Clinic Operations Update

The Animal Clinic, operated by the Humane Society of Sarasota County, opened its doors in February 2016 as a full-service veterinary hospital aiming to provide affordable, high-quality veterinary care to the community. We appreciate the loyalty of the 11,000+ patients who have supported us these past six years.

Over the past year, the veterinary profession has reached a dire workforce crisis that has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This workforce crisis is complex and has made it more difficult for nonprofit providers like HSSC to retain and hire qualified veterinary staff. We have been as creative as possible about tackling these challenges, and we are proud to have served 6,062 patients in 2021 alone. But that was just the fraction of the clients who needed us. The demand for our services far exceeded our ability to meet everyone's needs in a timely manner. Many of our loyal clients have made their frustrations known. We are listening and taking these comments seriously.

Additionally, the ever-growing income gap in Sarasota County has left pet owners with difficult decisions regarding their pet's health and what they can afford. Financial hardship is one of the main reasons why animals are surrendered to our shelter. Sarasota has some of the fastest rent hikes in the country, and home prices have skyrocketed. Increasingly, our working families are one paycheck or $700 away from disaster. As a nonprofit animal welfare organization, we feel the burden of responsibility to ensure animals in our community have access to basic, affordable veterinary care. By focusing our services on families who need them most, we believe we can increase the number of clients helped to 9,000 this year.

With many factors to consider, we are making the tough decision to transition away from the full-service veterinary hospital model to one that focuses on offering core wellness services to everyone and treating sick/injured pets whose families otherwise could not afford veterinary care.

The following core wellness services will continue to be offered to everyone in our community:

• Annual wellness exams
• Pet dentistry and teeth cleaning
• Vaccinations
• Parasite control
• Flea and heartworm prevention and treatment
• Microchipping
• Low-cost spay/neuter
• Laser therapy

Effective July 1, 2022, our medical, diagnostic, and surgery services will be mostly limited to income-qualified clients who otherwise cannot afford the cost of veterinary care. These services will include:

• Cystotomy
• Exploratory and diagnostic procedures
• Mass removals
• Cherry eye
• Ear hematoma
• Enucleations
• Amputations
• Physical exams
• Radiographs
• Bloodwork
• Fecal Test (diarrhea)
• Urinalysis (UTI's)
• Skin and ear cytology

To read more about our income qualifications, click here: