Leslie has been the director of Dekalb County-AL Animal Adoption Center in Alabama for seventeen years. She grew up here, and despite her ever-present smile, this is a hard place for someone with a heart for animals.

The municipally funded rural shelter handles over 3,000 animals annually. About 50% of those animals make it out through local rescue organizations, but some through local adoptions.

In Clark County, Arkansas, they have a lot of dogs, but they also have a lot of good people who care. The sheriff and his deputies keep dog food in their cars so they can feed the strays. The Humane Society of Clark County in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, is a nonprofit shelter that has been in their current downtown location since 2005.  The worn-out building has flooded twice. They are currently full with more than 80 dogs in a space that could more comfortably house 30. HSCC is committed to not euthanizing for anything except extreme medical situations, but that creates a catch-22. They can’t bring dogs in because they are overfull, but leaving them to roam will only lead to the dogs multiplying, thus compounding the problem. It’s a familiar scenario all over the south.

Teresa began at the shelter, its live-release rate was only 25%. Euthanizing animals was part of her job, but it broke her heart. When the Humane Officer position opened, she jumped at the chance to change the narrative. Committing not to euthanize for space means the shelter often houses dogs for months or even years. It’s a challenging situation that is all too familiar in too many places. Turning away dogs at municipal shelters seems inconsistent with the mission of animal services, yet many shelters still do so.

This tour will take us to Florida (via NC and GA) for the first time in three years. We are excited to visit the state again and connect with more shelter and rescue advocates. It’s why we travel. While social media is great and websites are informative, the only way to truly understand the situation with any shelter is to go there, meet the people, see the animals, and get a sense of the community.