Our Continued Care program helps people who need temporary care for their pets for a variety of reasons.  Watch the video story on zootoo.com or read about it in the St. Pete Times.

Sumter County Animal Control in Lake Panasoffkee, FL confiscated nearly 300 animals from a single property.  HSP sent two representatives to SCAC to bring supplies and help them set the animals up in cages and crates.  In order to help them make room, we also transferred 6 cats and 7 dogs from their shelter to ours.  These animals are already available for adoption!

HSP assisted Pinellas County Animal Services in the removal of nearly 200 cats from a home in Tarpon Springs.  26 of the cats were transported to HSP, and many of these have since been adopted to loving new homes.  Read about the incident in the St. Pete Times here and here.

HSP's newly remodeled Adoption Center is now open!  The center has been dedicated in memory of Adoption Specialist Lynn Wagner.  The renovations will enable us to better serve our adopters, donors, and animals.

HSP created the position of Humane Education Specialist to promote responsible pet ownership and compassionate care for all animals, in accordance with our mission and vision.  Long-term employee Megan Kempshall has been appointed to the position.  As the Humane Education program develops, Megan will visit schools and nursing homes and conduct shelter tours to educate the community about animal care and advocacy.

The Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission is ending its Gopher Tortoise Incidental Take permit, commonly known as "pay to pave."  Developers will no longer be able to obtain permits to bury Gopher Tortoise burrows.  See the Humane Society's stance on this issue on Bay News 9.  We are working with the only developer currently holding a Incidental Take permit in Pinellas County to relocate the tortoises to Pinellas County public land.

Open Paw works!  Check out our well-behaved animals and our new shelter-wide training program, Open Paw, on Fox 13 and in the St. Pete Times.  HSP is the first shelter in Florida and the Southeast to implement this program, and we have already become a model for other area shelters looking to increase the mental health and adoptability of their animals.  We are making our pets more adoptable and making their stay in the meantime happier and healthier.  The Open Paw program works when everyone at the shelter interacts with the animals--the staff, volunteers, and even the general public.  You can help!  Please stop by and help us teach our pets good manners!

Kellyann Conway and Traci Theis were selected as co-winners of the 2006 Outstanding Trainer of the Year Award at the Dogs In Review's 52nd Annual Show Dogs of the Year Awards, held in New York during Westminster Dog Show festivities.  This year's co-winners were chosen both for their work to advance the education of pet parents on behavior and training techniques and for their work with PetsIncredible, a company that produces training DVDs for shelters to provide to their pet adopters.  Kellyann and Traci have both worked with the Humane Society of Pinellas for many years, helping to provide behavioral enrichment for shelter animals both before and after adoption. 

We are pleased to welcome Open Paw developers Kelly Gorman and Dr. Ian Dunbar, internationally renowned dog trainers, to spend two days at the Humane Society of Pinellas.  Kelly and Dr. Dunbar will train our staff and volunteers in Open Paw techniques and officially roll out the new shelter training program.

The Humane Society of Pinellas is the recipient of the first annual national grant to fund and begin implementation of our Open Paw program.  Learn more about the Open Paw shelter program here.

The Humane Society of Pinellas is proud to welcome Barbara Snow to the position of Executive Director!  Barbara comes to us from the Humane Society of Charlotte (NC), and has over 25 years' experience in managing and directing animal shelters.