Hi, I’m Eddie Leedy, your new Executive Director at the Humane Society. I am a Marion County native and, after 34 years of service with the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, a retired law enforcement officer. I’m married to my soul mate, Tamie; we have three children and five grandchildren. It is my honor and privilege to work with so many amazing people who have one common goal - the animals. I look forward each and every day to seeing the progress of our special needs furbabies. Looking to the future, 2020 is going to be a big year for us. Plans are in the works to build a new intake area as well as a clinic at the shelter. We also plan to begin much-needed repairs at the Thrift Store. We will be teaming up with MADTA (Marion Alachua Dog Training Association) enrolling four of our K-9’s into a formal seven-week training program. This will help some of our at risk K-9’s to find their forever homes. I would like to thank everyone for welcoming me to the pack and for all the support.

Eddie Leedy ~ Executive Director

THRIFT STORE

Monteen Daniel ~ Director of Operations

110 NW 10th Street / Ocala FL 34475 352.732.8424 / 352.732.3449 Fax

humanesocietythriftstore@gmail.com 9am-5pm, Monday-Saturday

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Roseann Morton ~ President Brenda Hall ~ Vice President

Bill Steward ~ Treasurer Patti Lumpkin ~ Secretary

Bruce Andersen Ed Cluster

Marcia Lape Bruce Washburn

Ben Williams

A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED

FROM THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES BY CALLING TOLL-FREE (800-435-7352) WITHIN THE STATE. REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY

ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE STATE .

A Non-Profit Organization Dedicated to Animal Welfare

Website: www.thehsmc.org EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Eddie Leedy HEADQUARTERS

701 NW 14th Rd / Ocala FL 34475 PO Box 1542 / Ocala FL 34478

352.873.PETS (7387) / 352.854.9187 Fax mail@humanesocietyofmarioncounty.com

10am—6pm, Thursday - Tuesday Sunday 11am—4pm Closed Wednesday

DIRECTOR of FINANCE & HUMAN RESOURCES

Mary Wrye

Shelter Veterinarian Dr. Lidya Albano

Kennel Manager

Nicole Hatch

Newsletter Mary Wrye

Director of Humane Education

Erin Garri

The mission of The Humane Society of Marion County is to prevent the cruelty, suffering and overpopulation of animals.

A NO KILL Shelter US POSTAGE

PAID NON-PROFIT

ORGANIZATION PERMIT NO. 100

OCALA, FL Like & follow us on

2020

A NO KILL Shelter

a publication of the humane society of marion county, inc.

Pongo ~ 1 year old male. I prefer no children as I want to be your one and only!

Benneteau ~ 7 month old male. You can call me “Benny!”

Professor McGonagall ~ 1 year old female. She had a litter of 5 and they all have homes. She is extremely loveable. Tallulah ~ 1 year old female who is

a ball of energy, a great family dog.

Ringo ~ 8 year old male “ Cat of the Month” - Very sweet and ready to cuddle.

Clifford ~ The “Big Red Dog! “ 2 year old male lab mix, found as a stray, good with other dogs.

About six weeks ago, a wonderful person brought this little guy into the shelter. The kitten was not quite four weeks old and was very sick. A neighbor was going to put the kitten in a bag and throw him into a trashcan when our anonymous hero intervened.

Realizing that he was going to be a strong survivor, we named him Aslan!

This adorable little guy is now ten weeks old, happy and healthy, and waiting at the Petco Adoption Center to meet his forever family.

before

Nine-year-old Helen arrived at the shelter, emaciated, dehydrated, and so weak she could barely walk. The shelter staff noticed she was drinking and urinating constantly and ran a glucose panel, to discover she was also diabetic. Little by little, Helen has grown stronger and happier.

Another loud shout-out to Jason Lyons of The Yard Stop! When he heard that someone had stolen a significant amount of our equipment from our shed, he replaced everything....for free! We have wonderful people in this community, and as we've said before, we could not do this without you! Thank you so much!

We would like to send a huge thank-you to Alex Churchill of Top Notch Tree Care for trimming all the trees at the Humane Society. He and five of his crew did it all in one day....and most amazing of all....did it for free! Thank you so much!!!

Proud sponsor of the HSMC since 2005…We can’t Thank You enough!

Jaileen Negron

Cydney Lane

Fantasheia Williams

Eddie Leedy Executive Director

Patty Kirby Barbara Simms

Destynee Broom

Candace Chapman

Sue Bruzdziak

Jenifer Sanchez Terry “TJ” Franzen

Ronald “RJ” Fontana

B r

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o n

L e e

Brittany Evans

Laney Aldana

Kim Pruett

Amanda Bayer

1/10 –Go Figure…in Art ~ Center State Bank, 1632 E Silver Springs Blvd, Ocala from 5-7pm. 1/11- Olaf Chili Cook-off ~ The Beach Ocala, Hwy 326, Ocala, from noon-4:30. (Volunteers needed) no animals at event; there will be kids’ crafts. 1/25- Teens with Loss ~ Held at HSMC Conference room, joining with Hospice of Marion County (private event) from 10-1. (Volunteers needed) Crafts and spending time with animals.

2/15- PAWS Ice Cream ~ Letty Towles Dog Park. 2/22- We Wuv You Dance ~ HSMC Volunteer appreciation dance. 2/28-3/1-PetSmart National Adoption Weekend ~ 3500 SW College Rd Ocala, FL 34474 Friday & Saturday10-3 and Sunday 10-1

Kingmen never gave up on his forever home. He knew that someone would fall for his beautiful brown eyes and sloppy

kisses. Kingmen stayed with the HSMC for 506 days (1 year and 4 months). As of December 2019, his perfect family walked

through the doors. What better present for Kingmen and his new family! The holidays are filled with hopes and dreams, and for

this lucky family, it was Kingmen!!

Behr Doodle was a member of the HSMC family and spent a total of 667 days (1 year & 10 months). Eddie Leedy worked very hard with Behr, training, walking and spending time with his favorite shelter buddy. Another happy ending as Behr went home to provide many hours of love and affection to his new mom!!

Marcus is a one and half year old Belgian Malinois that has spent almost a year and half in the shelter. He recently was evaluated for Law Enforcement for bomb training. The evaluators fell in love with his looks and personality.

Marcus fell just short of the very high bar for such training but has not given up. Marcus will soon be one of the first dogs to enter the Seven week training course with MADTA.

We are a community supported charity. We could not carry on this mission without you. We support the homeless animals of Marion County as well as the homeless people and victims of domestic violence. We hold drawings on the first Saturday of every month for a free spay/ neuter.

Shanda Hose

Tracy Pearson & Amber Turo Dustin Price

John Alix

Monteen Daniel & Vino

Andrew Nevers Kelly Thomas

Please support our mission. Thank you from the staff & Director of Operations, Monteen Daniel.

Doug Gallagher

Where your donations go…

843 Dog Adoptions

2019

1528 Spay & Neuter Surgeries

13,838 Total Adoptions since 2012

805 Cat Adoptions

1669 Animal Intakes

623 Fostered cats & Dogs

Thanking our volunteers for

their 11,218 hours

A NO Kill shelter Total adoptions for 2019 = 1757

88 Pets Reunited With Owners

1669 Intakes

82 surgeries

40 heartworm treatments

Now

In 2008, Bob and Betty Graham adopted a pup named Benji. They renamed him Chip and took him home. Every year, this wonderful couple bring Chip for a visit and bring the shelter gifts and goodies. We are thankful to them for their support over the years and we are thrilled to see Chip happy, healthy, and deeply loved!

Anya is looking good! What a difference from the first day we brought her home! You can see how far she has come, and she still gets her medicated baths. She has her quirky behaviors. When Jack is preparing the kids' meals, she gets so excited! She runs through the house, jumping up and down, squealing and running into and out of her crate, looking for me and letting me know she's getting fed. This is every meal, every day. She can not contain herself because she is so happy! Living in the woods and not having food is something she has not forgotten. She is very sweet and gives great hugs. She sleeps in bed with us every night and has been fully housebroken since the day she arrived. Anya does not like rain or storms, and she has separation anxiety, wanting always to be able to see us. This is not a surprise considering how her life once was. But she is a survivor! She's a tough girl! Including Anya and Maple, the puppy our granddaughter adopted, we had six wonderful furballs here on Christmas Eve, running, playing, and opening gifts. ~ John and Andre’ Erlandson

Found abandoned in Fort McCoy, Anya came to the HSMC shelter in September. A good Samaritan brought her to us for much-needed assistance. A Belgian Malinois/German Shepherd, Anya weighed a mere 58 pounds and was in very poor health. She was heartworm positive and so neglected, with poor skin and long nails. She was fortunate to have John and Andre’ foster her back to good health. They have since chosen to adopt her permanently and sent us these beautiful pictures. She has a large family to love her forever, and she loves them back!

Humane Society of Marion County Which page did you find our hidden PO Box 1542 Ocala, FL 34478 Santa puppy & kitty?? No Kill Shelter __________________________________

Name: ___________________________________________________Phone ____________________________ Address: ___________________________________________________________________________________ City: ___________________ State: _____ Zip Code : _________ Comments: _______________________________________________________________________________

Must be 18 years of age Drawing last of the month Special prize first three entries

My baby Boyd is the heart and soul of my family! He is everything to us! Even at 3am when he wants to run and play with the cats. Not only is he our dog and protector, but he is also a family member! Boyd thinks we rescued him eight months ago, but he really rescued us and our hearts.

My son Reese chose Gracie after visiting her at one of the adoption events at Petco. He asked me to come to the Humane Society to meet her. She was so shy and scared of everyone and everything except Reese. It's been two years now and she's still timid, but she's come a long way. She loves playing with her toys, playing fetch in the yard with Reese, and relaxing on the couch.

Former staff member and volunteer Marcy Butler was finding homes for a litter of kittens abandoned at the shelter when she took a liking to the spunky runt of the litter. All the siblings were adopted over the following weeks, but the tiny gray one remained. Marcy told herself that if by the next weekend she wasn’t adopted, she’d find a forever home with her own family. The weekend came and went - and her household gained one more feline member. Marcy named the kitten Rina after the staff member who trained her, also tiny with a spunky personality.

Rina is the life of her household. She turns anything into a toy, plays fetch, and always speaks back when spoken to. She is a typical independent cat but when she has a rare moment of peace she will lie on your lap for hours wrapped in a blanket. She’s a daddy’s girl - but Marcy is convinced that the tiny kitten chose her the very first day she met her and clipped her tiny toenails.

Hi ~ my name is Dolly. I use to be Honey Moo-Moo. I thought you might like to know how happy I am in my forever home. I love my Mom & Dad so much and they love me right back. Merry Christmas from Dolly.

Honey (Dolly) came to the HSMC shelter in March 2019, abandoned by a “friend” of her owner.

Thank you Marjorie Grimshaw and family

for loving her.

Two days before Christmas 2018, a severely injured dog arrived at our shelter. He had been found lying on the side of the road by a Good Samaritan and her two children. When the lady put him on the front seat of her vehicle, he crawled over and put his head in her lap. When he arrived, the older daughter asked our vet tech to please name him Thomas, after The Little Train Who Could. And so he became our Thomas. His bottom jaw had been ripped open and the flesh shredded. His face, legs, and torso showed old and new punctures, and his ears had been damaged down to the ear canals. Many of his injuries were days or possibly weeks old. These are all indicative of dog fighting.

Debbie Noxon

Thomas was a survivor. He went through numerous surgeries and got much loving as he recovered. Ten months later, a fully healed, happy, and healthy Thomas found his forever home! This is why we do what we do!

HSMC staff

Thomas & family

At the beginning of October, a tiny, wounded kitten was brought into the shelter. He had been shot with a BB

gun, was flea-infested and dehydrated. We did not know if he would survive, but we named him Timothy and the

fight for survival began.

The vet team saw a BB still lodged in his body but decided it was safer to leave it there than to try to remove it. The little man required a blood transfusion and then developed pneumonia. One of our amazing staff members took him home and did everything he needed twenty-four hours a day for weeks on end. Timothy rallied and then blossomed. In December, he found his forever home!