Barnwell County Animal Shelter makes 'paws'itive changes

Jonathan Vickery
Shelter manager Marlena Ray (left) and kennel tech Tanya Bolen (right) work hard every day to care for the many animals that come through the doors of the Barnwell County Animal Shelter, including dog Brownie who is available for adoption.

The Barnwell County Animal Shelter has made a lot of progress in recent years to save more animals.

They have been an unofficial no-kill shelter since October 2019, meaning they no longer euthanize an animal due to lack of space, although there are cases where animals have to be euthanized due to their health or aggressive behavior. This is quite a change from several years ago where as many as 95 percent of the animals that came to the shelter were euthanized.

“Ten years ago that was the norm,” said Doris Rosier, the shelter board’s chairwoman and rescue coordinator. “You could feel the death in there.”

Shelter officials credit efforts to work with more rescue groups and foster families with helping them reach a point where they no longer euthanize for space.

“We’ve got a good team and word hard to ensure all animals find homes so they don’t have to be euthanized,” said Marlena Ray, who became shelter manager in July 2019.

“Our shelter is very lucky to work with some amazing rescue partners. This is how we save so many lives, plus with the help of many donations from our wonderful community,” said Rosier.

Only three rescue groups were pulling dogs from the shelter two years ago. They now have more than 12 groups they partner with to find dogs and cats homes, including many groups up north where communities don’t have issues with stray animals due to stricter laws. The Animal Advocates also pull some animals into their Friends for Life Center in Barnwell.

“They are shocked at all the strays they see walking down the streets here,” said Rosier of people from northern states when they visit or move to the south.

The impact of the additional rescue groups is shown in the data. For the 2018-19 year, three cats and 215 dogs were rescued. Numbers grew in the 2019-20 year where 47 cats and 294 dogs were rescued.

“These numbers don’t always reflect the true count. Our adoptions have also risen due to more publicity via Facebook and networking. We have more help from the public and more active volunteers,” said Rosier.

Adding more fosters has also helped free up space at the shelter, but the shelter always is looking for more. Fostering allows the animal to become more socialized and get used to a home environment.

The shelter is in the early stages of starting a trap neuter/spay release program and working/barn cat program for feral or non-adoptable cats. They are looking for a grant writer to help them apply for available grants.

“This allows for rabies vaccination and spay/neuter to prevent further breeding and additions to the overwhelming population of cats in Barnwell County,” said Rosier.

The shelter is also working, with the support of local law enforcement, to improve animal welfare laws in the county.

Educating the community about properly caring for their pets is important. While some people don’t care, Rosier said others simply don’t know about important topics, such as heartworm prevention, low/no cost spay/neuter opportunities and not using a chain as a collar.

Rosier also said County Administrator Tim Bennett has worked with the shelter to make improvements since he was hired in 2018. Shelter veterinarian Dr. Shannan Miller and her staff have provided medical care for the animals, including preparing them for adoption or transport to rescue groups.

The ultimate goal is to find every animal a home, but many improvements have been made to the shelter so animals are happier and healthier.

Improvements include painting, creating healthier habitats for animals, and improving security so animals can’t escape. They are currently working to build a cat quarantine area, expanding the medical area/intake area, adding a meet and greet area, improving the area for animal control officers to bring in animals, and beautifying/expanding the play yards.

A long-term goal is to build a new facility, although funding is needed.

The shelter has also improved its process for admitting animals.

“We treat them just like our own,” said Ray.

Every adoptable animal is now vaccinated when it comes in, rather than just when one is adopted or rescued. This includes spay/neuter, heartworm test and prevention, flea prevention, rabies vaccine, and microchip.

Staff also make every effort to reunite lost pets with their owners. They first check for a microchip. If they have one with updated information, staff attempt to contact the owner. If appropriate, they also post information online in hopes of reconnecting lost animals with owners.

“We are very successful at this with the public’s help and often find animals reported as lost within an hour,” said Rosier.

Animals are held for five days before their information is sent to rescues and made public to potential adopters.

While the shelter no longer euthanizes for space, they do sometimes have to euthanize animals that are aggressive or sick beyond financial and medical help. However, the shelter works hard to ensure an animal is actually aggressive and not just scared due to the shelter environment. They also work to fundraise for expensive medical bills, including animals with heartworms.

“We depend on the community so much,” said Rosier of fundraising to help animals with heartworms. “These are very highly adoptable dogs.”

The shelter used to have one adoption every six months, but now has almost weekly adoptions. Officials were originally worried about the impact of COVID-19, but said rescues have been begging for animals.

For the 2019-2020 fiscal year, the shelter had 522 dogs and 508 cats brought in. Of those, 57 dogs and 28 cats were adopted while 294 dogs and 47 cats were rescued. There were also 50 dogs and nine cats claimed by their owners.

The adoption fee is $80 and includes spaying/neutering of the pet, rabies shot vaccination, microchip, and heartworm test.

Due to COVID-19, the Barnwell County Animal Shelter (55 Diamond Road, Barnwell) is currently open on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1 to 4 p.m. for public pet surrenders and Wednesdays from 1 to 5 p.m. for tours and adoptions. However, additional arrangements can be set up by contacting the shelter at (803) 259-1656.

The shelter welcomes volunteers and donations. Monetary donations can be made via PayPal at, dropped off at the shelter, or mailed to the Barnwell County Animal Shelter Foundation, Attn: Doris Rosier, 520 Pioneer Road, Barnwell, S.C. 29812. All donations are tax deductible. Amazon shoppers can also support the shelter through Amazon Smile by selecting the shelter as the beneficiary.

While shelter officials are proud of the progress that’s been made, they continue to need the community’s support.

Some of the dog kennels have been repainted with bright colors.