SECOND CHANCE HUMANE SOCIETY INC
We Believe Pets & People Live Better Together
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
The mission of Second Chance Humane Society is Connecting Pets, People & Community While Saving Lives. The problem we are working to address is pet overpopulation, abuse, or neglect in our region. We are also focusing on the need for support services for many low income or underserved families in our region for keeping their pets as healthy members of their families.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Pre-Adoption Spay/Neuter
All pets are sterilized prior to being made available for adoption.
Humane Education
Educate public about the humane treatment of animals and the practice of spay/neuter as the only successful way to control pet overpopulation.
Spay/Neuter Assistance
Financial assistance for the spay/neuter procedures via rebates and provision of low cost spay/neuter clinics.
Community Outreach
Strengthening the human/animal bond by bringing animals into the lives of people who may otherwise not have the opportunity.
Feral Cat Mangement
Humane management of feral cat population through a practice of Trap/Vaccinate/Spay/Neuter and Release.
Pet Behavioral Training Classes
Through a positive reinforcement approach Second Chance offers low-cost behavioral training courses that increase the bond between owner and pet while reducing the number of pets relinquished to the shelter due to behavioral issues.
Community Veterinary Services
Second Chance offers a range of low-cost veterinary services from vaccinations, dental care, and bloodwork to X-rays and end of life care to help keep pets and people together. These low-cost services also prevents pet abandonment and relinquishment due to pet health issues that owners can not afford, we work with pet owners to keep their pets as healthy members of their families regardless of income level. This program operates from our onsite clinic at our shelter as well as via a mobile program to the underserved region of Western Montrose County.
Shelter and Adoption
We receive stray, abandoned, relinquished and homeless pets in the Tri-County service region and beyond (partnerships throughout the Four Corners region). We provide medical and behavioral rehabilitation, individual enrichment programming and match them with new families
Where we work
External reviews

Photos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of animals rehomed
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Community Outreach
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of animals rescued
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Community Outreach
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of dogs spayed or neutered
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Spay/Neuter Assistance
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Decreasing
Number of animals returned to their owner
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Community Outreach
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Decreasing
Average number of days of shelter stay for dogs
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Humane Education
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Decreasing
Average number of days of shelter stay for cats and small animals
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Community Outreach
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Decreasing
Average number of days of shelter stay for animals
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Community Outreach
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Through a broad spectrum of intervention and prevention services and programs Second Chance is guided by the following goals:
1. Reduce pet overpopulation
2. Promote the human-animal bond
3. Help keep pets as part of their families
4. Promote responsible pet parenting
5. Promote the power of the pet to connect people, families and communities.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Second Chance's strategies for fulfilling its goals and mission are:
1. Maintain model shelter programs and services to increase efficiencies and effectiveness of rescue work, increasing numbers of pets rescued, rehabilitated and re-homed.
2. Expand and enhance outreach programming through development of community educational workshops, outreach and training opportunities.
3. Broaden service region to include surrounding underserved communities and expand networking and outreach.
4. Provide competitive compensation to support and sustain professional personnel.
5. Identify and secure additional funding streams for long term sustainability of the organization.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Second Chance has developed the following programs and services to pursuit its goals and objectives:
1. Temporary Shelter/Foster Program - provides a loving, comfortable and enriching environment for abandoned, abused, neglected and homeless dogs and cats.
2. Low-cost Veterinary Services - provides free wellness checks and low-cost services such as vaccinations, de-worming, spay/neuter surgeries, heartworm testing and prevention, etc. via financial assistance and medical clinics to low-income pet owners.
3. Animal Control Assistance – support services for regional Animal Control.
4. Placement Program - help find homes for pets that people must surrender.
5. Dog Behavioral Classes and Individual Consultations - provides assistance to pet owners in correcting behavioral problems so that pets can remain in the home.
6. Pet Safe Housing Program – pets from violent homes are fostered until the pet owner leaving the abusive situation has safely relocated.
7. Feral Cat Program - trap, test for disease, spay/neuter, vaccinate, and return community cats into their original habitat.
8. Community Outreach - educational and transformative humane programs for school children, nursing homes, veterans, and the public.
9. Pet Pantry - provide free pet food and supplies to low-income pet owners to keep pets as part of their families.
10. Thrift Shops - to help fund our programs and provide a community service of affordable goods and a major source for recycle/reuse.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Progress as measured for 2019 (unless otherwise indicated) follows:
Pets rescued: 413
Numbers served through community medical program: 1,242
Animal Control Assistance: 20 animals
Dog Behavioral classes: 53 attendees, 10 classes, 29 individual sessions, 45 hours of phone consultations
Community Outreach: 217 people through educational presentations to students and the public, 241 students reached weekly through Pets Turning Pages, and approximately 22,700 through public and adoption events and weekly Pet Column.
Pet Pantry: Have provided 38,000 pounds of food to families in need throughout the region so far in 2020.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, We don’t have the right technology to collect and aggregate feedback efficiently, It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection, Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
SECOND CHANCE HUMANE SOCIETY INC
Board of directorsas of 11/28/2023
Ashley Bradley
Ashley Bradley
No Affiliation
Bob Hennessey
Heather Cammisa
Chris Copeland
Mike Cavanaugh
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
Equity strategies
Last updated: 11/02/2022GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.