A
relatively new, up and coming
nonprofi t, A HOPE for Santa
Rosa County has many goals to
making lives better for companion
animals. Their name alone shows that their
mission is clear. HOPE stands for Health,
Outreach, Prevention, and Education. They
offer direction and a means to get pets spayed
or neutered and to keep pets Healthy. They
have an external network that allows them to
offer assistance with lost and found animals
and provide Outreach for pet owners. They
strive to Prevent pet disease and proper
care by facilitating heart worm and fl ea
attacks by Educating owners, children, and
communities.
Brandy Winkleman founded the
organization in 2017 but has a background of
serving. In 2014, her friend, Tara DeAguilera,
invited her to work a shelter adoption event.
It was a successful adoption event and they
got 50 animals adopted out that day. From
that point Brandy was hooked, volunteering
to do whatever she could to help out. She
noticed dogs that weren’t ever getting out and
the carts of cats and kittens being rolled to
the euthanasia room so she started working
hard with rescue groups, to get those animals
out. There were many faces that couldn’t be
touched, loved, or given treats before their fi nal
day. She tried getting as many out to rescue
as possible but it was never enough. Brandy
knew the goal was to never let them end up
there in the fi rst place and the way to do this
was by lessening the numbers available. With
a smaller population of animals, then there
would be more space for those that accidentally
ended up at shelters for an overnight stay,
funds for the medically needy, and more time
for the small staff to do the “happy work” of
walking and petting animals. Brandy thought,
“Let’s fi x them,” and honed in on why more
people weren’t altering their animals, putting
collars on them, or microchipping. Cost was
the primary answer and decided that a low cost
clinic was needed for the citizens of Santa Rosa
County. Funds were needed so she pulled in
a few people that she knew could help on this
grand mission and formed the team that has
turned into A HOPE for Santa Rosa County.
story by
Greg Alexander
|
photos provided by
K&L Photography
May 2018 | 33
33-34 GiveCareShare - A HOPE 4 SRC.indd 1
4/26/18 8:14 AM