You made all this possible. We hope you’ll take a moment to view our annual report and see what you helped us achieve. Thank You!
For questions, please contact victoria.cowper@spayneuternet.org
Letter from Our Founder
Dear Friends,
When 2020 began, few could have predicted the challenges we would all face trying to maintain life and business as usual during a pandemic.
Like every other business, we temporarily closed our doors in April. This distressed us. Every day lost sterilizing pets meant more births and more homeless dogs and cats that would need homes. In the midst of these challenges, however, we recognized there were opportunities as well to help pets and their people during this worldwide crisis.
Hospitals in short supply of the Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) needed to keep their doctors and nurses safe. Our board of directors agreed unanimously to close our clinics and donate all of our PPE to local hospitals to help those on the frontlines.
When people in the community suddenly faced massive job losses and financial uncertainties, we launched a new Pet Support and Resource Center months ahead of schedule to provide phone support, services and other resources, so pet owners didn’t have to lose their pets too.
To keep our staff and clients safe, we needed new protocols to re-open our doors. This meant implementing all Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines and new operational procedures for how we interacted with the public at the clinic. We re-opened on May 4 with these changes in place. Initially, this meant doing fewer surgeries each day because we spent more time on the logistics of keeping everyone safe. But we quickly adapted to the new normal and found ourselves reaching our surgery goals again by mid-summer.
We halted our door-to-door outreach program and opted to spend more time at food banks where people in need of these essential services were showing up in record numbers.
With more people at home and perhaps bonding more with their pets than ever before, we saw a huge surge in the number of people calling us to get their pets fixed and vaccinated. In fact, we did more surgeries in May and June than any other months in our organization’s history.
Following my own journey, from the founding of Spay Neuter Network in 2004 to my retirement at the end of this year, I can honestly say that 2020 will forever remain the year I most remember.
I will be forever grateful to the foundations who provided emergency support and who understood the value of helping animals as well during a crisis. I’m grateful for a board of directors who kept our staff employed when our doors were closed. And, I’m grateful for a committed staff who, when we re-opened, masked up, showed up, and demonstrated how resilient we all can be when we have a mission to fulfill and the strength of community behind us.
Throughout this year, we have come to realize how vital our services are to the community. Within the pages of this Donor Impact Report, you’ll find all the ways your support helped Spay Neuter Network meet these challenges in 2020 with inspired new ways to help people and their pets.
On behalf of our Board of Directors, thank you so much for supporting Spay Neuter Network during this difficult year. We know times were tough for you too and can’t thank you enough for finding ways to still support our mission.
As I retire, I just want to say it’s been a great privilege to lead Spay Neuter Network to this point in time. I know it will be in good hands and continue to be a force for good for dogs and cats for many years to come.
Bonnie Hill
Founder and Executive Director
December 31, 2020
