Two thousand dollars a month. That’s how much Floyd County, Kentucky pays for the Floyd County Animal Shelter. That number includes the salaries of all three people who work there ($7.25/hour), the food, the utilities, the medical, everything for the approximately 900 animals that come through the shelter each year. When we visited there were…
Ruby has been the director of Butler County Ky. Animal Shelter for five years. As a former vet tech, she brings a lot of critical skills and animal knowledge to the job, but what she really brings is some serious smarts, of-the-charts resourcefulness, and a commitment to saving lives. The tiny shelter handled over 600…
Every shelter tour is hard, amazing, inspiring, heartbreaking, and exhausting, but I always learn more about the crisis of so many unwanted dogs in our country. This time we made 12 shelter visits in four states, bringing our total shelter visits to 95! Over the next few months, I will share the stories of the…
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?
Shelter in Focus: Fitzgerald-Ben Hill County Humane Society “This place belongs to the community; everything in here, including the animals, belongs to the community,” Nancy told us when we arrived at the Fitzgerald-Ben Hill County Humane Society. Nancy Chambliss is the Animal Care Assistant (although after spending some time with her that title simply does…
On her one-hour commute (each way, each day) Melissa, the executive director of the SPCA Of Bradley County – TN has a lot of time to think about ways to improve the situation at the shelter. Her sunny personality, quick wit, and willingness to tackle even the toughest challenge make her the perfect leader for…
Our last stop on our January shelter tour was a tiny animal control facility beside the wastewater treatment plant in Live Oak, Florida. Mary, the sole ACO for Live Oak city shelter, was in the yard with a dog whose story haunted me the entire drive home. Mary picked up T-bone and another female dog…
The Redland Dog Sanctuary is only one and half years old, but its founder and director, Junior, has been helping rescue dogs ever since he emigrated to this country from Brazil twenty-five years ago. He first came to the US to get medical help for one of his triplets, but eventually brought his whole family…
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?
It was late afternoon on a Thursday when we reached Gibson County dog pound and the kennels were filled with dogs. The pound is tucked into a corner of the fairgrounds and you really have to be looking for it to find it. Mike, the ACO for the dog pound, explained that the pound was…
