Pleasants County dog shelters main purpose is to provide care for dogs but sometimes other animals come into the story too. This could be any animal depending on the situation of the animal. Animals can come to the shelter in any condition. Some just get dropped off as strays, come injured, surrendered or just come there for a short stay while their owners are away. The main goal of the shelter is to provide love and care for all of these animals no matter the situation.
Being a volunteer at the shelter has given me many opportunities to see all of these things be done first hand. The hard work and dedication that goes into taking care of the animals is more than anyone would expect. There are many factors that go into it other than just taking care of the animals. These things are providing basic care, taking care of adoptions, managing the funding, taking time to give attention to each dog, etc. There is not just one person who does all of this, it takes a special group of people. These people could be volunteers, staff or just people out in the community. As I’ve heard some people say “it takes a village.”
The biggest struggle of any shelter but especially this one is funding. Each dog needs basic vet care, not including if an animal is injured and they need specialized vet care. The food cost of any dog shelter is very high depending on the amount of dogs. Then there are fundraisers that the shelter puts on to get more adoptions which of course costs money. Luckily, for Pleasants County Dog Shelter, it is a small enough shelter that they are able to rely mostly on donations to cover their costs. Since not much money comes from the county, they depend on volunteers and donations. This shelter has always gone above and beyond for their animals and still continues to, to this day.