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To the Editor:
This is an open letter to our commissioners,
Like many people if you found a stray animal you would take it to our animal shelter. Without our shelter and their resources, our community and its animals are without hope and solutions to limit strays and animal overpopulation.
The Elizabethton-Carter County Animal Shelter simply will not survive as a 301c3(non-profit) shelter. Please look at our community: there are no businesses, industry, or individuals combined that could adequately support the shelter. Comparing our shelter to others in our area is ludicrous. The Washington County Shelter has donors who contribute supplies and money as well as a local humane society that holds fundraisers to raise money. This area simply does not have the same resources.
Our local Friends of the Shelter group does its best to volunteer, promote and raise money for the shelter. During the pandemic we haven’t been able to do any of that.
As a volunteer for the shelter, I observe these wonderful employees going beyond the scope of their work day to care for these animals, often taking the seriously ill animals home to care for them. To watch all they are capable of accomplishing in one day is exhausting to me.
I encourage ALL commissioners to visit the shelter and understand the importance of it to our community. Please support the shelter with local government funds. It is an essential and enriching service to our community.

Paulette Walton
Butler