Dog on left: “Hello! Will you take me home with you?” Dog on right: “I already know you don’t want me.”

A few weeks ago, I was invited to tour the new facilities of the Calhoun County Humane Society. My tour guide was Juaniece Madden, who recently passed on to her reward. Juaniece devoted her time and resources to the Society for many years. Every day, she arrived at 6:00 a.m. to tend to the animals, and then came back again in the afternoon. Her special interest was cats. She fed them, groomed them, cleaned litter boxes, and let them out to play. She had two cats at home that she had adopted from the shelter.

Everyone on the board and staff is an unpaid volunteer, working strictly for the love of animals. The Society was formed in 2005. They operated out of a 3,200 sq. ft. facility owned by the City of Port Lavaca, and shared with its animal control.

With grants and gifts, in 2014, they were able to purchase the land for the new facility. Fund raisers, donations, memorials, and with a gift of $100,000 from Naomi Albrecht, Port O’Connor resident and core member of the Society, their goal of $566,389 was reached and building began.

The 5,289 sq. ft. facility is located at 106 Haley Lane in Port Lavaca. Had I not heard barking, I would not have known there were 25 dogs inside, it was so clean. Volunteer Kim Tatum showed me around. There were large fans running to keep the dogs cool and there were two big fenced-in areas where they are let out to exercise twice a day. The cat room was quiet, containing only a few kittens. And they had their own indoor play area.

The Calhoun County Humane Society strives to provide the community with healthy animals at a reasonable and affordable fee. They have a no-kill policy. Animals rescued and brought to the facility will remain there until a permanent home is found for them unless they are aggressive or have a non-curable condition.

calhouncountyhumanesociety.org