I’m pretty sure Maureen, the director of Anson County Animal Shelter in Polkton, North Carolina (about an hour east of Charlotte) is the most resourceful shelter director I know. Between applying for grants, appealing to local businesses, picking up the…
Last week’s shelter tour was inspiring. To be honest, I had braced myself, expecting the worst, as headline after headline declares shelters everywhere are overwhelmed. And yet, we met amazing people making the most of tough situations. For sure the…
Bertie County is a small county most people pass through on their way to vacation on the Outer Banks. The county’s tiny shelter is the next to last stop on a road that ends at the regional jail. The shelter…
Onslow County Animal Services Shelter is located in Jacksonville, North Carolina, an area bustling with military operations and plenty of Marines. The shelter is a busy, bright, welcoming place conveniently located near schools and beside a county park. Municipal shelters…
Our visit to CARA – Carolina Animal Rescue & Adoption, a private, nonprofit rescue in Sanford, North Carolina, a town in Lee County that sits pretty much smack dab in the center of the state, was our 100th shelter stop.…
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…
We leave next week for shelter tour. This time to Virginia and North Carolina – one of the notorious five states killing the most animals, according to Best Friends Animal Society, the unofficial leader of the No-kill movement. In North…
After visiting nearly 80 shelters and rescues, I can tell a lot about a shelter just by walking through their kennels. At Gaston County Animal Care and Enforcement, it's pretty peaceful in their kennel rooms....
After nearly two weeks in Georgia and Florida (with one quick stop in NC), we are home and I’m sifting through all that we learned. The chorus of too many dogs and not enough adopters, resources, or rescues were variations…
We leave for our shelter tour in two days. As always, I’m excited but nervous and slightly overwhelmed. There are so many details, so many new people, new places, and hundreds of miles to drive. Often when I reach out…