When Mom Runs the Shelter
Our next stop in Alabama was The Humane Society of Chilton County in Clanton, AL. I’d heard great things about this place and it didn’t disappoint.
Chilton has a very relaxed, happy air about it which made complete sense upon meeting the director. Jennifer is a former stay at home mom who began as a volunteer and ultimately became the director. She is calm and certain and clearly loves her job.
As director she is hands-on, rarely to be found in her office. Instead, she can be found in the kennels and pens, hanging out with the dogs, learning who they are and what they need so that she can find rescue for nearly every animal that comes into Chilton Humane.The animals come to Chilton as owner surrenders and strays. When we arrived, the lobby area was full of crates – all animals that had arrived that week. They will eventually be moved into the kennels, but for now Jennifer makes room where she can because Chilton Humane remains committed to No-kill philosophy.
Chilton has a very relaxed, happy air about it which made complete sense upon meeting the director. Jennifer is a former stay at home mom who began as a volunteer and ultimately became the director. She is calm and certain and clearly loves her job.As director she is hands-on, rarely to be found in her office. Instead, she can be found in the kennels and pens, hanging out with the dogs, learning who they are and what they need so that she can find rescue for nearly every animal that comes into Chilton Humane.The animals come to Chilton as owner surrenders and strays. When we arrived, the lobby area was full of crates – all animals that had arrived that week. They will eventually be moved into the kennels, but for now Jennifer makes room where she can because Chilton Humane remains committed to No-kill philosophy.
As a private facility, Chilton County Humane can and does raise money to do the work they need to do, and they are blessed with incredible support from their community. We poked our heads into a shed full of plastic shelf beds meant to be used in kennels. They were donated to Chilton but don’t fit in their kennels. (Jennifer would love to find a shelter that would like all/some of them!)
We’d emptied out half of the donations in our Jeep at our previous stops before arriving at Chilton, but they were so blessed with donated items that instead of unloading any more, they filled our Jeep back up!
Visiting Chilton was inspiring – once again meeting a leader who is setting an example for what animal sheltering can and should be, even in the most rural places. A positive attitude is contagious and as any mom knows, sometimes your attitude is the only thing within your control.
We left Chilton and set off down the road with our Jeep stuffed to the gills to discover the Wiregrass Corner of Alabama. Wait till I tell you about SHARK!Thanks for reading and following along on our journey, but most of all thanks for sharing and helping us get the word out! There are too many good dogs languishing in shelters all over the rural south. You can help us let the dogs out – your follows, comments, and most especially shares make a difference. Subscribe to this blog and/or follow on Facebook and Instagram.#BetheChange #YouCanLetTheDogsOutUntil every cage is empty,Cara
We’d emptied out half of the donations in our Jeep at our previous stops before arriving at Chilton, but they were so blessed with donated items that instead of unloading any more, they filled our Jeep back up!Visiting Chilton was inspiring – once again meeting a leader who is setting an example for what animal sheltering can and should be, even in the most rural places. A positive attitude is contagious and as any mom knows, sometimes your attitude is the only thing within your control.We left Chilton and set off down the road with our Jeep stuffed to the gills to discover the Wiregrass Corner of Alabama. Wait till I tell you about SHARK!Thanks for reading and following along on our journey, but most of all thanks for sharing and helping us get the word out! There are too many good dogs languishing in shelters all over the rural south. You can help us let the dogs out – your follows, comments, and most especially shares make a difference. Subscribe to this blog and/or follow on Facebook and Instagram.#BetheChange #YouCanLetTheDogsOutUntil every cage is empty,Cara
