Little Shelter That Could in Robertson County, KY

Robertson County KY Animal Shelter is a tiny municipal shelter located in the tiny rural town of Mt Olivet, Kentucky. We visited the shelter in the fall of 2024. It’s a special place where dogs are saved by remarkable people who don’t let lack of budget or lack of space stop them.

Aletha, the director, has worked at the shelter for five years. She was a volunteer at the shelter for a year before that, and when the ACO resigned, she applied immediately. She really wanted the job (but no one else applied).

Her broad smile gives away her commitment and passion for her work and the dogs in her care. Aletha is paid for just two and a half hours a day, five days a week (at Kentucky minimum wage, which is just under eight dollars an hour). But she’s at the shelter every day, seven days a week, volunteering her time far beyond what she is paid for. If she wants to do something else with her time, say go out on the weekend, she finds a volunteer to take care of the dogs at the shelter.

Luckily, she and Robertson County are blessed to have good volunteers. We met two of their best: Karen, who volunteers as the rescue coordinator, and Mia, who works with the dogs, helping to prepare them for adoption (or sent out via rescue). Karen and Mia volunteer at the shelter every day. Aletha and her volunteers give hours and hours of their time and, obviously, their hearts caring for the animals and ensuring their good outcomes.

The shelter’s annual budget for medical is $500 (yes, I didn’t forget a zero, and yes, that’s not for a month, but for the year), and the budget for food is the same. That means there is no money for spay and neuter, vaccines, deworming, etc., let alone toys, treats, beds, collars, or anything else.

Karen generally pays for the vaccines, dewormings, and flea/tick treatments.

In order to get dogs spayed/neutered, RCAS must raise funds or depend on the receiving rescue to take care of it. There are no veterinarians in the county. And while the closest vet practices (thirty minutes away) are not ‘low-cost’ options, they are the only ones.

The shelter has only six kennels and handles about 120-150 dogs a year. For the first five years of her work, there was no county animal control vehicle, so Aletha drove her own car to pick up strays and take dogs to vet appointments. Karen drove her own car to transport to rescues.

In the five years that Aletha has been the Animal Control officer, she has only had to have one dog euthanized. She and Karen hustle to find placements for the dogs and occasionally have a local adoption, too.

The shelter dogs are mainly strays, but if there is room Aletha will take owner surrenders. They maintain a ‘blessing box’ (a nonfunctioning mini-fridge) just outside the shelter door where pet owners in need can access dog food.

It’s clear this community wants to support their shelter. There are a handful of solid volunteers, including Aletha’s cousin J.T., who linked them up with Hollywood Feeds in Lexington, who donate food, treats, and other supplies.

The Judge Executive, Valerie Miley (recently elected), her secretary, Janet Blevins, and other supporters/volunteers were on hand for our visit and to support Aletha. There is a great energy here, and Judge Miley talked about her desire to work on ordinances to support the shelter.

Hopefully, that support will translate to Aletha being paid for the hours she works. It would also be great if the county would fix or install a working toilet! (Luckily, Aletha lives just a few minutes from the shelter.)

We met some beautiful dogs at the shelter, including a gorgeous, sweet Husky named Kai, a happy, fun lab mix named Eli, and four coonhound puppies who were found living in a hollowed-out tree. Mia worked with the tree pups, helping them not just gain weight, but slowly gain confidence with people.

The inside of the shelter is painted in bright colors, the kennels have toys and beds, and there is a TV set up showing Hotel for Dogs nonstop. While they don’t have a large outdoor play yard (yet), the dogs were calm and happy. The average length of stay varies, but the county doesn’t want them to hold dogs beyond six months. Thankfully, they move the dogs pretty quickly through. With just six kennels, that’s a necessity.

I asked the team what it would take to change the story in this county (and all over) of too many unwanted dogs and shelters dependent on rescues. They spoke about the need for educating people, particularly kids, about spay/neuter and humane care.

Not long after our visit, the judge-executive asked the county road crew to find a nice, reliable vehicle for Aletha to use. They found one, tuned it up, and presented it to her at the shelter for Christmas! (Naming a specific need to the right people can be powerful!)

I’m excited for this shelter and this county. I believe they have the leadership in place to create a shelter that serves as a valuable community resource and a shelter in the truest sense of the word.

Meanwhile, they are incredibly blessed to have a team of remarkable people shepherding their dogs to safety. It’s people—not buildings or budgets—who determine the quality of care and the fates of so many dogs in the little rural counties throughout the South (and likely the country).

More than anything, we need to find ways to support them and create a shelter system that doesn’t take advantage of their huge hearts or enable municipalities to shirk their responsibilities to the animals dependent on them.

If you’d like to help this wonderful, deserving team, consider shopping their Amazon wishlist: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/28FQ6H6B5V79U

I checked in with Aletha, and right now, they are most in need of canned food, treats, collars, toys, flea/tick meds, and preventatives.

You might also consider making a donation to the nonprofit Purple Paws, which Aletha started to support the shelter and help pay for veterinary care and supplies they cannot afford with a budget of just $1000/year. Here is that link: https://www.paypal.me/PurplePaws22

Until each one has a home,

Cara

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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.

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