Santa Barbara Humane

Organizations don’t last 137 years if they’re not capable of changing with the times. 

For Santa Barbara Humane, the local nonprofit that – despite the mistaken notion that they’re part of a big network – is not affiliated with any national groups, the mission that guides them is that of championing both animals and the people who love them; leading to a vision of creating a healthy and happy community for all animals. 

Rolling with the era is what they’re all about. 

“Our philosophy as an organization always circles back to ‘How do we get to yes,’” explained CEO Kerri Burns. “We want to help as many animals as we can, and we find we are most successful doing that when we address what people and their pets need the most. We’ve been part of the community for a long time, and our goal is to continue to grow with the evolving needs of the times for animals and their owners.”

Those needs nowadays include not only the basics of finding loving homes for cats and dogs but also offering behavioral dog training classes for both the animals and their families, providing pet food and supplies for those who need assistance, and offering accessible medical care for all pets. 

“More than ever, we are not just a shelter in this post-pandemic era,” she said. “We play a unique role as a social service agency for pets without people and people with pets, serving a crucial need in our community.”

Access to veterinary care is a huge problem because it’s so expensive, Burns said. But Santa Barbara Humane stands ready to help at every turn. 

“Our unique position as a humane organization with veterinary clinics in both Santa Barbara and Santa Maria allows us to serve in a special way,” she said. “We have strong partnerships with our local rescues and private veterinarians, meaning we get a lot of referrals. Last year that enabled us to assist nearly 29,000 animals with our low-cost and free veterinary care.” 

But what people may not know is the organization’s clinics also serve as a teaching hospital for vet students hailing from veterinary colleges all across the United States. With eight full-time veterinarians on staff and a large support group, Santa Barbara Humane’s clinics are open seven days a week. 

Still, the needs that grew exponentially during the pandemic have not slackened. Demand for services has only increased even as life returned to normal, Burns said.

The statistics show that Santa Barbara Humane facilitated 2,127 adoptions in 2023, a 28% increase year-over-year, while the total number of veterinary procedures spiked 78% to 28,656. Financial assistance rose almost as aggressively, as the nonprofit provided financial assistance through its TLC Fund totaling $515,000, representing a 71% increase, while more than 1,000 animals benefited from dog training. 

Pretty impressive numbers, but Santa Barbara Humane knows that additional increases are coming, not least due to the continually-evolving relationship between the domesticated pets and their human families. 

“Humane organizations used to be the dog pound, where you’d go to drop off a dog or cat, or find your own stray there,” Burns said. “But we’re so much more now. When we started in 1887, dogs were out in the fields and cats didn’t even exist in our lives as we know them today. Dogs finally started coming up into our yards and then they came onto our porch, then both dogs and cats came into our homes and now they’re in our beds. Now through research we know that animals do so much for us, helping us with our emotional and mental health, being used in search and rescue, and as guide and therapy animals. They have so much to offer humans all across the board. So we need to continue to evolve with what we do for the animals and their people. We need to be modeling what humane organizations can be for their communities in
today’s world.”

These days, Santa Barbara Humane’s pillars of service include adoption services and affordable veterinary care, but also education. This includes everything from dog training to outreach in the schools, senior living facilities, and at events around town. As it happens, this includes the Halloween Boo Bash Fall Family Fun Fest at Pershing Park’s Band Shell on October 26, and Plaza Palooza, the festival celebrating the opening of the Michael Towbes Library Plaza on November 3. 

But in order to “get to yes” for as many pets and their people as often as possible, Santa Barbara Humane has a few of its own needs, the largest of which is the continued generosity of the Santa Barbara philanthropic community in supporting the organization. That includes not only ongoing support for its programs, but also a capital campaign to build a new campus for Santa Barbara, to upgrade the facility that dates back to the 1960s – to move more fully into modern animal welfare capable of the compassion and care our community has for our pets. 

“As we continue to grow, there is an increasing need for our programs and services, and your involvement is crucial to our success and the well-being of the animals and people we serve,” Burns said. “Pets will always be a part of our lives. So we need to make sure that we are here for another 100 years for the community.”