Bringing Hope to the Shelters

The following post was written in 2019, right before Nancy and I formalized our work as Who Will Let the Dogs Out that December. It’s been five years, but the sentiment is still the same:

What We’re Bringing is Hope (originally published October 2019)

We are packing up and getting ready. In the morning, I’ll pick up our rented SUV and then race home and see just how much I can cram into it before Nancy and I hit the road at 10:30 for our eight-hour drive to Bristol, Virginia, where we will stop for the night.

Our schedule is packed. We will visit thirteen shelters and rescues and meet with a national Humane Society Rep and a group of volunteers and advocates for animal rescue in Tennessee.

In between those activities, I will write, and Nancy will edit photos, but mostly, we will drive. We’ll cover over 2600 miles, sleep in cheap hotels, eat on the run, and gather as many stories and images as we can in the hopes that those stories and images help bring change. Our hope is that they inspire people to get involved, to ask questions, to find answers.

When you live in an area where dogs don’t routinely die at shelters, sometimes it’s hard to imagine that there are places in this country where they do. When almost every dog you know is a member of a family, has been spayed or neutered, gets first-rate veterinary care, and has plenty of food and toys and treats and exercise, it’s hard to comprehend that there are places where dogs receive none of that.

One of the most important things we will do on this trip is bring hope. Every time I’ve ventured south, I’ve met remarkable people giving everything they have to care for dogs and to save their lives. I’m blown away by the things they do, the sacrifices they make—they seem almost superhuman to me. And I know it must take its toll.

So if we can encourage them in any way—through honoring what they do in our writing and pictures, with donations we hand deliver, and the ones that come after we leave as a result of our sharing their stories, we will consider it a privilege to do it.

We will thank them for their heartbreaking work, for making the unthinkable decisions, and for loving the animals so many have forgotten.

As we travel, we will post quick updates to Facebook and Instagram and the real stories here on the blog. Because we have such a busy schedule, many of the stories won’t appear until after we return, and there is time to write and process and share them with you. But stay tuned because they will come.

I hope you will follow along and help us spread the word. More than the donations and hope and thank yous, this trip is about raising awareness. Because awareness is the first step towards change.

Animals (and people) in our shelters are not suffering because people don’t care; it’s happening because people don’t know.

Help us tell them.

#TogetherWeRescue #WeCanLetTheDogsOut

[End 2019 post]

We leave tomorrow for a 13-day tour of 13 shelters (plus one vet clinic and 2 book events). This is the longest trip we’ve taken in well over a year. The need is just so vast, and we could have easily crammed in another ½ dozen visits, but we have learned that we need to pace ourselves and allow time to learn/share/process each situation.

I’m excited, but maybe already a little bit tired. Still, it feels good to be getting out to the shelters again, to be doing our part to help.

Please follow along. If you know people in the areas where we will be visiting, be sure to tag them in our posts. The hardest part of all of this is getting the story into the right ears and onto the right hearts.

We will post Live videos, pictures, and stories on our Facebook and Instagram and hopefully a few on TikTok this time. Please follow, comment, and share – we need the power of your attention to let the dogs out.

If you’d like to help put supplies (and hope) into the hands of the shelters we visit, please consider donating to our Shelter Tour Fund (remember to change the ‘tip’ amount to zero, that money goes to the platform not us).

Who Will Let the Dogs Out 2025 Winter Tour

2/24 Danville Area Humane Society, Danville, VA

2/25 Maury County Animal Shelter, Columbia, TN

2/26 CASA Transport Clinic, Columbia, TN

Huntingdon Dog Pound, Huntingdon, TN

2/27 Memphis Animal Services, Memphis, TN

2/28 All 4’s Rescue League, Memphis, TN

3/1 PAWS of Benton County, Camden TN

Benton County Animal Shelter, Camden TN

3/2 Murray County Animal Shelter, Chatsworth, GA

3/3 Habersham County Animal Services, Clarkesville, GA

3/4 Berrien County Animal Shelter, Nashville, GA

3/5 Lanier County Animal Shelter, Lakeland, GA

3/6 South Georgia Equine Rescue, Waynesville, GA

3/7 Craven-Pamlico Animal Shelter, New Bern, NC

3/8 Travel home

If you’re in the Ashland, TN area, join us for our very first book event sponsored by a shelter we’ve visited twice, one that is leading the way in quality of care and community engagement – Cheatham County Animal Shelter. (Also check out their website – a great example of what a municipal animal control shelter website can and should be.)

Until each one has a home,

Cara

If you want to learn more, be sure to subscribe to our email list to get the latest stories and solutions delivered to your inbox. And help us spread the word by sharing this post with others. Visit our website to learn more.

You can also help raise awareness by following/commenting/sharing our content on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Tik Tok.

Who Will Let the Dogs Out: Stories and Solutions for Shelters and Rescues was published in January of 2025. It is filled with stories and ideas to help everyone be part of the solution. You can buy a hardback or paperback copy for yourself and/or buy a copy for a shelter or rescue through our website. It is also available on Amazon in paperback and ebook. We are looking for opportunities to share a presentation of the ideas in the book and facilitate conversations about how we can work together to find solutions for our shelters. If you have a dog-hearted group that would like to connect, contact Cara@wwldo.org.

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

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.