The mission of the Humane Society of South Mississippi is advocate for the prevention of suffering of South Mississippi animals, provide the highest quality services and compassion to the animals entrusted to our care, reduce companion animal overpopulation and increase the save-rate of animals in our community, and promote the bond between animals and humans.

The Humane Society of South Mississippi was overwhelmed by the enormous impact of Hurricane Katrina, and our shelter experienced complete devastation. Four feet of water flooded our old facility, and all equipment, supplies, and records were lost. Katrina’s impact was simply far more destructive than anyone anticipated, and our future looked grim.

Thanks to the support of countless organizations and volunteers, our Humane Society been able to not only recover from Hurricane Katrina, but thrive in our community in a way never before possible. Generous financial support from across the country made it possible for us to complete the construction of our new 41,000 square foot state-of-the-art facility in March of 2006.

The community response to this building has been immense. The Humane Society is now recognized as a community beacon of opportunity thanks to our positive, energetic partnership with the pets and people of South Mississippi. Community interest and involvement has soared, demonstrating the effect that a new building in a prime location can make.

Our Humane Society was overjoyed in January to learn that we are one of the targeted communities for ASPCA ® Mission: Orange™ : a focused effort to create a nation of humane communities, one community at a time. The ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) will focus a large portion of its resources to aid animal welfare efforts and education in the Gulfport / Biloxi community over the next three years. ASPCA® Mission: Orange™ partners include MS SPAN, City of Gulfport Police Department Animal Control, City of Biloxi Police Department Animal Control, Harrison County Sheriff’s Department Animal Control, and the Humane Society of South Mississippi.

Working closely with the ASPCA and its partner organizations, the Humane Society has three major initiatives for achieving its goal of becoming a humane community over the next five years:

- Increasing and enhancing adoptions;
- Increasing spay/neuter efforts; and
- Transporting excess adoptable animals to other shelters.

The ASPCA has long been active in central and southern Mississippi with programs such as the Big Fix Rig, a 53-foot trailer fitted as a mobile spay/neuter clinic designed to accommodate 120-plus feline sterilizations per day. Now, ASPCA® Mission: Orange™ will give Mississippi’s rebuilding efforts not just a shot in the arm, but make Harrison County one of the leaders in the creation of humane communities nationwide. We are thrilled to embark on this opportunity for growth and increased effectiveness in our community!

As a result of these exciting activities, the Humane Society is going through tremendous growth and transformation. We are working every day to become an organization that our entire community can be proud of.

Our clinic recently completed its largest ever “Urban Transport.” Every Tuesday we work with concerned citizens in Pearl River County, MS, to transport animals in and back in one day for spay/neuter surgeries. We broke our record this summer by successfully spaying and neutering 31 animals in one day, in addition to our regularly scheduled spay/neuter clients. We are excited to be able to work with our neighboring shelters to share the success of our high-volume, low-cost spay/neuter clinic.

The Humane Society has completed a detailed Disaster Plan for the animals at our facility and for the companion animals who live with the families of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. As we all know, there were many South Mississippi residents who died, or almost died, in Hurricane Katrina because they could not evacuate with their pets and they didn’t want to leave them behind. We have worked to put in place the coast’s first pet-friendly evacuation shelter, and coordinated an evacuation procedure for the coast’s pets with our county authorities.

The Humane Society held the first graduation of a Delta Society registered Pet Therapy class in July of 2007. The Delta Society is the leading international organization which studies the quality of the relationships between pet owners, pets, and care givers, and develops standards-based training materials. The Humane Society’s 11 new Pet Partners will now visit Gulf Coast hospitals, nursing homes, and classrooms to rehabilitate, comfort, and encourage participants.

The Humane Society of the United States held a press conference and reception at our Humane Society on October 10th to formally announce the Humane Society’s participation in the Gulf Coast Pet Research Project. This project is helping animal shelters in Mississippi and Louisiana to gather statistics over the next several years. These statistics will be used to help formulate a social marketing spay/neuter campaign for our region. HSUS leaders presented checks to our regional shelters to help fund this effort, including a $20,000 check to our Humane Society.

Although Katrina was devastating, the Humane Society of South Mississippi has thrived in her aftermath thanks to the spirit of the people in our community and the outpouring of generosity from volunteers and organizations across the country. We are proud of the impact we are making, and we enjoy inspiring others with our story.