Nate's Honor Animal Rescue receives $125,000 grant from Bishop-Parker

Sharon Pindar, the medical director and on-site veterinarian at Nate’s Honor Animal Rescue Center, knew from a young age that she wanted to help animals.

At 4 years old, she worked to rehabilitate and release injured birds. After being hired in January, she now works as the full-time vet at Nate’s Honor Animal Rescue in Lakewood Ranch, doing surgeries on shelter dogs and cats. 

After arriving on the Lakewood Ranch campus, Pindar recalled hearing Nate's Development Director Rob Oglesby talking to an animal that had just arrived at the shelter. 

“He said, ‘You're okay now, you're safe,'” Pindar said. “‘You're at Nate's.’

"That's the feeling here," Pindar said. "They're safe when they're here.” 

After five years of construction, Nate’s Honor Animal Rescue is nearing the end of its $16 million Journey Home capital campaign. One of the final items is an access care clinic to provide veterinary services to both the shelter animals and the public's pets. 

Some appointments will be reserved for those who need help paying a vet bill.

“People will be able to walk in and plead a case but anybody on public assistance will be able to come in and get help without coming from a referral,” said Dari Oglesby, the executive director of Nate’s Honor Animal Rescue. 

Nate's care clinic will get a boost from a $125,000 grant from The Bishop-Parker Foundation that will help with staffing.

Photo by Madison Bierl

Wendy Deming, the CEO of the Bishop-Parker Foundation, said Nate’s application was compelling due to its desire to build its staff in order to minimize the amount of animals that end up in the shelter because people can't afford to care for them.

Pindar currently has the resources to perform surgeries once a week, but Nate's goal is to be able to do surgeries every day. 

“We are excited to support them in this terrific way to help them build the capacity of their team,” Deming said. 

Dari Oglesby said wages are more than 50% of the cost to run a veterinarian clinic so the grant came at a great time.

“A lot of people want to give you the equipment, but the equipment's no good unless you have the staff to use it,” Dari Oglesby said. 

In order to keep animals with their families, one of Nate's goals is to offer care at a lower price than a specialty clinic.

“If it's something that's fixable, we want to help them fix it,” Dari Oglesby said. 

“They can keep their pet and it doesn't have to come to the shelter (to live), and it's just like a happy ending for everyone,” Pindar said. “That's my vision.”

Dari Oglesby said Nate's also tries to help struggling pet owners with food and behavioral care. 

Photo by Madison Bierl

The surgeries performed at the clinic will depend on the skillset of the staff that is hired. 

Part of the overall expansion includes two pregnancy suites for dogs. 

Pindar recalled a special case of a dog from Georgia that had been shot and was transferred to Nate's. She had her leg amputated due to the shooting. When she arrived at Nate's, the staff discovered she was pregnant.

Obviously, the staff becomes emotionally involved with the animals. Pindar had left on vacation and was worried she would miss the birth. 

“She literally waited until the day I got back at noon,” Pindar said. “She had the first one, yeah, and she had 11 puppies.” 

Pindar said the grant money also will allow for new staff training. 

“Once we open, we can all hit the ground running,” Pindar said. “That grant has allowed us to do that and it’s been valuable.” 

Nate's currently has 11 staff members and 1,000 volunteers in its database.

Dari Oglesby said before construction Nate's was adopting out 2,100 animals per year. With construction the number is approximately 1,500. When the construction is done and the clinic is in full working condition, Oglesby hopes to get 3,000 to 4,000 animals adopted into new homes per year. They hope to have the veterinary clinic running by late January. 

“The Bishop-Parker Foundation is a gift to our community as a whole, because we're not the only ones that it gives to,” Dari Oglesby said.

Correction: This story has been updated to correct the title of Rob Oglesby.