I’m tired of the No-kill debate. Yes, the tenets are great, and yes, they save lives. And yes, they have brought us sooooo far. But fixating on these words and the random 90% threshold for No-kill, is not moving us…
It’s been six years since I last visited this animal shelter in Tennessee, the Huntingdon Dog Pound. That was the day I found my darling pup, Miss Fanny Wiggles. She was emaciated and covered in poop. Now, she is a…
The story at Maury County Animal Services in Columbia Tennessee, just southwest of Nashville is volunteers. Led by their new director, Kim, who started out as a volunteer at MCAS herself, they have transformed the shelter. Kim has been the…
We just returned from two weeks of touring local animal shelters and rescues in four states. This tour was different from the dozens we’ve done (nearing 175 shelter visits now) because at almost every stop we heard about the damaging…
Bracken County is a no-stop-light county in northern Kentucky, not too far from Ohio. The Bracken County Animal Shelter is a simple metal building with 14 kennels and a tiny office/storage area. It may not look like much, but Heather…
Hart County Animal Shelter has a positive energy, a plan for the future, and a staff with (okay, I’m gonna go for the hokey here) — heart. That was clear from the moment I heard from their key volunteer Devon,…
We can’t save them all. That’s what I’m telling myself as my heart is crushed knowing a dog I so wanted to save is being euthanized today. I’m getting a tiny taste of what so many shelter directors and ACOs…
As we traversed Arkansas on our shelter tour last April, I grew more and more frustrated (read: ANGRY) with the state by the day. I know anger doesn’t help, so I focused on the amazing people we met, including Corinna…
We spotted three stray dogs on our drive from our hotel in Alabama to Grenada Animal Shelter in Mississippi. We’d seen the challenges in the shelters we visited, but it was further evidence that times are tough for unwanted dogs…
Breanna has been in charge of Marion County SC Animal Shelter for only a month, but it’s clear she’s found her calling. She’s been involved with the shelter for four years, working her way from volunteer to part-time kennel tech…