Animal Services Are Essential Services
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Animal Services Are Essential Services

Avery County is the only county in North Carolina that has absolutely no animal services – no animal control officers, no shelter, and no private rescue shelter contracted to take animals. Here is what happens when a county has no animal services: Despite good anti-cruelty laws, with nowhere to place animals, police officers cannot enforce…

On the Road Again…to Shelters in NC, GA, AL, MS, TN, and KY
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On the Road Again…to Shelters in NC, GA, AL, MS, TN, and KY

I just can’t wait to get on the road again. At this moment in history, so many shelters are in crisis. And not just in the south, although things are undoubtedly worse there than anywhere. Which is why I can’t wait to get down there to help in any way we can. Ever since my…

What We Learned Visiting Shelters in North Carolina

What We Learned Visiting Shelters in North Carolina

After a week in North Carolina visiting 6 shelters, we learned a lot. Despite now visiting over 100 shelters, each visit teaches me something new about the challenges of saving dogs in the south and/or reminds me of some of the solutions. As exhausting as it can be, every single trip reinforces why we go…

Heading Into the New Year with Hope for Our Shelters
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Heading Into the New Year with Hope for Our Shelters

Who Will Let the Dogs Out started after Nancy and I began visiting southern shelters to learn where all the dogs were coming from and why. We didn’t know how to fix the problem, but we knew we wanted to help. So we used the only skills we had – writing and photography. As we…

A Tale of Two Shelters
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A Tale of Two Shelters

Private animal shelters often are built near public shelters to do the job that the tax-payer funded shelter is not. They literally rescue dogs from the public shelter. Why is more not expected from a government run shelter? Why do citizens pay for two shelters – one with their taxes and the other with their donations (and hearts)? And why, pray tell, do we allow this to go on?

Rescuing Pit Bulls in a State That Makes It Even Harder
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Rescuing Pit Bulls in a State That Makes It Even Harder

Polk County, Florida is ranked first in Florida and fourth in the nation for number of dogs ‘euthanized’ each year. The Polk County shelter killed 5000 dogs in 2020. Which is even more remarkable considering 2020 was the year so many shelters were emptied (momentarily). The only way a dog labeled a bully breed can…