The first time I talked to Dave Hollingshead, the street supervisor and defacto dogcatcher for Hayti, Missouri, I learned two things—
1)You pronounce Hayti, not like the Caribbean country, but Hay-tie, as in a bale of hay and a tie that goes with your shirt.
2) the dogs of Hayti are incredibly lucky to have Dave on their side.
Hayti is the county in Read more
It was late afternoon on a Thursday when we reached Gibson County dog pound and the kennels were filled with dogs. The pound is tucked into a corner of the fairgrounds and you really have to be looking for it to find it.
Mike, the ACO for the dog pound, explained that the pound was completely full.
“What happens if you get another dog in?” I asked, knowing that more dogs turn up on the weekends.
He shook his head. “I’ll have to make a decision.”
I asked how he decided which dogs to kill. Read more
In 2017, the Dyersburg-Dyer County Humane Society was killing as many as 90% of the animals it took in.
When I heard those numbers and that date, I had to ask Diana, the president of Paws To Care, to tell me again. That was only a few years ago—the year my daughter graduated from high school.
Today, Read more
After our day with All 4s in Memphis, we were dirty and tired but we still had one more stop—Horn Lake Animal Shelter.
We were headed there because of a woman named Julia who had contacted me shortly before we left on this trip asking if we had time to squeeze in a visit to Horn Lake. We didn’t, but Julia was compelling, so at 4:30pm on Wednesday, we found them just past the dump, sharing space with Read more
“I wouldn’t do that to myself, so why would I do that to him? ‘Caint take his manhood.”
“She was born to do it; I just want one litter.”
If the team at All 4s Rescue League had a dollar for every time they heard those excuses, and the many others for why someone didn’t want to spay or neuter their dog, they wouldn’t need to do any fundraising.
On Wednesday, Nancy and I spent a day on the streets of Memphis with Read more
Okay, the first thing I need you to do before you read this post is park your anger somewhere. You’ll need to set it aside and listen with an open mind and heart. And remember that anger won’t solve this problem. Hate won’t help you either.
When we finally exited off the beautiful Natchez Trace Parkway and followed the interstate towards Jackson, I was already bracing myself. As we drove past the municipal facilities and a steel factory and finally pulled into the driveway of MARL (Mississippi Animal Rescue League), I had convinced myself I needed to go in with an open mind, leave my judgment at the door and Read more
Only an hour from Corinth where they are struggling to raise money for the shelter by sitting outside the supermarket collecting donations is a beautiful, brand-new 2 million dollar shelter teeming with staff and resources.
Tupelo-Lee Humane Society is blessed with Read more
