Cabot woman calls on community to help local animal shelter

CABOT, Ark. – Overcrowding continues to be a major issue in Arkansas animal shelters as employees struggle to find adopters or fosters to house what they already have.

Typically, eyes turn to the people in charge to fix the problem, but one woman in Cabot said it will take everyone in the community to really make a difference.

“We get displaced pets daily,” Brandy Buie with the Cabot Animal Shelter said. “We get calls on the evenings, calls on the weekends.”

Odds are you’ve probably seen wandering pets in your neighborhood or someone else’s but it wasn’t until Rossie Medlin took a pair of paws in herself that she realized what was really under the surface.

“I didn’t know at all that everywhere was full, that there was no one left to foster because they were already full as well. I didn’t know that it had gotten to that point,” Medlin said.

Last week, Medlin said she found two pups running down the street in her neighborhood. The dogs didn’t have any tags and there wasn’t an owner in sight.

“We thought we will just keep them and tuck them in until we can talk to the shelters,” Medlin said.

Medlin ended up holding the dogs for three days before they were picked up by the shelter.

She said the experience opened her eyes to a greater need in the community.

“If people in our community can make an impact and help out, reach out and ask those questions first,” Medlin said. “How can we donate? Do you need food? Do you need washers and dryers? What do you need?”

Medlin said it will take everyone coming together to help clear the shelters.

“It’s such a huge thing to have them come in and say, ‘You know what, we want to help you do what you do because you assist us,’” Buie said.

Shelter leaders said the introduction of community help has already cut down on intake numbers. Staff said they are hoping the two can work together to end a nationwide issue.

“We’re all seeing a shortage of adopters, a shortage of volunteers, fosters, donors,” Buie said.

Buie said if you find a stray dog, get it checked for a microchip. After that, she said to put up flyers and see if you can find the owner first before bringing it to the shelter.

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