EMERGENCY PLEA FOR HELP

We realize that, during these difficult times, we are all afraid and suffering the stress of social isolation. However, we ask that you take a moment to remember that the most innocent and helpless among us — the hundreds of cats and dogs that are currently being surrendered or simply abandoned at your local shelters — are in desperate need. This is an emergency plea for help.

Here at the Humane Society of the Nature Coast, we are receiving no less than six calls per day from people wanting to surrender their pets or to find out what to do with the dogs and puppies others have dumped in their neighborhoods.

Even though it is against the law, punishable by a fine or imprisonment, people are even packing their pets into crates and abandoning them at our gate, sometimes in broad daylight. Several of the animals that have come into our care were pregnant. So three cats and three dogs became 24 kittens and 18 puppies, all of which eventually needed to be bottle-fed.

One surrendered cat had been stuck in a small crate for so long it could not unfold its legs enough to stand and it had been crouched in a foul muck of urine and feces for so long it suffered urine scalding on its belly and paws to where the fur and skin literally sloughed off its body.

So many animals are coming to us in such poor condition – broken bones, shot with BB guns, starved, covered with Mange, Parvo, Heartworm and Ringworm positive – and it’s costing nearly $10,000 per month to provide the life-saving medical treatment they all need.

When people look on our website, they see we have around 45 cats and less than 10 dogs available for adoption. What they don’t realize is we have over 120 animals in our care. However, most are too young or too sick to be available for adoption so – with the help of a small army of fosters — we continue to take care of them all.

We rely totally on the generosity of the community. However, with having to close to the public due to the Corona Virus, the drastic plunge in monetary donations has left us in a critical state. This is truly and emergency plea for help.

Our recent plea through Facebook for food donations has been met with an overwhelming outpouring of generosity from our community. The networking of those in our Animal Village — like Kelly and Bob Detwiller — and other pet businesses — like Paws In Paradise Pet Resort — has enabled us to feed not only our on-premises and foster fur-babies but to also provide emergency rations to people in our community so they can continue to feed their pets during this difficult time.

However, due to the closing of our Saturday Market, we have lost the $300 to $500 income it generated weekly.  Where our mailbox was once full of donations, it is now near empty and over-the-counter donations have dwindled to nearly nothing. Still, while the donations and adoptions have decreased, the number of animals that continue to come into our care – through abandonment, emergency confiscations and surrenders — have increased exponentially. It’s overwhelming, it’s heartbreaking, but it’s our job to be there for these animals.

We are all afraid and stressed and money is so very tight. But we beg you, this is an emergency plea for help. Your donations will literally help us save lives.

Please send your donation to P.O Box 10328, Brooksville, FL 34603 or call (352) 796-2711 to make your donation by phone. PayPal and all major credit card users, click here.

Thank you, bless you, and stay safe.