OCALA, FL (352today.com) – For the past two years, Marion County has provided grant funds to three local organizations, the Humane Society of Marion County Florida, Inc., Sheltering Hands, Inc., and the Voices of Change Animal League, who’ve provided critical and essential services, including spay/neuter programs, microchipping and vaccinations. An update on the grants was provided at the Marion County Board of County Commissioners meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025.
“Our vets at the [Marion County Animal] shelter have performed 7,944 Spay and neuters in the last fiscal year, said Angel Roussel, Marion County assistant county administrator. “So, in addition to the numbers you’re going to hear, when you combine all these totals, it’s over 9,200 spay and neuter surgeries that we have done. On the public side, it was 3,500.”
A history of helping
The grant received by the Humane Society of Marion County, a nonprofit, has played a significant role, said Eddie Leedy, Humane Society of Marion County executive director.
“I would like to go back and give a little history of how this grant got started,” said Leedy. “There were some meetings that took place back in 2023. Commissioner Bryant, Commissioner Stone and Angel [Roussel] met with some of our local rescues, which were OHAR, Quality of Life, Sheltering Hands, VOCAL, Florida CHAIN and Melissa Bell’s Rescue. The purpose of that meeting was to discuss the overpopulation of our shelters, our own county shelter and those of us who run adoption centers.”…