Estill County Animal Shelter in Ravenna, Kentucky, is not fancy. In fact, the dogs bunk three and four to a kennel and stretch their legs by running around inside the small metal building while their kennels are being cleaned. But they are all safe. Even if they may be a bit cramped (for now…), they want for nothing in terms of food, vaccines, dewormers, toys, and certainly canine companionship.

Every year, countless dogs enter shelters, often for reasons that could have been resolved with the right support. There may be options that allow you to keep your dog, or at least ensure a better outcome for them.

Alyssa has been the Animal Control Officer at Union City Department of Animal Control in northwest Tennessee for nearly six years. Much of that time, it was a solo show. Shelter work is hard, physically and emotionally. Hanging on to any help has proved challenging.

Enrichment ideas for dogs

A teacher in a classroom

WWLDO is getting ready to launch our newest Grant program available to our partner shelters! 

This program focuses on teaching responsible pet ownership to children utlizing a presentation created by Robin Lapre, as part of her work with one of our longtime partners, CASA Transport. Listen to Robin’s story of how and why the program came to be. Read to the end to find out how our shelter partners can take advantage of this new grant.

Leslie has been the director of Dekalb County-AL Animal Adoption Center in Alabama for seventeen years. She grew up here, and despite her ever-present smile, this is a hard place for someone with a heart for animals.

The municipally funded rural shelter handles over 3,000 animals annually. About 50% of those animals make it out through local rescue organizations, but some through local adoptions.

CARES Clarksdale Animal Rescue Effort and Shelter is aptly named, as it is a shelter that truly cares. When asked what they are doing that is driving their success, tabi and Anita talked about three things. First, transparency about their debt, their intakes, and their problems. “They see what we see,” Gabi told us. The shelter belongs to the community, and they trust that community with the truth about the situation. The second thing they are always be kind and receptive. “People need to be heard. They need to know someone cares.” The staff responds to every request for help, every inquiry, every call. And the third thing is harnessing the power of social media. Anita posts on all the platforms with stories, requests, information, pictures, and videos. This enables them to find help not just in Clarksdale, but beyond.

In Clark County, Arkansas, they have a lot of dogs, but they also have a lot of good people who care. The sheriff and his deputies keep dog food in their cars so they can feed the strays. The Humane Society of Clark County in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, is a nonprofit shelter that has been in their current downtown location since 2005.  The worn-out building has flooded twice. They are currently full with more than 80 dogs in a space that could more comfortably house 30. HSCC is committed to not euthanizing for anything except extreme medical situations, but that creates a catch-22. They can’t bring dogs in because they are overfull, but leaving them to roam will only lead to the dogs multiplying, thus compounding the problem. It’s a familiar scenario all over the south.

Teresa began at the shelter, its live-release rate was only 25%. Euthanizing animals was part of her job, but it broke her heart. When the Humane Officer position opened, she jumped at the chance to change the narrative. Committing not to euthanize for space means the shelter often houses dogs for months or even years. It’s a challenging situation that is all too familiar in too many places. Turning away dogs at municipal shelters seems inconsistent with the mission of animal services, yet many shelters still do so.

a vet holding a dog at a spay neuter clinic

We just finished our latest shelter tour which took us to 12 shelters in three states. Some were struggling, but many were succeeding. Here are seven ways shelters and communities are finding success despite the growing challenges in animal services.

a dog running through grass with a ball

Of the shelters we visited, North Shore Animal League America – ‘the world’s largest and longest running no-kill animal rescue and adoption organization,” was clearly a powerful player in helping southern shelters solve their animal crisis. Since their beginning its Humane Relocation Program in 1991, they have saved over 150,000 dogs, cats, puppies, and kittens.