The Milwaukee-based Wisconsin Humane Society will acquire Green Bay-based Bay Area Humane Society and Sturgeon Bay-based Door County Humane Society, the organizations announced today.
The boards of all three organizations voted unanimously in November to approve the acquisition, pending conditions of closing, which include satisfactory environmental assessments of the land, title reports on the real estate, satisfactory agreements with municipalities and membership approval at DCHS. WHS plans to close the transactions as early as the end of the year.
There are no plans to merge locations, lay off employees or issue pay cuts, the organizations said
WHS, which operates shelters in Milwaukee, Ozaukee and Racine Counties, was approached separately by the leadership of both humane societies about succession plans for their organizations, seeking a plan to “reliably sustain their operations into the future,” according to a joint news release.
“Nonprofit animal shelters operate with limited resources, and it is even more difficult because every organization is separate and has to separately fund overhead costs,” said John Matter, board chairman of WHS. “The consolidation of our experience and resources not only strengthens all of us, but is a better return on investment for the community that supports this critical work for animals.”
The George Kress Family Foundation is helping to support the acquisition and WHS is seeking additional donations to help with transition costs, which are estimated to be about $175,000.
In Green Bay, Olivia Webster, who has been with the organization for 10 years, will serve as shelter operations manager. In Door County, Carol Boudreau, currently executive director at DCHS, will continue to manage the Door County location.
“We have so much to look forward to – a partner that can offer everything from best practices in shelter medicine to health insurance and benefits for our staff, to innovative approaches to adoption,” Boudreau said.
WHS also plans to add positions related to the organization’s foster/transfer work, human resources, volunteer, fundraising, animal care and client service teams, the release said.
“This is truly the best thing that could have happened for the Bay Area Humane Society,” said Marlene Walsh, executive director of BAHS. “I’m retiring at the end of the year, and I’m thrilled that our succession plan is the Wisconsin Humane Society. In the end, the animals win. The resources that they can bring to the region will strengthen our ability to serve animals in need.”
WHS previously acquired the Ozaukee Humane Society in 2004 and the Racine-based Countryside Humane Society in 2013.
