We covered a lot of ground on this last shelter tour. We found heartache, but we also found hope. Six states, six shelters, two community meetings, one Stronger Together event in just eight days. Two things were abundantly clear:

First, things are hard everywhere. And second, there are amazing heroes doing remarkable work all over the south.

Animal Friends, a nonprofit shelter in Pittsburgh, PA, helped 1361 animals find forever homes in 2024, but here are a few even more amazing numbers: They assisted 39,365 pet owners in the Pittsburgh area giving out 203,487 pounds of food, administering 21,055 vaccines, and spaying/neutering 5478 animals.

In Georgia, many counties have no animal shelters or animal services. The shelter in Soperton, is a relatively new shelter. It’s simple, no-frills, basically outdoor kennels, but thanks to the efforts of ACOs Michelle, Antwon, and Brandon, it is a true shelter and the dogs who land there are well cared for. Despite the day of our visit being a Sunday, all three made time for us and met us at the shelter.

Ten years ago, Candice followed her daughter to the Tift County Animal Control Shelter, in southern Georgia, for a summer project photographing dogs to help them get adopted. She had no idea what she’d unleashed.

At Dublin Laurens County Humane Society they take the words ‘no kill’ seriously. There is no talk of 90%. They simply don’t euthanize any animals except for extreme medical cases. The board and staff are committed to saving every animal that comes to them.

The most powerful way we can impact the shelter crisis in this country is to fund spay/neuter. It’s as simple as that. And yet, for too many shelters, finding that funding is not simple. Chasing grant money takes time and is often not possible for municipal shelters who often need the funding the most.

Craven-Pamlico Animal Services practices managed intake in the way I believe it was originally intended. CPAS is a large shelter, close to the coast of North Carolina, that serves multiple municipalities and handles over four thousand animals a year.

It was like walking through a river of dogs. Every now and again, Heather would scold a dog. Her ability to have ‘eyes in the back of her head’ was truly remarkable. It was even more remarkable that she knew all their names (and that the dogs knew their own names also and seemed to understand what she said to them). Heather called it a perpetual dog park, but it was much better than most of the dog parks I've been to.

Every shelter tour is a little bit different. I am always inspired by the people we meet and while we can’t pull dogs, I do carry many of them home in my heart. I’m still thinking about the Rottie mix at Tift County Shelter who leaned into his kennel fence begging for my touch, and the super-smart border collie mix we met at Lucky Dog Rescue Ranch, who is my dream dog (although my current pack does not have any openings).

Lanier County Animal Control & Shelter was started in 2022. Prior to that, there were no real animal services in the county. Jessica took the job at the shelter when it opened and has been the ACO/director/kennel tech and sole employee. I asked, “When do you have a day off?” and she asked, “What’s a day off?” When she had the flu, she still dragged herself to the shelter. “The dogs had to eat.”