Voices of Change Animal League (VOCAL)
Our Mission
VOCAL is not your typical animal welfare organization. Made up of our board, staff, and volunteers, VOCAL was founded by passionate animal advocates who wanted to bring an end to the homeless pet problem in our community. This means working with the community and other organizations to help Marion County, FL become a No-Kill county. From the beginning, our goals and mission have been based solely on the needs of the Marion County area. We looked directly at the statistics at our county shelter when formulating our business plan. We believe the problems must be solved first at home.
The needs in Marion County can only be met through prevention. With the enormous numbers of animals being born into homelessness, the problem is just too large to simply adopt our way out. We knew when outlining our goals, that low-cost spay and neuter services must be available to every citizen in our county in order to cut down on the number of unwanted animals being born in our community.
As we have been fundraising to build our clinic, our organization has grown with passionate volunteers and foster parents. Our original intention was not to rescue animals until our clinic was built, but our dedicated foster parents saw an immediate need and wanted to help. We do not currently have a shelter to house the homeless pets, so we rely solely on an amazing group of people who open their homes to animals in need. All of the pets that are available through our foster and adoption programs come from Marion County Animal Services or Marion County citizens. We are often the last call for these animals, and pride ourselves on taking in dogs and cats that are often overlooked or considered “less adoptable.”
All in all, VOCAL’s fundamentals are community-led, positive, and purposeful. We are different because we are focused on solving problems and coming up with solutions rather than continuing and accepting the current circumstances of homeless pets in Marion County. We started our mission with a goal to make our entire county a no-kill county. Although we have not reached this yet, we know it is entirely possible to achieve our goal not only in Marion County but, down the road, in communities beyond our county line. All things are possible with cooperation from the community, from other animal welfare organizations, and of course, with the passion, teamwork, and creativity we value and strive for here at VOCAL every day.
Please join us on our mission, and make a difference for the homeless pets in our community today.
Adoption Policy
To learn all about our adoption process please visit the following link: https://www.vocalforpets.org/how-to-adopt-a-pet/
We require an adoption fee for both dogs and cats, an application, and a home visit. We end the process with our adoption contract.
If you are interested in applying for one of our animals, please visit our website www.vocalforpets.org. Our dog and cat applications can be found under the "Paperwork" heading or on the "Adopt" page.
We accept multiple applications on all of our animals; we believe in finding the best fit home. We don't place animals on a first come, first serve basis. Once we receive your application, we will reach out to you to review your application IF we feel you could potentially provide the best fit home for the animal.
