Find Out How You Can Volunteer and Adopt
Many humane societies and shelters exist across Florida to look after precious pets who don’t yet have forever homes. At these shelters, all of which are no-kill, people have the chance to visit dogs and cats up for adoption and make plans to adopt them. Not only will I let you know how you can volunteer and participate in events, I’ll tell you how you can adopt a pet of your own.
Florida Humane Society
The Florida Humane Society (3870 N. Powerline Rd., Pompano Beach) offers pet adoption and programs such as community education, spay/neuter programs, and disaster preparedness. This non-profit has served Broward and Palm Beach Counties since 1993.
Adoption and visitation hours occur Thursdays through Sundays between noon and 4 p.m. at the Pompano Beach offices. Cats can also be adopted from PetSmart stores in Coral Springs (4151 Turtle Creek Dr., Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.) and Boca Raton (20861 State Road 7, Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.).
The Florida Humane Society is always looking for volunteers. To fill out the volunteer application, visit floridahumanesociety.org. If you have any questions, call (954) 974-6152.
Humane Society of Greater Miami
The Humane Society of Greater Miami (16101 W. Dixie Hwy., North Miami Beach) has been giving animals permanent homes since 1936. Pets who are accepted by the Humane Society here will not be euthanized under any circumstance, even if the pet has health issues or struggles to find a home. The Humane Society also operates clinics (16101 W. Dixie Hwy., North Miami Beach, and also at 10700 SW 211th St., Cutler Bay) and a special boutique with pet treats and grooming products (Dixie Hwy., open Tuesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.). You can also have your pet groomed at the Dixie Hwy. location (9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Tuesday; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Wednesday-Saturday. Large dogs cannot be groomed on Saturdays. Walk-ins are taken until noon. To make an appointment, call (305) 749-1850).
If you are interested in adopting, the Dixie Highway office will process all your paperwork. You can view some of the pets available for adoption online at humanesocietymiami.org/adopt-a-dog. To volunteer with this organization, orientations are held two Saturdays each month. If you can’t attend orientation but would still like to volunteer, please e-mail volunteer@humanesocietymiami.org or call (305) 749-1843. If you’re interested in becoming a pet foster parent, e-mail foster@humanesocietymiami.org.
Humane Society of Broward County
The Humane Society of Broward County’s main office is located at 2070 Griffin Rd. in Fort 
Lauderdale, and has looked out for the well-being of pets in the community since opening their doors back in 1944. The Humane Society offers quite a few services, such as a clinic that offers vaccinations and free or low-cost spay and neuters. The Humane Society also offers obedience training for your pet, as well as a lost and found area for recently disappeared pets, and therapy for pet owners whose pets recently passed on.
If you’d like to adopt a pet, you can view cats, dogs and other pets by going to the Griffin Road location during adoption hours. Adoption hours are 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. The adoption desk closes 30 minutes before the office closes, so keep that in mind if you still have paperwork to finalize. Call (954) 989-3977 for more information. If you’d like to volunteer at the Humane Society, and can take one shift per week for six months at a time, please call (954) 266-6814 to schedule a time to attend an orientation session (held twice monthly). For more information, visit humanebroward.com.
Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando
Formerly the Humane Society of Greater Orlando, the Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando has been 
a friend to animals in the Central Florida area since 1937. The main offices are located at 2727 Conroy Road in Orlando, with a second office at 2800 County Home Road in Sanford. Adoption hours at both locations are Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. The Pet Alliance walks you through the adoption process online; visit petallianceorlando.org/pet-services/adopting-pet to read more.
The Pet Alliance offers a number of services to the community, such as an online pharmacy and pet food store, a mobile pet food pantry that serves senior citizens with dogs or cats, veterinary clinics, and a mobile clinic that visits Kissimmee every Monday and various other locations in Central Florida throughout the week. If you’d like to volunteer, the Pet Alliance hosts 45-minute orientation sessions for interested parties. November and December orientation times have yet to be scheduled; for more information, visit petallianceorlando.org/community-involvement/volunteer or call (407) 351-7722.
Humane Society of Tampa Bay
The Humane Society of Tampa Bay was first created in 1912, and the animal shelter was 
opened in 1929, making it the one of the oldest incorporated humane societies in the state. The animal shelter is located at 3607 N. Armenia Avenue. A pet health center is located two blocks away, at 3809 N. Armenia Avenue.
Over 6,000 animals have been adopted from the Humane Society’s animal shelter this year, almost reaching the goal of 6,300 the Humane Society administrators set at the beginning of 2015, and there’s still two months left to go! Adoption hours are Mondays through Fridays from noon to 7 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call (813) 876-7138 if you have any questions regarding the adoption process. The Humane Society of Tampa Bay could always use volunteers: for a full list of open positions, visit humanesocietytampa.org/volunteer.
Have you adopted a pet from one of these humane societies? Post a photo of you and your pet on the Hotspots Facebook page (facebook.com/hotspotsmag). Your photo may be shared with our readers!
