10/14/2026
🐾❤️ WHAT A NIGHT FOR THE EMANUEL COUNTY HUMANE SOCIETY! ❤️🐾
Tonight's Humane Society meeting was exactly what we hoped would begin happening after the Public Animal Shelter Forum.
We had a room full of new faces, new ideas and people ready to do more than simply say, “Something needs to be done.”
We welcomed SEVEN new board members tonight! ❤️
We also elected our officers:
🐾 President: Shari Watt
🐾 Vice President: Stephanie Williams Flanders
🐾 Secretary: Annie Barua
🐾 Treasurer: Jessie Meadows
One of the strongest messages that came out of the forum was that no one person and no one organization can do everything, but everybody can do something.
Tonight, people stepped forward to do exactly that.
🐾 BUILDING A STRONGER HUMANE SOCIETY
A lot has been happening behind the scenes.
We have built a new shared digital office so Humane Society records, programs and projects can be organized in one place instead of being scattered among papers, messages and individual computers.
We now have a donation tracking system to improve our recordkeeping and transparency.
Our website has been updated and is becoming a permanent home for applications, donations, resources, public information and program updates.
We are using new technology to help schedule educational and informational posts, research grants and programs, organize records and make better use of the limited time our volunteers have.
Tonight, the board also approved our first formal annual operating budget. This was an important organizational step for financial planning, accountability and grant writing as our programs continue to grow.
💙 WHERE YOUR DONATIONS HAVE BEEN GOING
We also reviewed how much direct assistance the Humane Society has already provided to animals at our shelter and dogs being transferred to rescue.
From January through September 2026, the Emanuel County Humane Society spent $10,255.46 on shelter and rescue dogs alone.
That money helped provide:
🐾 Canine 5-in-1 and Bordetella vaccines
🐾 Worming medications
🐾 Heartworm testing
🐾 Veterinary exams and medications
🐾 Spaying and neutering for shelter dogs going to rescue
🐾 Rabies vaccinations
🐾 Adoption sponsorships to help shelter dogs get into homes
🐾 Syringes and other medical supplies
🐾 Veterinary care for sick and injured shelter animals
This figure is specifically for shelter and rescue dogs from January through September. It is not a total of everything the Humane Society has spent or every program we operate.
A huge part of making this work possible was a $9,500 grant from the Mill Creek Foundation, and we are incredibly grateful for their support.
We will never publicly list individual donors beside the amounts they gave unless they specifically want that information shared. But we do believe people who support the Humane Society deserve to know what their collective donations are accomplishing.
As we grow, we want our transparency and recordkeeping to grow with us.
🐕 SPAY & NEUTER IS STILL ONE OF OUR BIGGEST PRIORITIES
The response to our spay and neuter assistance program has made one thing very clear: the need in Emanuel County is enormous.
We are comparing local veterinary costs with lower-cost spay/neuter options, organizing applications and researching additional grants so we can make every available dollar go as far as possible while continuing to provide choices for local families.
This isn't only about helping the animals in the shelter today.
Every preventable litter we stop means fewer animals competing for already limited homes and fewer animals potentially entering an overcrowded shelter tomorrow.
🐈 A NEW TEAM FOR EMANUEL COUNTY'S CATS!
One of the biggest gaps we've identified is cats.
Tonight, a new group formed specifically to begin working on cat issues and figuring out what Emanuel County needs to get a real community-cat program moving.
That includes TNVR, humane traps, spay/neuter clinics, transportation, funding, adoption and rescue resources.
Instead of simply saying, “Somebody needs to do something about the cats,” we now have people beginning the work of figuring out what that something should look like.
🥫 A NEW PET PANTRY IS COMING!
New board member Kaitlan Earls Tant has volunteered to head up a new Pet Pantry project and begin getting it off the ground.
This is another form of prevention.
Sometimes a family loves their animal but hits a hard time. Helping with pet food or basic supplies may be enough to keep that animal in its home instead of being surrendered, abandoned or becoming another shelter intake.
We will share more information as Kaitlin gets the program organized.
🐾 GEORGIA PAWTNERS IS UP AND RUNNING
We have also launched Georgia PAWtners, a new Facebook networking group designed to help connect shelters, legitimate rescues, fosters, transporters and other animal-welfare partners.
When an animal urgently needs somewhere to go, we shouldn't have to start from zero every single time.
The goal is to build those relationships before the emergency happens.
🏛️ THE FORUM IS ALREADY PRODUCING ACTION
After the September 29 Public Animal Shelter Forum, we said:
“Last night wasn't the finish line. It gave us a map.”
Tonight, we learned that work on that map is already happening.
Commissioner Jim Sherrod joined our meeting by phone and updated us on actions the County has taken since the forum.
Approximately $60,000 remaining in SPLOST funding is now being put to work toward improvements at the animal shelter.
That is exactly the kind of follow-through we hoped the forum would produce.
🐕 THE SHELTER'S LICENSE HAS INCREASED FROM 40 TO 80 DOGS
The shelter has increased its licensed dog capacity from 40 to 80.
We want to explain exactly what that means because changing a number on a license does not magically create more kennel space.
The shelter does NOT suddenly have physical room for 80 dogs.
What this change does is address the recurring situation where the shelter was over its former licensed capacity simply because more than 40 dogs were housed there.
Physical space and overcrowding are still very real issues that need continued attention, but the shelter will not constantly be out of compliance simply because its population exceeds the former 40-dog licensed number.
💰 AN UPDATE ON DONATIONS MADE FOR SHELTER ANIMALS
One of the biggest questions raised at the forum concerned what happens when someone makes a donation specifically intending to help animals at the shelter.
We learned at the forum that donations made through the City are deposited into the City's general fund.
Commissioner Sherrod reported tonight that the County and City have since discussed this issue.
The City indicated that when someone wants to make a donation to help the animals but does not want that money deposited into the City's general budget account, the City will begin encouraging that person to donate directly to the Emanuel County Humane Society instead.
That gives donors a choice, and we believe people deserve to understand where their donation is going when they give it.
🐾 AN IMPORTANT CORRECTION AND CHANGE AFTER THE FORUM
Transparency also means correcting information publicly when we later learn that something said publicly was inaccurate.
During the September 29 Animal Shelter Forum, Chief Ashley Riner was asked what happens to animals after they are euthanized at the shelter.
The information that had been provided by the City for him to relay indicated that the animals went through the landfill process and ultimately were sent for incineration.
Since the forum, it was discovered that the information provided to Chief Riner on that question was incorrect.
Commissioner Sherrod updated us tonight that action has now been taken to change the process going forward.
Bryce Chapman has been awarded the contract to handle the remains of animals euthanized at the shelter, with that service beginning THIS WEEK.
Going forward, those animals will be handled through cremation rather than the process described at the forum.
We believe this provides a more respectful and appropriate method of final care for animals whose lives end at our shelter, and we appreciate the County taking action on the issue.
We also want to be very clear that Chief Riner answered the question at the forum based on the information he had been provided.
Once it was discovered that information was inaccurate, the important thing was finding out what was actually happening and working toward a better solution.
That has now been done. ❤️
🐾 ANOTHER SHELTER CHANGE IS BEING DISCUSSED
We also learned that the shelter is discussing a possible change to the current $35 City adoption fee.
Under the current process, the adopter pays the $35 fee to the City, and those funds are then used toward veterinary costs associated with the adopted dog.
The change being discussed would eliminate that $35 City fee and instead have the adopter pay the veterinarian directly for the veterinary services required with the adoption.
In simple terms, it could remove the City as the middleman in that portion of the transaction.
We want to emphasize that this is still being discussed.
We do NOT yet know exactly how the process would work, what veterinary requirements would apply or what the final procedure would be.
That is one of the things we want clarified in our upcoming meeting with City officials before telling the public that anything has officially changed.
🏛️ NEXT UP: SITTING DOWN WITH THE CITY
Richard Claxton has already been communicating with the City and will be working to schedule a meeting with City Of Swainsboro Administrator Herman Middlebrooks and the appropriate City representatives.
Mr. Middlebrooks was unable to attend the Public Animal Shelter Forum and has specifically expressed an interest in sitting down with us.
There are still several issues from the forum that require City involvement.
And this is an important distinction as we move forward:
The Humane Society can research problems, suggest solutions, raise concerns, help animals and bring people together.
But we do not operate the municipal animal shelter.
Some changes can be made by the Humane Society.
Some require County action.
Others, including certain shelter fees, procedures and policies, can only be changed by the City officials who actually have that authority.
Part of our job now is making sure the right questions reach the right people and then following up until we have answers.
📜 OUR PROPOSED ANIMAL ORDINANCE
Work is also continuing on the proposed animal ordinance.
The draft has already been released publicly because we wanted the community to have an opportunity to read it BEFORE anything is presented as finished.
And that process is already working.
We have already changed the draft once because of feedback received from the public.
That's the point.
We want responsible animal owners, hunters, breeders, rescuers, law enforcement and ordinary citizens to read it, ask questions and point out problems.
Public review should actually mean public review.
The ordinance is one piece of a much larger prevention plan involving responsible ownership, humane care, spay/neuter, enforcement, education and reducing the number of preventable cases ultimately reaching the shelter.
🎃 LICK OR TREAT IS OFFICIAL!
📅 October 24
⏰ 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
📍 Tractor Supply Co.
If you missed the meeting but still want to get involved please consider coming to help with this event. We've already divided up some of the fun!
🍿 Richard & Amber: Popcorn
🍭 Jessie & Carter: Cotton candy
🎪 Annie: Carnival games
📸 Shari: Photo booth
More information and flyers are coming!
🎅🐾 PAWS WITH CLAUS
Save the date!
📅 December 5
⏰ 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM
More details will be announced as we get closer.
❤️ AND FINALLY... SEVEN NEW BOARD MEMBERS!
Out of everything discussed tonight, this may be what we're most excited about.
SEVEN people stepped forward to join our board.
New officers stepped into leadership.
A cat team formed.
Someone stepped forward to build the Pet Pantry.
People took responsibility for parts of our upcoming events.
Someone is carrying the City follow-up forward.
Our rescue network is growing.
Our systems are becoming more organized.
And people are beginning to take ownership of different pieces of the work.
At the forum, we heard an important reminder.
The Emanuel County Humane Society is made up of volunteers. We have families, jobs, businesses and responsibilities just like everyone else.
The answer cannot always be:
“The Humane Society should do something.”
A better question is:
“What can I do?”
Tonight, more people answered that question. ❤️
And perhaps the most encouraging thing is seeing that questions raised publicly at the forum are already turning into action.
Shelter improvements are moving forward.
The donation issue is being addressed.
The information about what happened to euthanized animals was investigated, corrected, and a more respectful process is beginning this week.
A possible change to the adoption-fee process is being discussed.
A meeting with City leadership is being arranged.
Our Humane Society is growing.
New programs are being built.
And more people are pulling up a chair and saying, “I'll help.”
There is still a tremendous amount of work ahead of us.
But tonight, we have more hands to do it.
No one person or organization has to do everything when everyone is willing to do something.
THAT is Community With Heart. 🐾❤️
