wcw FEB 2022

941-306-1202
ArtistSeriesConcerts.org
Stars on the Rise Building on our Legacy
NEXUS CHAMBER MUSIC
OF CHICAGO
with Maria Ioudenitch, violin
February 20, 4 pm • Temple Sinai
String trios by Sibelius, Kurtág,
Dohnányi, and Beethoven
This will be the 70th anniversary
of the Humane Society of
Sarasota County (HSSC) and in
2022, it’s off to an auspicious start.
In 2020, in steps a new Executive
Director, Anna Gonce, who
had to navigate a major construction
project while managing staff and keeping
the doors open. And yes, there was COVID to
contend with. Considered an essential service,
she and her team showed up every day even as
COVID took hold and their old adoption building
was torn down.
HSSC re-emerged back in September, 2021,
after its long overdue expansion was completed.
The beautiful, gleaming, state-of the-art facilities
you see now bely a tricky remodeling job.
It could be summed up as knock this down and
move over there, then move back. Then refurbish
this part, and move over here.
Break rooms were converted to offices, a
trailer was brought in, they even used a shed
for space. “There are no ivory towers in animal
services,” notes Anna, adding, “but we found
a way to make it work.” But, she admits with
a laugh, that by the grand re-opening, “I was
done with it.”
Now stands a facility encompassing almost
40,000 square feet of space. It offers play rooms
for cats, training spaces, and, most importantly,
more space for animals. The $8.5 million expansion
and renovation project allows them to
take in close to 1,000 more animals each year,
bringing the total to 2,700.
Anna’s influence can be seen in the addition
of a memorial courtyard, a new sensory and
enrichment garden designed to reduce stress for
the shelter animals leading to more successful
transitions to and from life in the shelter, no-cost
medical care for special needs pet adoptions,
and collaboration with Paws and Warriors that
give free dogs to first responders and veterans.
HSSC is a no-kill shelter, but not every shelter
in Florida is. So Anna has created a leadership
collaboration around the state to help the state
become a no-kill state. Compared to the rest
of the country, Florida is the 4th worst state in
the nation for dogs and cats dying in animal
shelters. Last year alone, 45,500 animals did not
have the chance for a loving home.
Anna moved to Sarasota in 2014 after a career
out west working with several animal welfare
agencies. Upon arriving, she first stayed home
to raise her daughter, but after two years she
knew, as a self-described “workaholic,” she
needed to get back to work. Anna worked at
Habitat in Sarasota initially as volunteer coordinator,
but moved up to development. But when
she saw the opportunity at HSSC she knew, “I
admire their [Habitat] mission…but my passion
has always been animals.”
And that passion goes back to her childhood
growing up on a farm in Alabama. “I had every
pet imaginable,” she recalls and her “tough guy”
dad would often bring home abandoned kittens.
She considered vet school at Auburn, but knew
surgery wasn’t for her. Instead it was the University
of Alabama for a marketing degree that
would take her to several animal nonprofits.
Except for that three-year stint at Habitat,
Anna has two decades of experience in animal
welfare. First stop was as Executive Director of
the Utah office of Best Friends Animal Society
which runs the nation’s largest no-kill sanctuary
for companion animals. Anna helped
Best Friends launch several national initiatives
designed to reduce the number of animals entering
shelters.
She then led their Salt Lake City–based
program, delivering a strategy to make Utah
a no-kill state. She operated a pet adoption
center, high-volume spay/neuter clinic, mobile
spay/neuter clinic, kitten nursery, and led a
statewide coalition. Before that and in Denver,
she was the Executive Director of the Gabriel
Foundation, one of the country’s largest parrot
sanctuaries.
Prior to that, she was first Public Relations
Manager and then Manager of Emergency Services
at American Humane Association, also
in Denver.
Anna was the secretary of the National
Animal Rescue and Sheltering Coalition and
founding board president for Spay Neuter International
Project, based in Costa Rica. She has
presented at animal welfare conferences and
workshops across the country.
Her animal-welfare expertise includes domestic
and international disaster response,
delivering spay/neuter services, operating pet
adoption centers, return-to-field programs for
community cats, no-kill strategic plans, and
coalition building.
At their north Sarasota campus, dogs are
on one side of the building; cats on the other
(arranged by the cats, no doubt). Dogs have the
typical kennel accommodations, but with large
stalls and open spaces with lots of light. There’s
also lots of space for walks indoors and out. Cats
on the other hand, move about in their stacked,
spaceship-like pods that give them privacy and
small hideaways cats crave. There’s plenty of
space for them to move about, explore and play
in an adjoining “free-roaming” room. (It’s also
fun to watch them play there.)
The HSSC’s sparkling new facilities are a
testament to how much we love our pets. The
facility, by the way, never closed during construction
and animals were still taken in and
adopted out - just in lesser numbers.
Shelters have changed dramatically. For example,
Anna explains, shelter medicine is now
a field of study. Animal sheltering itself is also
very advanced. At HSSC, incoming animals are
vaccinated right away. They also offer foster
programs for the animals, and all animals are
evaluated for possible behavioral problems.
They offer humane education as well as pet
therapy programs. There’s an affordable public
veterinary clinic (whether you adopted a pet
from HSSC or not).
What has also changed is how we treat what
are called “pet surrenders.” Sarasota County
Animal Services doesn’t take them so the HSSC
is the place of last resort. “Having a pet is a
lifelong commitment,” Anna explains which
you hear often about adopting a pet these days.
Less heard is compassion for the pet owner
who can’t care for a pet any longer. About 25
per cent of the animals the HSSC receives are
“surrenders” which tends to be cyclical. “We
don’t want to shame people,” Anna explains.
“Financial problems are the most common
reason people give up their pets,” she explains.
HSSC offers options to pet owners who may be
going through a difficult time in the hope that
they can later reclaim their pet.
Back in the 1950s, towns had what was called
“the dog catcher” and if you were lucky you
might have gotten your runaway dog back.
Donald Evans wasn’t so lucky. His dog was
caught, but no one notified him and the dog
was euthanized. Evans was so upset by the
experience that he then and there started the
Humane Society in Sarasota. Treatment, procedures,
protocols have all changed dramatically
since those days—thankfully—but one thing
hasn’t changed: people are just as passionate
about their pets as Evans was.
Incorporated in 1952 as Sarasota’s first
nonprofit animal welfare organization, the
Humane Society of Sarasota County relies on
contributions from individuals, organizations,
and corporations. Thus no federal funding, or
funding from any national humane organization.
HSSC is the only animal welfare organization
in Sarasota to earn the coveted 4-Star
Rating from Charity Navigator
HSSC’s original kennels held 48 dogs and the
shelter had room for only 6 cats. Today, they
have a total of 82 air-conditioned dog kennels
that were newly built in 2010. They can shelter
up to 80 cats in three different rooms. There
are over 100 animals in the shelter on any given
day. Every year, HSSC finds homes for over
1,700 dogs and cats.
There are numerous animal shelters who
offer adoptions in our area, but none has such
a long history of service or as many services as
HSSC. And their Executive Director wants to
grow it even further. Puppies and kittens are
wagging their tails. For more information, visit
www.hssc.org.
STORY:
IMAGES:
Louise Bruderle
Evelyn England
This project is sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Arts and Culture and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture (Section 286.25, Florida Statutes).
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