, homeless, at-risk and abused animals in our community. Despite an increase in shelter intakes of more than 25%, we saw a 72% increase in adoptions, compared to all of 2018. That means that more than 2,000 formerly homeless pets are now safe and sound with new loving families!

One of the big numbers that animal shelters -- and their communities -- use to measure performance is live release (or save) rate. We ended 2019 with an 89% save rate, currently the highest it has ever been at our shelter, and 29% higher than the save rate in 2018. This amazing accomplishment, could not have been achieved without our spectacular team who are dedicated to enhancing the quality of life of pets and their people through compassionate service.

The success of 2019 has fueled my excitement for our future. We’ve only just begun and there is so much more we are capable of achieving. This next year will continue to bring more change as we strive to align our organization with research based best-practices in animal sheltering. As we move forward our hope is to also inspire the entire community to embrace these new best practices, which will make our impact on animal welfare exponentially more significant.