Humane Society of South MS

<div>The Humane Society of South Mississippi (HSSM) is a progressive animal welfare organization and a leader in the humane field.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>HSSM ranked 2nd in the national ASPCA $100K Challenge, a competition between 50 shelters nationwide to see which one could make the biggest increase in the number of lives saved from August through October of 2011.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>With a total of 2,186 lives, HSSM won a prestigious 2nd Place, second only to Austin, Texas by a mere 15 lives.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>As a direct result of the community response and success of the 2011 ASPCA $100K Challenge, HSSM's Board of Directors adopted an initiative, entitled "Countdown to Zero," which commits HSSM as an organization to ending the euthanasia of healthy adoptable pets in our community by 2015.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>With a current (as of 12/31/12) Live Release Rate of 67%, HSSM is less than two years away from becoming an organization in the first Deep South community to accomplish a goal like "Countdown to Zero."</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>The Countdown to Zero initiative has four legs that will ensure our success:</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>- Adoptions: Primarily focused on promoting the adoption of hard-to-place pets like large adult dogs and adult cats</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>- Second Chance Ward: Building a hospital-style building with space for an additional 70 pets to house those with highly contagious yet easily treatable illnesses. This ward will enable HSSM to save nearly 2,000 more pets each year.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>- Trap-Neuter-Return: Focusing spay/neuter efforts on "fixing" as many free-roaming, feral and outdoor cats ("Community Cats") as possible. This will cut down on a huge portion of HSSM's intake, as these cats are the most at-risk population for euthanasia once they enter our shelter.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>- Tag 'Em South Mississippi: "Tag 'Em South Mississippi" is HSSM's brand new pet ID campaign to garner support from local municipalities and government heads for proper pet ID to cut down on the nearly 6,000 animals that enter HSSM as stray each year.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>These four legs have been specially designed to help HSSM reach our goal of ZERO euthanasia of adoptable pets in our community by 2015.&nbsp;</div>