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Wednesday, June 6,2018
dawsonnews.com I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I 3A
Humane Society celebrates 10-year milestone
By Jessica Brown
jbrown@dawsonnews.com
For the past decade, the
homeless dogs and cats of
Dawson County have
been given a second
chance at happy lives
thanks to the efforts of
the Dawson County
Humane Society, which
will be celebrating its
10th anniversary June 10.
It wasn’t an easy road
to the momentous mile
stone. The society, which
formed in 2002, didn’t
open its shelter doors
until 2008. After several
years of fundraising
efforts by the founders
and supporters and a
search for the perfect
piece of property to build
the animal shelter, the
humane society finally
made 633 Martin Road a
permanent safe haven for
Dawson County’s stray
animals.
“It’s been a labor of
love,” said society board
President Carolyn
Bowen. “We have very,
very dedicated volunteers
and supporters. None of
this could have happened
without the help of those
volunteers and our sup
porters.”
In 2008, the humane
society struck a deal with
Etowah Water and Sewer
Authority and the county
government. Etowah,
which owned the proper
ty, entered a contract with
the county to lease the
land to them. In turn, the
land was leased by the
county to the humane
society. Now, 10 years
later, the Humane Society
has purchased the land
with grant funds and
become the proud official
owner of the property.
“We have a major
donor who recently
became concerned,”
Bowen said. “She was
investing a lot of money
into the land and
"davvsoN
t COUNTY
1 HUMANE
SOCIETY
improvements of the shel
ter and the campus and
she became concerned
that we don’t own the
land. She encouraged us
to go ahead and purchase
the land.”
An open house ceremo
ny, ribbon cutting and a
blessing of the land and
animals will be held from
2 p.m. to 4 p.m. June 10
at the shelter to celebrate
the society’s first 10
years.
“It’ll be fun. It’s a big
step. Ten years and the
land and then all the
improvements and stuff -
we’re excited about it,
really excited about it,”
Bowen said.
Reverend David Jordan
from Grace Presbyterian
will be blessing the land
and the animals at the
shelter during the dedica
tion ceremony at 3 p.m.
“Many times he has
done a blessing of the
animals here for the shel
ter and he makes really
Photos by Jessica Brown Dawson
County News
The Dawson County
Humane Society shelter
is celebrating a 10-year
milestone and numer
ous shelter upgrades
with an open house
and land dedication
ceremony June 10. The
Dawson County
Humane society is
located at 633 Martin
Road in Dawsonville,
adjacent to Rock Creek
Park.
beautiful prayers for the
animals,” Bowen said.
Director Jason
Hutcherson has been at
the shelter for three and a
half years and is excited
for the community to see
the upgrades and renova
tions that have been com
pleted over the past few
years.
“The differences and
changes have just been
phenomenal,” Hutcherson
said. “People have been
great and I’m looking for
ward to the next 10
years.”
The staff and volun
teers at the shelter will be
offering tours to show off
the recent renovations
and upgrades. There will
also be on-site adoptions
for those looking to add a
furry member to their
family.
“Not only is it good for
the animals but it’s good
for the people,” Bowen
said. “They bring so
much love into a family.
Humane Society over the years
The Dawson County
Humane Society has
accomplished a lot in the
last 10 years. Here is a
look back at their biggest
achievements through
the years:
2002
The Dawson County
Humane Society was
formed.The founders
recognized a critical need
to address Dawson
County's growing stray
animal population and
wanted to help create a
solution.
2008
After years of fundraising
and planning, the
humane society opened
its shelter doors for the
first time in April 2008.
They entered into a con
tract with Dawson
County Animal Control to
take in all stray animals
from the county.
2011-2012
The shelter sought to
become a No-Kill Shelter
and began working to
meet the requirements.
After successfully meet
ing the requirements for
an entire year, the shelter
was recognized as a
No-Kill shelter in
September 2012.
"We're very proud that
we became no-kill in
2011, which is very
unusual for a shelter that
takes animal control
dogs and cats," said
Carolyn Bowen, Dawson
County Humane Society
board president.
The shelter is still No-Kill
to this day.
In 2012, the humane soci
ety established an on-site
surgical unit and opened
the Puppy House for the
youngest fur-legged resi
dents at the shelter.
2014
The offsite Humane
Society Resale Shop &
Boutique, located at
Lumpkin Campground
Road, opened its doors.
The store has no paid
staff; it is run completely
by 35-40 active volun
teers. Proceeds from the
donated items from the
community completely
go towards the animals.
The shelter also paid off
the construction loan to
Noblin Estate.
2016
The shelter underwent
major renovations in
2016. A roof was added
to the outside area of the
Puppy House to provide
additional shelter for the
puppies so they could
enjoy more time outside.
The floor of the Puppy
House was also replaced
and stainless steel cages
were added.
The outside dog intake
area was renovated and
expanded from four ken
nels to 20 and three runs
to seven, allowing the
shelter to take in more
big dogs and providing
ample room for the dogs
during the 10-day intake
process.
The humane society also
originated a no cost
spay/neuter program for
Dawson County resi
dents that are clients of
DFCS and for active mili
tary families.They also
offer low cost spay/neu
ter services.
2018
The humane society
played an instrumental
part in the passing of the
county anti-tethering
ordinance in January
2018.
The shelter expanded its
cat rooms by switching
the large board room
with the small cat room.
"We don't have as big a
board room as we did
before and a break room
but it's still sufficient,"
Bowen said.
The cats now enjoy a
spacious indoor area full
of toys and comfy beds
as well as a new
screened in outdoor
space where they can
soak up the sun and
come and go from the
inside area as they
please.
The shelter purchased
the land from Etowah
Water Authority.They
also purchased a new
adoption van.
Adoption efforts have
also been expanded in
2018 as the shelter now
holds adoptions at
PetSmart and Petco in
Dawsonville and
PetSmart in Cumming
every weekend.
They become family
members and they give so
much in return for us giv
ing them homes.”
As of May 31, 2018 the
Dawson County Humane
Society has found homes
for 6,022 animals since
the shelter opened.
The shelter is located
at 633 Martin Road in
Dawsonville, adjacent to
Rock Creek Park.
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