The Hazel Y Clark Patrick County Public Animal Shelter is tucked away beside a creek just before you get to the waste transfer station in Stuart, Virginia. The shelter began in 2002. Prior to that, it was run out of a local vet’s office. The building looks new and it’s in a lovely spot (although…
If they aren’t working, he and his wife Jackie are rescuing; it’s their life, Billy explained to me on our second visit to Scott County. Jackie added, “We have no social life. Everything is the dogs.” And this weighs on their hearts because they worry what will happen if they were to step away. Something…
It’s a pipe dream that every county in every southern state should have a progressive animal shelter that functions as a community resource and adoption center. There are simply too many small counties and too many stretched budgets. Instead, many southern states opt for the dog pound model. They call these facilities ‘shelters,’ but too…
Traveling through the south this time around feels different. It’s not just the masks that are sometimes prevalent and other times completely absent. As we wind through the mountains on our way to Nashville, I wondered about priorities. Is it wrong to want to save dogs when people are struggling so much? Will people care…
