RURAL ANIMAL SHELTERS NEED YOUR HELP

Last weekend my husband Mike and I drove about an hour east of Cincinnati to take supplies to the Highland county dog pound in Hillsboro, Ohio. All the profits from the sales of my book go to buy supplies for very needy shelters such as this one. They are blessed with wonderful, caring volunteers and foster homes and that is slowly helping to reduce their euthanasia rate. It is still too high. They are trying so hard, but they need help from the general public. So many dogs are just getting dumped there because of this horrible economy when people lose their jobs or homes and can no longer afford to care for their pets.





When we arrived the lot had many cars and it was adoption day. There were also some foster families there to pick up a new dog to care for until it gets adopted. A sad sight in the first outdoor cage was a very pregnant momma dog who was about to give birth at any moment. Volunteers were working quickly to get her into a foster home so she would not have to give birth on the cold hard concrete floor of the shelter.


There are no windows, no heating or air conditioning in the old pole barn building. That morning another rescuer showed up with a window a/c unit to donate and they are going to try to install it in a wall to help cool the dogs on hot summer days. Thankfully, this past summer we only had a few unbearable days. The dogs in the outdoor pens have little protection from the elements. Inside we met the dogs and they were so happy to have visitors. Their cages were clean but sparse. Toys and snacks are much appreciated as donations.



There was a beautiful sable German shepherd, a pit bull being held for a court case who was not allowed out to walk, and a pitiful dog with a deformed leg who had probably been hit be a car and left untreated. They all were so eager to please and I wanted to take them all.






















The volunteer coordinator that I spoke to is Lori Roush and you can email her at lroush@timesgazette.com and she will tell you just what they need, besides lots of cash and a new building.


The address to mail donations is :

Highland County Dog Pound
9357 State Route 124
Hillsboro, Ohio 45133

Lori's phone number is 937-393-3456

If you send a donation, you know it will be so appreciated and it will go to help so many dogs in this rural area.

This sweet guy says "THANKS!"