Bringing No-Kill to Rutherford County, NC

Pets Are Worth Saving (PAWS) of Rutherford County, NC

PAWS’ most notable successes from our humble beginnings of three volunteers in August 2013, through June, 2018, with approximately 20 volunteers, include:

• Performed over 3,100 free or low-cost spay/neuter procedures on county pets thanks to generous funding from grants, fundraisers, and additional help from the Community Partnership for Pets, Inc., of Hendersonville, NC. (We currently have over 200 pets on the waiting list.)

• Provided free spay /neuter for 240 pits and pit mixes, the most difficult breed to re-home.

• Distributed over 44000 pounds of high-quality pet food to pet owners in urgent need, through donations by Lulu’s Rescue, concerned citizens, and Forest City Pets.

• Inoculated over 700 Rutherford County pets from rabies at no charge to owners on public assistance and $5 for general public.

• Expanded outreach efforts to include low-income pet-owners and their children. Collected and donated 1000 diapers and over 300 warm coats and additional outerwear items, including sweaters, hoodies, boots, gloves, and hats. Providing these items helped loving pet-owners have more funds in their budgets to care for and feed their pets.

• Pet re-homing program has resulted in 555 pets finding new homes to keep homeless pets out of Rutherford County Animal Control, a kill facility.

• Building a strong foster program with food and vetting provided.

• Distributed 51 dog houses so pets can have shelter from the weather.

• PAWS obtained their 501c3 status on March 26, 2015.