Helping Great Pets Find Great People vBy Julie Eickhoff A community and service-minded person, Kerry Hacecky has always been passionate about helping others. The Yankton native spent some time outside the community working with another non-profit group, the Boy Scouts of America and returned to her hometown in 2011 to take on the Director position at Heartland Humane Society (HHS). Explaining that there are many differences between the nonprofit and corporate worlds, she’s discovered that she enjoys the nonprofit specialty best. Born a farm girl, Hacecky has always been acquainted with animals. She and her boyfriend Brian Feilmeier have recently moved back into the country where they oversee an adopted 10-year old Boxer and eight spoiled barn cats. They also raise miniature cattle and she is anxiously awaiting pet ducks next spring. Brian and his two boys, ages 11 and 13, are just as passionate about the animals as she is. Hacecky loves her job at Heartland, stating, “When your job’s your family, it’s really nice, and I’ve been blessed to have that here too.” Her primary focus at HHS is on Development and Leadership, helping to keep the staff organized and serving the community’s needs best. She plays an important role in all areas of the facility and a primary role in marketing and fundraising for HHS. She credits the organization’s success to everyone involved. “This is a team work thing,” she smiles. “We’ve got about 100 volunteers that, without them, we couldn’t run the ship.” Background and Achievements HHS has seen several changes over the years. In 2001, then Yankton Area Humane Society, they were volunteer based. In 2006 the business re-organized to non-profit and in 2008 they hired their first paid employee. That same year, the group evaluated the increasing needs of the area, noting only two animal shelters in South Dakota at that time. The business has continued to grow steadily, as have the number of shelters available in the area. Approximately 570 animals have used HHS’s services this year, almost double the number of pets tracked two years ago. These numbers fall within the range of animals the facility can handle, between 550-650 animals per year, on average housing 45-60 animals per day. Hacecky explains how the organization took on a crucial role recently in sparing the lives of many animals, signing a waiver to become one of 2,500 communities across the nation that are no-kill shelters. “This is pretty impressive. That’s a big win for a little town,” she states satisfactorily. Becoming a no-kill, or limited emissions shelter means that they will not get rid of an animal because of its age or if it’s been at the shelter too long. If HHS agrees to take an animal in, they know they can serve the animal. If the animal is beyond their assistance, they will help find someone who can help care for or take the animal in. Another big achievement for the organization was partnering with the “Best Friends Network” in 2014. The Best Friends Network runs the nation’s largest no-kill sanctuary. This network based out of Kanab, Utah, takes in rejected shelter animals from all over the US. The network’s task of reducing the number of kill shelters includes visiting shelters around the nation with the highest emission rates and taking in their extra animals to find them a home. To do this, they need a nationwide network of shelters to help house these additional animals. As a partner with the network, HHS works with a coalition of 14 shelters in the tri-state area to help house the animals. This group works together to take on a large shipment of animals and divide them out between the 14 shelters. Also housed at HHS are stray animals that have lost their way and owner-surrendered animals. When most people think of an ownersurrendered animal, they often have the perception that the animal was surrendered because of its behavior or it has been mistreated or abused. Though there are a few of those cases, most of the ownersurrendered pets are due to a change in family dynamics. Often circumstances such as health or work changes happen in a family that are beyond their control, making them unable to care for the pet as desired. The surrendered animals often include well-mannered and trained dogs, including purebred breeds. Hacecky took me on a tour of their facility east of Yankton and I was amazed at their size and organization. The facility has 18 dog kennels which on average houses