Saving Animals in the Shenandoah Mountains

On Monday, I hitched up the wagons and drove to town. (That’s what Nick likes to say every time I say I need to go ‘to town’ which is 10 miles away.) I was headed to the Warren County Humane Society, aka, the Warren County Animal Shelter.I was signing up two of ‘my’ four cats to be neutered/spayed and vaccinated for rabies.

Unlike Warren County, most of their animals leave the building already spayed or neutered. Page County will also treat heartworm positive animals. Watching Jami interact with the family surrendering the cat, listening patiently, being absolutely professional and fair, I was even more impressed. I listened to the story and it made me angry, but if Jami was angry, she gave nothing away. I have a feeling that’s how she’s stayed so long in this job. She focuses on the animals and not the circumstances that brought them here.I’ve often wondered and written a few times about ‘the line.’ That invisible line in this country between where the animals are valued and saved no matter what and where they can die for lack of funds or space or caring. I have a feeling I am treading closer to it here in the mountains of Virginia, but clearly, as long as Jami is in charge, that line is further south than Page County.I’m headed south again in a month, back to Tennessee, and then on to Alabama. There are so many stories to tell, so many animals to see, but here in the mountains of Virginia I am awed once again by the heroes, like Jami. Clearly, a shelter doesn’t need a big budget or a fancy building to save animals (although they are awfully nice to have and likely lower staff turnover), what they mostly need is committed, caring leaders who focus on what they can do rather than what they cannot; people who are willing to wear out their own hearts doing all they can to save the animals placed in their path.I'm here to tell their stories.If you’d like to follow along, be sure to subscribe to this blog or follow our Facebook page.Blessings,Cara“Together we can let the dogs out.”If you’d like to know more about me and my writing, visit CaraWrites.com.If you’d like to know more about my latest book, Another Good Dog: One Family and Fifty Foster Dogs, visit AnotherGoodDog.org.