VOCAL is not your typical animal welfare organization. Made up of our board and run largely by volunteers, VOCAL was founded by three passionate animal advocates, Linda Norman, Kate Rengel, & Lauren Carpenter, who wanted to bring an end to the homeless pet problem in our community. This means working with county residents and other organizations to help Marion County, FL become a community that values and cares for its pets. From the beginning, our goals and mission have been based solely on the needs of the Marion County area. We looked directly at the statistics in our county when formulating our business plans. We believe the solutions we develop should be focused on solving the problems in our community and then branching out into other counties, states and areas who need help. The first step to addressing the homeless pet population is having affordable and accessible low-cost spay neuter in Marion County. Without focusing on spay-neuter and preventing countless numbers of animals being born into homelessness, the problem continues to escalate and is simply too large to adopt our way out. Since our founding year in 2015 we have been assisting low-income pet families by providing funding for spay and neuter surgeries. While operating this fund, we simultaneously began fundraising to build our clinic, working with other rescue organizations, and started our trap-neuter-return (TNR) program for community cats. We quickly realized that the biggest cause of pet overpopulation in our community was from breeding cats, and we made the decision to focus on TNR as the first program at our clinic. The second program we are launching at our clinic will be a collaboration with other rescue organizations, where we will provide vet services to those who do so much for the animals in Marion County and the surrounding communities. Beyond the goal of opening our clinic, we have created other programs to assist pets in our community. Our programs were developed to focus on the animals at risk for reproducing, becoming homeless or potentially entering the shelter system. The programs were designed to help keep animals happy and healthy in their homes. As mentioned above, spay-neuter assistance is a critical fund utilized by many within our community. Another key program is our pet food bank. Rescue and adoption are also a piece of what we do, but we always work to see if we can keep an animal in its home by providing opportunities through our outreach programs. Sometimes, we understand though that this is not possible for all cats and dogs and those are the animals we intake into our adoption program. All of the pets available in our adoption program come from Marion County. All in all, VOCAL’s fundamentals are community-led, positive, and purposeful. We are different because we are focused on solving problems and coming up with solutions rather than continuing and accepting the current circumstances of homeless pets in Marion County. We started our mission with a goal to end pet homelessness, although we have not reached this yet, we know it is entirely possible to achieve our goal not only in Marion County but, down the road, in communities beyond our county line. All things are possible with cooperation from the community, other animal welfare organizations, and of course, with the passion, teamwork, and creativity we value and strive for here at VOCAL every day. Please join us on our mission, and make a difference for the homeless pets in our community today.
Have you found a pet that you like on our adoption page and now you are wondering how to adopt from VOCAL? The very first thing to do is submit an application! We are a foster and volunteer based group, so the majority of our animals live in our volunteers’ homes. Because we are volunteer based, we DO NOT have set visiting or business hours like a normal shelter. This is why we ask for an application first to get the process started. The application requires no commitment from you, if you decide later on the animal is not the right fit. As an organization founded by animal advocates and solely supported by volunteers, we truly see the animals in our care as family members. With this in mind, consider for a moment the thought processes you would go through if you were re-homing one of your beloved pets. You probably just thought of several questions you would want answered (for both the pet and the future owners sake) and considered a few steps you would take to ensure it was a great match! We believe you would expect any organization handling the adoptions of dogs and cats to have a process that is both thorough yet as expedient as possible. Below we have outlined what you can expect from our adoption process. Step 1: Volunteer Adoption Counselors review the applications (contact landlords, veterinary offices, etc). We receive a large volume of applications and since we are all volunteers, we only contact the applicants we feel are the best fit. We do our absolute best to review all applications. We always make the decision that is best for the animal. Step 2: Volunteer Adoption Counselor contacts the best fit applicants via phone to discuss details of the application and answer any questions the applicant may have. Step 3: If the applicant and the volunteer Adoption Counselor agree that the animal and their home sound like it could be a potential match a home visit is scheduled. Step 4: A volunteer brings the animal to the applicant’s home for a meet and greet/home visit. At the home visit/meet & greet the volunteer who brings the animal evaluates for safety and overall fit in the home. We want to make sure everyone is happy and that the match is perfect! Step 5: If the pet and the applicant seem to be the perfect match, the animal has found its new home and the adoption is complete!