2009.07.20
Making a difference in Franklin County
Click here to read today's Happy Wag newspaper column about the Franklin County Humane Society's Inglath and Mac Cooper adoption center.
The center has been the home to adoptable cats and kittens since May, but just last week adoptable dogs were able to move in as well. The adoption center is a big step in the right direction of reducing the number of homeless pets euthanized in the county.
For a long time, ending up at the municipal animal control shelter was practically a death sentence in Franklin County. The work of the volunteers at the humane society and the addition of an adoption specialist at the pound has made a world of difference. Where the euthanasia rate had once hovered between 80 and 90 percent, the municipal shelter puts down less than 60 percent of cats and only 25 percent of dogs now.
Most of the pets, however, will find their forever home somewhere outside of Franklin County. A majority of the adoptable dogs and cats are shipped out of the county to rescue groups as close as Roanoke and as far as New Hampshire. Those placements are made possible through the efforts Faye Hicks, the pound's adoption specialist, and an army of volunteers including Anita Scott, Jenny Richardson, Elizabeth Little who work tirelessly to move these pets so they can find their new families.
Hicks told me last week how much she appreciates the support of the FCHS, Angels of Assisiin Roanoke and groups in Martinsville-Henry County that help these kitties and pooches have a second chance at a loving home.
Pets can be adopted directly from the Franklin County municipal pound for only $10.
(Photo by Eric Brady, The Roanoke Times)
The volunteers that help place the animals in Franklin County are beyond wonderful. I don't know how they do it all. They also focus on the hard to adopt dogs and cats, when it would be much easier to let them fall through the cracks.
These volunteers not only work relentlessly for the animals in their county, they also help other shelters place hard to adopt pets, including some at Angels of Assisi. I know that the staff and volunteers at Angels are very appreciative for all they do for the pets in our community.
Comment by Lisa O'Neill — July 20, 2009 @ 10:59 am