About a year ago, my family met and fell in love with a Scottish Terrier-dachshund mix dog named Scottie.
The mellow mount of white, soft fur was dropped off at a North Carolina animal shelter after his human was placed in a nursing home.
He is a friendly guy, who doesn’t bark at cats — he is curious, not judgemental. He also gets along well with other dogs, which was helpful when we went for a walk in our North Carolina neighborhood and helped keep the local high school head football coach’s German Shepherd in one spot after it escaped from his nearby yard.
While it has only been a year, it feels like Scooter (we later learned that was his original name) has been part of the family for a very long time.
Getting a pet during the holiday season can be rather common. However, the ASPA noted that some animals that are given as gifts or as a surprise are likely to be returned. Due to a busy travel schedule during December, it may be wise to adopt during a less hectic time of the year so you can bond with a pet.
There are several organizations throughout the Golden Triangle that are working hard to find forever homes for the area’s stray pets. Below we’ve highlighted two smaller organizations that submitted information to the Dispatch.
Small Mercies Animal Rescue
Small Mercies Animal Rescue (SMAR) in Starkville recently received $10,000 from the Leslie L. Alexander Foundation.
“I opened the envelope and had to look at it several times to make sure I was reading it correctly,” SMAR Executive Director Andrea Spain said. “We have some truly generous donors here in Mississippi, but we’ve never received a single contribution this large.”
Founded in 2015, SMAR is a 501c3 nonprofit animal rescue and foster network that operates in north Mississippi. It lends aid, medical care and foster homes to animals subject to extreme risk, neglect and injury. The majority of its funding comes from individual monetary donations, Facebook fundraisers, a few donation boxes around Starkville, contributions from Amazon Smile, and reciprocal arrangements with area shelters and transport teams. Many people also donate items for the care and comfort of the animals they foster. This grant came as a surprise.
Last year, the completely volunteer organization managed to rescue 255 cats and dogs with fewer than 10 core volunteers. This includes getting the animals veterinary care, providing age-appropriate vaccinations, spaying and neutering, and finding suitable forever homes. Spain says none of it is possible without a strong support network.
“We network between Oktibbeha County and surrounding areas in Mississippi to help volunteers, reaching places where facilities are non-existent or are simply dangerous holding tanks,” Spain said. “We work closely with Oktibbeha County Humane Society, the Shelter Medicine team at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Mississippi State University, area vets in private practice, and a small army of dedicated volunteers who open their homes, wallets and hearts to these animals. It absolutely doesn’t work without outside assistance.”
The grant will help countless animals in north Mississippi in the coming year, and SMAR is thankful for the foundation’s assistance.
“This kind of donation is amazing and will enable us to provide care for some animals who are in dire need of medical care, nutrition, and compassion,” Spain said. “We believe that everyday small mercies change the life of each animal we rescue and the life of the community as a whole. We’re so thankful to the Leslie L. Alexander Foundation for making those small mercies possible.”
Small Mercies Animal Rescue can be found online at https://smallmerciesanimalrescue.org/.
Homeward Bound Project of MS
Homeward Bound Project of MS rescue was started in 2007 by three Mississippi State veterinary students who wanted to help dogs get adopted faster from the South by taking them to northern states where stray populations are low and dogs and cats are in higher demand to adopt.
Since then the program has grown into a program that is able to transport dogs to the North every six weeks and has a cat program that adopts the cats out locally to avoid the stress of a transport.
The program is headed by two Mississippi State veterinary technicians Terri Snead and Emily Childers. Students are elected each year to hold officer positions on the dog and cat side: Foster coordinator, adoption coordinator, medical coordinator, medical records coordinator and social media coordinator.
The program is 100 percent foster based, so it relies heavily on students and the community to foster until dogs are ready for transport or cats are ready to be adopted.
Holidays and student vacations are the group’s toughest times because many people go home for the holidays and can no longer foster.
Homeward Bound Project of MS can be found online at https://www.petfinder.com/member/us/ms/mississippi-state/the-homeward-bound-project-of-ms-ms205/ .
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 47 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 47 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
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