At Lincoln County Animal Shelter it’s a Family Affair

At Lincoln County Shelter in Stanford, Kentucky, it’s a family affair. In 2020, when the shelter needed to change its story (and find new management), Lanice and her daughter, Brittany, were hired. In 2022, her son Hunter joined their staff.

Lanice (pronounced la-neece) had been a long-time volunteer at the shelter, walking dogs, scooping poop, and working to find rescues whenever possible. Brittany, a vet tech, had also been volunteering her time and skills prior to being hired.

The family has created a much brighter story for the shelter and better outcomes for the dogs. Lanice’s rescue connections were the start, but Brittany has developed others, and 90% of the cats and dogs get out of Lincoln County through rescue.

Lanice is on the board for Kentucky Saving Them Together (KSTT), a rescue we visited and featured back in the fall of 2021. KSTT is an incredible foster-based organization that saves lives all over Kentucky. They are the shelter’s largest support, taking animals and often covering their vet expenses, but the shelter also partners with many other rescues, like Redemption Road, All Creatures Big and Small, Peace for Paws, and others.

To tackle the need for spay and neuter, Lanice, together with friends, started a low-cost spay-neuter clinic. They are lucky to have two local veterinary services—Stanford Vet and Casey County Vet—that offer rescue discounts for shelter animals.

Kentucky is unique in that the responsibility for the shelter ultimately falls on the Judge Executive. Lincoln County’s newly elected Judge Adams has been very supportive. He even stopped by the shelter to meet us. When I commented on how great it is for a shelter to have JE support, he immediately deflected and said it’s easy when you have a staff like theirs.

Lincoln County Shelter is an open-intake shelter, but they do require people make appointments to surrender animals. The shelter was full of beautiful dogs – a large Airedale mix, several beagles, point mixes, and smallish-size young dogs who looked highly adoptable. Amazingly, the shelter was not completely full (although I shouldn’t say that and jinx them). That’s a testimony to how hard the staff works to find placements and adopters.

The shelter handled about 800 animals last year, and this year, they have already had more than 700 come through their doors. They are blessed to have a few fosters but would love to have more volunteers to come to walk dogs and spend time with them.

This shelter is succeeding because of the hard work and hearts of this remarkable family. They handle nearly all of the shelter work (there is also a full-time ACO who handles the calls and sometimes helps with the cleaning).

The shelter may only be open to the public 10-2 weekdays and 10-12 on Saturdays, but Lanice said they don’t hesitate to meet potential adopters or transport for rescues pretty much anytime. They only live five minutes away (and all three live on the same road), so that makes it easier. Brittany’s three young kids help out, too. Who knows, maybe they will be the future staff, continuing the legacy for Lincoln County Animal Shelter.

Judge Adams was quick to credit the staff for the shelter’s success, but it wouldn’t happen without his leadership and support. We’ve been to enough shelters now in Kentucky (25 and counting) to know that Judge Executive support or lack of support will make or break a shelter.

This shelter has both leadership and veterinary access in place, what it needs now is more community engagement. If you live in or near Lincoln County, consider volunteering. I’m sure you’ll be welcomed like family.

Lincoln County Animal Shelter is not large and does not have unlimited resources. What it does have, it uses well. Its relatively small budget (for the number of animals it handles) covers the essentials, but extras like dewormers, toys, and treats come out of staff pockets or are donated.

If you’d like to support the work of Lanice, Brittany, and Hunter and help the animals of Lincoln County, consider shopping their Amazon Wishlist: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1Y4AEI5Q0OMTP

Until each one has a home,

Cara

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To see our Emmy-nominated, award-winning short documentary, Amber’s Halfway Home, click here.

Learn more about what is happening in our southern shelters and rescues in the book, One Hundred Dogs & Counting: One Woman, Ten Thousand Miles, and a Journey Into the Heart of Shelters and Rescues (Pegasus Books, 2020). It’s the story of a challenging foster dog who inspired me to travel south to find out where all the dogs were coming from. It tells the story of how Who Will Let the Dogs Out began. Find it anywhere books are sold.

For more information on any of our projects, to talk about rescue in your neck of the woods, or partner with us, please email cara@WWLDO.org.

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Coming in January 2025: Who Will Let the Dogs Out: Stories and Solutions for Shelters and Rescues! Stay tuned for more information on how you can get your copy AND buy a copy for a shelter or rescue.