Darlington County Animal Shelter, old post on hvtd

May 20th, 2006 Visit to the Darlington County Animal Shelter

on Sun, 05/21/2006 - 06:15. Pets

We love animals in our family. From lizards to cats, dogs to hamsters, pretty much all of God's creatures have had a visit in our home. This is why I should have been more than a little suspicious when my daughter casually mentioned that she'd like to just "take a look" at the Darlington County Animal Shelter on Saturday afternoon.

She had her pocketbook with her. She has money she has been saving. This, I should have considered before I agreed.

Off we go, driving down 151 towards Darlington, and down the bumpy dirt road right before the water tower. Yes, I know this road well. This is where we adopted our cats Maxx, Sammi, and Doug. This is where we also adopted my beloved "Benji" dog, Sweet Pea. This, I drive with my animal loving daughter with a pocketbook full of money?

Hmm.

This is spring, and this means kittens and puppies galore for the Animal Shelter. There was a father and son volunteer team washing out pens, two women doing the same, and the Volunteer of the Century, Jackie Kirven... all donating their Saturday for the love of animals. The staff person working that day was Carolyn Ray. She greeted us warmly, and showed us a fine litter of golden retriever pups, and various adult dogs that were just beautiful.

I kept going back to see how this fluffy "Panda Bear" was doing in it's pen.

My daughter agreed that this was indeed a cute pup.

This pen, however, was the one she kept going back to.

This litter of pups were very animated Saturday afternoon at the Darlington County Animal Shelter, just begging for a new home.

This is when I started to get worried, because when she saw this one, it was all over.

This little puppy captured my daughter's heart.

Did I hesitate when she asked if she could take the wee baby out to hold it? Could you really resist, when this is the image that I was able to capture?

And this is the exact moment my daughter fell in love with this puppy.

Yes, I let her do it. She is 13 going on 14, more than old enough to care for this little one. It is her money, and she will be responsible for the care and training. Summer is an excellent time for this, since school is out and all. (I am still trying to justify all this in my mind, you see.)

If you have room in your home and your heart for a new pet, please consider adopting from here. Darlington County Animal Shelter Shelter Hours: Monday - Friday, 10:00am - 3:00pm; Saturday, 9:00 am - 3:00 pm. Phone:398-4402 Website with Adoption Page info and some pictures, Animal Shelter

Adoption Fees:$60 for dog/puppy, $100 for two dogs/puppies. $40 for cat/kitten, $65 for two cats/kittens. Adoption fees include first vaccination, deworming, heartworm test for dogs, feline leukemia test for cats, and the spay/neuter surgery. The spay/neuter surgery is VERY EXPENSIVE, so this adoption fee saves you a lot of money. You will be actually saving money and giving a needy pet a home at the same time!

This is what you get when you do this:

Lily, home at last.