Jenise Smith, who had a huge hand in saving my new pup Mirabelle's life, recently wrote me a letter concerning what the public should know about rescuing shelter dogs in Kentucky. I was not aware of the statistics nor how much saving a shelter dog, particularily in the state of Kentucky, can benefit so many things. With her permission, I wanted to share her letter with you:
Hi Laura,
I am so glad you are enjoying Bella. It was so great that we were able to work out the adoption! Kentucky Humane Society had agreed to take her and several other puppies, but that left a space for another of the many puppies in Kentucky shelters that are in imminent danger of being euthanized.
I also appreciate that you took the time to post on your blog about Bella and that she came from a Kentucky shelter. The general public needs to be made aware of the wonderful dogs sitting in Kentucky's shelters. They are not full of problem dogs, aggressive dogs, etc., as I frequently hear people say. It was also very helpful and appreciated that you gave credit to Nicki for transporting. I don't believe the general public is aware of the transporting aspect of rescue and what a simple and quick way to help save dogs lives. On longer transports, there is a coordinator that monitors the trip. The coordinator breaks the trip down into "legs". Each leg being approximately 1 hour long. I think if the public were aware that they could be such a huge help just by transporting dogs 1 hour, we would not have to scramble and beg for drivers as we frequently must do.
As the shelter coordinator for the Lincoln County Animal Shelter, I handle all of the Petfinder listings, online adoptions, rescues, etc. I network with rescues all over the country and into Canada. The groups that I'm dealing with are in areas that have had spay/neuter laws for years. And some of them have shelters in their town that are almost empty. I am a member of United Rescues of Kentucky and have received a wealth of information, assistance, advice, etc. from that group. However, I am in the shelter as a representative of Brighter Days for Shelters. We are a rescue group dedicated to helping the rural shelters of Kentucky. Currently, we have representatives for several shelters--Lincoln County, Clark County, Powell County and Harlan County. And as our group grows, we would like to be able to help more of the rural shelters that are interested/willing to work with us.
I don't have the statistics for our other shelters, but I can tell you that since we started working with the Lincoln County in September 2007, their euthanasia rate has dropped from 95% to approximately 30%.
If I can answer any other questions about Brighter Days for Shelters, etc., please let me know. If you would like to post anything on your blog about any of this it would be greatly appreciated.
Give Bella a hug for me.
Thank you,
Jenise Smith
Shelter Coordinator
Lincoln County Animal Shelter
