A Shelter Among Shelters
We left Shelbyville Animal Control at 10:20am, and at 10:28 we were navigating the tight, tiny parking lot of Bedford County Animal Control.These shelters have more in common than I expected. Considering they serve the same basic public, I imagined they were vastly different, hence the need for two shelters two miles apart.Bedford’s intake is slightly bigger and so is their building. Their recently redesigned lobby is cavernous and a brightly painted free-roaming cat room with a clever homemade cat tree can be seen through large picture windows.
Closer to the building, there is a row of kennels with a wire mesh floor where the dogs were placed to be fed while their kennels are being cleaned and to give them some outside air. I’d never seen kennels like those—off the ground with wire floors like giant rabbit hutches. Maria told me that the big coonhounds tend to get their pads stuck in the wire floors and they have to use dawn dish soap to free them.
Surveying the area behind the shelter cluttered with useless or dysfunctional spaces, I immediately thought of Rescue Rebuild and how they could likely transform this space.That is one short-term solution. But there needs to be a long-game plan not just for Bedford, but for the entire area. It seems crazy that there are four competing shelters within a few miles of each other. Beyond Shelbyville Animal Control and Bedford Animal Control, there is a Humane Society and a private rescue, New Destiny. All of these people are working hard to save the endless stream of unwanted animals in Bedford County.I am not naive enough to believe that there aren’t conflicting agendas, practices, and personalities that might make combining their efforts impossible, but from a common sense and for-the-animals-sake standpoint it seems much smarter to pool your resources and consolidate your efforts in one shelter where all that passion and talent can do the most good.Creating one shelter, a new progressive facility with modern design and practices to meet the needs of animals and the public would change the game in Bedford County. Each of these organizations has rescue contacts, resources, ideas, energy, and volunteers. Think of the powerhouse they would be if their efforts were combined!But this is a small town, and if it’s anything like the small town where I come from, change happens slowly and personal histories run deep.Still, a girl can dream.I am inspired by this little nest of committed animal advocates. I’m not sure I know of another area with so many shelters concentrated so close together. They prove my point that people do care. The people who know about the problem step in to help.But more people need to know. Please help us tell them. Share this blog, and follow our Facebook and Instagram, tagging, reposting, and commenting. It is time to bring change to the situation for far too many animals who have no voice. We must be their voice.Blessings,Cara
Surveying the area behind the shelter cluttered with useless or dysfunctional spaces, I immediately thought of Rescue Rebuild and how they could likely transform this space.That is one short-term solution. But there needs to be a long-game plan not just for Bedford, but for the entire area. It seems crazy that there are four competing shelters within a few miles of each other. Beyond Shelbyville Animal Control and Bedford Animal Control, there is a Humane Society and a private rescue, New Destiny. All of these people are working hard to save the endless stream of unwanted animals in Bedford County.I am not naive enough to believe that there aren’t conflicting agendas, practices, and personalities that might make combining their efforts impossible, but from a common sense and for-the-animals-sake standpoint it seems much smarter to pool your resources and consolidate your efforts in one shelter where all that passion and talent can do the most good.Creating one shelter, a new progressive facility with modern design and practices to meet the needs of animals and the public would change the game in Bedford County. Each of these organizations has rescue contacts, resources, ideas, energy, and volunteers. Think of the powerhouse they would be if their efforts were combined!But this is a small town, and if it’s anything like the small town where I come from, change happens slowly and personal histories run deep.Still, a girl can dream.I am inspired by this little nest of committed animal advocates. I’m not sure I know of another area with so many shelters concentrated so close together. They prove my point that people do care. The people who know about the problem step in to help.But more people need to know. Please help us tell them. Share this blog, and follow our Facebook and Instagram, tagging, reposting, and commenting. It is time to bring change to the situation for far too many animals who have no voice. We must be their voice.Blessings,Cara
