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Our humble beginnings...
In December/January 2001, Homeward Trails Founder,
Sue Bell was vacationing in Fayetteville, WV with friends
and family. As fate would have it, the county animal shelter
was located right down the road from the cozy cabin Sue was
staying in. After a brief stop at the shelter to spend times
with the dogs and cats, Sue learned of the sad plight of the
animals of Fayette County.
Just five months prior, the shelter had been
hit by a flash flood from the New River and almost 60 animals
had drowned. The facility was ruined and the animals were
without any shelter. On this cold day in January, the shelter
was being run from a temporary facility that had no kennels
and no runs. All the dogs were confined to crates for 12 hours
a night and tied to trees and stakes outside during the day.
Sue also learned that there was a tremendous
animal overpopulation and a low adoption rate, which resulted
in the euthanization of most of the animals that entered the
shelter. She was stunned at the number of puppies that were
at the shelter and were being euthanized. Saddened by the
situation, Sue and her husband took three dogs home the next
day to Washington, DC, vowing to find them homes. Mikey, Petey
and Lucy jumped in the car and happily started the 6 hour
trip back to DC. Within 3 days, Sue had found them homes after
placing ads in the local papers and using e-mail.
Sue continued to get calls from people looking
for dogs who had been unsuccessful at local shelters. Seizing
the opportunity to perhaps make a difference in the lives
of the many animals (and people) Sue headed back down to Fayetteville
to create a partnership that would help save more of Fayette
County's homeless animals and thousands of animals from other
rural counties as well. Without meaning to, Sue had started
in effort that would grow rapidly over the years.
Homeward Trails officially incorporated as a
nonprofit organization in July 2001 and extended its rescue
efforts to include other rural West Virginia counties, and
many in Virginia, Maryland and even as far away as Georgia.
Today, Homeward Trails works with more than 15 shelters.
By the end of 2007, Homeward Trails had rescued
and placed almost 5,000 homeless animals. And the efforts
continue with an average of 110 animals being rescued every
month.
Homeward Trails is a thriving rescue that is
dedicated to rescuing as many homeless animals as possible
and finding them loving homes. We could not do any of this
without the wonderful dedication of our volunteers who drive,
foster, donate and make it all possible.
Please consider joining the Homeward Trails team today!
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