The Humane Society of South Mississippi (HSSM) is the largest animal welfare organization in the state of Mississippi. HSSM’s facility was built using the nation’s leading Children’s Museums as models, with bright colors and oversized architectural sculptures. We offer: pet adoptions, foster program, return-to-owner efforts, spay/neuter and wellness services, volunteer program, pet transports, youth initiatives, a food pantry and pet retention program, an on-site thrift store, and more! In 2024, HSSM cared for over 5,000 homeless pets in house and touched over 16,000 animals in the community.

Since our incorporation in 1952, HSSM has been committed to ending pet overpopulation on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. HSSM is the only Open Admissions Animal Shelter in South Mississippi, meaning we accept all animals in need, regardless of age, breed, health, or temperament. This commitment ensures that no lost pet is turned away. Oftentimes our open-admissions status in a community with a disproportionately high number of homeless pets leads to needless euthanasia of adoptable pets in our shelter HSSM has vowed to change this.

In January of 2012, HSSM’s Board of Directors adopted the most progressive initiative ever undertaken by our organization. This initiative, entitled Countdown to Zero, aims to eliminate the euthanasia of all healthy and treatable pets in our community. Our dream is to make South Mississippi a truly humane community where every pet lives out his/her life in a loving home. When HSSM achieves this goal, we will be the first community in the Deep South to achieve this milestone.