Thankfully, Maury County Animal Shelter was much changed from the last time I was there. That was clear from the faces of the dogs. We met with Jack, the new director, and Maily, a volunteer leader; both are new to Maury and having a positive impact on the place.

We’re a day into this trip, but all we’ve done so far is drive (and drive). No traffic, no complaints, it just feels very anticlimactic and I’m ready to get to the shelters. I forget how friendly and sweet people are in the south until I get down here. Not…

All over the southern US, dogs are waiting. Some lucky dogs are in progressive shelters who have staff, resources, and community support that allows them to place all of their adoptable dogs through local adoptions and outside rescues.

When we pulled up at the gate for our first stop in Alabama, enormous dogs loped towards us. My photographer, Nancy, and I waited while Rhonda, the director of Brindlee Mountain Animal Rescue, put the giant creatures in their kennels and opened the automatic gate for us. Rhonda is a…

“I hope this isn’t some wild-goose chase,” I warned Nancy, my photographer and friend, as we headed south from Montgomery to visit our next shelter. We were traveling from our home in Pennsylvania to Tennessee and Alabama to raise awareness about the situation in southern shelters and rescues. Volunteering and…

Out to the west of Nashville, after a long slog on US 40 and several smaller highways that took us through Paris and Pillowville, we arrived in Greenfield. Our destination: the police station. …