Animal Welfare Professionals

Hi Everyone, 

I am excited to be a part of this community and look forward to learning and sharing with all of you. 

I live in North Carolina and moved here over 10 years ago. Since I have been here, I have been involved in fostering and volunteering with local animal rescue groups. I was motivated to get involved when I was confronted with so many homeless animals, animals in need and animals that were run over on our roads. While I understand this happens all over our country (and world),  it definitely seems to be more prevalent in southern states of the United States  (as data shows). North Carolina has the second highest euthanasia rate in the country. 

In the county I live, we have a large rural  population that consists of farmland and a more developed area that has a higher level of income, Along with that comes different ways of life and how pets, like dogs and cats, are viewed and cared for.  Our county is developing and growing fast, which is also changing the medium level of income for the county overall.  Our shelter is under the Sheriff's department and we have a couple rescue groups in the county that are often overwhelmed. 

I have the opportunity to meet with our county commissioners to discuss the animal welfare situation in our county. A few things that I would like to advocate for are

1. improved and more progressive programs at our shelter that will increase visibility of our shelter animals as well as opportunities for them to be more emotionally and physically stimulated. Programs like - take a dog for a day or weekend, dog walking program, volunteer program, cat socialization, etc. Right now they don't have a volunteer program. Animals don't get a lot of outdoor time or socialization time, which increases their anxiety and aggression over time. And, feral cats are not given a chance and automatically euthanized.
2.  Increased funding to support county animal welfare programs, including potentially giving grants to rescue groups since the shelter is unable to do it all. The organization I volunteer with does TNSVR, which our shelter does not. We are often referred to by the shelter when someone in the community is in need. But we are also small and have limited resources. We already offer subsidized spay/neuter and vouchers for medical care for found stray animals. 
3.  What can be done about dog fighting-- we know it happens in our county? What has been successful in putting an end to dog fighting and what does this take?. 
4.  More outreach and education to certain communities about the importance of and resources for spay/neuter/vaccinations and how to best care for your pet. What can this look like under the Sheriff's department and the shelter itself? How can they partner with rescue groups to do this? 

If you have any successful programs or efforts that have been done to address any of these things, can you share them. I realize each county is different, but I would love to hear about any success stories. I feel like this is going to be a long term effort but we need to start somewhere. The meeting is open to the public and I do hope there will be other animal advocates at the meeting representing different groups. 

Thanks in advance, 

Amy