Gulf Coast Humane Society is dedicated to being a safe haven for pets in need by providing medical care, promoting adoptions, and nurturing the bond between pets and people in Southwest Florida.
Our shelter does not receive any federal, state, or county funding and no funding from the Humane Society of the United States or ASPCA. We rely solely on donations, grants, bequests, and fundraising events to further our mission as stated above.
We are the most tenured 501(c)3 nonprofit, no-kill, animal welfare organization established in 1947 in Southwest Florida.
Tammy Rhoades is originally from New Jersey, but moved to Florida from Pennsylvania 10 years ago. Tammy recently adopted Belle from GCHS, and she has had dogs and cats her entire life (adopted or rescued), most recently two retired racing greyhounds. Her work experience includes working in the accounting field her entire career. She has worked in Non-profit accounting for the last 10 years at The Salvation Army and Area Agency on Aging prior to GCHS. Working at GCHS is a perfect fit, combining her love of animals, working for a non-profit and her accounting experience…all of which benefits the shelter animals!
Gulf Coast Humane Society’s Operations Manager, Kristin Sampson, is originally from Kansas City, Missouri, where she started working with animals at a young age through her family’s grooming and boarding business. She quickly realized she wanted to make a career out of helping animals, so she started fostering with a rescue before accepting a position at her local Humane Society. Since then, she has worked at several shelters, in a variety of roles, throughout Missouri and Kansas. She moved to Florida in 2015 to work at the Humane Society Naples, first as the Volunteer and Foster Manager, then moving into the role of Shelter Manager. In her 20 years of animal welfare work, Kristin has also helped on a national level with large-scale disasters, hoarding, puppy mills, and implementing no-kill strategies in underserved shelters. In her free time, she enjoys yoga, hiking, gardening, and spending time with her three cats: Jack, Little Bit, and Teddy, along with her two dogs Maggie and Juju. Kristin has been the GCHS Shelter Manager since August, 2022.
After a successful career in real estate, Gloria decided to use her college degree in animal science and switch fields to animal welfare. She went to work at Lee County Domestic Animal Services and became a state certified Animal Control Officer and worked in the neighborhoods throughout Lee County. She was then promoted to kennel supervisor and worked with various fosters and rescue groups to increase adoptions of the many homeless pets. After several years she was recruited to join the Gulf Coast Humane Society as Clinic Manager to help expand and grow the affordable clinic which is open to the public. Recently GCHS was donated a former medical office building and the clinic operations moved to the off-site location and is now able to accommodate more clients and their pets.She resides in Cape Coral with her three rescue dogs-Kelsey Lee, Parker Jack (her foster failure), and the newly adopted Paxton Blue. She wishes everyone would…Adopt, Not Shop when looking to add a pet to the family.