Humane Society of Manatee County Inc

Humane Society of Manatee County’s Second Chance Adoption Shelter found new homes for 753 cats and dogs in 2018.  Many of the animals arriving at our shelter have medical and behavioral issues and truly need a second chance.  Our shelter staff and medical team work with each animal to prepare them for adoption.  All animals adopted into new homes are spayed / neutered and fully vaccinated and all dogs receive heartworm prevention meds.

Humane Society of Manatee County Pet Food Pantry provides dog and cat food to pet owners experiencing temporary economic challenges to ensure their animal companions can stay with their families.  Low income families, senior citizens and young working families all have visited our Pet Food Pantry in times of need.  In 2018 over 2000lbs of cat and dog food was distributed to those in need.All of the pet food distributed through the Pet Food Pantry is food that was donated by our community.

Humane Society of Manatee County collaborates with members of our community and other animal welfare agencies in Manatee County in providing spay and neuter services for feral (free-roaming) cats.  The TNR (trap-neuter-return) program in addition to spay and neuter includes vaccines, and identifying ear tipping.  We make feral traps available through a loaner program for community members volunteering to assist in trapping unaltered cats.  TNR is the proven humane solution to control the population of feral (free-roaming) cats in the community.

PROGRAM INFORMATION Thank you for opening your heart and home to one of our shelter’s orphaned dogs. Your generosity will provide you and old, injured and sick, abused and under-socialized dogs a chance to grow or heal before finding their forever homes. Dogs needing foster homes • Puppies too young and/or immature to be adopted. • Puppies and young dogs that require more socialization than available at HSMC. • Older or senior dogs that will be more comfortable in a home environment. • Injured dogs and/or those recovering from surgery. • Neglected or abused dogs that need tender loving care. • Dogs suffering from “shelter stress” in need of a calming home environment. • Dogs with colds or with special medical needs. • Abandoned mothers with litters of puppies. Reasons to foster Fostering is a wonderful experience for you and your family -- you can feel good knowing you have helped save a dog’s life. Even better, you’ve created space in the shelter to accommodate other homeless dogs. Foster dogs provide companionship and purpose -- your act of kindness is repaid in rewards that are beyond words. We hope you save this information as it will answer many questions that will arise when fostering (printed handouts are provided at orientation meetings). When in doubt, please e-mail HSMC. Orientation meetings are given for new foster parents by appointment. Please contact HSMC to be added to the list for the next orientation -- you will be notified as to when the meeting will be held. Attendance is a requirement for continued fostering. However, we can get you on our active list and even fostering your first case if we've received your application, signed foster parent agreement, and have talked with you by phone. If we haven't already spoken with you, we hope to soon and get you ready for your first foster case!